The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar
15,590 words
The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar (Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra) is a Mahayana text no longer extant in Sanskrit but preserved in both the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons. It teaches the doctrines of Tathāgatagarbha and the One Vehicle (Skt. ekayāna), through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā....
Chapter VII - The Tathāgatagarbha
“The ‘noble truths’ have a most profound meaning, which is extremely subtle, difficult to know, and not of the cognitive and finite realms. What is known by those who have this wisdom isinconceivable to the entire world. Why? Because this [profound meaning of the noble truths] explains the most profound tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is the realm of the Tathāgata, which is not known by all the disciples and pratyekabuddhas. The tathāgatagarbha explains the meaning of the noble truths. Because the tathāgata-garbha is most profound, explaining the noble truths also is most profound, extremely subtle, difficult to know, and not of the cognitive and finite realms. What is known by those who have this wisdom is inconceivable to the entire world.”