Gayāśīrṣa Hill

Gayāśīrṣa Hill is a pithy Buddhist scripture that describes various aspects of the Mahāyāna Buddhist path. Set on Gayāśīrṣa, the hill near Bodhgayā from which its title is derived, the sūtra presents its teaching in the form of the Buddha’s inward examination, a conversation between the Buddha and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and dialogues between Mañjuśrī and three interlocutors—two gods and a bodhisattva. It provides a sustained but concise treatment of the progress toward awakening, the stages of aspiration for complete awakening, method and wisdom as the two broad principles of the bodhisattva path, and various classifications of bodhisattva practices. Multiple translations, commentaries, and citations of passages from Gayāśīrṣa Hill attest to its wide influence in the Mahāyāna Buddhist communities of India, China, and Tibet.