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The Qur’an is the religious text of Islam, also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Kuran, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān. It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. Muslims hold that the Qur’an is the verbal divine guidance and moral direction for mankind. Muslims also consider the original Arabic verbal text to be the final revelation of God.

The subject of religion has as many beliefs, feelings, and perceptions around it as there are people on the planet. In a way, everyone has their own religion, even if they subscribe to a religion that many others do. This is because everyone has their own interpretations of the religion they subscribe to. If you were to ask followers of any given religion what their beliefs are, or what parts of the religion they agree or disagree with, they would all say something a little different from each other.

Religion is one of the most powerful, deeply felt, and influential forces in
human society. It has shaped people’s relationships with each other,
influencing family, community, economic, and political life. Religious beliefs and values motivate human action, and religious groups organize their collective religious expressions. Religion is a significant aspect of social life, and the social dimension is an important part of religion.

There are several problems in trying to make a definition of religion that is not overly vague and general, but that still is “inclusive enough” to not leave out any of the beliefs and practices that seem religious to most intelligent people. By their nature, religious beliefs tend to motivate other aspects of human behavior beyond those which would strictly be considered to be of religious concern.

The Sutra is the shortest of the three basic Sutras in Pure Land School, so it is also The Smaller Sukhavativyuha. It starts by giving a description of the splendours of Sukhavati, the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, and further explains what must be done in order to be reborn there, The Buddhas of the six directions extol the merits and virtues of Amitabha Buddha, so one should make a great vow to be reborn in Sukhavati by believing and reciting the name of Amitabha upon hearing His name.

The Larger Sukhavativyuha is the longest of the three basic Sutras of the Pure Land School. It starts with a monk called Dharmakara, who practiced Buddhist Dharma under Tathagata Lokesvararaja. The monk made 48 great vows to save all sentient beings. Upon the fulfilment of these vows, he would create a Pure Land in the west called Sukhavati, which literally means the Land of Ultimate Bliss. He himself thus became the Buddha Amitabha.

This is a fully annotated, critical English translation of Maitreyanatha's Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahayanasutralamkara), as transmitted to the fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar-adept Ärya Asanga, along with its commentary (bhasya) by Asanga's brother Vasubandhu. A wellspring of the "magnificent deeds trend of the path," the Discourse Literature emphasizes the compassion side of Buddhist thought. Includes an introduction covering essential historical and philosophical topics, a bibliography, and detailed index.

Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being was composed by Maitreya during the golden age of Indian Buddhism. Mipham's commentary supports Maitreya's text in a detailed analysis of how ordinary confused consciousness can be transformed into wisdom. Easy-to-follow instructions guide the reader through the profound meditation that gradually brings about this transformation. This important and comprehensive work belongs on the bookshelf of any serious Buddhist practitioner--and, indeed, of anyone interested in realizing their full potential as a human being.

Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Sir Eliot is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Sir Eliot then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

With his distinctive clarity and wit, "Bhante G" takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. We already have the foundation we need to live a more productive and peaceful life — Bhante simply points to each tool of meditation, tells us what it does, and how to make it work. This expanded edition includes the complete text of its bestselling predecessor, as well as a new chapter on the cultivation of loving kindness, an especially important subject in today's world.

The Mind is neither large nor small; it is located neither within nor without. It should not be thought about by the mind nor be discussed by the mouth. Ordinarily, it is said that we use the Mind to transmit the Mind, or that we use the Mind to seal the Mind. Actually, however, in transmitting the Mind, there is really no Mind to receive or obtain; and in sealing the Mind, there is really no Mind to seal. If this is the case, then does the Mind exist or does it not exist?

The following volume constitutes the second in a series devoted to Buddhist philosophy. It takes up more or less where its predecessor, Volume Seven of this Encyclopedia, leaves off, around the beginning of the second century. This is a period still not will understood, with a great deal of scholarly disagreement remaining about many aspects of the history and thought of the period. The editor of the volume has tried to utilize the most up-to-date scholarship known to us.

