Thomas Cleary

Hard cover version of the book of serenity

Oversized Hardcover (4 to 6 lbs)

Arizona

An important collection of 100 classic Zen Buddhist koans with commentaries. A companion to Thomas Cleary's well-respected translation of THE BLUE CLIFF RECORD, this book is the other, equally revered classic collection of koans--the paradoxical teaching devices that have been closely associated with Zen study and practice since the tenth century.

Book of Serenity

fdbeb49d-ea74-43fa-ab41-1b6514f1be29-1

John P. Keenan

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

The Summary of the Great Vehicle is perhaps the most representative text of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism. It presents the classic argument for the basic Yogacara themes on conscious interiority, attempting to reinterpret within this context the general Mahayana teachings of emptiness and dependent co-arising. It then proceeds to explain the etiology if imaginative illusion, sketch its reversal by offering an explanation of the nature of conversion, champion the recovered insight into depended co-arising in terms of the converted other-dependent pattern of consciousness, and thus allow for a valid, if limited, role for language-formed, conventional discourse, both commonsense and theoretical.

The Summary of the Great Vehicle

4d7cf021-42a5-4c7b-989b-de832b7981df-1

Fumihiko Sueki

Nobuyosi Yamabe

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

The Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation is a meditation manual compiled in China in the 4th century C.E. by Kumarajiva, the noted translator of many important Mahayana sutras and philosophical texts. Based on his profound knowledge of both Traditional and Mahayana Buddhism, Kumarajiva introduced Mahayana thought systematically and significantly advanced the Chinese understanding of Buddhism. This clear and well-organized manual describes both Traditional and Mahayanist meditation methods, based on the classification of practitioners into five different types. According to practitioners' inclinations to lust, anger, ignorance, discursive thoughts, or a combination of these, an appropriate remedial practice is prescribed for each type. Though the specific methods vary for Traditional or Mahayana followers, the general framework of practice is largely the same, suggesting that to Kumarajiva, Mahayanist meditation was not separate from Traditional forms of meditation. For the Chinese, the Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation provided much-needed clear guidance for meditation practice and this text exerted significant influence on the subsequent development of Buddhist meditation in China, especially on the Tiantai tradition.

The Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation

2f77084b-c93f-4136-9024-7ad04df8d7df-1

Shohei Ichimura

The original form of the "Ancient Regulations" for Ch'an (Zen) monastic life, established by the eighth-century Zen master Pai-chang was lost, surviving only in fragments in later compilations. The fourteenth-century Zen master Te-hui drew on extant works to compile the revised Pai-chang Zen Monastic Regulations under the Yüan Imperial Edict, the text on which this translation by Shohei Ichimura is based.

The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations

88f7d855-10f1-401b-9faa-5252907d3142-1

Kosho Yamamoto

Tony Page

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Last and Most Impressive Teachings of the Buddha about Reality and the True Self

This sutra is the study of what can be called "Nirvana Sutra Buddhism" or "Tathagatagarbha Buddhism". It is a very positive, balanced, faith-promoting and spiritually affirmative manifestation of Buddhism, which recognises the hidden reality of the unconditioned, egoless Buddha-Self in all beings. That Self of the Buddha is a mystery, beyond the reach and grasp of the samsaric intellect: while the Buddha-Self is real, it is certainly not comparable to our worldly, selfish self (ego) and cannot truly be captured within the net of words or concepts. Yet it is the only enduring Truth that can ever be found. This sutra leads us to the Ultimate Truth and indicate the Path to tread for an Awakening into Reality's presence, which is all-pervading and eternal. That eternally present Truth is the sole genuine Reality."You, monks, should not thus cultivate the notion of impermanence, suffering and non-Self, the notion of impurity and so forth, deeming them to be the true meaning of the Dharma, as those people searching in a pool for a radiant gem did, each thinking that bits of brick, stones, grass and gravel were the jewel. You should train yourselves well in efficacious means. In every situation, constantly meditate upon the idea of the Self, the idea of the Eternal, the Bliss, and the Pure ... Those who, desirous of attaining Reality, meditatatively cultivate these ideas, namely, the ideas of the Self, the Eternal, the Bliss, and the Pure, will skilfully bring forth the jewel, just like that wise person who obtained the genuine, priceless gem, rather than worthless detritus misperceived as the real thing."- The Buddha, Chapter Three, The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra

795be01d-3b74-4433-962f-a8ac49a4b0b3-1