An illuminating in-depth study of one of the most well-known and recited Buddhist texts, by a renowned modern translator The Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra is among the best known of all the Buddhist scriptures. Chanted daily by many Zen practitioners, it is also studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition, and it has been regarded with interest more recently in the West in various fields of study—from philosophy to quantum physics. In just a few lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release of suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language. Kazuaki Tanahashi’s guide to the Heart Sutra is the result of a life spent working with it and living it. He outlines the history and meaning of the text and then analyzes it line by line in its various forms (Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongolian, and various key English translations), providing a deeper understanding of the history and etymology of the elusive words than is generally available to the non-specialist—yet with a clear emphasis on the relevance of the text to practice. This book includes a fresh and meticulous new translation of the text by the author and Roshi Joan Halifax.

Alan Cole sheds new light on the origin & nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts: the Lotus Sūtra, Diamond Sūtra, Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, & Vimalakīrtinirdeśa.

Drawing on textual and anthropological research, this book demonstrates how popular ritual texts and stories have shaped the religion and culture of the only surviving Mahayana Buddhist society, the Newars of Kathmandu.

The larger sutra on Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 360) -- The sutra on contemplation of Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 365) -- The smaller sutra on Amitāyus (Taishō volume 12, number 366).

The Maharatnakuta Sutra is one of the five major sutra groups in the Mahayana canon. Of the two great schools of Buddhism, Mahayana has the greatest number of adherents worldwide-it prevails among the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Tibetans, and Vietnames-and contains within it a number of movements, notably Zen which have been of growing interest in the West in recent decades. Yet despite this increased attention and enormous following, translations of Mahayana scriptures have been scarce and fragmentary; clearly, a comprehensive translation of a major work within the canon was called for.

A collection of the most prominent sutras given by Buddha Gautama from the Mahayana tradition. VOLUME I includes the following sutras: 1. AMITAYUS SUTRA(Sanskrit: Amitāyurbuddhānusmṛti-sūtra) is often called the Meditation Sutra and revered as canonical by all Pure Land Buddhists, being one of the Three Sutras of Pure Land Buddhism. This Mahayana Buddhist text focuses mainly on meditations involving complex visualizations. 2. SUTRA OF COMPLETE ENLIGHTENMENT(sanskrit: Mahāvaipulya pūrṇabuddha-sūtra) is a Buddhist text highly esteemed by both the Huayan and Zen schools. The earliest records of this sutra are in Chinese and the teachings are dealing with issues such as the meaning and origin of ignorance, sudden and gradual enlightenment, and Buddhahood. 3. THE LANKAVATARA SUTRA(sanskrit: Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist text that recounts a teaching primarily between Buddha Gautama and a bodhisattva Mahamati. The name of this sutra roughly translates as 'scripture of the Descent into Lanka' and takes place in Lanka, the island fortress capital of Ravana (the king of rakshasa demons). This text asserts that objects of the material world are merely manifestations of the mind through contemplation on the topics of consciousness, reality and individual awareness. 4. THE COMPASSIONATE LOTUS SUTRA(sanskrit: Karuṇā-puṇḍarīka-sūtra) is a Mahayana Buddhist text describing how Buddha Gautama first became bodhichitta in his previous life as the brahmana. 5. SUTRA OF TRANSCENDENTAL WISDOM(sanskirt: Mahā-prajñāpāramitā-hridaya-sūtra) is one of the shortest of all Mahayana Buddhist sutras. It is often is memorized and recited by Buddhist monks and nuns as part of the daily ritual.

Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings in the context of the religious and monastic debates of the second century CE. Walser explores how Nagarjuna secured the canonical authority of Mahayana teachings and considers his use of rhetoric to ensure the transmission of his writings by Buddhist monks. Drawing on close textual analysis of Nagarjuna's writings and other Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, Walser offers an original contribution to the understanding of Nagarjuna and the early history of Buddhism.

The Gandh?ran birch-bark scrolls preserve the earliest remains of Buddhist literature known today and provide unprecedented insights into the history of Buddhism. This volume presents three manuscripts from the Bajaur Collection (BC), a group of nineteen scrolls discovered at the end of the twentieth century and named after their findspot in northwestern Pakistan. The manuscripts, written in the G?ndh?r? language and Kharo??h? script, date to the second century CE. The three scrolls?BC 4, BC 6, and BC 11?contain treatises that focus on the Buddhist concept of non-attachment. This volume is the first in the Gandh?ran Buddhist Texts series that is devoted to texts belonging to the Mah?y?na tradition. There are no known versions of these texts in other Buddhist traditions, and it is assumed that they are autographs. Andrea Schlosser provides an overview of the contents of the manuscripts and discusses their context, genre, possible authorship, physical layout, paleography, orthography, phonology, and morphology. Transliteration and translation of the texts are accompanied by notes on difficult terminology, photographs of the reconstructed scrolls, an index of G?ndh?r? words with Sanskrit and Pali equivalents, and a preliminary transliteration of the scroll BC 19.

Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen. Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies.