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Originally published in the Sacred Books the East Series, under the editorship of F. Max Muller, this volume combines translations of basic works Buddhism. these are extremely important in contemporary Japanese Buddhism, particularly the older sects, sueh as the Pure Land Shin Shu, and have also been significant in the development of Chinese Buddhism, and the Buddhism of Tibet and Nepal. All have been translated from Sanskrit texts that preserve the originals as well as can be determined. The first component, the Buddha-karita of Asvagosha , has been translated by E. B. Cowell from Nepalese texts. Of lndan origin, around the beginning of the Christian era, it is concerned with the life and teachings of the Buddha�now quite far removed from the Pali documents of the Hinayana. The original text, which was fragmentary, has been completed by the addition of four books by a 19th-century Nepalese scholar, Amritananda. Max Muller has translated the Larger and Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha, in wich the Buddha describes the Land of Bliss to an assemb}y of the sangha, gods, spirits and others. This followed by Dr. Muller's translation of the Vagrakkhedika (The Diamond Cutter), a metaphysical treatise, and the Larger and Smalls Pragnaparamitahridaya-sutras, two brief kernel statements of the Mahayana. Tbe final document for Japanese Buddhism, the highly important Amitayur-dhyana sutra has been translated by Dr. J. Takakusu. Called the Meditation Sutra, it describes meditation and concentration techniques in terms of Amida Buddhism. It is of particular interest today as an experimental document.-
Buddhist Mahayana Texts, Muller and B. Cowell, Dover Publications, Paperback, 203 pp, $12.95
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