Translations from the Taishō Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist texts presented below are original English translations from the Taishō Tripiṭaka, the most widely used edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon. The great majority of texts in this canon have never been translated into English, and the original translation effort into Chinese was a massive effort that took over eight hundred years to complete. Some translations from this canon into English are available below, including the Diamond Sūtra and the Heart Sūtra.

Tripiṭaka texts generally consist of rules of discipline in the Vinaya Piṭaka, general teachings in the Sūtra Piṭaka, and systematic treatises in the Abhidharma Piṭaka. If these are instead classified by whether they relate to the path of the śrāvakas or the path of the bodhisattvas, then there are only two divisions: the Śrāvaka Piṭaka and the Bodhisattva Piṭaka.

For Unicode text, PDF, DJVU, and XML formats, see the Buddhist Text Archive.

T02n99: Saṃyukta Āgama

Translated by Trepiṭaka Guṇabhadra circa 435-443 CE, as Za Ahan Jing (雜阿含經). The Saṃyukta Āgama is an early collection of short Buddhist texts organized by topic. This edition of the Saṃyukta Āgama comes from the Sarvāstivāda monastic sect in India, and contains some of the foundational texts of Buddhism such as the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra (SA 379), in which Śākyamuni Buddha turns the Dharma Wheel by teaching the Four Noble Truths at the deer park of Ṛṣipatana. According to the sūtra commentaries in the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, the Saṃyukta Āgama was the earliest āgama collection.

SA 34: Five Bhikṣus ^PDF
SA 301: Kātyāyana ^PDF
SA 379: Turning the Dharma Wheel ^PDF

T02n125: Ekottarika Āgama

Translated by Trepiṭaka Dharmanandi in 384-385 CE, as Zengyi Ahan Jing (增壹阿含經). The Ekottarika Āgama is another large collection of early Buddhist texts, which follows a numeric organizational principle from which the collection derives its name. This translation is often thought to come from the Dharmaguptaka monastic sect in India, and contains a version of the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra (EA 17.1), which teaches methods of cultivating mindfulness of the vital breath for the attainment of samādhi. This text also describes related subjects such as the Four Dhyānas and seeing past lives.

EA 17.1: Ānāpānasmṛti ^PDF

T08n232: Mahāprajñāpāramitā Mañjuśrīparivarta Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Mandrasena in 503 CE, as Wenshushili Suoshuo Mohe Bore Boluomi Jing (文殊師利所說摩訶般若波羅蜜經). In the early years of the 6th century CE, Trepiṭaka Mandrasena came to China from the Southeast Asian country of Funan, an Indianized country in Southeast Asia, which is now Cambodia. Here, he translated the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Mañjuśrīparivarta Sūtra, the Prajñāpāramitā teachings of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva. After its translation into Chinese, this text was widely studied, and was influential for the Tiantai and Chan schools. In later Indian classifications, this text was called the Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, meaning the Prajñāpāramitā of 700 lines.

T08n235: Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Kumārajīva in 401 CE, as Jin’gang Bore Boluomi Jing (金剛般若波羅蜜經). This is the famous Diamond Sūtra, translated from the earliest known text. This sūtra presents a teaching given by the Buddha to Elder Subhūti on the subject of how to attain complete enlightenment. During the Liang Dynasty, this text was divided into 32 main sections, a schema which became popular thereafter. At the end of the Taishō edition is a mantra following the sūtra text, and this has been included. Although popularly called the Diamond Sūtra, the Sanskrit term vajracchedikā is clarified by Xuanzang as meaning, “able to cut diamond.” In the later period of Indian Buddhism, the Vajracchedikā was also called the Triśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, meaning the Prajñāpāramitā of 300 lines.

T08n251: Shorter Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Dharma Master Xuanzang in 649 CE, as Bore Boluomiduo Xinjing (般若波羅蜜多心經). Also known as the Heart Sūtra, this is a very short sūtra of Prajñāpāramitā teachings, along with a meditation method in the form of a mantra as skillful means. This original short version has been popularly recited and studied across many traditions, and continues to be extremely popular in modern times. As the “Heart of Prajñāpāramitā,” this text is regarded as containing the essence of all other Prajñāpāramitā teachings. The version presented here is the translation made by Dharma Master Xuanzang, which is the most widely used edition.

