The Sūtra on the Three Trainings
In the Indian Language [Sanskrit]: Śikṣa Traya Nāma Sūtra (śikṣa-traya-nāma-sūtra)
In the Tibetan Language: Lappa Sum gyi Do Zheyjawa (bslab pa gsum gyi mdo zhes bya ba)
In the English Language: The Sūtra Renowned as ‘The Three Trainings’ (The Three Trainings Sūtra)
ADORATION TO ALL BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS.
Thus have I heard: At one time, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror was wandering the countryside and traveling in the country of Vaiśālī . He came to a village of thatched huts, and in a forest of Sāla trees to the north of the village of thatched huts, he stayed in one congregation with a great Saṅgha of fully-ordained monastics.
Then, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror granted teaching to the monastics thus:
“Seekers of virtue! There is ethical discipline. There is meditative absorption. There is discerning wisdom. Seekers of virtue! If one becomes accustomed to ethical discipline, then one will come to dwell in meditative absorption for a long time. If one becomes accustomed to meditative absorption, then one will come to attain discerning wisdom. If one becomes accustomed to discerning wisdom, then the following will occur: One will be totally liberated from greed, hatred, and delusion into a purely perfect mind. The Noble Disciple who has been totally liberated into a purely perfect mind will come to understand the following, in an utterly authentic way:
The contamination of ‘self’ has been extinguished,
The holy life has been adhered to,
What had to be done has been done:
I shall not know another conditioned existence, from here on.
The Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror bestowed teaching with those words, and the seekers of virtue rejoiced, and deeply praised what had been spoken by the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror.
THE SŪTRA ON THE THREE TRAININGS IS COMPLETE.
Translated from the Tibetan by Erick Tsiknopoulos, 2012-2014
The translation was first completed at McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India in November 2012, and later revised at Bangkok, Thailand in September 2014.
Special thanks to Dr. Lobzang Gyatso for his help with reviewing the translation and providing commentary and explanation for many points in the text.
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