Yōupóyí jìngxíng fǎmén jīng 優婆夷淨行法門經
Sūtra of the Pure Practice Dharma-Gate for Upāsikās (translator unknown)
About the work
The Yōupóyí jìngxíng fǎmén jīng (T579) is a two-fascicle anonymous Mahāyāna sūtra detailing the jìngxíng fǎmén 淨行法門, the “pure-practice dharma-gate” of the upāsikā (laywoman). It functions as a small lay-practice manual structured around questions put to the Buddha.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula. No translator preface or attribution survives.
Abstract
A short two-fascicle compilation outlining lay observance — refuges, precepts, basic meditative dispositions — addressed to female lay practitioners. Catalogue assignment is to the post-Han / pre-Tang anonymous (shīyì) corpus, hence the conservative bracket 317–600. Style and lexicon are consistent with the late Northern-and-Southern-dynasties devotional sūtra production.
Translations and research
- Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, 1979.
- No further substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA T14n0579
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (430) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.