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Sutra of the Wise and Foolish
By: Frye, Stanley

Our Price: $18.00
Members Price: $16.20

Author: Frye, Stanley
ISBN: 8185102155

Product Code: 5881

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Description

One of the great treasures of Buddhist literature, is mDo-mdzangs-blun or the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish as it is known to the Mongols. The text was translated to Mongolian from Tibetan as the Uliger-un dalai or Ocean of Narratives. It is one of the most interesting, enjoyable and readable Buddhist scriptures. For centuries, it has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration, instruction and pleasure for all who have been able to read it. The history of this unusual scripture is still uncertain. Legend has it that the tales were heard in Khotan by Chinese monks, who translated them (but from what language?) into Chinese.
The Narratives are Jatakas, or rebirth stories, tracing the causes of present tragedy in human lives to events which took place in former life-times. The theme of each narrative is the same: the tragedy of the human condition, the reason for this tragedy and the possibility of transcending it. But unlike Greek tragedy, Buddhist tragedy is never an end in itself, i.e. a catharsis, but a call to transcend that which can be transcended and need not be endlessly endured. The people we meet in the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, although supposedly living in India of the Buddha's time, might also be living at present in New York City, a small rural town or Leningrad, and the problems they face would be the same.

Sutra of the Wise and Foolish, Stanley Frye, LTWA, 251 pages, $18.00

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