In this teaching Rinpoche presents the main schools of Buddhist philosophy with their progressively more subtle and refined views of reality. However it is not just a teaching on the view, but a presentation providing the student the means to realize it through meditation practice The idea of a series of meditation practices on a particular aspect of the Buddha’s teachings is that by beginning with one’s first rather coarse commonsense understanding, one progresses through increasingly subtle and more refined stages until one arrives at complete and perfect understanding.

Zen Mind Beginners Mind is a simple series of lectures that may help the reader to see reality a bit clearer (it did that for me). Zen Mind Beginners Mind is a simple series of lectures built around the idea, accept nothing till you verify it for yourself. The idea of not accepting anything till you verify it yourself is one of the bright lights of Zen and creates a huge chasm between itself and other paths on spiritual journeys. Shunryu Suzuki is very clear in the book that Buddhism uses this as the foundation of everything that will come after it.

This book is the carefully edited record of the fascinating discussions at a Mind & Life conference in which five leading physicists and a historian (David Finkelstein, George Greenstein, Piet Hut, Arthur Zajonc, Anton Zeilinger, and Tu Weiming) discussed with the Dalai Lama current thought in theoretical quantum physics, in the context of Buddhist philosophy. A contribution to the science-religion interface, and a useful explanation of our basic understanding of quantum reality, couched at a level that intelligent readers without a deep involvement in science can grasp.

"In giving an overview of the Buddhadharma, as practised by the Tibetans, I generally point out that the Buddhism we practice is an integrated form comprising teachings of the low, Bodhisattva and Tantric vehicles, including such paths as the Great Seal. Because quite a number of people have already received initiations, teachings and so on, they might find it helpful to have an explanation of the complete framework.

In this booklet five practising Buddhists, all with modern backgrounds, offer their reflections on the significance of karma and its relation to ethics, spiritual practice, and philosophical understanding. The contributers include: Nyanaponika Thera, Bhikkhu Nanajivako, Francis Story, Nina Van Gorkom, and Leonard Bullen.

Introduction to the Middle Way presents an adventure into the heart of Buddhist wisdom through the Madhyamika, or "middle way," teachings, which are designed to take the ordinary intellect to the limit of its powers and then show that there is more.

This is a companion volume to The Koan and The Zen Canon , by the same editors. The first volume collected original essays on koan collections, recorded sayings of individual masters, histories of major schools, and compilations of monastic regulations. The second focuses on the early history of Zen in China, providing overview assessments of many of the most important canonical texts that set the Zen tradition in motion throughout East Asia. Zen Classics will follow that historical movement, focusing primarily on texts from Korea and Japan that brought this Buddhist movement to fruition.

This book is an annotated translation of one of the great Tibetan classics of Mahayana Buddhist thought, mKhas grub rje's sTong thun chen mo. The text is a detailed critical exposition of the theory and practice of emptiness as expounded in the three major schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy: the Yogacara, Svatantrika, and Prasangika.

A Spacious Path to Freedom is a classic manual of Tibetan meditation, offering the Dzogchen and the Mahamudra systems of practice. Chapters explain the stages of meditation, and author Karma Chagma applies his extensive experience and familiarity with Tibetan oral traditions to reveal how these two meditative systems can be integrated into a single approach. Commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche enhances this core addition to advanced Buddhist Studies shelves.

The book is the result of the author's observations of original sources. Majority of examples cited by his are selected from the works of well-known authors and this has made the work both authoritative and interesting. Among the ancient grammarians he has followed Panini whose rulers are referred to at every step.

The book bases Buddhist psychology on a sophisticated and thoroughgoing empiricism. Jamesean psychological concepts are used in order to clarify the Buddhist ideas. The first part of the book outlines the principles of psychology that can be traced to the Buddha himself with detailed comparison to James. The second part deals with the understanding of these principles by later disciples of Buddha. The substantial appendices present analyses of Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga and Vasubandhu's Vijnaptimatratasiddhi.

This comprehensive and detailed survey of the first six centuries of Indian Buddhism sums up the results of a lifetime of research and reflection by one of Japan's most renowned scholars of Buddhism. Relying on Pali and Sanskrit sources and on inscriptions from archaeological sites and Chinese translations of Indian texts, Hirakawa balances his review of early Buddhist doctrinal development with extensive discussion of historical background and the evolution of Buddhist institutions.

