| 🤓 Admin Zone 🛠️ hidden to non-admins | |
A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra
Book
- A Few Good Men
- A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras
- Abiding in Good and Noble Deportment
- Appendix to the New Edition of the Bodhicaryāvatāra
- Buddha Pronounces the Sūtra of the Great Cundī Dhāraṇī
- Chapter on Entering the Inconceivable Liberated State of Samantabhadra's Practices and Vows
- Dialogue With Bodhisattva Infinite Wisdom
- Mahāvaipulya Sūtra of the Tathāgata Store
- Myōhō-renge-kyō
- On Entering into the Inconceivable State of Emancipation by the Practice and Vows of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra of the Mahavaipulya Buddha Avatamsaka Sutra
- On the Pāramitā of Ingenuity
- Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma
- The Buddhist Feminine Ideal
- The Definitive Vinaya
- The Dhâranî of Tchundi
- The Diamond Cutter of Doubts: A Commentary on The Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā-prajñā-pāramitā Sūtra) By Ch'an Master Han Shan
- The Diamond Prajna Paramita Sutra
- The Diamond Prajna-Paramita Sutra
- The Diamond Sutra (Chin-Kang-Ching), or Prajna-Paramita
- The Diamond Sutra (Hsüan Hua)
- The Diamond Sutra (Wai-tao and Goddard)
- The Diamond Sutra and The Sutra of Hui Neng
- The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom
- The Diamond Sutra: Translated from Kumarajiva's Chinese Version
- The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion
- The Essentials of the Dharma Blossom Sutra
- The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of The Avatamsaka Sutra
- The Giving Rise of the Ten Kinds of Mind of the Bodhisattva
- The Great Vows of Samantabhadra
- The Healing Buddha (1979)
- The Healing Buddha (1989)
- The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text
- The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
- The Lotus Sutra (2016) (BDK)
- The Lotus Sutra (Watson)
- The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic
- The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
- The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel (2005)
- The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana-sutra (3 vols.)
- The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sutra: The Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sutra
- The Prediction of Mañjuśrī's Attainment of Buddhahood
- The Scripture of Master of Medicine, Beryl Radiance Tathāgata and The Sutra of the Girl Candrottarā
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Eight
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Five
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Four
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume One
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Seven
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Six
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Three
- The Shurangama Sutra - Volume Two
- The Shurangama Sutra: Sutra Text and Supplements
- The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra
- The Sky as a Mahāyāna Symbol of Emptiness and Generous Fullness: A Study and Translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: Volume 2: Edition and Translation
- The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra
- The Sutra of the Lord of Healing
- The Sutra of the Master of Healing
- The Tale of King Udayana of Vatsa
- The Threefold Lotus Sūtra
- The True Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
- The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
- The Vimalakīrti Sūtra (Watson)
- The Vow to Live the Life of Samanta-bhadra
- The Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra Sutra
- The Śūraṅgama Sūtra: A New Translation
- Vaipulya Sūtra of Śrīmālā's Lion's Roar That Reveals the Great Skillful Means of the One Vehicle
- Vajra-chhedika, the "Kin Kong King," or Diamond Sutra
- Vimalakīrti's Discourse on Emancipation
- Vimalakīrti-Nirdeśa-Sūtra: Translated from the Chinese
Please note that many items in our library are simply pages that represent a detailed library catalog entry and citation of someone else's work, presentation, or performance. Read our General Disclaimer for more information. You can find more information about this item on the publisher website.
Description
The Mahāratnakūta Sūtra is one of the five major sutra groups in the Mahāyāna canon. Of the two great schools of Buddhism, Mahāyāna has the greatest number of adherents worldwide—it prevails among the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Tibetans, and Vietnamese—and contains within it a number of movements, notably Zen, which have been of growing interest in the West in recent decades. Yet despite this increased attention and enormous following, translations of Mahāyāna scriptures have been scarce and fragmentary; clearly, a comprehensive translation of a major work within the canon was called for.
This volume addresses that need. It contains 22 of the 49 Sūtras of the Mahāratnakūta (or "Treasury") Sūtra, many translated for the first time in a Western language, selected and arranged to give the modern reader a progressive introduction to one of the world's major religious traditions. Subjects covered include Māyā and miracles, the teachings on Consciousness, Emptiness, and monastic discipline, the Mystical Light of the Tathāgata, and the devotional practice of Pure Land, making this a comprehensive source book of Mahāyāna Buddhism hitherto unavailable in English. The book also includes an introduction to provide historical and interpretive guidance, annotations that assist in the comprehension of difficult passages, and an extensive glossary that will be valuable to specialist and layman alike. A team of scholars, working in Taiwan, spent eight years translating the Treasury's million words from Chinese, using Tibetan texts for comparison and checking each Sūtra with an international board of scholars. In the course of translating from the original, special effort was made to retain both the devotional style appropriate for religious reading and the precision required by the scholar, while presenting the material with a clarity and flow that would make it accessible to the Western layman. The editors then selected, arranged, and annotated the 22 Sūtras presented here. (Source Accessed May 20, 2021)
Citation
Chang, Garma C. C., ed. A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra. Translated from the Chinese by The Buddhist Association of the United States. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991.
