The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature

Book

The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) was transmitted from the bodhisattva Maitreyanātha to Āryā Āsaṅga, the fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar-adept. The most foundational of the set of the famous Five Teachings of Maitreya, the Discourse Literature is considered the wellspring of what the Tibetans call the "magnificent deeds trend of the path," the compassion side, which balances the "profound view trend of the path," the wisdom side. The Discourse Literature is also considered to be metaphysically aligned with and foundational for the Idealist (Vijñānavādin) school of Mahāyāna thought. Translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese by Lobsang Jamspal, Robert Thurman, and the AIBS team, the present work contains a fully annotated, critical English rendition of the Discourse Literature along with its commentary (bhāṣya) by Āsaṅga’s brother, Vasubandhu. It also includes an introduction covering essential historical and philosophical topics, a bibliography, and a detailed index. This long-awaited work is the founding cornerstone of the AIBS Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series. (Source: AIBS)

Citation

Jamspal, L., R. Clark, J. Wilson, L. Zwilling, M. Sweet, and R. Thurman, trans. The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra). By Maitreyanātha/Āryāsaṅga. Together with its Commentary (Bhāṣya) by Vasubandhu. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University's Center for Buddhist Studies, and Tibet House US, 2004. https://archive.org/details/mahayanasutralamkarabyaryansanghatheuniversalvehiclediscourseliteraturebhashyaof_902_Y/mode/2up.

Prefacevii
Introductionxiii
- 1. The World of the Literaturexiii
- 2. The Author of the Literaturexvi
  - Maitreyanatha and Aryasangaxvi
  - Maitreyanatha, knower of import (arthajño)xxiv
    - Philosophical and Hermeneutical Levelxxv
    - Meditational and Realizational Levelxxix
    - Actualization and Socio-historical Levelxxxi
- 3. The Source Texts of the Literaturexxxiii
- 4. The Philosophy of the Literaturexxxix
Translation
- Prologue1
- I. The Authenticity of the Universal Vehicle7
- II. Going For Refuge17
- III. The Spiritual Gene23
- IV. Conception of the Spirit of Enlightenment31
- V. Practice43
- VI. Thatness49
- VII. Power55
- VIII. Evolutionary Maturity61
- IX. Enlightenment73
- X. Faith105
- XI. Investigation of the Dharma111
- XII. Teaching the Dharma153
- XIII. Practice165
- XIV. Precept and Instruction175
- XV. Action Endowed with Liberative Art189
- XVI. The Transcendences191
- XVII. Worship, Service, and the Immeasurables221
- XVIII. The Accessories of Enlightenment245
- XIX. Excellences293
- XX. Practice319
- XXI. Epilogue - Culmination335
Abbreviations345
Bibliography349
Indexes to the Translation355

Maitreya (བྱམས་པ་མགོན་པོ་) and Asaṅga: mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā (theg pa chen po mdo sde'i rgyan zhes bya ba'i tshig le'ur byas pa, ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་མདོ་སྡེའི་རྒྱན་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་ཚིག་ལེའུར་བྱས་པ་). (D 4020) sems tsam, phi 1b1-39a4. In bstan 'gyur (sde dge), Vol. 123: 1-78. Delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985. Columbia AIBS
Vasubandhu (དབྱིག་གཉེན་): sūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya (mdo sde'i rgyan gyi bshad pa, མདོ་སྡེའི་རྒྱན་གྱི་བཤད་པ་, The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature). (D 4026) sems tsam, phi 129b1-260a7. In bstan 'gyur (sde dge), Vol. 123: 258-519. Delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985. Columbia AIBS