Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva

Reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno but largely unknown in the West, this sutra, which discusses the workings of karma and rebirth, describes the various Buddhist hells and the reasons for falling into them. Spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha, it tells us that he entrusted Earth Store (Ksitigarbha) Bodhisattva with the endless task of rescuing all living beings from suffering. Earth Store’s long history and extraordinary vows to accomplish this impossible task have made this an extremely popular Buddhist text and the predominant funeral scripture in East Asia for centuries. Master Hsuan Hua and his disciples published the first ever English translation from Classical Chinese.