Chinese-Translated Dhyāna Scriptures and the Sinicization of Buddhism: The Chinese Traditional Cultural Significance and Philosophical Interpretation in the Dharmatrāta-Dhyāna Sūtra

Abstract

This paper examines the Dharmatrāta-Dhyāna Sūtra as an early Chinese-translated dhyāna scripture and explores its significance in the Sinicization of Buddhism. Focusing on the Five Gates of Meditation and the distinction between the “expedient path” and the “superior path”, it shows how earlier Buddhist meditation methods were translated, reorganized, and developed within the Chinese context. The five practices—mindfulness of breathing, contemplation of impurity, loving-kindness, dependent origination, and analysis of elements—formed a practical system for overcoming afflictions and cultivating meditation. The study argues that the Dharmatrāta-Dhyāna Sūtra not only preserved Indian Buddhist meditative traditions, but also played an important role in the formation of early Chinese Chan thought and in the broader development of Chinese Buddhist culture.