Chányào jīng 禪要經

Sūtra on the Essentials of Meditation (translator unknown)

About the work

The Chányào jīng (T609) is a one-fascicle anonymous meditation manual in sūtra form, transmitting a small set of meditation methods (most prominently the contemplation of impurity, aśubha-bhāvanā, and counting of breaths).

Prefaces

No translator preface or attribution survives.

Abstract

A brief anonymous chán-text in the early-medieval Chinese Sarvāstivāda meditation tradition. Catalog assignment is to the post-Han / pre-Tang anonymous corpus; the conservative bracket of 317–600 CE follows the standard shīyì horizon.

Translations and research

  • No substantial secondary literature located.