Editing Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (section)

=== Sudden and gradual purification ===
An important passage in the ''Laṅkāvatāra'' discusses how the purification of the mind occurs, and the passage states that it can occur gradually as well as suddenly.<ref>Watts, Alan (2011) ''The Way of Zen,'' p. 78. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.</ref><ref name=":8">Red Pine (2013). ''The Lankavatara Sutra: Translation and Commentary'', Chapter two (pp. 43-167), section XIV.</ref> In this passage, the ''Lanka'' states that the purification of the mind can happen "by degrees and not all at once. Like the [[gooseberry]], which ripens by degrees," and immediately after it also states that awakening can also happen "all at once":<ref name=":8" /> <blockquote>Or just as a clear mirror reflects formless images all at once, tathagatas likewise purify the stream of perceptions of beings’ minds by displaying pure, formless, undifferentiated realms all at once. Or just as the sun and moon illuminate images all at once, tathagatas likewise reveal the supreme realm of inconceivable wisdom all at once to those who have freed themselves of the habit-energy and misconceptions that are perceptions of their own minds. Or just as repository consciousness distinguishes such different perceptions of one’s mind as the realms of the body, its possessions, and the world around it all at once, [[Samboghakaya Buddha|nishyanda buddhas]] likewise bring beings to maturity in whatever realm they dwell all at once and lead practitioners to reside in Akanishtha Heaven.<ref name=":8" /> </blockquote>This idea was important for the establishment of the East Asian Buddhist doctrine of [[Subitism|sudden (dun 頓) enlightenment]], an important doctrine which was later widely debated and discussed in [[Zen|Zen Buddhism]].<ref>Jimmy Yu, ''Reimagining Chan Buddhism: Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan,'' p. 127'','' Routledge, 2021.</ref>