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A Treasury of Mahayana Sutras: Selections from the Maharatnakuta Sutra

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The translations in this compendium are a vast storehouse of Mahayana literature. It is hard enough to find singularly gathered amounts of Mahayana scriptues in one place and this title puts them in one book readily accessable in practice and study. Mahayana has had a problem in the past of their scriptures being accessable in one place and/or translated in English. Chang grants an easily open translations which can appeal to any level of Mahayanist and Buddhist in general.

The sectioning of the scriptures into topcis such as emptiness, consciousness, pure land, etc. is an incredibly friendly and helpful approach to systemizing the scriptures by their inner topics of teaching focus. None have done this yet in translations of Mahayana.

Anyone interested in the detailed and well expounded Mahayana scriptures should have this title as their key source for you wil not find such a gathering in any current publications but this one. Another key point, many Buddhist find it difficult to find/join a local sangha but this title grants any level of Buddhist an entrance into the mystery and wonder of Buddhism when locality doesn't permit. These translations cover many of the diffcult and yet foundational philosophies, so all levels of practitioners can use this title as a key practice manual on learning about the Buddhist Path.

I highly recommend this to every level of Buddhist practitioner. I myself am a Buddhist priest of the Order of the Red Lotus and this title is one of our key practice manuals because of its depths and width of English sutras.

This is a collection of valuable Mahayana Sutras translated from the Chinese edited by Garma Chang. It is topically arranged in the contents such as Pure Land, Emptiness, On Maya, etc. There is also a helpful index and glossary that make referring to Chinese-Sanskrit words easy.

Anyone studying the field of Chinese Buddhism and Mahayanist scriptures will appreciate this book!

Garma Chang's translation of the Thousand Songs of milarepa is also a spectacular product .

- Art Gregory

The 9 sutras under section II titled as Emptiness are really good. It is a "must read" for anyone interested in Mahayana. The sutras clearly indicate the pathless path. It is a valuable guide for the Mahayana meditation. Mr.Chang has done a neat translation keeping the flavour of the original theme intact. Those who are already familiar with the Mahayana "viewless view" are sure to immensly benefit from these sutras.

Maharatnakuta Sutra
basic orientation compiled by By A Customer UK Amazon.com [augmented slightly by Richard Kennaway's web page on sutras, and myself from web searches]

PS: I won't list what they DIDN'T put in. You're happier not knowing.

The Maharatnakuta Sutra in the Chinese canon is not one sutra, but a collection of forty nine different sutras, twenty two of which are translated in this volume, arranged under eight headings. With this many sutras translated, they are not all of equal value or interest. Notable among them are the Kashyapa-parivarta, certainly one of the oldest Mahayana sutras, the Saptashatika-prajnaparamita, the Perfection of Wisdom in 700 lines, the Srimaladevi-simhananda and the large Sukhavati-vyuha describing the Pure Land of Amitabha.

One criticism is that the titles of the Sutras are given in Chinese and English only, and not in Sanskrit. This can make titles difficult to recognise; for example the Vimaladatta-pariprccha (= Questions of Vimaladatta) is called "A Discourse on Ready Eloquence". The review in Middle Way v55/1 May 1984 gives a list of Sanskrit titles for the whole volume. These are below, with the eight group headings, which give some idea of the large range of topics covered.

I Maya and Miracles

'1 Bhadra-mayakara-vyakarana

The Bhadramayakaravyakarana (Introd., Tibetan text, Tr. And Notes,)authored by Konstanty Regamey.

II Emptiness

'2 Acintya-buddha-vishaya-nirdesha
The negative, hi shiryō, typically suggests a state beyond such discriminatory thinking -- as used, e.g., to describe the "unconditioned" (wu-wei), "inconceivable" (pu ssu-i) nature of the Buddha's cognition (Wenshushili suo shuo busiyi fo jingjie jing [*Acintya-buddha-vishaya-nirdesha, T.12:108a-b]).
'3 Gangottara-pariprccha
Gangottarapariprccha(satra) (in Korean canon)
'4 Susthitamati-(devaputra)-pariprccha
4.9.5. Susthitamati-pariprccha (Questions of [the god] Well-Abiding 'Mind) Also known as "The Sutra of How to Kill with the Sword of Wisdom".

'5 Vimaladatta-pariprccha
4.9.3. Vimaladatta-pariprccha (Questions of [the Princess] Pure Giving)

'6 Saptashatika-prajnaparamita
4.1.7. Saptasatika-prajnaparamita sutra (The Perfection of Wisdom in '700 lines, or The Perfection of Wisdom as taught by Manjusri)

'7 Ashokadatta-vyakarana
4.9.4. Asokadatta-vyakarana (Sorrowless Giving's Prediction [to 'Buddhahood])

'8 Samantamukha-parivarta
Chapter 25, `The Universal Gate of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara' (Skt.: Samantamukha-parivarta XXIV), which describes the blessings of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, was circulated in China and Japan as an independent sutra and is still recited today. It is also a well-known fact that the chant, or daimoku, of the Nichiren School of Japan and related sects consists of the invocation na-mu added to the Japanese title of this sutra, resulting in Na-mu-myou-hou-ren-ge-kyou.
'9 Vidyutprapta-pariprccha
4.9.2. Vidyutprapta-pariprccha (Questions of the Bodhisattva Lightning 'Attainment)

'10 Manjushri-buddha-kshetra-guna-vyuha
4.8.5. Manjusri-Buddhaksetra-guna-vyuha
Describes the "array of excellences" of the domain of the Bodhisattva 'Manjusri.

III The Light of the Tathagata

'11 Rashmisamantamukta-nirdesha
rashmisamantamuktanirdesha(sUtra) K 22(11)

IV Consciousness

12 Bhadrapala-shresthi-pariprccha
4.9.10. Bhadramayakara-pariprccha (Questions of Bhadra the Magician)Concerning magic.

V Virtue and Discipline

'13 Surata-pariprccha
4.9.6. Surata-pariprccha (Questions of the Bodhisattva Surata) Also known as the Surata Sutra.

'14 Sumati-darika-pariprccha
4.9.7. Sumatidarika-pariprccha (Questions of the Girl Sumati)

'15 (Vinaya-vinishcaya)-upali-pariprccha
4.9.8. Upali-pariprccha (Questions of the Arhat Upali)

'16 Ratnarasi
Describes solitary forest saints, amongst else.

VI Pure Lands'17 Aksobhya-tathagatasya-vyuha
4.8.1. Aksobhya-vyuha
Devoted to the praises of Abhirati, the Land of Exceeding Great Delight.'

18 Amitabha-vyuha (= Large Sukhavati-vyuha)
[4.7.1. Sukhavati-vyuha (Array of the Happy Land)]

VII Mahayana Doctrine

'19 Srimala-devi-simhananda
4.8.4. Srimaladevi-simhananda (Queen Srimala's Asseveration (literally, '"Lion-Roar"))
'
20 Kashyapa-parivarta
Jigme Lingpa recommends this text for finding a good guru by knowing what to look for! p. 255 Treasury of Precious Qualities

'21 Aksayamati-pariprccha
4.9.9. Aksayamati-pariprccha (Questions of the Bodhisattva Aksayamati)
The Buddha describes how the bodhisattva practises the ten perfections '(paramitas), and the ten stages of the bodhisattva path.

VIII Skillful Means

'22 Jnanottara-bodhisattva-pariprccha
4.9.12. Jnanottarabodhisattva-pariprccha (Questions of the Bodhisattva 'Supreme Knowledge)

I can't believe people are selling these used for more than the cost of it new. Penn State University Press has it for less than any of these used books and it is brand new. What's going on here?