Name: The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the Mind-ground
SKU: 3095
Price: 50.00 USD
Availability: InStock

The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the Mind-ground

$50.00

This scripture is best known in China and Japan for its exposition of

the four debts of gratitude and to a lesser extent its instructions concerning

an abridged version of a visualization practice characteristic

of the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha. It also merits attention for its

chapters on renunciant bodhisattvas and their practices, which are

likely to be the most faithful to Prajña’s Sanskrit base text and provide

further insights into the current of eremeticism that is known to have

constituted an important aspect of the early Mahayana.

Category: Tripiṭaka Product ID: 3095

Description

The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the

Mind-ground (Dasheng bensheng xindi guan jing) was the last

Buddhist text to be translated into Chinese with the full support of

the Tang imperial house. Translated by the Kashmiri monk Prajña

in 810–811, the translation is also notable for the fact that the Japanese

monk Ryōsen served as the scribe who wrote down the initial

draft translation, the only instance in which a Japanese monk is

known to have played such a prominent role in the translation of a

Chinese Buddhist text.

Additional information