GALLERY 2740 | EAST ASIAN BUDDHIST ART
The sutra stresses the inability of humankind to comprehend ultimate reality and aims to dissolve the distinctions between past, present, and future through a series of dramatic parables, presented in 28 chapters.
When sutras were imported to Japan from continental Asia, they were at first copied exclusively in the official scriptoria of major temples by professional scribes. Over time, laypeople adopted the practice of copying sutras as a means of generating spiritual merit. Not only was the content of each sutra considered sacred, the physical copies themselves were also revered.