The Inquiry of the Girl Sumati

The Inquiry of the Girl Sumati features an eight-year-old girl named Sumati, “Keen Intellect,” who asks the Buddha Śākyamuni a series of questions about what is necessary to gain a variety of positive outcomes, like a beautiful body and an auspicious, peaceful death. The Buddha replies by expounding a series of sets of four dharmas that a bodhisattva can cultivate to produce these outcomes. Sumati then promises to put them all into practice exactly as he has taught them. Her confidence prompts Maudgalyāyana and Mañjuśrī to question her motives and understanding. She responds with several acts of truth that confirm her aspiration to achieve awakening as a buddha and result in several wonders, including a great earthquake. Sumati’s dialogue with Mañjuśrī explores the nature of reality and the reality of gender, among other topics, and leads Sumati to transform herself into a man and confirm the conditions of her future awakening as a buddha. The Buddha then himself confirms not only her future awakening but also that of several monks in the audience.