Over 330 translations of canonical Buddhist texts—more than 24,000 pages of wisdom—freely available today in our Reading Room

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This short philosophical discourse opens with the Buddha described as unmoving from the true nature of things. Although at this time he has no thought of teaching the Dharma, different members of the audience nevertheless believe that they have heard a teaching. On the basis of their differing perceptions, five distinct philosophical views concerning the true nature of things come to be held by different members of the audience.
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This sūtra opens at Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, in Śrāvastī, where the Buddha is staying. At the time, Anāthapiṇḍada’s daughter Sumāgadhā is married off to Vṛṣabhadatta, the son of a nirgrantha merchant in the distant city of Puṇḍravardhana. After arriving at the home of her in-laws, Sumāgadhā is repulsed and disheartened on encountering the nirgrantha mendicants.
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This short Mahāyāna sūtra tells of a beggar woman from the city of Śrāvastī whose modest offering of a lamp at Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park, is contrasted with the lavish offering of lamps being made at the same time by Prasenajit, who was the king of Kośala and a major benefactor of the Buddha Śākyamuni and his community.
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Since 84000 launched our vast Reading Room more than thirteen years ago, the  multi-layered database of Buddhist terms, places, people, and other information found in the collection of the Buddhist Kangyur and Tengyur published texts has continued to grow. It …
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This short text presents a set of mantras that, when placed inside a stūpa, multiply the merit of having built one stūpa by one hundred thousand. These dhāraṇīs are specifically said to be of benefit to future generations whose merit will be weak.
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While the Buddha Śākyamuni is staying in Śrāvastī, a bodhisattva named Dharmaketu asks him what qualities a bodhisattva must possess in order to reach awakening quickly. In response, the Buddha enumerates the ten most important qualities for bodhisattvas to cultivate.
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While giving teachings at Vārāṇasī, the Buddha Śākyamuni discerns that the time is right to train King Udayana of Vatsa. When he meets the king, who at the time is embarking on a military expedition, the king flies into a rage and tries to kill the Buddha with an arrow. However, the arrow circles in the sky, and a voice proclaims a verse on the dangers of anger and warfare. Hearing this verse, the king pays homage to the Buddha, who explains that an enemy far greater than worldly opponents is the affliction of perceiving a self, which binds one to saṃsāra.
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Discerning that the time is right to train King Bimbisāra, the Buddha Śākyamuni goes to Magadha, along with his entourage. The king is hostile at first but when his attack on the Buddha is thwarted and a verse on impermanence is heard, he becomes respectful.
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The Dharma Council is a Great Vehicle sūtra in which the path of a bodhisattva is taught initially by the Buddha, but principally by a host of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. Among them, the bodhisattva Nirārambha takes center stage, delivering long discourses and engaging in dialogues and debates on the key points of Great Vehicle Buddhism.
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Atisha Mathur was volunteering as a cook, brewing coffee in the kitchen at the Deer Park Institute, when Khyentse Foundation held a conference there in March 2009 that gave birth to 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Since then, he has completed 10 years of an intensive 16-year-long program in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD), in Dharamsala, India, and is on track to complete a PhD in Buddhist Studies at L’Orientale, in Italy, with an emphasis on Madhyamaka.
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