Samadhiraja Sutra

The Samādhirāja Sūtra or Candrapradīpa Sūtra (Sanskrit) is a Buddhist sutra dating to c. 2nd century CE. It has been called "a text of capital importance for the Mahayana philosophical school called Madhyamaka . . . quoted extensively in sastric literature."

Commonly known as the King of Samadhi Sutra (Samādhirājasūtra, Tib. ting nge 'dzin gyi rgyal po'i mdo), it is also known as the Moon Lamp Sutra (Skt. Candrapradīpa Sutra, Tib. zla ba sgron me’i mdo).

The full Tibetan title in the Kanjur is 'Phags-pa chos thams-cad kyi rang-bzhin mnyam-pa-nyid rnam-par spros-pa ting-nge-'dzin gyi rgyal-po zhes byaba theg-pa chen-po'i mdo. This corresponds to Sarva-dharmasvabhavā-samatā-vipancita-samādhirāja-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra, which is the Sanskrit title given in the sutra itself. The Chinese have preferred Yueh-teng san-mei ching, corresponding to *Candrapradīpa-samādhisūtra.

Scholars Gomez and Silk write, "Although it is questionable how much the sutra itself was read in Tibet, it is often cited in Tibetan philosophical literature, probably mostly on the basis of quotations found in Indian texts. The sutra seems to have had a less glorious history in the Far East, where it was translated several times but was seldom quoted. It is not part of any of the sutra collections within the Tibetan and Chinese Canons, though it is found as an independent text in both. In Nepal the Samādhirāja Sūtra was counted as one of the 'Nine Dharmas,' a set of texts so highly revered that its manuscripts were used as objects of worship."

The Samādhirāja Sūtra is often cited as an important source for śamatha instructions by the Kagyu tradition, particularly via commentary by Gampopa, although scholar Andrew Skilton, who has studied the Samādhirāja Sūtra extensively, reports that the sūtra itself "contains no significant exposition of either meditational practices or states of mind."

It is asserted in the Kagyu tradition that the Samādhirājasūtra predicted the dharma activity of Gampopa and the Karmapas.Düsum Khyenpa (Dus gsum Mkhyen pa, 1110–1193), the first Karmapa, was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A gifted child who studied dharma (Buddhist teachings) with his father from an early age and who sought out great teachers in his twenties and thirties, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty while practicing dream yoga. He was henceforth regarded as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig), whose coming was predicted in the Samadhiraja Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra.

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