Latest 84K Sutra

Discuss and learn about the traditional Mahayana scriptures, without assuming that any one school ‘owns’ the only correct interpretation.
mutsuk
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by mutsuk »

Vikranta is the past participle of vikrama [vi-kram] whose first meaning is that of step, march, stride, as well as pace (not sure of this last one but it seems the meaning is also that in chinese). In this dharani, the infinite stride is to be counted as among the auspicious signs, qualities, or capacities of the Buddha. For instance, his stride (in French one would say: “son allure”, "son pas", “son enjambée”) is like the sauntering stride of an elephant, causing the earth to tremble (“Asceticism and the Glorification of the Buddha’s Body”, p. 14). Or it can be the strides of a lion (op.cit., p. 16; "Indian Buddhism through a Chinese Lens", p. 98-99):
gajapatigatigāmī siṃhavikrāntagāmī
Sauntering with the gait of the lord of elephants, with the strides* of a lion

* vikrānta विक्रान्त.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

mutsuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:53 pm Vikranta is the past participle of vikrama [vi-kram] whose first meaning is that of step, march, stride, as well as pace (not sure of this last one but it seems the meaning is also that in chinese). In this dharani, the infinite stride is to be counted as among the auspicious signs, qualities, or capacities of the Buddha. For instance, his stride (in French one would say: “son allure”, "son pas", “son enjambée”) is like the sauntering stride of an elephant, causing the earth to tremble (“Asceticism and the Glorification of the Buddha’s Body”, p. 14). Or it can be the strides of a lion (op.cit., p. 16; "Indian Buddhism through a Chinese Lens", p. 98-99):
gajapatigatigāmī siṃhavikrāntagāmī
Sauntering with the gait of the lord of elephants, with the strides* of a lion

* vikrānta विक्रान्त.
Thanks, but with the qualifier boundless or infinite, step or stride make no sense. I prefer to think of each & every movement (in thought or beyond) of Amita Buddha as bold, courageous & providential.
mutsuk
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by mutsuk »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 3:21 pm
mutsuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:53 pm Vikranta is the past participle of vikrama [vi-kram] whose first meaning is that of step, march, stride, as well as pace (not sure of this last one but it seems the meaning is also that in chinese). In this dharani, the infinite stride is to be counted as among the auspicious signs, qualities, or capacities of the Buddha. For instance, his stride (in French one would say: “son allure”, "son pas", “son enjambée”) is like the sauntering stride of an elephant, causing the earth to tremble (“Asceticism and the Glorification of the Buddha’s Body”, p. 14). Or it can be the strides of a lion (op.cit., p. 16; "Indian Buddhism through a Chinese Lens", p. 98-99):
gajapatigatigāmī siṃhavikrāntagāmī
Sauntering with the gait of the lord of elephants, with the strides* of a lion

* vikrānta विक्रान्त.
Thanks, but with the qualifier boundless or infinite, step or stride make no sense. I prefer to think of each & every movement (in thought or beyond) of Amita Buddha as bold, courageous & providential.
This is not the meaning that is intended. Rather it refers to capacities, minor marks, and so forth that also derive from perfecting samadhis (such as the heroic-stride samadhi, also in reference to a legend of the buddha having a stride of 15 yojanas that then became a stide of an infinite distance, covering the top of Meru down to the small islands, etc. You'll find some reference to that in Gone Beyond and numerous other sources.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

mutsuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:26 pm
Nicholas Weeks wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 3:21 pm
mutsuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:53 pm Vikranta is the past participle of vikrama [vi-kram] whose first meaning is that of step, march, stride, as well as pace (not sure of this last one but it seems the meaning is also that in chinese). In this dharani, the infinite stride is to be counted as among the auspicious signs, qualities, or capacities of the Buddha. For instance, his stride (in French one would say: “son allure”, "son pas", “son enjambée”) is like the sauntering stride of an elephant, causing the earth to tremble (“Asceticism and the Glorification of the Buddha’s Body”, p. 14). Or it can be the strides of a lion (op.cit., p. 16; "Indian Buddhism through a Chinese Lens", p. 98-99):
gajapatigatigāmī siṃhavikrāntagāmī
Sauntering with the gait of the lord of elephants, with the strides* of a lion

