Mahāyāna scriptures
Scriptural collections
Mahāyāna scriptures are preserved in several collections, including the Chinese and Tibetan canons.
Perfection of Wisdom
Other scriptures
Translations & sourcesEditions & translators
Browse selected translations from the Chinese Buddhist canon. These works offer several entrances into Mahāyāna, not an exhaustive canon.
Edition & attribution
This is a brief introduction to these texts, not a translation.
Introductions, reflection questions and added section headings are editorial material, separate from the attributed translation.
The linked publisher provides the text and its usage terms.
Connections
Guru Viking0
No connected episodes found for this text.
People & teachers2
Traditions & history3
- Mahāyāna movements
The wider historical setting of Mahāyāna scriptures.
Source
- Mahāyāna
Study context: this text is included in the Atlas guide to Mahāyāna.
- Newar Buddhism
Study context: this text is included in the Atlas guide to Newar Buddhism.
Books1
- The Perfection of Wisdom in First Bloom
Study of early Perfection of Wisdom literature and the bodhisattva path.
Source
Make yourself comfortable
About this textContext & reading guide
Mahāyāna is not based on one universal canon. Different communities inherit different collections, especially those preserved in Chinese and Tibetan.
Mahāyāna sūtras expand the literary and doctrinal inheritance: the bodhisattva aspiration, Perfection of Wisdom, Buddha-fields, and—in some scriptures—Buddha-nature.
Traditions accept these works as authoritative Buddhist teachings. Historians investigate their composition and development over centuries. Scriptural authority and historical dating are distinct questions.
Earlier Buddhist materials are also preserved in these broader collections. Mahāyāna is not simply a replacement for everything early.