The Lankavatara Sutra

A copy of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra was said to be part of the lineage transmission from Bodhidharma until Hui Neng. This sutra, therefore, may be considered the primary foundation of Ch’an and is worthy of every practitioner’s deep engagement. As one may expect, it’s a challenging read. In fact, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra cannot be fully grasped by discursive study. At Open Door Zen, we train with the sutra—entering its view, embodying its transformation

Here is a resource tracking Open Door Zen’s deep inquiry into this text as a vehicle for our liberation from confining views leading to suffering.

For organizational purposes, our study follows the structure of Red Pine’s translation of the Lankavatara Sutra. For example, our first dharma discussion on the sutra proper is on section IV of chapter 2, which can be cross-referenced with Red Pine’s edition. Occasionally, notation will be used to mark excerpts using [Chapter number]:[Section roman numeral]:[Paragraph Start – Paragraph End], for example 2:IV:1-10.

Umi is translating the sections of the sutra that we will study as we go; those excerpts can be found here, along with the dharma discussions concerning them. See this page to track which excerpts will be studied and their status.

Excerpts

This section of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra outlines the two modes of arising, abiding, and cessation across all consciousnesses—by characteristic and by continuity. It introduces the eight consciousnesses, divides them into discriminating and conceptualizing functions, and reveals the perfumed nature of ālaya-vijñāna. The Buddha warns Mahāmati against nihilistic misinterpretations, clarifying how consciousness ceases only when its causes and conditions cease—not through metaphysical annihilation. This passage deconstructs false views of external creators and affirms causal interdependence as the true logic of mind-only realization.

Chapter 2, Section V outlines the structure of self-nature itself. The nature of self-nature is not singular—it unfolds through seven distinct modes. Each names a facet of how reality arises, appears, and completes itself. Together, they form the full view into what self-nature actually is and by their names provide a distinct meditative framework to engage in.

Chapter 2, Section VI begins by outlining the seven aspects of the Ultimate Principle. From there, it distinguishes true seeing from the distorted views of the heterodox—those who do not recognize the mind as the projector of reality. Finally, it prepares the reader to enter the teaching on illusion: how suffering ends when projection is seen through.

Chapter 2, Section VII discusses the nature of wàngxiǎng, a critical but loaded term best left untranslated. Wàngxiǎng can be defined as: delusive constructions arising from karmically perfumed tendencies, appearing as subject-object experience and mistaken as real. The section opens by dismantling false causal views and philosophical fabrications, then walks us through the dissolution of dualistic grasping, culminating in the progressive realization of non-possession, essential stages of samādhi, and embodying Buddhahood (Tathāgata).

Chapter 2, Section IX introduces the fourfold causal basis for the transformation of consciousness, anchored in the image of wave-activity arising from the ālaya-vijñāna. The section outlines how sense-consciousness emerges through the interplay of subtle karmic perfuming and gross form, analogized through mirror and ocean metaphors. This leads into a progressive unveiling of the subtle workings of mind, mistaken identity, and the persistence of delusion. The Buddha emphasizes that only advanced Bodhisattvas—those beyond śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas—can fully discern the nuances of this storehouse activity. Through a series of verses, the section dismantles false views of substantiality, identity, and causation, establishing all perceptions as mind-only fabrications and illustrating the skillful, provisional nature of the Tathāgata’s speech.

Discussions