* vikrānta विक्रान्त.
Thanks, but with the qualifier boundless or infinite, step or stride make no sense. I prefer to think of each & every movement (in thought or beyond) of Amita Buddha as bold, courageous & providential.
This is not the meaning that is intended. Rather it refers to capacities, minor marks, and so forth that also derive from perfecting samadhis (such as the heroic-stride samadhi, also in reference to a legend of the buddha having a stride of 15 yojanas that then became a stide of an infinite distance, covering the top of Meru down to the small islands, etc. You'll find some reference to that in Gone Beyond and numerous other sources.
Nope, not convincing. The rupa or form body that strides is not the samyaksambuddha.
Malcolm
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Malcolm »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 3:21 pm
mutsuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:53 pm Vikranta is the past participle of vikrama [vi-kram] whose first meaning is that of step, march, stride, as well as pace (not sure of this last one but it seems the meaning is also that in chinese). In this dharani, the infinite stride is to be counted as among the auspicious signs, qualities, or capacities of the Buddha. For instance, his stride (in French one would say: “son allure”, "son pas", “son enjambée”) is like the sauntering stride of an elephant, causing the earth to tremble (“Asceticism and the Glorification of the Buddha’s Body”, p. 14). Or it can be the strides of a lion (op.cit., p. 16; "Indian Buddhism through a Chinese Lens", p. 98-99):
gajapatigatigāmī siṃhavikrāntagāmī
Sauntering with the gait of the lord of elephants, with the strides* of a lion

* vikrānta विक्रान्त.
Thanks, but with the qualifier boundless or infinite, step or stride make no sense. I prefer to think of each & every movement (in thought or beyond) of Amita Buddha as bold, courageous & providential.
I think Mutsuk is correct bere.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

I prefer to follow the Buddha's teaching from the Diamond Sutra:
If one sees me in forms,
If one seeks me in sounds,
He practices a deviant way,
And cannot see the Tathàgata.
Or the Avatamsaka Sutra
Response and transformations [bodies] are not the true Buddha.
Norwegian
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Norwegian »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 9:13 pm I prefer to follow the Buddha's teaching from the Diamond Sutra:
If one sees me in forms,
If one seeks me in sounds,
He practices a deviant way,
And cannot see the Tathàgata.
Or the Avatamsaka Sutra
Response and transformations [bodies] are not the true Buddha.
Why ask a question if you don't want the answer?
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

This one was translated earlier this month:
The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī is one of the core texts of the Mahāsannipāta collection of
Mahāyāna sūtras that dates back to the formative period of Mahāyāna
Buddhism, from the first to the third century ᴄᴇ. Its rich and varied narratives,
likely redacted from at least two independent works, recount significant events
from the lives, past and present, of the Buddha Śākyamuni and some of his
main followers and opponents, both human and nonhuman. At the center of
these narratives is the climactic episode from the Buddha’s life when Māra, the
personification of spiritual death, sets out to destroy the Buddha and his
Dharma. The mythic confrontation between these paragons of light and
darkness, and the Buddha’s eventual victory, are related in vivid detail. As is
common with Mahāyāna sūtras, the main narratives are frequently interwoven
with Dharma instructions and interspersed with magical events. The text
exemplifies two distinctive sūtra genres, “prophecies” (vyākaraṇa) and
“incantations” (dhāraṇī), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future
attainment of buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the magical
formulae that are meant to ensure the survival of the Buddha’s teachings and
the prosperity of its practitioners.
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh138.html
Last edited by Nicholas Weeks on Thu Aug 27, 2020 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

