Sūtra
| Category | Buddhist traditions |
|---|---|
| Record type | Source |
| Editorial status | Documentary term explained from a Catholic standpoint |
| Authority | Definition only; inclusion confers no religious authority |
Definition and ordinary meaning
A discourse attributed to the Buddha or presented as authoritative teaching; Buddhist canons contain different collections and later Mahāyāna sūtras.
Historical setting
The term must be located among early discourses and monastic discipline, later scholastic analysis, Mahāyāna literature, tantric developments and modern reform. The oldest recoverable layer and the mature school formulation are not automatically identical.
Meaning within the tradition
Within Buddhist traditions, Sūtra must be read according to the school, source and period that uses it. The same word may name a text, rite, institution or doctrine in more than one sense. This article therefore resists treating a later standardized definition as though it were present unchanged from the beginning.
Natural-philosophical and historical assessment
The text must first be dated, located within its manuscript and redaction history, and read according to its own genre. A source proves that a community transmitted a claim; it does not prove the claim true merely by asserting it. Earlier and independent witnesses carry a different evidential weight from later harmonising commentary.
Catholic judgement and necessary distinctions
Catholic doctrine affirms an enduring created person, a good though fallen creation, moral responsibility, resurrection and positive beatitude in the vision of God. It can recognize disciplined attention or moral precepts as natural goods without accepting no-self, rebirth or nirvāṇa as an adequate account of man’s origin and final end.
Primary texts and source control
Read the term first in the earliest available source and then in later school or institutional definitions. The following local routes keep documentary evidence separate from commentary.