The Mahasutra ‘Illusion’s Net’

The Mahasutra ‘Illusion’s Net’ (Skt. Māyājālamahāsūtra; Tib.མདོ་ཆེན་སྒྱུ་མའི་དྲ་བ།, Wyl. mdo chen po sgyu ma’i dra ba) is a sutra taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni to an assembly of monks in Shravasti. The Buddha starts by mentioning the three trainings, in discipline, contemplation, and wisdom, and emphasizes the paramount importance of the training in wisdom, which brings to perfection the other two trainings too. He goes on to describe how we should train in wisdom by examining the futility and folly of our emotional reactions to what we perceive. Discussing each of the five sense perceptions and mental perception in succession, the Buddha describes how ordinary sensory and mental perceptions are deluded, and how getting caught up in the bonds of that delusion traps us in pain and regret. His systematic descriptions of the different perceptions are supplemented by individual analogies, illustrating the “net of illusion” to which the title refers.

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The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 288

• English translation: The Mahāsūtra “Illusion’s Net”