Xiǎodàodì jīng 小道地經

Lesser Sūtra on the Stages of the Path translated by 支曜 (Zhī Yào, 譯)

About the work

The Xiǎo-dàodì jīng (T608) is a one-fascicle short meditation treatise translated by Zhī Yào 支曜 (支曜). The title parallels KR6i0244 Dàodì jīng 道地經 (T607) and likely represents an even smaller selection / digest of the same Saṅgharakṣa Yogācārabhūmi source corpus, or a related minor yoga-treatise.

Prefaces

The text opens with the canonical formula.

Abstract

A miniature meditation handbook from the second-century CE, datable to Zhī Yào’s documented translation activity (Zhōngpíng 中平 era, ca. 185 CE) at Luòyáng. Together with KR6i0239 Dàānbān shǒuyì jīng, KR6i0240 Yīnchírù jīng, and KR6i0244 Dàodì jīng, it forms part of the early Hàn corpus of Chinese chán-meditation literature.

Translations and research

  • Demiéville, Paul. “La Yogācārabhūmi de Saṅgharakṣa.” BEFEO 44 (1954): 339–436.
  • Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008.