A Study Of Mahayana Buddhism Thought In Sūtralamkāra-?āstra

Sūtralamkāra-?āstra is a metaphor Buddhist scripture.The plot is lively and interesting,the reasoning is simple and easy to understand,the style of prose and verses are intertwined,and the literary level is quite high.Most of the specialized researches on this sutra focus on literature,but there is relatively little research on Buddhist thought.Authoritative works in academia classify it as a Hinayana writing.This article combs through the Buddhist thoughts expressed in the stories in the sutras,and finds that the sutras contain the middle way thoughts about suffering and happiness,unconstrained permanence,and inanimate thoughts.These thoughts have many similarities with the thoughts of the Mahayana Madhyamaka school.The depth of thought is not as deep as that of Madhyamaka,but it is also a manifestation of the early rise of Mahayana thought.There is also the expression of "mind consciousness" in the sutra,as well as the seed theory and the thought of karmic continuity,which can be seen to have an influence and inspiration on the later Yogacara.There are also abundant Mahayana thoughts in the sutras,such as the worship of the Buddha,the egoistic and altruistic bodhisattva spirit,the equal status of the lay people and monks,and the emphasis on the Six Paramitas,which clearly highlight the characteristics of Mahayana thought.Therefore,it is not appropriate to classify it as the Hinayana.Because Hinayana Buddhism is the foundation of Buddhism,so the contents of the Hinayana thoughts in all the classics are inseparable in fact;but the rich Mahayana thoughts contained in it are the highlights that stand out from other metaphoric Buddhist scripture.Therefore,it should be more reasonable to position the Sūtralamkāra-?āstra as a metaphorical Buddhist scripture with Mahayana nature in the early stage of the rise of Mahayana Buddhist thought.This article is divided into four chapters: The first chapter mainly introduces the version,content,author and translator of Sūtralamkāra-?āstra.The second chapter is mainly to sort out the thoughts of Madhyamaka contained in it,including the middle way of suffering and happiness,the middle way of continual permanence,and the comparison of the inanimate thought in it with the thoughts of inanimate in the Madhyamaka Shastra and Entering the Middle Way.The third chapter mainly sorts out the factors of consciousness-only thought,analyzes the expression of "mind consciousness" in the sutra and the enlightenment and influence of seed theory on the school of consciousness-only.The fourth chapter mainly sorts out the thoughts of the Mahayana Bodhisattva in the sutra,including the thoughts of Buddha worship,egoistic and altruistic bodhisattva spirit,equal status of lay people and monks,and the emphasis on the Six Paramitas.