Rice Seedling Sutra

Rice Seedling Sutra (Skt. Śālistamba-sūtra; Tib. སཱ་ལུའི་ལྗང་པའི་མདོ་, Wyl. sA lu'i ljang pa'i mdo) (Toh. 210) — a short sutra of the Mahayana in which the bodhisattva Maitreya explains the meaning of a very brief teaching on dependent arising that the Buddha had given earlier that day while gazing at a rice seedling. In the sutra, the Buddha said "bhikshus, whoever sees dependent arising sees the Dharma. Whoever sees the Dharma sees the Buddha." It is these words of the Buddha that Shariputra was requesting Maitreya to explain.

This is most probably one of the oldest mahayana texts (1st or 2nd cent. BC) and inspired Chandrakirti's treatises, especially his Introduction to the Middle Way.

Tibetan Text

• Dergé Kangyur, vol. 62 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 116.a–123.b.

Modern Translations

In English

• N. Ross Reat, The Śalistamba Sūtra (Dehli: Molital Baranasidas, 1993)
• Dharmasāgara Translation Group, The Rice Seedling, translated under the patronage and supervision of 84,000 (see external link below)

In French

• Philippe Cornu and Patrick Carré, Soûtra du diamant et autres soûtras de la voie médiane, (Paris: Fayard, 2001) (translated from Tibetan and Chinese versions)

Further Reading

• Geshe Sonam Rinchen, How Karma Works: The Twelve Links of Dependent Arising (Snow Lion, 2006)
• The Dalai Lama, The Meaning of Life, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins (Wisdom, 2000)
• N. Ross Reat, The Śalistamba Sūtra (Dehli: Molital Baranasidas, 1993)

Internal Links

• Twelve links of dependent origination

External Links

• The Rice Seedling (Śālistamba)
• Teachings by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche on The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra - The Rice Seedling, from 2018