Expert: Stuart Resnick - 8/31/2006

Question
What is the Buddhists sacred literature?

Answer
Buddha had great questions about his true nature, and about how to deal with suffering. After much effort, he got enlightenment, and then spent the rest of his life giving sermons (called "sutras") to help point other people to find it also. These sutras have been written down (though whether or not they accurately reflect what Buddha actually said is open to debate). Various schools of Buddhism focus on one or more of these sutras, and may consider them sacred literature.

But the Zen school is different. Zen style is to not rely on Buddha's words, but rather to only experience Buddha's mind for ourselves. Buddha said that our true nature is the true nature of all beings and all things. There is nothing that is NOT our true nature. It's always right in front of you.

What are you doing right now? What do you see, what do you hear? This is already true nature, so there's no need to seek the sacred in this or that book, there's no need to cling to any sort of words, speech or idea. The barking of a dog or the chirping of a bird is a great, sacred sutra.