Dae-bang-gwang-bul Hwaeom-gyeong Tripitaka Vol.46

The Avatamsaka Sutra (“The Flower Garland Sutra”), also known by its full name, Mahavaipulya Buddha Avatamsaka Sutra (“The Greatly Expansive Buddha’s Floral Garland Sutra”), is a fundamental sutra of the Avatamsaka School of Mahayana Buddhism whose principal teaching is that Buddha and ordinary human beings are not two different beings but one. The book shown here was printed for inclusion in the First Edition of the Tripitaka Koreana, which was compiled during the reign of King Hyeonjong (r. 1009-1031) of the Goryeo Dynasty in an effort to invite Buddha’s divine intervention and thereby repel the Khitan forces that were invading Goryeo at that time. The book is volume 46 of the Zhou Edition of the Avatamsaka Sutra (80 volumes), which was translated into Chinese by a Tang monk named Siksananda (652–710).