The first complete translation into English of this Tibetan text, together with the informative commentary by the 8th century master Buddhaguhya. This text is of seminal importance for the history of Buddhist Tantra, especially as very little has been published concerning the origins of Tantra in India.

Why did people in North India from the 5th century BC choose to leave the world and join the sect of the Buddha? This is the first book to apply the insights of social psychology in order to understand the religious motivation of the people who constituted the early Buddhist community. It also addresses the more general and theoretically controversial question of how world religions come into being, by focusing on the conversion process of the individual believer.

A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism, divided into five parts: the first on Buddhism and phenomenology, the second on the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought, the third on karma, meditation and epistemology, the fourth on the Trimsika and its translations, and finally the fifth on the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun and Yogacara in China.

Demonstrates that Buddhists appropriated the practice, vocabulary, and ideology of sacrifice from Vedic religion, and discusses the relationship of this sacrificial discourse to ideas of karma in the Pali canon and in early Buddhism.

A thoughtful, down-to-earth look at helpful ways to lessen human suffering.

This book takes you on a lively, sometimes light-hearted, journey through nine Buddhist practices that can bring "blessed relief" to a wide range of human suffering and teaches you skills to reduce suffering in the long term for yourself and others.The practices help you: Loosen the grip of sufferingEngage and question limiting views, thoughts and opinionsDeconstruct ten common assumptionsBe present in each momentSurvive emotional stormsDevelop peaceful communication skillsDeepen communication with your partnerAppreciate mortality and the preciousness of lifeCultivate compassion

As you read the chapters and engage in each practice, you will work with your own stories of suffering stories in which you have felt abandoned, deprived, subjugated, defective, excluded or vulnerable and you will learn how to release yourself from suffering by investigating it with curiosity and kindness."

Visual metaphors in a number of Mahayana sutras construct a discourse in which visual perception serves as a model for knowledge and enlightenment. In the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) and other Mahayana literature, immediate access to reality is symbolized by vision and set in opposition to language and conceptual thinking, which are construed as obscuring reality. In addition to its philosophical manifestations, the tension between vision and language also functioned as a strategy of legitimation in the struggle of the early heterodox Mahayana movement for authority and legitimacy. This emphasis on vision also served as a resource for the abundant mythical imagery in Mahayana sutras, imagery that is ritualized in Vajrayana visualization practices. McMahan brings a wide range of literature to bear on this issue, Including a rare analysis of the lavish imagery of the Gandavyuha Sutra in its Indian context. He concludes with a discussion of Indian approaches to visuality in the light of some recent discussions of "ocularcentrism" in the west, inviting scholars to expand the current discussion of vision and its roles in constructing epistemic systems and cultural practices beyond its exclusively European and American focus.

Written as a companion to Eliot's 3-volume Hinduism and Buddhism this text begins with an overview of Buddhism as practiced in India and China before presenting an in depth account of the history of Buddhism in Japan. It follows the development of the Buddhist movement in Japan from its official introduction in AD 552, through the Nara, Heian and Tokugawa periods, detailing the rises of the various Buddhist sects in Japan, including Nichiren and Zen. Thoroughly researched and well-written, it was the last work published by Eliot, one of the great scholars of Eastern religion and philosophy at the time.

The study of the Chinese Buddhist Canon-the basic literature of Buddhism-does not have an eminent place in study either in China or in the Western World. For the contributors to this volume, their chapters are the result of decades of dedication to academic research, and they reveal many facets of the Buddhist Canon that were previously unstudied. This book originated in the first and second International Conferences on Chinese Buddhist Canon, and focuses on the communication of the Chinese Buddhist Canon through the medium of print. It enhances our knowledge of how the canon was collated, proofread and printed. This book was originally published as a special issue of Studies in Chinese Religions.

This is a subset of F. Max Mullers great collection The Sacred Books of the East which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

This is a subset of the Sacred Books of the East Series which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

This is a subset of F. Max Mullers great collection The Sacred Books of the East which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

This is a subset of the Sacred Books of the East Series which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

Two of DŌ gen's most esteemed translators provide key chapters form his Zen masterpiece, the Shō bō genzō , in English with annotations to guide the reader.

This is a subset of F. Max Mullers great collection The Sacred Books of the East which includes translations of all the most important works of the seven non-Christian religions which have exercised a profound influence on the civilizations of the continent of Asia. The works have been translated by leading authorities in their field.

This is a semiotic study of a corpus of texts that Kumârajîva (344-413 CE), Paramârtha (499~569 CE) and Xuanzang (599~664 CE) transmitted from India to China, featuring a critical reading of the Dazhidu Lun (T1509, Mahâ-Prajñâpâramitâ-upadeúa-Úâstra), San Wuxing Lun (T1617, Try-asvabhâva-prakara.na), and Guangbai Lun (T1571, Catu.húataka-úâstra-kârika). Focusing its attention on the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of samatâ, it identifies a Buddhist semiotics which anticipates Derrida's invocation of the notion of the Same in his deconstruction of binary oppositions.

'This is a deep and intense book, written with empathy for everything involved, and is of vital global, social significance.' - Revd Mary Sellers, Church Times

'Gosling's work is clearly and passionately written, betraying careful scholarship in science and religious studies. It should help to clarify the role of religious traditions in increasing ecological awareness, and, it is to be hoped, in promoting some resolution of the social and environmental problems our world faces' - THES

'The book is a must in any serious library dealing with ecology in India and Southeast Asia' - G. Gispert-Sauch, VJTR

'... a book which should allow Hinduism and Buddhism, and activists from India and Thailand, to challenge those of us from "religions of the book".' - Andrew Wingate, Theology

How did ancient Buddhists read and interpret the Buddha's words? In Voice of the Buddha, Maria Heim reads the early Buddhist scriptures with Buddhaghosa, the principal commentator, editor, and translator of the Theravada intellectual tradition. Buddhaghosa considers the Buddha to be omniscient and his words "oceanic." Every word, passage, bookindeed, the corpus as a wholeis taken to be "endless and immeasurable." Commentarial practice thus requires disciplined methods of expansion, drawing out the endless possibilities for meaning and application. Heim considers Buddhagohsa's theories of scripture and follows his practices of exegesis to yield fresh insight into all three collections of the early Pali texts: Vinaya, the Suttas, and the Abhidhamma.

This book discusses what is now called "Buddhism". It started as an effort to strengthen a weak point in that "immanence" which had become the accepted religious teaching in the valley of the Ganges, by showing that the "God/in/man" was realizable, not by gnosis and ritual, but in conduct. Conduct needed to be brought into relgion, into the relation between man and his eternal destiny. Man's being is more truly becoming; and only in and by becoming a More, will he attain to an actual, not potential Most. In teaching a More worth in conduction, Buddhism brought in a teaching of the man himself as Less.

This is Volume VII of sixteen of the Oriental series looking at Buddhism. Initially published in 1930, this study discusses the doctrines of the author of the Pali book 'Milindapafiha' and the Milinda-Questions and their and the author's place in Buddhism.

This is Volume VIII of sixteen in a collection on Buddhism. Originally published in 1923, this volume looks at cosmology. All forms of Buddhism, however divergent, claim to have but three objects of worship: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.. The first is the founder of the faith, the second the teaching which he gave, and the third the order which he founded. Regarding each of the Ratnas or jewels, as they are called, an enormous amount of speculation has grown up, with many different opinions concerning the proper method of interpretation.

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." --Dalai Lama

That's easy for the Dalai Lama to say--but for the rest of us, understanding this mysterious, multilayered faith can be very difficult. With this updated and revised edition of the classic Buddhist primer, you can delve into the profound principles of nonviolence, mindfulness, and self-awareness.

From Tibetan Buddhism to Zen, you'll explore the traditions of all branches of Buddhism, including:

• The life of Buddha and his continuing influence throughout the world
• A revealing survey of the definitive Buddhist texts
• What the Sutras say about education, marriage, sex, and death
• Faith-fueled social protest movements in Tibet, Burma, and elsewhere
• Buddhist art, poetry, architecture, calligraphy, and landscaping
• The proven physiological effects of meditation and other Buddhist practices
• The growing impact of Buddhism on modern American culture

First published in 2000. Following the procurement of a rare palm leaf manuscript in the Burmese capital, the authors attained were supplied with copies and interesting details respecting the sayings and doings of Gaudama. Reverend Bigandet have gathered much information on the condition of Gaudama, previous to his last existence, on the origin of the Kapilawot country, where he was born, and on the kings he has descended from. The story of Dewadat is narrated at great length which will be of great interest to those studying the life of Gaudama and the connections to the religious system of Buddhism.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.