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The Treatise on the Elucidation of the Knowable by the Tibetan master
Phags-pa, was composed in 1278 as a manual of Buddhism for crown
prince Zhenjin, second son of the Mongol emperor Qubilai. Translated
into Chinese by Ses-rab dpal (Shaluoba) some time before 1306, the text
gives descriptions of the animate and inanimate worlds according to
Buddhist cosmology in Fascicle One. Fascicle Two offers a prcis of
basic Buddhist teachings, such as the four truths, dependent
origination, and the various factors of the Buddhist path. Contemporary
sources likely drawn on by the author, Phags-pa, include Vasubandhus
Abhidharmakosa, the Abhidharmasamuccaya, the Pancaskandhaka, the
Mahynastrlamkara, the Prajnapti-sstra, and Prajnapramit
literature. The Cycle of the Formation of the Schismatic Doctrines is
based on Xuanzangs seventh-century Chinese translation (Yibuzonglunlun)
of the Samayabhedoparacanacakra, an essay by the first century
scholar-monk Vasumitra on the various schismatic doctrines that began to
arise soon after the Buddhas lifetime. The schism of the original
Buddhist sangha led to the formation of a number of different Buddhist
schools, and the text gives a brief description of each schools
essential tenets and points of doctrine. This important text in Buddhist
studies offers insight into the development and doctrines of early
Buddhist schools that led eventually to the formation of the Mahayana.
Treatise on the Elucidation of the Knowable; The Cycle of the Formation of the Schismatic Doctrines, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Hardcover, 2004, 171 pages, $40.00
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