Publisher Link
Table of contents
- Acknowledgementsvii
- Prologueix
- I. On Māyā And Miracles
- 1 The Prophecy of the Magician Bhadra's Attainment of Buddhahood (Sūtra 21)3
- II. On Emptiness
- 2 The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood (Sūtra 35)27
- 3 Flawless Purity: A Dialogue with the Laywomen Gaṅgottarā (Sūtra 31)37
- 4 How to Kill the Sword of Wisdom (Sūtra 36)41
- 5 A Discourse on Ready Eloquence (Sūtra 33)73
- 6 Mañjuśrī's Discourse on the Pāramitā of Wisdom (Sūtra 46)100
- 7 The Prophecy of Bodhisattva Fearless Virtue's Attainment of Buddhahood (Sūtra 32)115
- 8 The Universal Dharma-Door to the Inconceivable (Sūtra 10)134
- 9 The Inexhaustible Stores of Wisdom (Sūtra 20)149
- 10 The Prediction of Mañjuśrī's Attainment of Buddhahood (Sūtra 15)164
- III. On The Light Of The Tathāgata
- 11 The Manifestation of Lights (Sūtra 11)191
- IV. On Consciousness
- 12 The Elucidation of Consciousness (Sūtra 39)223
- V. On Virtue And Discipline
- 13 Bodhisattva Surata's Discourse (Sūtra 27)243
- 14 Sumati's Questions (Sūtra 30)256
- 15 The Definitive Vinaya (Sūtra 24)262
- 16 Abiding in Good and Noble Deportment (Sūtra 44)280
- VI. On Pure Land
- 17 The Dharma-Door of Praising Tathāgata Akṣobhya's Merits (Sūtra 6)315
- 18 The Land of Utmost Bliss (Sūtra 5)339
- VII. On General Mahāyāna Doctrine
- 19 The True Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā (Sūtra 48)363
- 20 The Sūtra of Assembled Treasures (Sūtra 43)387
- 21 Dialogue with Bodhisattva Infinite Wisdom (Sūtra 45)415
- VIII. On Skillful Means
- 22 On the Pāramitā of Ingenuity (Sūtra 38)427
- I. On Māyā And Miracles
- Glossary469
- Numerical Glossary487
Interconnections
All 14Articles 7Classical Works 7
7 Full translation of
This sutra defines the transcendental bodhicitta, deliberates on the merits and achievement of the ten stages, and describes the various visions acquired by the Bodhisattvas in the ten successive stages. (Chang, prologue to A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras, xv)
In this sūtra, the Buddha Śākyamuni explains the connection between the bodhisattvas' aspirations and the virtues of their future buddha realms. He describes the various qualities that help bodhisattvas bring their aspirations to fulfillment. After bodhisattvas arrive from all directions to hear his teachings on the virtues of the buddha realms, the Buddha Śākyamuni recounts the story of how Mañjuśrī first engendered the mind set on awakening. Finally, the Buddha reveals the extraordinariness of Mañjuśrī’s bodhisattva aspirations, and how they will contribute to the exceptional qualities of his future buddha realm. (Source: 84000)
The very title Ratnarāśi means "a heap or hoard of treasure or gems."[1] For the authors of the sutra, the reference is clearly to the life of strict observance of discipline, a life structured by Buddhist ascetic practice: this is the gem, and the text is a collection of advice on how to properly conduct oneself in order to realize for oneself and in oneself this jewelled goal. The monastic, ascetic, renunciant life is a treasure because it is the key to liberation from the suffering of the round of samsāra, not only for the ascetic but for those who materially support him. (Silk, "The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūṭa Tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism," 29)
Upāyakauśalyasūtra. (T. Thabs la mkhas pa'i mdo; C. Dasheng fangbian hui; J. Daijō hōben'e; K. Taesǔng pangp'yǒn hoe 大乘方便會). In Sanskrit, "Skillful Means Sūtra," an early Mahāyāna sūtra included in the Ratnakūṭasūtra collection, where it is also known as the Jñānottarabodhisattvaparipṛcchā. (In addition to the recension embedded in the 410 CE Chinese translation of the Ratnakūṭa, as transcribed above, there are also two other Chinese translations, one made in 285 CE, the other c. 980.) The first part of the sūtra extols the virtues of the practice of "skillful means" (upāyakauśalya), generally understood in this context to refer to the dedication of the merit from a virtuous deed, such as offerings made for the welfare and ultimate enlightenment of all beings. The sūtra goes on to explain how apparently nonvirtuous acts, such as sexual misconduct, become virtues when performed by a bodhisattva with skillful means, noting, "Something that sends other sentient beings to hell sends the bodhisattva who is skilled in means to rebirth in the world of Brahmā." Also recounted is the famous story of the Buddha's previous life as a ship captain, when he kills a potential murderer in order to save others' lives. In the second part of the sūtra, the Buddha recounts the events of his life (see Baxiang), from his entry into his mother's womb to his decision to teach the dharma as instances of his skillful means; none of these events are presented as the consequences of his own past nonvirtuous actions or indeed of any fault whatsoever on his part. For example, after his enlightenment, the Buddha has no hesitation to teach the dharma; nonetheless, he compels the god Brahmā to descend from his heaven to implore the Buddha to teach. He forces this act so that beings who worship Brahmā will have faith in the Buddha and so that the myriad forms of the god Brahmā will generate bodhicitta. The sūtra concludes with a discussion of ten cases in the life of the Buddha in which he apparently undergoes suffering (such as a headache, backache, and being pierced by a thorn) that had previously been ascribed to his nonvirtuous deeds in a past life; in each case, these are instead explained as being examples of the Buddha's skillful means. (Source: "Upāyakauśalyasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 943. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
One of the more prominent sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, this text tells of the story of Śrīmālādevī taking up the Buddhist path at the behest of her royal parents based on a prophecy of the Buddha. It includes mention of important concepts related to the teachings on buddha-nature, such as the single vehicle and the four perfections, or transcendent characteristics, of the dharmakāya. It also mentions the notion that buddha-nature, which is equated with mind's luminous nature, is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of its limitless inseparable qualities. In his commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga, Asaṅga quotes this sūtra more than any other source text. In particular, it is considered a source for the fifth of the seven vajra topics, enlightenment.
