By: The Numata Center
The Sutra on Upasaka Precepts as translated into English by Bhiksuni Shih Heng-ching.
The Sutra on Upāsaka Precepts sets forth the moral code to be observed by lay Buddhists. The word upāsaka in the title is Sanskrit for layman. In the sūtra, Sujāta is taught the moral code to be observed by lay followers of Buddhism. Therefore the text is also known as the Sujāta-sūtra after the central figure. Prescribing the moral code as so-called Mahāyāna Precepts or Bodhisattva Precepts, the work was especially valued in Mahāyānist China.
This work is considered to be an augmentation and adaptation on Mahāyānist principles of the Sujāta-sūtra found in the Dīrghāgama (Taishō 1), Madhyamāgama (Taishō 2), and other works. Because of this relationship to previous texts, and because the quotations it shares from various Mahāyāna sūtras, The Sutra on Upāsaka Precepts provides valuable source material for tracing the history of the development of the Buddhist canon.
BDK English Tripitaka 45-II