The Hua yan school of Buddhism developed in China between 600–1000 CE, flourishing at the end of the Tang dynasty. It relies for much of its doctrine on exegesis of the Mahayana Buddhist scripture known as the Hua yan Jing. The name Hua yan (Japanese: Kegon) is intended to be the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit Avataṃsaka, which means "flower garland." The term is ostensibly the title of a Sanskrit sutra, the Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra. The Hua yan school developed a panjiao (system of classification of Buddhist doctrines), which takes the Hua yan Jing to be the most profound of all the Buddhist sutras. This is because it was, according to legend, spoken by the Buddha while in the throes of his awakening experience.

Central Texts

The term vaipulya in the title indicates that the text is a composite one, cobbled together...