The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Dharma Council”

The Dharma Council is a Great Vehicle sūtra in which the path of a bodhisattva is taught initially by the Buddha, but principally by a host of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. Among them, the bodhisattva Nirārambha takes center stage, delivering long discourses and engaging in dialogues and debates on the key points of Great Vehicle Buddhism. Following Nirārambha’s example, a number of the Buddha’s disciples express their own understanding of the path, and they win praise and confirmation from the Buddha for their eloquent expositions of the Dharma. As a Great Vehicle sūtra, The Dharma Council is grounded in the themes of emptiness, nonconceptuality, and skillful compassionate conduct; from these doctrinal touchstones spring a profound and wide-ranging presentation of the Dharma.