From the newly translated Questions of Sāgaramati Sutra:
SUMMARY
Heralded by a miraculous flood, the celestial bodhisattva Sāgaramati arrives in
Rājagṛha to engage in a Dharma discussion with Buddha Śākyamuni. He
discusses an absorption called “The Pristine and Immaculate Seal” and many
other subjects relevant to bodhisattvas who are in the process of developing
the mind of awakening and practicing the bodhisattva path. The sūtra strongly
advises that bodhisattvas not shy away from the afflictive emotions of beings—
no matter how unpleasant they may be—and that insight into these emotions is
critical for a bodhisattva’s compassionate activity. The sūtra deals with the
preeminence of wisdom and non-grasping on the path. In the end, as a
teaching on how to deal with māras, the sūtra illuminates the many pitfalls
possible on the path of the Great Vehicle.
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Losal Samten
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Losal Samten »

The Teaching of Akṣayamati
Akṣayamatinirdeśa
Summary wrote:The bodhisatva Akṣayamati arrives in our world from the buddha field of the buddha Samantabhadra. In response to Śāriputra’s questions, Akṣayamati gives a discourse on the subject of imperishability. In all, Akṣayamati explains that there are eighty different aspects of the Dharma that are imperishable. When he has given this explanation, the Buddha praises it and declares it worthy of being spread by the countless bodhisatvas gathered there to listen.
Intro wrote:The sūtra was often quoted in the two great traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophical thought, the Madhyamaka and the Yogācāra. The Mādhyamikas referred to the section on definitive (nītārtha) and implicit (neyārtha) meanings to define their position concerning which sūtras were definitive in meaning—the ones teaching emptiness (śūnyatā), the absence of distinguishing marks (ānimitta), and the absence of anything to long for (apraṇidhāna)—and those that needed further explanation, in order to differentiate themselves from the Yogācāra view that the sūtras dealing with the all-ground consciousness (ālayavijñāna) were implicit in meaning. The adherents of Yogācāra, for their part, quoted The Teaching of Akṣayamati on all kinds of matters, and for some of them, e.g., Sthiramati (fourth century), it seems to have been one of the main source books on the way of the bodhisatvas. For the Yogācārins, the doctrine of imperishability was regarded as a very important aspect of the Buddha’s teachings. It is said that the sūtra was held in great esteem by Asaṅga (fourth century), as The Teaching of Akṣayamati and the Daśabhūmika (Toh 44, ch. 31) are supposed to be the two sūtras that convinced his brother Vasubandhu (fourth century) that the Mahāyāna was superior to the Hīnayāna, after Asaṅga had sent one of his disciples to recite them to him. According to tradition, Vasubandhu was the author of the Akṣaya­mati­nirdeśa­ṭīkā (Toh 3994), a commentary on this sūtra, and although this work seems rather to have been written by Sthiramati or by someone even later than him,
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh175.html
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

SilenceMonkey
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by SilenceMonkey »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:05 am Another recent one:

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh54.html
This chapter of the Lotus Sutra is chanted by many lay practitioners of chinese buddhism daily. It's known for making a lot of merit, fulfilling wishes and creating a positive connection with Avalokiteshvara. The chapter is about how Guanyin / Avalokiteshvara will assume the form of anyone or anything to save you from any predicament, should you but call out the bodhisattva's name!

I'm very happy to see it translated from Tibetan. I believe this sutra is very powerful and it's nice to have a translation with Tibetan lineage blessing.

Namo Amituofo!
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

SilenceMonkey wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:42 am
Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:05 am Another recent one:

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh54.html
This chapter of the Lotus Sutra is chanted by many lay practitioners of chinese buddhism daily. It's known for making a lot of merit, fulfilling wishes and creating a positive connection with Avalokiteshvara. The chapter is about how Guanyin / Avalokiteshvara will assume the form of anyone or anything to save you from any predicament, should you but call out the bodhisattva's name!

I'm very happy to see it translated from Tibetan. I believe this sutra is very powerful and it's nice to have a translation with Tibetan lineage blessing.

Namo Amituofo!
No, I think you are going too much on the English title. This is a different sutra.

Here is another new one:

https://84000.co/new-publication-the-ab ... -of-peace/
SilenceMonkey
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by SilenceMonkey »

Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:55 am

No, I think you are going too much on the English title. This is a different sutra.
Ah, you're right. Oh well. This one also looks great.
GrapeLover
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by GrapeLover »

SilenceMonkey wrote: Fri Oct 02, 2020 2:17 pm
Nicholas Weeks wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:55 am

No, I think you are going too much on the English title. This is a different sutra.
Ah, you're right. Oh well. This one also looks great.
The Lotus Sutra is on 84,000 translated from the Tibetan if you're interested: https://read.84000.co/translation/toh113.html
SilenceMonkey
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by SilenceMonkey »

GrapeLover wrote: Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:26 pm
The Lotus Sutra is on 84,000 translated from the Tibetan if you're interested: https://read.84000.co/translation/toh113.html
:anjali:
1SingleArray
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by 1SingleArray »

I wasn't aware of the 84k project.. It really looks like an amazing effort/resource. Thank you for posting these!
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kirtu
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by kirtu »

Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels, Triśaraṇa­gamana གསུམ་ལ་སྐྱབས་སུ་འགྲོ་བ།, gsum la skyabs su ’gro ba
Summary

In Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels, the venerable Śāriputra wonders how much merit accrues to someone who takes refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. He therefore seeks out the Buddha Śākyamuni and requests a teaching on this topic. The Buddha proceeds to describe how even vast offerings, performed in miraculous ways, would not constitute a fraction of the merit gained by someone who takes refuge in the Three Jewels.
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
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kirtu
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by kirtu »

From November, 2020

The Jewel Mine, Ratnākara, དཀོན་མཆོག་འབྱུང་གནས།, dkon mchog ’byung gnas, Toh 124
Summary

In this sūtra the Buddha Śākyamuni recounts how the thus-gone Sarvārthasiddha purified the buddha realms in his domain. In his explanation, the Buddha Śākyamuni emphasizes the view of the Great Vehicle, which he explains as the fundamental basis for all bodhisattvas who aspire to attain liberation. The attendant topics taught by the Buddha are the six perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom. The Buddha explains each of these six perfections in three distinct ways as he recounts the past lives of the buddha Sarvārthasiddha. First, he describes how Sarvārthasiddha learned the practices that purify buddha realms, namely the six perfections. Next, he explains how to seal these six virtuous practices with the correct view so that they become perfections. Finally, he recounts how Sarvārthasiddha, as a bodhisattva, received instructions for enhancing the potency of the perfections.
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
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kirtu
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Re: Latest 84K Sutra

Post by kirtu »

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata” འཕགས་པ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་ངེས་པར་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་
The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata opens with the Buddha presiding over a large congregation of disciples at Vulture Peak. Entering a special state of meditative absorption (samādhi), he magically displays a pavilion in the sky, attracting a vast audience of divine and human Dharma followers. At the request of the bodhisattva Dhāraṇīśvara­rāja, the Buddha gives a discourse on the qualities of bodhisattvas, which are specified as bodhisattva ornaments, illuminations, compassion, and activities. He also teaches about the compassionate awakening of tathāgatas and the scope of a tathāgata’s activities. At the request of a bodhisattva named Siṃhaketu, Dhāraṇīśvara­rāja then gives a discourse on eight dhāraṇīs, following which the Buddha explains the sources and functions of a dhāraṇī known as the jewel lamp. As the text concludes, various deities and Dharma protectors praise the sūtra’s qualities and vow to preserve and protect it in the future, and the Buddha entrusts the sūtra and its propagation to Dhāraṇīśvara­rāja.
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
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