Mahayana

[Amita]

On 6/7/2019 at 9:27 AM, Amita said:

Another revered sutra is the Golden Light Sutra.  Study of it, or recitation, copying or sharing it brings blessings and merit:

https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/teachers/zopa/advice/pdf/sutragoldenlight0207lttr.pdf

Buddha himself, in this sutra, in chapter 18, tells the past life wherein he gave his body to a starving tigress.  At the end he shows the karmic connections of the major persons at that time:

 

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I, the Tathagata Shakyamuni was formerly Mahasattva, Son of King Maharatha who made the tigress well. 

Shuddhodana, the great king was the king called Maharatha, and Queen Maya was the sublime queen. Mahapranada became Maitreya. Likewise, Prince Mahadeva was the youthful Manjushri. The tigress was Mahaprajapati; the five bhikshus were her five cubs.

When Mahasattva gave the tigress his body, he made this altruistic wish: “By the merit of completely giving my body, may I, in future times for eons utterly beyond thought, perform the deeds of buddhas for sentient beings.”

 

[Amita]

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If we cultivate the awareness of peace and joy, have positive perception, and strengthen these good habits in our mind-stream, this awareness will transform our life and mental character. Unhappy situations will have little effect on us, and the strength of peace and joy will prevail. But if we don’t take advantage of our life right now, in the future we could fall into the misery of confusion, fear, and pain.

To attain the goal, we must pursue a spiritual path. It can be any path that generates awareness of peace and joy, loosens the grip of our mental grasping, purifies emotional afflictions, and refines our words and deeds. This is the only way to change our negative habits into meritorious karmas and realize inner wisdom.

Tulku Thondup, Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth, page 41

[Amita]

Quote

We living beings come into this world and renounce the roots while we grasp at the branches.

We forget the fundamental matters, turn our backs on enlightenment and unite with the “dust” – the wearisome mundane world.

That is why we forget the Buddhas and never remember to be mindful of them.

Master Hsuan Hua

[VastLand]

On 8/19/2018 at 12:25 PM, StarMountainKid said:

Yes, I  don't think Jesus wanted to start a new religion based on his teachings. I think he would be aghast at what has happened. The first thing he would do in the second coming would be to go directly to a synagogue. 

Yeah, the tribe blood of Yahudah, the beliefs and philosophy of Yahudah. Of course he practiced an un-adultered preist tradition, so, older than judaism, but yeah, essentially, although his synagogue was the nature around him, he still would take trips to his people in a synagogue, and gather people's attention.

[Amita]

Giving offerings to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, gurus, the Sangha are part of Mahayana. Long, long ago an ancient Buddha was asked "What should one offer to a Buddha?"

Quote

Golden Light Lion Frolic Buddha answered in verse:

One should activate the bodhi mind
And widely rescue sentient beings.
These are the offerings to the Perfectly Enlightened One
With the thirty-two physical marks.
Suppose one offers the Tathāgata
Precious, wonderful, splendid objects,
Filling lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges,
And joyfully carries Him on one’s head.

These offerings cannot be compared with transferring with lovingkindness
One’s merits to everyone’s attainment of bodhi.
This merit is supreme,
Immeasurable, and boundless.
No other offerings can surpass it.
Its supremacy cannot be calculated.
A bodhi mind such as this
Will certainly attain samyak-saṁbodhi.

From Prophecy Bestowed upon Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Sutra.

[Amita]

Since 2009 Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a disciple of Master Hsuan Hua, has been working on more translations for Kalavinka Press.  The new ones are now on Amazon.

Search for Kalavinka Press to see the new Chinese-Skt-English versions of several titles. Also the new Ten Grounds Sutra versions, one by Kumarajiva & one by Shiksananda. Both of these also have PL Vaidya's Sanskrit in appendices.

The smaller Buddha mindfulness book has three methods, with differing purposes. It is also a valuable text.

For those who do not read Chinese, nor Sanskrit, (nor wish to learn) the two fat volumes of Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Ten Bodhisattva Grounds can be ignored.  

There is also a one volume English only version. With a very comprehensive outline of contents, Glossary & Notes over 700 pages, and radiant with good Mahayana!

Edited December 14, 2019 by Amita

[Amita]

The old Kalavinka Press website has been updated. Now many excerpts from the new texts are included in the Dharma Jewels section:

http://kalavinka.org/index.html

[Amita]

Also the Donation section is updated for 2020:

http://kalavinka.org/kp_main_pages/donate.htm

[Amita]

An excellent source of translations is the 84000 Project.  The latest major sutra was translated by Gareth Sparham.  It is a long one on the perfection of wisdom.  Here it is with several digital formats available for free reading or downloading:

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh10.html

[Amita]

This is a difficult sutra for most folks.  Here is a little from Sparham's introductory matter:

Modern readers unfamiliar with the sacred tradition set forth in the

fundamental texts can read, for example, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi’s In the

Buddha’s Words. Alternatively, the fundamental texts can be learned from the

Eighteen Thousand, which presents them in a very clear and accessible

manner. But a modern reader unfamiliar with the dharmas set forth in the

fundamental texts can get confused, because at the same time that the

Eighteen Thousand is setting them forth with veneration, it is exhorting the

reader to reject them as an object of attachment.

 

Thus, chapter 3 of the Eighteen Thousand begins with the monk Śāriputra

asking, “How then should bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection

of wisdom?” to which the Lord responds, “They do not see form. Similarly,

they do not see feeling, perception, volitional factors, or consciousness

either.” “They do not see” means that they reject it as an object of

attachment. It does not mean that the aggregates, and so on, are not there or

are not something they should know. Worthy ones obviously know the

aggregates and so on, because it is the basic teaching of the truth of

suffering, the first words the Buddha Śākyamuni uttered to the five

companions when he returned to the Deer Park outside Vārāṇasī after

reaching awakening.

