So in this way quite a lot of important teachings and traditions got
incorporated into this constantly expanding 'Mahaparinibbana Sutta', even quite late material,
which later people, later monks, wanted to sort of tack onto the Buddha's teaching - they all found
their place there, to give them a sort of authority and especially if it was about what the Buddha had
said immediately before passing away, as part of his last message, it was of special importance. In
this way, as the translator says, "this suttanta is a composite work containing loosely assembled
material of various dates." Some of the material in this sutta is very old, no doubt going back to the
Buddha himself. Other material may be a hundred, two hundred years later.
Rhys Davids, however, points out that only one third of the Sutta is original while the rest of the passages are found in identical or almost identical words elsewhere inthe canon. He is convinced of the gradual growth of living traditions. He says: “It is well known that all the ancient sacred literatures of the world have grown up gradually,and are a mosaic of earlier and later material. The Buddhist Pitakas form no exception.”
cooran wrote:Hello Blue Lotus,
Why do you make such a statement?
Do you have a link to where scholars have said it was composed from different other suttas?
with metta
Chris
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