10 Jun 2021
The Bhaiṣajyavastu, “The Chapter on Medicines,” is the sixth chapter of the Vinayavastu, “The Chapters on Monastic Discipline,” of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. The Mūlasarvāstivāda was one of the most influential Buddhist schools in India, and its Vinaya, the corpus of monastic law, is reported to have circulated not only in various parts of the Indian subcontinent but also in Southeast Asia, at least in the late seventh century.
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7 Jun 2021
Inspiring Determination is directed at reforming the conduct of sixty bodhisattvas who have lost their sense of purpose and confidence in their ability to practice the Dharma. The bodhisattva Maitreya leads them to seek counsel from the Buddha, who explains the causes these bodhisattvas created in former lives that resulted in their current circumstance.
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5 Jun 2021
The Prophecy on Mount Gośṛṅga1 is an account of the Buddha Śākyamuni visiting the ancient Central Asian oasis state of Khotan, and prophesying its future as a Buddhist kingdom. It is one of a number of canonical texts in the form of prophecies that furnish Khotan with its Buddhist founding mythology.
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3 Jun 2021
The Teaching of the Armor Array describes a dialog between the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Anantamati. The sūtra is primarily concerned with the great armor, a quality related to the perfection of insight.
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13 May 2021
This sūtra records an encounter between the Buddha and the four guardians of the world at an unspecified site on the banks of the Ganges River. The Buddha himself initiates the dialogue, describing four great fears—aging, sickness, decrepitude, and death—declaring death to be the chief among them, and promising to provide remedies for them.
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6 May 2021
In this sūtra, the Buddha, who is staying in Prince Jeta’s grove in Śrāvastī, addresses the monks directly and teaches in detail about the lifespans of the beings inhabiting the different realms of existence of the Buddhist cosmos.
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29 Apr 2021
Maitreya’s Setting Out narrates the stories of two previous lives of the bodhisattva Maitreya and explains the circumstances for his initial arousing of the mind set on awakening.
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22 Apr 2021
The Questions of Brahmaviśeṣacintin is an important Mahāyāna sūtra that enjoyed significant popularity in Buddhist India, China, and Tibet over the centuries. The teaching itself takes the form of a lively discussion blending practical and theoretical strands of Mahāyāna and emphasizes how bodhisattvas should practice the Dharma—a training that transcends both the mundane and the supramundane.
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15 Apr 2021
The Account of the Noble Deeds of Śrīsena belongs to one of the most beloved narrative genres in Buddhism, the past life story (avadāna), and deals with one of the most powerful and pervasive themes in this genre, the bodhisattva’s bodily sacrifice for the benefit of living beings.
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9 Apr 2021
Over the last ten years, many scholars around the world have contributed to the translations published by 84000. To further strengthen the opportunity for younger scholars to contribute to the project, 84000 is now offering two post-doctoral grants to work on translations of texts from the Kangyur.
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