Which sutras prevailed during the Buddha' s lifetime?

 

Sakyamuni Buddha, through 49 years of his entire lifetime, ran the

gamut of teaching from the Mahayana literature to the Hinayana

cultivation. Devotees and audiences had come from all directions.

Teacher and father manifest, he undertook to transform all living

beings, delivering the doctrine and showing them how to live life

with good sense and dignity.

The first text assembled was the simple and undecorated Agamas

detailing life in India at the time with honest descriptions of how to

emulate the Buddha in practice and what the realm of samadhi prajna

is. The renowned 12 nidanas, 37 conditions leading to bodhi, and the

precepts and discipline are hereby contained and discussed in depth.

The much translated and revered Agamas are deemed the point of

eventual return for everything.

Further, there is a range of Mahayana sutras and texts facilitating the

gifted, living beings with sharp root, including Mahaprajnaparamita

Sutra, Sandhinirmocana Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Sutra

of Vimalakirti, and many others.