Ascertaining the Vinaya: Upāli's Questions is a sūtra focused on the relationship between and integration of the prātimokṣa vows of monastic discipline and the conduct of a bodhisattva who follows the Mahāyāna tradition. The sūtra’s two main interlocuters, Śāriputra and Upāli, query the Buddha about the relationship between these two levels of commitments, eliciting a teaching on the different orientations held by the followers of different Buddhist vehicles and how their different views affect the application of their vows. Ascertaining the Vinaya is a particularly valuable sūtra for its inclusion of a unique form of the confessional "Three Sections" rite, making it one of the few extant canonical sources to describe it at length. (Source: 84000)
Kāśyapaparivarta. (T. 'Od srung gi le'u; C. Yiri monibao jing; J. Yuinichi manihōkyō; K. Yuil manibo kyǒng 遺日摩尼寶經). In Sanskrit, "The Kāśyapa Chapter"; a sūtra from one of the earliest strata of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism, probably dating from sometime in the first Century CE. The sūtra offers an overview of practices emblematic of bodhisattvas, which are arranged in several groups of four practices apiece. The text cites a "bodhisattva canon" (bodhisattvapiṭaka) as the source for the teaching on the six perfections (pāramitā) and offers one of the earliest mentions of the "thought of enlightenment" (bodhicitta) in its Mahāyāna interpretation as the aspiration to achieve buddhahood. A bodhisattva who generates this thought even for the first time is said to be superior to the solitary buddhas (pratyekabuddha) and disciples (śrāvaka). Disciples are also censured as not being true sons of the Buddha, an early expression of the later Mahāyāna school's more explicit denunciations of the so-called hīnayāna. The sūtra also refers to bodhisattva precepts (see bodhisattvaśīla), which will subsequently be elaborated upon in such texts as Maitreya/Asaṅga's Bodhisattvabhūmi and in such Chinese apocrypha as the Fanwang jing. The Kāśyapaparivarta was one of the first sūtras translated into Chinese, by the Indo-Scythian monk *Lokakṣema (c. 178-198 CE) in 179 CE; a later recension is also included in the massive Ratnakūṭa collection of sūtras. The Kāśyapaparivarta is one of a substantial number of scriptures in the Ratnakūṭa collection for which Sanskrit recensions have been rediscovered and edited. Its Sanskrit manuscript was first discovered in Khotan in the 1890s and was more than one thousand years old; other Sanskrit fragments have subsequently been recovered. (Source: "Kāśyapaparivarta." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 426. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
7 Contains chapter or part
An English translation of the Ratnarāśisūtra from the Chinese edition by Tao Kung; published in A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras, edited by Garma C. C. Chang.
This is an English translation of the Akṣayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra by Garma C. C. Chang from the Chinese translation by Bodhiruci, T310(45).
This is the Buddhist Association of the United States's English translation of the Upāyakauśalyasūtra from the Chinese edition of Nandi. It is found in the Ratnakūṭa, T310(38), 11.
An English translation of the Vinayaviniścayopāliparipṛcchāsūtra from the Chinese edition by Bodhiruci; published in A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras, edited by Garma C. C. Chang.
An English translation of the Mañjuśrībuddhakṣetraguṇavyūhasūtra from the Chinese edition by Śikṣānanda; published in A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras.
The Sūtra of Assembled Treasures is the original Ratnakūṭa Sūtra. It gives various admonishments to the followers of Mahāyāna, expounds on the right observation of the Middle Way, and discusses the various kinds of śramaṇas. (A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sutras, xv)
An English translation of the Śrīmālādevīsūtra from the Chinese edition by Bodhiruci; published in A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras, edited by Garma C. C. Chang.
