Madhyamaka

In this volume, Bhikshu Dharmamitra presents translations of three classic works on the bodhisattva vow (bodhicitta) authored by: The early Indian monastic eminence, Arya Nagarjuna (2nd c.); The Dhyana Master and Pureland Patriarch, Sheng'an Shixian (1686-1734); The Tang Dynasty literatus and prime minister, the Honorable Peixiu (797-870). Given that the bodhisattva vow constitutes the very essence of the path to buddhahood, this text can be said to be dedicated to the most important topic in all of Mahayana Buddhism. The translation and notes are by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

This is The Bodhisambhara Shastra ("Treatise on the Provisions for Enlightenment"), written by Arya Nagarjuna, the early Indian monk (ca 2nd c.) who is one of the most famous figures in the history of Indian Mahayana Buddhism. This work describes the essential prerequisites for achieving the complete enlightenment of a buddha while also describing the most important practices to be undertaken by bodhisattvas.

This text is a translation of chapters 17-30 of Arya Nagarjuna's immense "Exegesis on the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra" (Mahaprajnaparamita-upadesa). It is a free-standing section of that commentary exclusively devoted to analyzing and explaining the various levels of practice of the bodhisattva's six perfections.

In this volume, Bhikshu Dharmamitra presents his translations of the three earliest editions of Arya Nagarjuna's "Letter from a Friend" (Suhrllekha), a work on the layman's practice of the Buddhist path. This text was written by Nagarjuna in the form of a letter of spiritual counsel to the early Indian monarch, King Satakarni. These three editions were produced in the middle part of the first millennium by Tripitaka Masters Gunavarman, Sanghavarman, and Yijing. English translations and notes by Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

The Buddhist saint Nagarjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahayana Buddhist philosopher. His many works include texts addressed to lay audiences, letters of advice to kings, and a set of penetrating metaphysical and epistemological treatises. His greatest philosophical work, the Mulamadhyamikakarika—read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea—is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy.

"After the Thora, the Koran and the Gospels the Indian literature on ‘The Perfection of Wisdom’ has had the greatest impact on the religious consciousness of mankind. Its composition extended for over seven hundred years, and here we offer the reader the first two works which were composed in South India between 100 B.C. And A.D. 100." (from the back cover).

Nagarjuna is the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. The Mulamadhyamaka-Karika ("Fundamentals of the Middle Way") is his major work. It was originally composed in Sanskrit, and Sanskrit as well as early Tibetan versions of the work have survived, as have later Chinese translations.

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.

One of the Buddha's most central ideas is the importance of transcending “either/or” thinking to avoid the trap of extremist views. In Beyond the Self Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that we can find tranquility by embracing all aspects of life, instead of focusing on what we like and dislike. The book contains Nhat Hanh's original translation of the Sutra on the Middle Way, as well as his commentary on how we can use this teaching to better understand how to navigate our difficulties and find peace of mind. By changing how we see the world, Beyond the Self helps us transform ourselves.

The Indian philosopher Acharya Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 CE) was the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahayana Buddhism and arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after Buddha himself. Indeed, in the Tibetan and East Asian traditions, Nagarjuna is often referred to as the 'second Buddha.' His primary contribution to Buddhist thought lies is in the further development of the concept of sunyata or 'emptiness.' For Nagarjuna, all phenomena are without any svabhaba, literally 'own-nature' or 'self-nature', and thus without any underlying essence. In this book, Jan Westerhoff offers a systematic account of Nagarjuna's philosophical position. He reads Nagarjuna in his own philosophical context, but he does not hesitate to show that the issues of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy have at least family resemblances to issues in European philosophy.