The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar
15,590 words
The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar (Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra) is a Mahayana text no longer extant in Sanskrit but preserved in both the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons. It teaches the doctrines of Tathāgatagarbha and the One Vehicle (Skt. ekayāna), through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā....
“O Lord, the wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha is the Tathāgata’s wisdom of emptiness (śūnyatā). O Lord, the tathāgatagarbha has not been seen nor attained originally by all the arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and powerful bodhisattvas.
“O Lord, there are two kinds of wisdom of emptiness with reference to the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha that is empty is separate from, free from, and different from the stores of all defilements. And the tathā-gatagarbha that is not empty is not separate from, not free from, and not different from the inconceivable Buddha-Dharmas more numerous than the sands of the Ganges River.
“O Lord, the various great disciples can believe in the Tathāgata with reference to the two wisdoms of emptiness. All arhats and pratyekabuddhas revolve in the realm of the four contrary views because of their knowledge of emptiness. Thus, arhats and pratyekabuddhas do not originally see nor attain [the wisdom of the tathāgatagarbha]. The extinction of all suffering is only realized by the buddhas who destroy the stores of all defilements and practice the path that extinguishes all suffering.”