T08n253: Longer Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Prajñā in 790 CE, as Bore Boluomiduo Xinjing (般若波羅蜜多心經). The Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra, or Heart Sūtra, exists principally in a short version and in two differing longer versions. The translation presented here is of the standard long version, which is the same basic version of the text that is popular in Tibetan Buddhism. Both short and long versions are still extant in Sanskrit, and these correspond very closely to the short and long editions of the sūtra presented here. The longer sūtra provides valuable context for the main teaching of the text, including statements clearly indicating that Prajñāpāramitā is the essential practice for bodhisattvas, rather than mere philosophy.

T12n366: Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Kumārajīva in 402 CE, as Fo Shuo Emituo Jing (佛說阿彌陀經). Also known as the Amitābha Sūtra, this text describes the buddha-land of Sukhāvatī and how to enter into this realm, through various skillful means and explanations of truth. The sūtra advocates the practice of reciting the name of Amitābha as a mantra. At the end of the Taishō edition is a mantra for rebirth in Sukhāvatī, along with instructions for it passed down from another Indian master, and this mantra section has been included. Additionally, a Buddhist monk in Europe has translated this English edition into a new Polish translation of the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.

T20n1077: Saptakoṭibuddhamātṛ Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Divākara in 685 CE, as Fo Shuo Qijuzhi Fomuxin Da Zhunti Tuoluoni Jing (佛說七俱胝佛母心大准提陀羅尼經). In this sūtra, the Buddha teaches the Cundī Dhāraṇī to help people in later times. The dhāraṇī is introduced for the first time in the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra, in which a bodhisattva endeavors in attaining samādhi using the mantra “oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ.” At the end of the sūtra, the bodhisattva finally succeeds in using the mantra to attain this samādhi, and then innumerable perfectly enlightened buddhas reply in one voice with the Great Cundī Dhāraṇī. To accompany this translation, there is also an introductory article on the Dharma Gateway of Cundī Bodhisattva.

T31n1586: Triṃśikā Vijñaptimātratā ^PDF

Translated by Trepiṭaka Dharma Master Xuanzang in 648 CE, as Weishi Sanshi Lun Song (唯識三十論頌). This work is commonly called Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only, and is a core text of the Consciousness Only school of Buddhism, also called Yogācāra or Vijñānavāda. The thirty verses in this work were composed by Vasubandhu Bodhisattva in order to teach the subtle truth that all perceived phenomena are manifestations of consciousness. For this work, the original verses by Vasubandhu were translated, without commentary.

Translated Texts of Ancient China

Long before and after Buddhism had arrived in China, parallel cultivation teachings and practices flourished in native Chinese forms, such as those taught in Daoism and Confucianism. For the purpose of sharing the teachings of ancient Chinese culture and its cultivation texts, several of these works have been translated and are available below.

For Unicode text, PDF, DJVU, and XML formats, see the Ancient China Text Archive.

Qingjing Jing: The Classic of Purity and Stillness ^PDF

Daoist work from the Tang Dynasty, entitled Qingjing Jing (清靜經), or the “Classic of Purity and Stillness.” This is an important and central text in the Daoist religion. It builds upon the Laozi and uses the literary style of the Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra to explain the method of attaining the Dao in systematic, cascading logic with few adornments. The text has been commented upon extensively, is universally praised, and is commonly studied and recited to this day. Master Nan Huai-Chin has also regarded the Classic of Purity and Stillness as being the single greatest work of the Daoist religion.

Baizi Bei: The Hundred-Character Tablet ^PDF

Daoist work from the Tang Dynasty, entitled Baizi Bei (百字碑), or the “Hundred Character Tablet.” This is a short work attributed to the Daoist immortal Lü Dongbin. It consists of twenty lines of verse, teaching the essential methods of becoming a spiritual immortal. The general practice includes tempering the vital breath in the silence of meditation, and practicing non-action to tame the mind. In this work, the first six lines describe the essential practice in terms of the vital breath and the mind, while the last fourteen lines describe subsequent effects and transformations that occur on the path to sagehood.

Da Xue: The Great Learning ^PDF

Unaffiliated work from the Zhou Dynasty, entitled Daxue (大學), or the “Great Learning.” This is an important work derived from the Classic of Rites (禮記). The basic teaching of the Great Learning is the importance of self-cultivation, explaining how it establishes the proper basis for every endeavor, and how it naturally leads to a peaceful society. This general view of cultivation, as well as the relationship between man and Heaven, belongs to an early stratum of Chinese culture in which the leader of a state was not an ordinary ruler, but a cultivated sage-king. Much like the Heart Sūtra of Buddhism, the Great Learning has been regarded as the essence of all Confucian teachings, and so it has remained an important text to this day.