Jìzhào shénbiàn sānmódì jīng 寂照神變三摩地經
Sūtra on the Samādhi of Quiescent-Illumination Spiritual Transformation translated by 玄奘 (Xuánzàng, 譯)
About the work
T648 (one fascicle, alt. title 寂照神變經; Sanskrit Praśāntaviniścayaprātihārya-samādhi-sūtra) is 玄奘’s (Xuánzàng, 602–664) Tang translation of a Mahāyāna samādhi-sūtra concerning a meditative concentration in which quiescent illumination (praśānta-viniścaya) gives rise to spiritual transformations (prātihārya). It is one of Xuanzang’s many short samādhi-text translations made between his return from India in 645 and his death in 664.
Abstract
The text was translated by 玄奘 at one of his Cháng’ān centres (the Hóngfú sì 弘福寺, the Dàcí’ēn sì 大慈恩寺, or the Yùhuā gōng 玉華宮); the precise date within his post-return career is not recorded. Date bracket follows his productive period (645–664). The Sanskrit title Praśāntaviniścayaprātihārya-samādhi is recorded in Tibetan parallels and indicates a prātihārya-genre samādhi in which the meditator’s calmed mind manifests transformative powers. The text is a representative example of Xuánzàng’s compact, lexically precise translation style.
Translations and research
- Lusthaus, Dan. Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogācāra Buddhism and the Ch’eng Wei-shih Lun. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002. — context on Xuánzàng’s translation programme.
- Brose, Benjamin. Xuanzang: China’s Legendary Pilgrim and Translator. Boulder: Shambhala, 2021.
No book-length Western translation of T648 specifically located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0648
- Kanseki DB
- 玄奘 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (655) — T = CBETA. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924–1932.