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Buddhist Texts Through the Ages

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Edward Conze presents the premier anthology of Buddhist texts and scriptures in this stunningly ambitious collection. He traces the development of Buddhism through the ages, with translations from the original Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese. For those looking for the perfect companion to Conze’s original text, Buddhism, or for those new to Buddhist theology, Buddhist Texts Through the Ages contains a thorough and comprehensive guide to the theology. This edition also includes a glossary of English and foreign terms. (Source: Philosophical Library)

Citation	Conze, Edward, trans. and ed. Buddhist Texts Through the Ages: Newly Translated from the Original Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, and Apabhramsa. In collaboration with I. B. Horner, D. Snellgrove, and A. Waley. New York: Philosophical Library, 1954.

ContentsSources

Introduction First Part THE TEACHING OF THE ELDERS By I. B. Horner

• THE SAMGHA17

THE ORDER OF MONKS AND NUNS Conversion of Anathapindika 17 Conversion of General Siha 20 Ordination of Pajapati the Great 23 Visakha, the Laywoman Supporter 26 Schism 28 SKILL IN MEANS 33 ARAHANTS 42 THE BUDDHIST APOCALYPSE 45

• THE DHAMMA51

THE FIVE FACULTIES The Five Faculties collectively 51 The Five Faculties separately 52 Faith 52 Vigour 54 Mindfulness 56 Concentration 60 Wisdom 64 CONDITIONED GENESIS Conditioned Genesis collectively 65 Cond:tioned Genesis separately 70 Ignorance 70 Consciousness 70 Feelng 72 Craving 73 Grasping 74 Birth, Ageing and Dying 76 THE OBJECT OF WISDOM Crossing Over 82 Emptiness 90 Nirvana 92

• THE BUDDHA AND TATHAGATA103

Second Part THE MAHAYANA By Edward Conze

• BASIC NOTIONS119

CRITICISM OF THE HINAYANA POSITION Bodhisattvas and Disciples 119 The Conversion of Sariputra 120 The two Nirvanas 124 THE BODHISATTVA Descriptions 127 His Infinite Compassion 131 The Dedication of Merit 132 THE SIX PERFECTIONS Definition 135 The six Perfections and the Body 136 The Perfection of Giving 136 The Perfection of Patience 137 The Perfection of Meditation 138 THE BUDDHA The Tathagata as a Rain-cloud 139 The real Buddha 140 The Tathagatas' Coming and Going 143 The Dharma-body 143 Tathagata and Suchness 144 The 18 special dharmas of a Buddha 145

• NEW WISDOM SCHOOL146

THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM 146 THE ELUSIVENESS OF PERFECT WISDOM 149 THE DOCTRINE OF PERFECT WISDOM 152 EMPTINESS Preliminary Meditations 158 Definitions and Synonyms of Emptiness 163 Negations 172 Contradictions 175 Unreality of the World 177 Emptiness and Salvation 179 The Germ of Buddhahood in all Beings 181

• THE BUDDHISM OF FAITH185

FAITH 185 THE ACTS AND REWARDS OF DEVOTION 186 THE OBJECTS OF DEVOTION The Buddha 190 Avalokitesvara 194 Tara 196 THE PURE LAND 202

• YOGACARINS207

MIND ONLY 207 TWOFOLD EGOLESSNESS 211 IRREALITY OF THE WORLD 212 THE BUDDHA AS THE BASIS OF ALL 216

Third Part THE TANTRAS By David Snellgrove

The Cleansing of Thought 221 Supreme Enlightenment 221 Saraha's Treasury of Songs 224 Anangavajra, The Attainment of the Realization of Wisdom and Means 240 Note on the Mandala 246 Advayavajra, The fivefold Manifestation 249 An Evocation of Prajnaparamita 252 The Mandala conceived within 254 The Story of Tanti 255 Mila Repa and the Novices 257

Fourth Part TEXTS FROM CHINA AND JAPAN By Arthur Waley

Introduction

• TEXTS ORIGINATING IN INDIA274

The Parable of Me and Mine 274 On the Curing of Illness contracted during Dhyana Practice 274 Meditation upon the Element Water 275 Judging the Character of a Dhyana Pupil 276 The Bracelets 278 All Words are true 278 Buddha's Doctrine 279 The Negation of Dhyana 280 Po Chu-i. Poem On Reading the Dhyana Sutra 281 Nationality 282 The Intermediate State 283 Devas repeople the Earth 283 Buddha's Pity 285

• TEXTS ORIGINATING IN CHINA AND JAPAN287

A Hinayana Sect in early China 287 The Truly So 290 From the Lives of the Nuns 291 On Trust in the Heart 295 From the Conversations of Shen-hui 299 A nice Mountain 302 Rain-making 302

• BIBLIOGRAPHY307
• SOURCES311
• GLOSSARY313
• ABBREVIATIONS323

See Bibliography pgs 307-311 for details on the translations.

Prajñāpāramitā - A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Skt. प्रज्ञापारमिता Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་,ཤེར་ཕྱིན་ Ch. 般若波羅蜜多

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