The journey of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra into East Asia unfolded primarily through the medium of translation and the living practice of Buddhist communities. In China, the text became known through several key renderings into Chinese, most notably the translation by Guṇabhadra in the fifth century, followed by those of Bodhiruci and Śikṣānanda in subsequent centuries. These translations were not merely linguistic exercises; they represented the transplantation of a Yogācāra vision of “consciousness-only” and Buddha-nature into a new cultural soil. Over time, the sūtra came to be closely associated with the emerging Chan tradition, which found in its teachings a scriptural echo of its own emphasis on direct realization of mind. Traditions within Chan even portrayed the text as a central scripture transmitted within the early patriarchal line, symbolizing the intimate link between doctrinal understanding and meditative awakening.

From China, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra traveled on to Japan as part of the broader flow of Chinese Buddhist scriptures and practice lineages. Japanese monks who studied in China brought back not only the Chinese translations of the text but also the interpretive frameworks of Yogācāra and Chan that had grown up around it. In Japan, the sūtra informed both scholastic and contemplative currents: it contributed to Yogācāra-oriented study in the Hossō school and also nourished the Zen traditions that inherited the Chan reverence for this scripture. Within these Zen lineages, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra was treasured for its articulation of Buddha-nature, the storehouse consciousness, and the illusory character of external phenomena, themes that resonated deeply with the quest to see one’s true nature. In this way, the text did not simply “arrive” in China and Japan; it was continually reinterpreted and re-embodied as a guide to understanding mind and awakening within each new cultural context.