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Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving the oral transmission of the Sutra of Great Liberation, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is reported to have spoken of the Sutra of Great Liberation as early as 2006, though it was especially in the later years of his teachings that Rinpoche gave prominence to the inconceivable benefits of engaging with this sutra. In 2020 Rinpoche asked Ven. Gyalten Lekden at Sera Je Monastery to translate this important sutra so that many people can read it in English explaining, “It is great to translate this, unbelievable. So many people can read it. Because most people can’t read Tibetan, they have to read English. Then they liberate so many sentient beings from lower realms, lower nirvana, and samsara, and they achieve enlightenment. It has unbelievable benefits if we translate it.”
We are so pleased to announce that this translation has been completed and is now available just in time for the merit multiplying day, Chokhor Duchen! We gratefully thank Amitabha Buddhist Centre for sponsoring this important translation in accordance with the wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
The Sutra of Great Liberation is formally entitled, The Arya Mahayana Sutra Called “Arya All-Expansive Great Liberation, Purifying Negative Deeds through Cleansing Remorse, Perfectly Arranged Accomplishment of Buddhahood.” The Tibetan text, found in the Kangyur, is a translation of the Chinese rendition, the Sanskrit source text having been lost over the course of time.
Ven. Lekden says in his introduction that this sutra has cultural importance in Tibet and is widely recited, not just on holy or “merit-multiplying” days, but also for the benefit of the recently deceased, by those experiencing obstacles or difficulties, and by devotees who understand and appreciate its power. Benefits explained from the sutra itself:
This powerful sutra, which was expounded just before the Buddha’s parinirvana, covers a wide variety of topics, including the three vehicles, the three refuges, how to confess and purify, proclamation of names of many buddhas and bodhisattvas, descriptions and causes of the thirty-two marks of an enlightened being, extensive advice on how to practice the Dharma, instructions on how to do the actual purification, and the signs of purification.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has stressed the importance of this sutra, expounding on its benefits and giving the oral transmission of it, during the extensive series of thought transformation teachings given at Kopan Monastery, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rinpoche emphasized that that engaging with this sutra in any way, even unintentionally, has “unimaginable benefits.” He said that anyone who hears even the name of the sutra, writes, reads, prints, or keeps a copy of it collects unimaginable merit. Reciting it is an easy method to purify all the very negative karmas. Furthermore, anyone who memorizes, holds, or keeps a copy of it will become free from suffering, will never be reborn in the lower realms, and become enlightened. The same is true for anyone who simply hears its powerful mantra. You can access the mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation in PDF and audio; and also learn more about this powerful mantra.
Because of these benefits, Rinpoche recommended that we recite the sutra when we are able, and that it would even be beneficial to “keep the sutra.” Rinpoche noted, wherever a copy of this sutra is kept, this is a place where the Buddha himself resides.
Get the Sutra of Great Liberation in English:
shop.fpmt.org/the-sutra-of-great-liberation-ebook-pdf.html
Get the Tibetan pecha of the Sutra of Great Liberation (for printing):
shop.fpmt.org/Tibetan-Pecha-of-the-Sutra-of-Great-Liberation-PDF_p_3567.html
The oral transmission and commentary of the Sutra of Great Liberation can be found:
fpmt.org/tag/sutra-of-great-liberation
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