The History of Buddhist Thought c28.s5.1

c28.s5.1

The origin of the Mahāyāna Scriptures is even more obscure than that of the original collections. In form they are a continuation of the same type of literature—discourses purporting to have been delivered at various places by Buddha usually during his earthly career. But they are expressly termed Mahāyāna sūtras, and they often attack the doctrine of the older collections. About their real origin naturally nothing is expressed in the works themselves. Everything that can be said about their date, authorship, and provenance is mere supposition.