This dissertation examines the relation between the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools of Buddhism, focusing on the Yogacara perspective. It reevaluates the opinion, generally accepted among modern scholars, that the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools constitute divergent and radically opposed movements within the Buddhist Tradition. To address this issue, the dissertation distinguishes between two separate questions. The first question is whether the early Yogacara writers were actively refuting what they perceived to be a distinct religious school within the Buddhist tradition.

The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. Numerous introductory books have appeared in recent years to cater to this growing interest, but almost none devotes attention to the specifically ethical dimensions of the tradition. For various complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West.

The theme of this study, Buddhist ceremonies and rituals, may not appeal to the self-styled Buddhist purist who wishes to restrict the designation "Buddhism" exclusively to the teachings of the Buddhist scriptures, which he usually interprets in a narrowly intellectualist manner. The fact remains, however, that the practices and observances to be described here justly claim an integral place within the stream of living Buddhism as practiced by its adherents.

In the early part of this century, the discovery of a walled-up cave in northwest China led to the retrieval of a lost early Ch'an (Zen) literature of the T'ang dynasty (618-907). One of the recovered Zen texts was a seven-piece collection, the Bodhidharma Anthology. Of the numerous texts attributed to Bodhidharma, this anthology is the only one generally believed to contain authentic Bodhidharma material. Jeffrey L. Broughton provides a reliable annotated translation of the Bodhidharma Anthology along with a detailed study of its nature, content, and background.

From the dust jacket: The word and its meaning are inseparable. A word may appear simple, yet it may possess such potency that, though dormant for many centuries, it suddenly shakes off its slumber and changes the course of history. One such word is arhan. People used it, for ages from the dawn of the Vedic period to the advent of the Buddha, for naming a worthy or venerable person.

The author devotes a good part of his book to the elaboration of the anatta doctrine stating that the Buddha sought for the atta in the indirect way, by taking away from the atta everything that is not the atta. The Buddha, according to the author, followed this way so radically and with so much success, that whatever is cognizable revealed itself to him as anatta.

The elapse of twenty-five centuries, with all its upheavals, has not abated the appeal of Buddhism. It has almost faded from the land of its birth. It has, because of oral transmission, passage of time, different people, skies, editors, translators and languages, changed beyond recognition. Despite these, today nearly a third of the human race are professed Buddhists. Mrs.

Valuable companion work to the Abhidharmakosa, re-translated from the French work of the master scholar Lamotte, and dealing with a variety of philosophical problems connected with the law of karma.

This translation of the Digha Nikaya, a collection of 34 sutras and a companion volume to The Middle Length Discourses (below), deals with a variety of topics such as the rewards of monastic life, early Buddhist philosophy, and the duties of laypersons.

This book provides a vivid and detailed picture of the daily life and religious practices of Buddhist monks and nuns in the classic period of Theravada Buddhism. The author describes the way in which the Buddha's disciples institutionalized and ritualized his teachings about food, dress, money, chastity, solitude, and discipleship. This tradition represents an ideal of religious life that has been followed in India and South Asia for more than two thousand years.

Seeks to trace the growth of the Buddhist community, to indicate its relation to the world of Hindu and Non-Hindu society and to follow the rise and development of the doctrines from their legendary origin into the system which has spread over a great part of Asia.

Course Description:
The course will examine the socio-cultural circumstances that led to the rise and popularity of the Pure Land School (Jìngtǔzōng or Jōdokyō), both in China and Japan and its basic teachings. The course will focus specially on the religious and philosophical significance of the prayer to the Amida Buddha so essential in Pure Land pietism. The division of the school into Jodo and Jodoshin after its introduction to Japan will also be considered.

