The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha

The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha PDF Author: George C. Adams, Jr.
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1782796118
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 109

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Book Description
What if, on the final night of his earthly existence, the Buddha experienced a second Enlightenment, leading him to radically revise his teachings about the self, the world, and spiritual fulfillment? And what if that final teaching, lost for over 2000 years, was rediscovered? "The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha" purports to offer that final conversation, part teaching and part confession, between the Buddha and his trusted attendant, Ananda. Sometimes touching, sometimes shocking, and sure to spark controversy everywhere, The Deathbed Sutra forces Buddhists and scholars of Buddhism to seriously re-evaluate fundamental aspects of the tradition. Regardless of how readers assess this work - as a hoax or as a legitimate lost teaching of the Enlightened One - they will find its content to be a serious challenge to long-held positions about the nature of the self, the nature of reality, and the path to enlightenment. This short work will be a must read for anyone with a serious interest in the teachings of the Buddha.

The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha

The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha PDF Author: George C. Adams, Jr.
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1782796118
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 109

Get Book Here

Book Description
What if, on the final night of his earthly existence, the Buddha experienced a second Enlightenment, leading him to radically revise his teachings about the self, the world, and spiritual fulfillment? And what if that final teaching, lost for over 2000 years, was rediscovered? "The Deathbed Sutra of the Buddha" purports to offer that final conversation, part teaching and part confession, between the Buddha and his trusted attendant, Ananda. Sometimes touching, sometimes shocking, and sure to spark controversy everywhere, The Deathbed Sutra forces Buddhists and scholars of Buddhism to seriously re-evaluate fundamental aspects of the tradition. Regardless of how readers assess this work - as a hoax or as a legitimate lost teaching of the Enlightened One - they will find its content to be a serious challenge to long-held positions about the nature of the self, the nature of reality, and the path to enlightenment. This short work will be a must read for anyone with a serious interest in the teachings of the Buddha.

Right Thoughts at the Last Moment

Right Thoughts at the Last Moment PDF Author: Jacqueline I. Stone
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824867653
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 633

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Book Description
Buddhists across Asia have often aspired to die with a clear and focused mind, as the historical Buddha himself is said to have done. This book explores how the ideal of dying with right mindfulness was appropriated, disseminated, and transformed in premodern Japan, focusing on the late tenth through early fourteenth centuries. By concentrating one’s thoughts on the Buddha in one’s last moments, it was said even an ignorant and sinful person could escape the cycle of deluded rebirth and achieve birth in a buddha’s pure land, where liberation would be assured. Conversely, the slightest mental distraction at that final juncture could send even a devout practitioner tumbling down into the hells or other miserable rebirth realms. The ideal of mindful death thus generated both hope and anxiety and created a demand for ritual specialists who could act as religious guides at the deathbed. Buddhist death management in Japan has been studied chiefly from the standpoint of funerals and mortuary rites. Right Thoughts at the Last Moment investigates a largely untold side of that story: how early medieval Japanese prepared for death, and how desire for ritual assistance in one’s last hours contributed to Buddhist preeminence in death-related matters. It represents the first book-length study in a Western language to examine how the Buddhist ideal of mindful death was appropriated in a specific historical context. Practice for one’s last hours occupied the intersections of multiple, often disparate approaches that Buddhism offered for coping with death. Because they crossed sectarian lines and eventually permeated all social levels, deathbed practices afford insights into broader issues in medieval Japanese religion, including intellectual developments, devotional practices, pollution concerns, ritual performance, and divisions of labor among religious professionals. They also allow us to see beyond the categories of “old” versus “new” Buddhism, or establishment Buddhism versus marginal heterodoxies, which have characterized much scholarship to date. Enlivened by cogent examples, this study draws on a wealth of sources including ritual instructions, hagiographies, doctrinal writings, didactic tales, courtier diaries, historical records, letters, and relevant art historical material to explore the interplay of doctrinal ideals and on-the-ground practice.

The Diamond Sutra

The Diamond Sutra PDF Author: Red Pine
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1582439532
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
A masterful translation of the Diamond Sutra—with insightful commentary and helpful historical information for parsing this essential Zen Buddhist scripture Zen Buddhism is often said to be a practice of mind–to–mind transmission without reliance on texts—in fact, some great teachers forbid their students to read or write. But Buddhism has also inspired some of the greatest philosophical writings of any religion, and two such works lie at the center of Zen: The Heart Sutra, which monks recite all over the world, and The Diamond Sutra, said to contain answers to all questions of delusion and dualism. This is the Buddhist teaching on the perfection of wisdom and cuts through all obstacles on the path of practice. As Red Pine explains: The Diamond Sutra may look like a book, but it’s really the body of the Buddha. It’s also your body, my body, all possible bodies. But it’s a body with nothing inside and nothing outside. It doesn’t exist in space or time. Nor is it a construct of the mind. It’s no mind. And yet because it’s no mind, it has room for compassion. This book is the offering of no mind, born of compassion for all suffering beings. Of all the sutras that teach this teaching, this is the diamond.

The Annotated True Buddha Sutra

The Annotated True Buddha Sutra PDF Author: Sheng-yen Lu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781881493082
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description


The Diamond Sutra (Chin-kang-ching)

The Diamond Sutra (Chin-kang-ching) PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description


Miracles of Book and Body

Miracles of Book and Body PDF Author: Charlotte Eubanks
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520265610
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
"This is an exciting exploration of the world of Buddhist attitudes towards religious texts, from Indian scriptures to Japanese medieval tales. Its emphasis on discursive strategies—how Buddhist texts function and what they expect of their readers/users (especially, the connection between books, their content, and their readers' bodies)—is a welcome new perspective."—Fabio Rambelli, author of Buddhist Materiality "Miracles of Book and Body is fluidly written and engaging. This book brings the reader to an awareness of the range and foci of medieval 'popular' readings of sutra literature, and Eubanks provides an important perspective to interpreting these narratives that is original and stimulating."—Thomas W. Hare, author of Zeami: Performance Notes "Charlotte Eubanks' sophisticated, insightful and readable study of the physicalities of sutra texts and sutra recitation makes sense of some of the strangest phenomena in medieval Japan. By disentangling the literal and metaphorical meanings in Buddhist setsuwa, Eubanks explains such things as how memorizing a text is an embodiment thereof, how texts can become sentient beings, and why the scroll is an appropriate format for recording dharma. Her work is both important and engaging."—Margaret H. Childs, University of Kansas "Drawing on an impressive range of Mahayana scriptures and medieval Japanese didactic tales, Eubanks unpacks recurrent tropes correlating text and flesh to reveal surprising connections among the literary, material, and ritual dimensions of Buddhist textual culture. Elegantly written and theoretically astute, this volume will be welcomed not only by specialists in Buddhist literature but also by readers interested in broader issues of text-based religious practice."—Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism

The Diamond Sutra

The Diamond Sutra PDF Author: Mu Soeng
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718291
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
In this brilliant new translation and commentary on The Diamond Sutra--one of the sublime wisdom teachings of Mahayana Buddhism--Mu Soeng integrates this ancient wisdom teaching with current scientific and psychological thought. His clear and readable commentary traces the connections between these teachings and contemporary theories of quantum reality, explores the sutra within the framework of Buddhist meditation practices, and provides a comprehensive historical survey of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Mu Soeng's goal throughout is to reveal the inspiration and wisdom of The Diamond Sutra to today's reader in an accessible, engaging, and modern manner.

The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, with the Divisions of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra

The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, with the Divisions of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra PDF Author: Edward Conze
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520022409
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 710

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Book Description


The Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra PDF Author:
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861719875
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Book Description
The Lotus Sutra is regarded as one of the world's great religious scriptures and most influential texts. It's a seminal work in the development of Buddhism throughout East Asia and, by extension, in the development of Mahayana Buddhism throughout the world. Taking place in a vast and fantastical cosmic setting, the Lotus Sutra places emphasis on skillfully doing whatever is needed to serve and compassionately care for others, on breaking down distinctions between the fully enlightened buddha and the bodhisattva who vows to postpone salvation until all beings may share it, and especially on each and every being's innate capacity to become a buddha. Gene Reeves's new translation appeals to readers with little or no familiarity with technical Buddhist vocabulary, as well as long-time practitioners and students. In addition, this remarkable volume includes the full "threefold" text of this classic.

Describing the Indescribable

Describing the Indescribable PDF Author: Hsing Yun
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718267
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
The Diamond Sutra is revered throughout Asia as one of the Buddha's most profound expressions of the nature of reality. A gem among the vast Perfection of Wisdom literature, the Diamond Sutra elicits an experience of eternal truth through its use of a seemingly paradoxical style, as the reader goes back and forth between "what is" and "what is not." Master Hsing Yun skillfully plumbs the depths of the Diamond Sutra, illuminating for us its power to change who we are and how we interpret our world.