Buddhist Mahayana Texts

Good material, but needs sorting out. Apparently this reprint was originally published by Oxford University Press in 1894. However, the erratic pagination strongly suggests that the various parts were published separately and then combined without renumbering. (In this review all diacritical marks will be ignored, of course.) Part I (pp. xiii, 1-207, including index) consists of "The Buddha-carita of Asvaghosa" (cf., J. _Bussho gyosan_) translated from a SANSKRIT original by E.B. Cowell. It is often important to note whether a Western language translation is made from a Sanskrit/Pali or a Chinese original. For Buddhists in China, Korea and Japan the Chinese version is definitive, however it may or may not vary from its original - "original" does not mean "authentic," just "earlier." Thus, the 28-chapter translation of the Lotus Sutra into Chinese by Kumarajiva in 406 is the scripture known to CJK Buddhists; its antecedents may be investigated out of historical curiosity, but any discrepancies would be of no theoretic importance. Part II ( pp. 1-208) begins with 5 texts translated from SANSKRIT by F. Max Muller (1823-1900): the Larger Sukhavati-vyuha [Pure Land], the Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha [Pure Land], the Vajracchedika [i.e., the Diamond Sutra], the Larger Prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra [Heart Sutra] , and the Smaller Prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra [Heart Sutra]. These are important in the CJK Buddhist tradition - but in their Chinese manifestation. The final item is the Amitayur-dhyana-sutra [Sutra of Meditation on Amida Buddha] translated by J(unjiro) Takakusu (1866-1945) from CHINESE (Nj. 198 = T [Taisho shinshu daizokyo] 365). [Yes, in 1874 the numbering system in use was Nanjo Bunyu (also Nanjio Bunyiu, 1849-1927), A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka, The Sacred Canon of the Buddhists in China and Japan (Oxford, 1883).] Although all of the Three Pure Land Sutras (Jodo sanbukyo) central to East Asian Pure Land thought are translated here, only the last by Takakusu is from the appropriate "original." The three are as follows: Larger Pure Land Sutra. The Muryojukyo, literally the "Amitayus Sutra," T 360, is the translation into Chinese attributed to Sanghavarman in C.E. 252; but popularly known as the (Larger) Sukhavat-vyuha ("Land of Supreme Bliss") Sutra, it relates the career of the Buddha Amida as the bodhisattva Dharmakara (Hozo), who made 48 vows to save sentient beings. For the Pure Land movement, the 18th vow is central: "Even when I am able to attain Buddhahood, if sentient beings of the ten quarters, with sincerity and faith, desire to be born in my land by practicing [invoking /meditating on ] up to ten thoughts on the name of Buddha Amitayus are not born there, I will not accept supreme enlightenment-only excluding those who commit the five atrocities and abuse the True Dharma." Amitabha Sutra. Kumarajiva's translation (ca. 402) of the (Smaller) Sukhavati-vyuha ("Land of Supr

This inexpensive volume contains several important Buddhist scriptures. Included is the Buddha Karita, the story of the Buddha's life. It is a prose translation of the original poem by the great Indian literary master, Asvaghosha. The translation was done a long time ago and so their are many Christo-centric interpretations of words that Buddhists would never use,like "soul" and "penance". Such terms should be more like "consciousness" and "austerity" respectively. These mistakes are forgivable, whether you're Christian or Buddhist, when you realize how beautiful the interpretation is otherwise. Look out for sexist language more indicative of Asvaghosha's milieu than the Buddha's life. Also included are a long and short version of the Shukhavati Vyuha, an important Pure Land text used by the Buddhist sects devoted to Amitabha Buddha. In it is a wonderful, mythical description of one of the Buddhist Heavens, Shukhavati, the Western Realm of Bliss. Buddhists read this scripture for the dead at special ceremonies. The Heart Sutra is also in here. It is sometimes described as the Buddhist Lord's Prayer. Many Buddhists recite it daily and there is even a scene in Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha movie where some monks blissfully break into the Heart Sutra while visiting at a friend's house. Bertolucci also had some opera singer perform it in an aria at the end of the movie...in Sanskrit no less! Wow. It actually worked too.

This book consists of very early (1894) translations of several classic Buddhist texts, including the Buddha-karita, the Pure Land Sutras, and the Heart Sutra. For a more updated and scholarly translation of the Pure Land Sutras, I would recommend "The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light," translated by Luis Gomez, and of course there are a number of fine modern translations of the Heart Sutra. I think this book (Buddhist Mahayana Texts) is worth buying, however, for the English translation of the Buddha-karita, a beautiful and poetic life story of the Buddha by the ancient Indian poet Ashvagosha. This is one of the classics of Indian literature. Even though the English translation may sound a little dated, the richness and beauty of the Sanskrit original still shines through.