འཕགས་པ་སྒྱ་མ་ལྟ་བའ་ཏང་ང་འཛན་ཅས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.2

intro.2

The Illusory Absorption is a sūtra that belongs to the general sūtra section of the Kangyur. In the fashion typical of Great Vehicle sūtras, the Buddha’s discourse unfolds within a worldview vastly different in scope from ordinary reality. Here we meet bodhisattvas who have journeyed across billions of universes to hear the Buddha’s teaching, bringing with them samples of the splendors and pleasures that adorn their distant buddha realms. The vast scope of this sūtra pertains not only to the distances traveled, but also to the timespan covered. Through his omniscience, the Buddha recalls events that happened at the dawn of time and predicts affairs yet to unfold in a far-distant future. In this way our ordinary perceptions of time and space are challenged as we enter the worldview of the Great Vehicle.