[Buddha-l] Website of the Arya Sanghata Sutra

[Jayarava]

--- On Fri, 31/7/09, Piya Tan <dharmafarer at gmail.com> wrote:

> One of the highlights of the Suta that makes it popular is this:
> 
> The Buddha said: “Virtuous man, suppose someone has personally 
> committed, or asked others to commit, or compliantly rejoiced in the five
> heinous sins, if he can hear even four gathas from this Dharma-Gate, join
> his palms, pay homage to it, and have pure faith in it, then his five
> heinous karma will be eliminated. How much more so, of those who fully 
> write, read, recite, and make offerings to it, such merits and virtues 
> are immeasurable.”
> (Saṅghāṭa Sūtra ch 2)

This sounds quite Catholic, as in 'Roman Catholic' doesn't it? Doesn't matter what you have done - the word translated as 'heinous' is more literally 'unforgiveable' - the sutra has the power to wash that all away. Not in Pāli texts where one simply cannot escape one's karma. This does seem to be the general trend c.f. MacQueen, G. in A Study of the Śrāmaṇyaphala-sūtra, though there it is meeting the Buddha that saves Anāthapiṇḍīka from the consequences of his actions. 

So the Mahāyāna distorts the original intent of the Buddha's message away from personal responsibility for ones actions, to saving those who can't seem to save themselves. (Who was it that said the Buddha doesn't save?)

Fascinating
Jayarava