Lalitavistara Sutra

Lalitavistara Sutra (Skt. Lalitavistarasūtra; Tib. རྒྱ་ཆེར་རོལ་པ་, Wyl. rgya cher rol pa) — a sutra in 27 chapters which relates the life of the Buddha.

Common Quotations

"Profound and peaceful, free from complexity, uncompounded luminosity—

I have found a nectar-like Dharma.

Yet if I were to teach it, no-one would understand,

So I shall remain silent here in the forest."

"This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.

To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movement of a dance.

A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,

Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain."

"Because of craving, attachment and ignorance

Foolishly go round,

Like the turning of a potter’s wheel."

First translated into Chinese in 308
Translated into Tibetan in the 8th century by Jinamitra and Bandhé Yeshé Dé
The Lalitavistara Sūtra: The Voice of the Buddha, the Beauty of Compassion, translated by Gwendolyn Bays, Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1983 (2 vols.)