Studies in the Literature of the Great Vehicle Three Mahayana Buddhist Texts (Michigan Studies in Buddhist Literature) Hardcover - 1999

From the publisher

Indian Buddhist literature falls roughly into two classes: the religious or scriptural (sutra) and the philosophical (sastra). The three parts of this volume contain studies and translations of two sutras and one sastra. Taken together, they may permit the reader to confront the vast breadth and depth of Indian Mahayana Buddhist literature. The English translation of the first four chapters of the Sutra of the King of Samadhis (Samadhiraja), accompanied by a detailed introduction, is the first western-language translation of the introductory chapters of the scripture, which was a central source for the philosophy of Madhyamika Buddhism. This team translation, based on the Sanskrit text of the sutra, was conceived with a popular audience in mind. Part II is Gregory Schopen's edition and translation of the so-called Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedika), a famous scripture of the Perfection of Wisdom tradition. The Gilgit text presented here is one of the oldest available Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts and as such directly reveals one aspect of sixth-century Indian Buddhism. Textual notes accompanying the edition highlight the difficulties that face the student who would study such a text. Masamichi Ichigo's study, edition, and translation of the Madhyamkala?kara of Santarak?ita makes available one of the fundamental works of Indian Buddhist philosophy. A detailed introduction situates the thought of Santarak?ita in the Madhyamika philosophical system and emphasizes his contribution not only to Indian Buddhist thought but to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as well.

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