Anyone have a good source for study guides and or commentaries on the sutras.
Coming from a Christian background years ago I remember that one thing that tradition did amazingly was exegesis. Look at the WBC & NICOT commentary series. Each takes a book of the bible and does about 400 or so pages on it. Pretty high level as well. Though really if I could get any good commentaries and or study guides on the sutras I would be happy
Study Guides & Commentaries
Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
Heart Attack Sutra by Karl Brunnholzl is an absolute cracker of a commentary on the Heart Sutra.
Look at the unfathomable spinelessness of man: all the means he's been given to stay alert he uses, in the end, to ornament his sleep. – Rene Daumal
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
There's a bunch of free texts here, by the way: http://www.buddhanet.net/ebooks_ms.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Look at the unfathomable spinelessness of man: all the means he's been given to stay alert he uses, in the end, to ornament his sleep. – Rene Daumal
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
the modern mind has become so limited and single-visioned that it has lost touch with normal perception - John Michell
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Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
Now that is a title! lolPaul wrote:Heart Attack Sutra by Karl Brunnholzl is an absolute cracker of a commentary on the Heart Sutra.
Thanks friend
Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
Funny, I always thought there was a dearth of commentaries in the Buddhist sense about Abrahamic religions, guess it goes both ways for newcomers.
In Buddhism, the whole Abhidharma-pitaka is basically commentarial literature on the sutras, and Abhidharma works themselves have spawned commentaries on top of commentaries. There is the famous Abhidharmakosa by Vasubandhu, which is a root text summarizing the key tenets of the Sravaka Buddhist canon according to some of the different schools at the time in India, then the Abhidharmakosa-bhasyam is a word-by-word commentary by Vasubandhu which elaborates and criticizes many of these points.
Likewise, the Madhyamika treatises are summaries of the Prajnaparamita sutras, which themselves have been extensively commented upon.
In general, if you are referring to word-by-word commentaries on the sutras themselves, I think they don't exist very much in Buddhism except for certain very popular sutras like the Heart Sutra, though I could be wrong. Maybe this is what you mean by exegetical literature in Christianity. I think this highlights the difference in the commentarial tradition in Buddhadharma and in the Judaeo-Christian sense -- the Buddhist commentarial tradition is a continuation of Abhidharma literature, which collates the teachings from many sutras, Christians (or is it mainly Protestants?) try to comment on the Bible itself.
In Buddhism, the whole Abhidharma-pitaka is basically commentarial literature on the sutras, and Abhidharma works themselves have spawned commentaries on top of commentaries. There is the famous Abhidharmakosa by Vasubandhu, which is a root text summarizing the key tenets of the Sravaka Buddhist canon according to some of the different schools at the time in India, then the Abhidharmakosa-bhasyam is a word-by-word commentary by Vasubandhu which elaborates and criticizes many of these points.
Likewise, the Madhyamika treatises are summaries of the Prajnaparamita sutras, which themselves have been extensively commented upon.
In general, if you are referring to word-by-word commentaries on the sutras themselves, I think they don't exist very much in Buddhism except for certain very popular sutras like the Heart Sutra, though I could be wrong. Maybe this is what you mean by exegetical literature in Christianity. I think this highlights the difference in the commentarial tradition in Buddhadharma and in the Judaeo-Christian sense -- the Buddhist commentarial tradition is a continuation of Abhidharma literature, which collates the teachings from many sutras, Christians (or is it mainly Protestants?) try to comment on the Bible itself.
Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
Here I only mention some Mahayana sutra commentaries, but Theravada teachers published (book & online) even more on the Nikayas.
The Heart Sutra Explained
The Heart Sutra
Zen Words for the Heart
Essence of the Heart Sutra
An Arrow to the Heart
There is No Suffering
The Heart Sutra
The Heart of the Universe
The Diamond Sutra
Describing the indescribable
The Diamond Sutra
Tao-Sheng's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra
The Universal Gate
The Lankavatara Sutra
Studies in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
Two Commentaries on the Samdhinirmocana-Sutra
Hermeneutics and Tradition in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
Complete Enlightenment
Cultivating Original Enlightenment
King of Samadhi
The Shurangama Sutra
The Platform Sutra
The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra
The Heart Sutra Explained
The Heart Sutra
Zen Words for the Heart
Essence of the Heart Sutra
An Arrow to the Heart
There is No Suffering
The Heart Sutra
The Heart of the Universe
The Diamond Sutra
Describing the indescribable
The Diamond Sutra
Tao-Sheng's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra
The Universal Gate
The Lankavatara Sutra
Studies in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
Two Commentaries on the Samdhinirmocana-Sutra
Hermeneutics and Tradition in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
Complete Enlightenment
Cultivating Original Enlightenment
King of Samadhi
The Shurangama Sutra
The Platform Sutra
The Sixth Patriarch's Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
You guys are both beasts. Awesome posts!
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Re: Study Guides & Commentaries
http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=32 -- "Vimalakirti Sutra" translations and commentaries
Many meditators know how to meditate,
But only a few know how to dismantle [mental clinging].
- Je Gyare
But only a few know how to dismantle [mental clinging].
- Je Gyare