New Sutra of Golden Light Translation

Those readers who faithfully follow Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar will recall the great esteem in which we hold the Sutra of Golden Light. Indeed, back in '09, we ran a piece which discussed the matter in very direct terms. You are encouraged to click the link.

Recently, there has been an important development in the world of those who have special appreciation of this sutra. The Sugatagarbha Translation Group has decided to translate the complete, twenty-nine chapter version into English, and thereafter, to arrange for the sutra's free distribution.

To explain, only the twenty-one chapter version is currently available in the English language -- eight chapters are missing, and some of these individual chapters are longer than the entire twenty-one chapter version as it presently stands.

The benefits of this project -- which is expected to proceed over the next year -- are considerable. We therefore want to encourage generous sponsorship. Works like these do not happen by accident, nor do they proceed in a vacuum. You cannot look at something like this, nod your head, and then say, "let somebody else do it." In order for a project like this to reach fruition, you have to become involved. An enormous amount of merit devolves from this decision, not only for yourself, but for all sentient beings.

The chance to participate in the definitive English translation of an important, core sutra is something that will reverberate far into the future. Even we cannot know the extent of the result. Please consider this carefully, and then click this link to the special site that the Sugatagarbha Group has established. Learn how you can help.

The Powerful King of Sutras:

If you listen to it, it is extremely profound,

And if you thoroughly investigate it, it is profundity itself.

This Sublime Golden Light I shall expound.

The Buddhas of the Four Directions

Through bestowing blessings, have consecrated it:

Akshobhya in the eastern direction,

Ratnaketu in the southern direction,

Amitabha in the western direction,

And Dundubhisvara in the northern direction.

In order to extinguish all misdeeds,

There is this sublime auspicious discourse

That exhausts all negative karma,

Bestows all happiness,

Eradicates all suffering,

Is the foundation of the state of omniscience,

And is well-adorned by all resplendence.

Granting blessings, this I shall proclaim.

Sentient beings whose senses are defective,

Whose life-spans are exhausting or are degenerating,

Who are without abundance and what they desire,

Whom the gods have turned against,

Who are hated by their loved ones,

Who are endangered by planetary influences and the like,

Who are not harmonious with one another,

Who are afflicted by a decline in material wealth,

Who are stricken by grief and misery,

Who are in fear, or in poverty,

Who have inauspicious planetary and constellational influences or curses,

Who are threatened by intolerable negative spirits,

Or who see bad dreams

Following grief and fatigue,

Should bathe well, render themselves clean

And listen to this sublime Sutra.

Should those with virtuous intent and pure mind

Adorn themselves well in clean garments,

And listen to this Sutra -

The profound experiential domain of the Buddhas -

Then through the awe-inspiring power of this sutra,

The afflictions of all living creatures,

The likes of which are extremely unbearable,

Will be forever pacified.

They will be offered protection

By none other than the Guardians of the Universe themselves,

Together with their ministers and powerful lords of assembly;

By myriads of billions of yakshas,

By the Great Goddess Sarasvati,

By the Goddess Who Dwells in the Nairanjana [River],

By Hariti, Mother of Bhutas,

By the Earth Goddess Dridha,

By the Brahma Kings and by God Kings,

By the incredibly powerful Kings of Nagas,

By Kings of Kinnaras and Kings of Demi-Gods,

And likewise by the Kings of Garudas.

They, with their clans and might, will arrive,

Together with their mounts,

And without distraction day and night

Will offer protection to those beings.

I will fully expound this Sutra on the profound,

The Buddhas’ dimension of experience,

The secret of all Buddhas,

Difficult to find in billions of eons.

Those who hear this sutra,

Those who cause others to hear it,

Those who rejoice in it,

And those who make offerings to it,

Will have offerings made to them for billions of eons

By gods and nagas,

Humans and kinnaras,

Demi-gods and yakshas.

For beings whose merit has declined,

The store of their merit

Will grow to become limitless, and likewise, beyond measure

And inconceivable.

Intensely shall they be cared for

By the Buddhas of the ten directions,

And also by the Bodhisattvas

Engaged in the profound.

Clad well in clean garments,

Wearing pleasantly-scented clothes,

Settling firmly in a mind of love,

Without distraction, one should make offerings.

Render the mind spotless,

Put forth effort to make it expansive,

And make the mind intensely clear:

Then listen to this sublime Sutra.

Those who listen to this Sutra,

Will be eminent among humans,

Will attain well a human existence,

And will live a life of fortune.

Those into whose ears

This sublime discourse resounds

Will have their roots of virtue refined,

And numerous Buddhas will praise them.