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Amita

[Amita]

Another large sutra titled The Stem Array is now available in three e-book formats.  This tells the pilgrimage of bodhisattva Sudhana:

https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-037-007.html

[Grim Reaper 6]

On 1/26/2020 at 10:42 AM, Amita said:

Also the Donation section is updated for 2020:

http://kalavinka.org/kp_main_pages/donate.htm

Do you own the site in the link?

[Alchopwn]

On 6/14/2019 at 3:22 AM, Amita said:

Buddha himself, in this sutra, in chapter 18, tells the past life wherein he gave his body to a starving tigress.  At the end he shows the karmic connections of the major persons at that time:

And here I thought suicide was a huge karmic no-no.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

29 minutes ago, Alchopwn said:

And here I thought suicide was a huge karmic no-no.

Not suicide, donation.

[Amita]

7 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

Do you own the site in the link?

Nope but I know the Bhikshu who does own it and who did the translations.  In the link, at the bottom of the page, is a Contact button.  Email him for more information.

[Amita]

10 hours ago, Alchopwn said:

And here I thought suicide was a huge karmic no-no.

Not if the motivation is to sacrifice ones life to save other beings.  Motivation is the key, not the act or thought or word per se.

[Alchopwn]

On 6/29/2022 at 5:39 PM, Sir Wearer of Hats said:

Not suicide, donation.

Donation should not involve suicide imo.  That's just cultish.

On 6/30/2022 at 4:12 AM, Amita said:

Not if the motivation is to sacrifice ones life to save other beings.  Motivation is the key, not the act or thought or word per se.

Surely the motivation of the tigers ALSO needs to be taken into account here?  Ultimately by supporting Tigers with his own life the Buddha is siding with Tigers against humanity.  Tigers lack the wisdom to understand Buddha's sacrifice, and lack the compassion to reciprocate in any way, so really Buddha has merely allowed savage predators to live another few days and has likely given them a taste for human flesh that will cause them to potentially predate on other humans, and all this at the cost of his own human life, which we are repeatedly told in Buddhism is a great treasure that is not to be squandered.  I cannot imagine a more foolish squandering of a life than to offer oneself up to be eaten by savage tigers when one potentially has many more years to live.  This is a deeply stupid lesson to teach.  I mean, is Buddha's sacrifice somehow going to reform the character of the tigers?  No, they will likely become dangerous man-eaters...This can only be considered a good outcome if they then go on to eat some truly evil people, and the chances of that are very slim indeed I would wager.

Edited July 1, 2022 by Alchopwn

[XenoFish]

Guess it's suicide and reincarnation in this religion.

[Piney]

On 7/1/2022 at 5:29 AM, XenoFish said:

Guess it's suicide and reincarnation in this religion.

Not in the Zen sect. 

[XenoFish]

35 minutes ago, Piney said:

Not in the Zen sect. 

Doesn't much matter to me. It's all a human ego thing, no matter how much of an attempt to deny that. It all comes down to the self. 

A creature so self-important to think it deserves to be reincarnated, enter a heaven, or hell for that matter, whatever the ideology dictates. It's pure human ego. 

[oslove]

On 8/20/2018 at 2:56 AM, Amita said:

Read the links first and comment on whatever you like or do not like.  If you find nothing of interest or value, do not waste your time or mine.  I am not seeking converts to Mahayana.

 

Hi Amita, my interest in Buddhism is that Buddhism is a religion.

And what is a religion?

From my part, religion is a belief in a power higher than man, which man tries to influence by words and deeds, in order that the higher power will help man in all man's needs.

Don't you notice at all that Buddhists in the Far East - home of Buddhism, Buddhists are praying to Buddha for all kinds of favors and needs and desires?

[Amita]

16 minutes ago, oslove said:

From my part, religion is a belief in a power higher than man, which man tries to influence by words and deeds, in order that the higher power will help man in all man's needs.

Don't you notice at all that Buddhists in the Far East - home of Buddhism, Buddhists are praying to Buddha for all kinds of favors and needs and desires?

True for many people, whether religious or not.  Self-reliance is often supplanted by supplication to government, gods or a higher power.  Yet in Mahayana, thoughts, words & deeds are often motivated by altruism, to benefit others, not one's self. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Amita

[Amita]

Another magnificent sutra from the 84000 Project.  This is the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. It shows the long pilgrimage of an aspiring bodhisattva and the over 50 gurus he was taught by.  Peter Roberts was the main translator who titled this section The Stem Array. Nothin in print yet, but there are three free ebook versions available now.

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh44-45.html

I mentioned this one before, but forgot.  It is worthy of repeating a plug to study and recite it.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Amita

[oslove]

43 minutes ago, Amita said:

True for many people, whether religious or not.  Self-reliance is often supplanted by supplication to government, gods or a higher power.  Yet in Mahayana, thoughts, words & deeds are often motivated by altruism, to benefit others, not one's self. 

 

That is indeed most idealistic, what can I say, but that have you been to the Far East lands where there are homes maintained by Buddhist monks, where the monks take care of orphans and old homeless people abandoned by their families?

[Amita]

1 hour ago, oslove said:

 

That is indeed most idealistic, what can I say, but that have you been to the Far East lands where there are homes maintained by Buddhist monks, where the monks take care of orphans and old homeless people abandoned by their families?

Rhetorical questions do not require a response.  Just get to your point, if you have one.