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New Publications: The Secrets of the Realized Ones

New Publications: The Secrets of the Realized Ones

16 Feb 2024

In this sūtra, the narrative largely revolves around the figures of Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa lord and constant companion of the Buddha, and the Buddha himself. In the first half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi gives a series of teachings on the mysteries or secrets of the body, speech, and mind of bodhisattvas and the realized ones. In the second half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi describes several events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his approach to the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma.
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New Publications: The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines

New Publications: The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines

8 Feb 2024

The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines is the longest of all the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras and fills no fewer than twelve volumes of the Degé Kangyur. Like the other two long sūtras, it is a detailed record of the teaching on the perfection of wisdom that the Buddha Śākyamuni gave on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha, setting out all aspects of the path to enlightenment that bodhisattvas must know and put into practice, yet without taking them as having even the slightest true existence.
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New Publications: The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light

New Publications: The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light

2 Feb 2024

The Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Lighthas held great importance in Buddhism for its instructions on the purification of karma. In particular, much of the sūtra is specifically addressed to monarchs and thus has been significant for rulers‍—not only in India but also in China, Japan, Mongolia, and elsewhere‍—who wished to ensure the well-being of their nations through such purification.

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New Publications: The Bali Ritual to Relieve the Female Preta Flaming Mouth

New Publications: The Bali Ritual to Relieve the Female Preta Flaming Mouth

26 Jan 2024

This short text narrates Ānanda’s nocturnal encounter in the Banyan Grove in Kapilavastu with a gruesome female preta, or “hungry ghost,” with a burning mouth. The ghost tells Ānanda that he will die imminently and be reborn in the realm of the pretas unless he satisfies innumerable pretas with offerings of food the following morning. Terrified, Ānanda goes quickly to the Buddha and asks for advice.
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New Publications: The Dhāraṇī of Refuge for the Preta Flaming Mouth

New Publications: The Dhāraṇī of Refuge for the Preta Flaming Mouth

26 Jan 2024

The Dhāraṇī of Refuge for the Preta Flaming Mouth recounts the nocturnal encounter of the monk Nanda with a gruesome preta (“hungry ghost”) who predicts his imminent death. After recounting his experience to the Buddha, he is taught a dhāraṇī and an associated food offering ritual to allay the sufferings of pretas and avert his prophesied fate.
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