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Category：Commentaries on Buddhist Śāstras Reads：
The origin of this sūtra is that the World-Honored One knew that His father, King Śuddhodana, had matured his wholesome roots, and so He expounded the Mahāyāna dharma to him so that he might attain ultimate liberation. In this selected exposition, the main focus is on explaining the last four fascicles of the sūtra, the most important portion, in which the Buddha teaches the Dharma to King Śuddhodana. In the sūtra, the World-Honored One uses various dream similes to warn King Śuddhodana that all faculties are like illusions and realms are like dreams, and that he should not crave worldly power and pleasures, for upon waking from a dream nothing exists; he should cultivate the path early so as to be liberated from afflictions and attain nirvāṇa. Using dream similes, He illustrates that all dharmas are utterly empty and quiescent, leading one to enter the three doors of liberation: emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. Every dream simile taught by the World-Honored One in the sūtra reveals that the self-nature of all dharmas is empty, with neither coming nor going, and thus there is no need to grasp any of them; in this way sentient beings can be awakened, no longer sinking and floundering in this dream-like world creating karma of greed, hatred, and delusion. After hearing the Dharma, King Śuddhodana diligently cultivated practice and ultimately realized the Way.