Recommend Reference:

一、圆融和谐的实相本体论––天台宗的三谛思想

　　三谛这个名词，并非是天台智者所创，从它的义理方面来说，许多经典都具备了三谛的意义；而三谛名字的出现，一般认为是出自《仁王》和《璎珞》这两部经典。智者在《妙法莲华经玄义》卷二中云：

　　明三谛者，众经备有其义，而名出《璎珞》《仁王》，谓有谛、无谛、中道第一义谛。今经亦有其义，寿量云：非如非异即中道，如即真，异即俗。

　　三谛之名，有不同的称呼。如有谛，亦可称为俗谛、世谛、假谛；无谛亦可称为真谛、空谛、第一义谛；中道第一义谛亦可称为中谛、第一义谛、一实谛，亦可名为虚空、佛性、法界、如如、如来藏等。现在为了方便，即将三谛称之为“空谛”、“假谛”和“中谛”。

　　通常说法认为，天台的“三谛义”来源于《中论》“四谛品”中的“三是偈”：

　　因缘所生法，我说即是空；亦为是假名，亦是中道义。

　　这个著名的“三是偈”，表达了龙树中观学的“缘起性空”的思想。但是在三论师那里，此偈只是阐述了“真俗二谛”的道理，而把“中道义”当作是“体”：

　　“因缘生法”是俗谛，“即是空”是真谛，“亦是中道义”是体。

Nakamura argues with remarkable erudition that particular intellectual and social developments can be traced in all great cultures; that each culture deals with its problems in about the same order. Discussing ideads from India, China, Japan and Europe, the author considers such inclusive notions as the concept of God, the controversy over universals and the nature of orthodoxy and heterodoxy. This is a lucid and rewarding book which sets a new standard for dealing with a history of thought across many cultures.

All sentient beings, without exception have buddha nature, the inherent purity and perfection of the mind, untouched by changing mental states. Thus there is neither any reason for conceit in deeming oneself better than others, nor any reason for self-contempt, thinking of oneself as inferior and unable to reach enlightenment. This seeing is obscured by veils which are removable and do not touch the inherent purity and perfection of the nature of the mind as such.

This encyclopaedic work on Theravada Buddhism, "The Path of Purification", was written by Buddhaghosa.

Nagarjuna is renowned for his penetrating analysis of reality. In the Precious Garland, he offers intimate counsel on how to conduct one's life and how to construct social policies that reflect Buddhist ideals. The advice for personal happiness is concerned first with improving one's condition over the course of lifetimes and then with release from all kinds of suffering, culminating in Buddhahood.

The works of the Buddha can feel vast, and it is sometimes difficult for even longtime students to know where to look, especially since the Buddha never explicitly defined the framework behind his teachings. Designed to provide just such a framework, 'In the Buddha's Words' is an anthology of the Buddha's works that has been specifically compiled by a celebrated scholar and translator.

Zen master Nhat Hanh turns his hard-earned wisdom as a survivor of war, persecution, and exile to the age-old dilemma of what happens when one dies. If the greatest fear is, as he suggests, that one becomes nothing, then how is one to live with this threat of complete annihilation? Using Buddhist parables and anecdotes, Nhat Hanh offers an alternative perspective. Buddhists see birth and death as mere concepts, not manifestations of reality. When someone dies, they are still with us, just in a different form.

Buddhadasa's "system" of thought, if we may call it that, is not conceived as a scheme to explain all that is worth explaining. Rather, it reflects his continuous effort to interpret the dhamma and make it relevant to particular times, places, persons and events. It begins with such basic questions as "Who am I?", "How can I live a meaningful life?" and "What is true freedom?".

Note:
The Śūnyatā Doctrine in Nāgārjuna's Mūla-madhyamaka-kārikā
3 (3-0-6), 1:30pm-4:30pm, Friday, Classroom (2)

Course Description:
The course is designed to give an understanding of historical and philosophical significance of the Madhyamaka system of Nāgārjuna. The emphasis will be on understanding the philosophy of emptiness by reading the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā of Nāgārjuna.

The course will be roughly divided into three sections:
a. The doctrinal background of Madhyamaka philosophy its history in brief;
b. Study of Kārikās: a study of selected chapters; and

Weber's claim that Buddhism is an otherworldly religion is only partially true. Early sources indicate that the Buddha was sometimes diverted from supramundane interests to dwell on a variety of politically-related matters. The significance of Asoka Maurya as a paradigm for later traditions of Buddhist kingship is also well-attested. However, there has been little scholarly effort to integrate findings on the extent to which Buddhism interacted with the political order in the classical and modern states of Theravada Asia into a wider, comparative study.