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Title: The Vimalakirti Sutra by Burton Watson ISBN: 0-231-10657-2 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The gate to nondualism
Comment: This is a very important Mahayana Buddhist text, particularly if you're interested in Zen/Chan. In it Vimalakirti, the perfect example of the Buddhist layman, displays his profound wisdom and wonderworking powers. In order to benefit others Vimalakirti displays symptoms of an illness at which point Lord Buddha requests that one if his disciples go visit him and see how he is faring. It is quite entertaining and enlightening how each one of Buddha's disciples and bodhisattvas present in the assembly refuses to go visit the layman because of some past encounter with him which intimidated some and dumbfounded others. Finally, Manjushri, the Crown Prince of the Dharma, agrees to visit the ill Vimalakirti. It is at this point that the main body of the sutra begins with Vimalakirti teaching about emptiness and most important of all non-duality. If you are a student of the Mahayana and have not read this I highly recommend that you do. It is profound and sublime as only Buddhist scripture can be.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the best sutras - intelligent, funny
Comment: Vimalakirti is not only one of the most popular sutras in Buddhism, but it is also one of the easiest to read, most enlightening and at the same time full of humor. Vimalakirti was a Boddhisattva who decides to pretend he is sick so that others will come to him, learn, and achieve enlightenment. Among those who come along is Sariputra, a disciple of the Buddha, who is treated rather irreverently in the sutra. He just doesn't get anything, and his blindness is used in the sutra as a method for teaching. Thus, when he sees a goddess he asks her why she doesn't get rid of her female form (for a male one, since he thinks that would be better). She answers him by changing herself into a male form and Sariputra into a female form, then she mocks him with his own question. The poor guy is bewildered. She then changes him back and explains how neither male nor female is anything, and thereby helps Sariputra along his way to enlightenment by showing the blindness of his sexism.
The highpoint of the sutra is when all the various boddhisattvas are asked how to understand the non-dual dharma. They spout their wisdom one by one, saying how it is neither this nor that, neither this nor that, etc., until finally it comes to Vimalakirti's turn. At that moment, he says nothing and remains silent. "Ah," says Manjusri, "only when words are overcome can we understand the non-dual dharma."
Well, what can I say. I highly recommend this wonderful sutra. Whether you are a Buddhist or just interested in religious texts, this makes for a great read. If I made it seem just hilarious, it's actually also really deep stuff and it will make you think.
Rating: 5
Summary: The lay person's Way
Comment: Vimalakirti is the name of an ordinary householder who managed to achieve the bodhisattva level of enlightenment without ever renouncing his family life. In this sutra, many thousands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to hear the teachings offered by this maverick sage. His achievements fly in the face of the customary buddhist injunctions to leave the world and take up the monastic life in order to reach enlightenment. This ancient text has always been one of Buddhism's most popular sutras. And it is easy to see why. Not only does Vimalakirti champion the lifestyle lived by the majority of Buddhists--the laity--he delivers his teachings in a way that is often quite humorous, sometimes bordering on a blatent disrespect for the status quo of the buddhist monastic institution. This is a great book to use in classes on Buddhism, as well as those on folk/popular religious traditions. Watson's translation makes for very enjoyable reading!
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Title: The Lotus Sutra by Burton Watson ISBN: 0231081618 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1993 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Flower Ornament Scripture : A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra by Thomas Cleary ISBN: 0877739404 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 12 October, 1993 List Price(USD): $100.00 |
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Title: The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom by Red Pine, Sanskrit ISBN: 1582432562 Publisher: Counterpoint Press Pub. Date: 17 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Diamond Sutra by A F Price ISBN: 0877730059 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 12 May, 1974 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Sutra of Hui-Neng: Grand Master of Zen by Thomas Cleary ISBN: 1570623481 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 14 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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