Questioning the Buddha - A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras

"In the forty-five years the Buddha spent traversing northern India centuries before the common era, he shared his wisdom with everyone from beggar women to kings. Hundreds of his discourses, or såutras, were preserved by his followers, first orally and later in written form. Around 800 CE they were translated into the Tibetan language, where they have been preserved ever since. To date, only a fraction of these såutras have been made available in English. Questioning the Buddha brings the reader directly into this literary treasure with thoroughly annotated translations of twenty-five different såutras. Often these texts, many translated here in full for the first time, begin with an encounter in which someone poses a question to the Buddha. Peter Skilling, an authority on early Buddhist epigraphy, archaeology, and textual traditions, has been immersed in the Buddhist scriptures of diverse traditions for nearly half a century. In this volume, his deep comprehension is harnessed to render these ancient teachings in a fresh and precise language. His introduction is a fascinating survey of såutra study in the West, from its origins to today. Såutras translated: I. Dogma, Dharma, and Ritual 1. Four Dharmas Not to Be Taken for Granted 2. The Benefits of Giving 3. The Exposition of Four Dharmas 4. Measuring the Merit of the Three Refuges 5. Four Dharmas Never to Be Abandoned 6. Teaching Given to Bodhisatva Dharmaketu 7. Teaching Given to Bodhisatva Jayamati 8. Såutra Comparing Bodhicitta to Gold 9. Bodhisatva Maitreya's Question about the Gift of the Dharma 10. Four Summaries of the Dharma Spoken to the Nåaga King Såagara 11. The Merit of the Stanza of Dependent Arising 12. The Heart-Formula of Dependent Arising II. Marvelous Children, Women, and Gods 13. The Prediction of the Future Buddhahood of the Boy Brahmaâsråi 14. Kòsemavatåi's Prediction to Buddhahood 15. The City Beggar Woman 16. An Old Woman's Questions about Birth and Death 17. The Questions of âSråimatåithe Brahman Woman 18. The Questions of the Laywoman Gaçngottaråa 19. Brahmåa Sahåaòmpati's Question III. Conversations with Kings 20. The Buddha's Advice to King Prasenajit 21. The Process of Rebirth 22. Instructions for King Bimbisåara 23. Instructions for King Udayana IV. The Range of the Buddhas 24. Buddhas as Rare as a Grain of Golden Sand 25. Teachings Delivered on the Occasion of the Great Final Nirvåaòna"--

About the author

Peter Skilling is a special lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and an honorary associate, Department of Indian Subcontinental Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. Until his retirement in 2017, he was a professor of the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) based in Bangkok. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in the humanities by Chulalongkorn University in 2020. He is an honorary member of the Siam Society, Bangkok, and in 2017 he was elected an honorary fellow of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. He has been visiting professor at Harvard University (2000), the University of California at Berkeley (2001), Oxford University (2002), Sydney University (2009), Soka University (2009), and Savitribai Phule Pune University (2016–17). He has published widely on the Buddhist literature, history, and epigraphy of South and Southeast Asia.

Summary

An important new book unlocking the words of the Buddha contained in the vast Tibetan canon, one of the main scriptural resources of Buddhism.

In the forty-five years the Buddha spent traversing northern India, he shared his wisdom with everyone from beggar women to kings. Hundreds of his discourses, or sutras, were preserved by his followers, first orally and later in written form. Around thirteen hundred years after the Buddha’s enlightenment, the sutras were translated into the Tibetan language, where they have been preserved ever since. To date, only a fraction of these have been made available in English. Questioning the Buddha brings the reader directly into the literary treasure of the Tibetan canon with thoroughly annotated translations of twenty-five different sutras. Often these texts, many translated here in full for the first time, begin with an encounter in which someone poses a question to the Buddha.

Peter Skilling, an authority on early Buddhist epigraphy, archaeology, and textual traditions, has been immersed in the Buddhist scriptures of diverse traditions for nearly half a century. In this volume, he draws on his deep and extensive research to render these ancient teachings in a fresh and precise language. His introduction is a fascinating history of the Buddhist sutras, including the transition from oral to written form, the rise of Mahayana literature, the transmission to Tibet, the development of canons, and a look at some of the pioneers of sutra study in the West.

 

Additional text

“Peter Skilling’s erudition, wisdom, gentle humor, and devotion to Buddhism and art are summed up magnificently in this large volume. Far beyond what he calls ‘a translation anthology with a long introduction ornamented by a garland of endnotes,’ it offers an artful narrative of the history of Buddhism, a distillation of a lifetime of reading and reflection, and exquisite translations of twenty-five essential Buddhist texts.”

Product details

• Authors: Dzongsar Khyentse, Peter Skilling, Peter Khyentse Skilling
• Assisted by: Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (Foreword)
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2021
• EAN: 9781614293934
• ISBN: 978-1-61429-393-4
• No. of pages: 680
• Dimensions: 150 mm x 230 mm x 40 mm
• Series: Classics of Indian Buddhism
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology