Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Hi,
Many temples prohibit consumption of meat products in their premises,this is understandable.Few temples suggest that meat must not be consumed on the day one is visiting the temple.What is the reason for this? Has this got anything to do with studying the Sutras/Dharma? Should we abstain from eating meat the day we chant Sutras or visit temples/monasteries?
In one temple website I've seen the priest touching the Sutra text to his forehead and bowing to it.Also,in some schools where a particular Sutra is emphasized it appears that they treat it with some kind of special reverence.
Is there an etiquette to be followed while reading the Sutras?
Many temples prohibit consumption of meat products in their premises,this is understandable.Few temples suggest that meat must not be consumed on the day one is visiting the temple.What is the reason for this? Has this got anything to do with studying the Sutras/Dharma? Should we abstain from eating meat the day we chant Sutras or visit temples/monasteries?
In one temple website I've seen the priest touching the Sutra text to his forehead and bowing to it.Also,in some schools where a particular Sutra is emphasized it appears that they treat it with some kind of special reverence.
Is there an etiquette to be followed while reading the Sutras?
Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
I've heard it's bad form to read them in bed or on the toilet. I've never been given any dietary proscriptions to practice when reading them. The recommendation I have been given is that the true meaning doesn't start to sink in until they've been read numerous times, one of my teachers had the goal of reciting the entire Lotus Sutra 100 times - a chapter a day, 1 full recitation a month, 10 to 12 recitations a year, for 10 years.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Other traditional attitudes involve always shelving sutras high up; never tossing them about or letting them sit on the floor. Be careful in your handling of them.
Reading passages slowly & aloud is not a rule, but I think it helps the meaning sink it. Same with writing them out yourself.
Reading passages slowly & aloud is not a rule, but I think it helps the meaning sink it. Same with writing them out yourself.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Thanks Admin_PC.Admin_PC wrote:I've heard it's bad form to read them in bed or on the toilet. I've never been given any dietary proscriptions to practice when reading them. The recommendation I have been given is that the true meaning doesn't start to sink in until they've been read numerous times, one of my teachers had the goal of reciting the entire Lotus Sutra 100 times - a chapter a day, 1 full recitation a month, 10 to 12 recitations a year, for 10 years.
The advice given by your Master is useful for all of us. I’ll follow this suggestion.
( On a side note, it seems that the lengthier texts, such as the Lotus Sutra, come under the category of ‘vast discourses’ or ‘(Maha)Vaipulya Sutras’.Under which category are the Pure Land Sutras classified?
Also, I've noticed that there are different titles for the three Sutras. Generally, it is easy to identify which Sutra is being referred to but sometimes the titles are directly transliterated. I noted down the Sutra titles in various languages, this could serve as an easy reference for newcomers like me.
1)
English : Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra/ Infinite Life Sutra/ Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life/ The Array of Amitābha/ The Teaching on the Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī/ The Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life
Japanese : Bussetsu Muryoku-kyo/ Daikyo
Sanskrit : Ārya-amitābhavyūha-nāma-mahāyānasūtra/ Amitābhavyūha-sūtra/ Amitāyuḥ-sūtra/ Aparimitāyuḥ-sūtra
2)
English : Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra/The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī/ Amitabha Sutra/ The Sutra of Amida Buddha
Japanese : Bussetsu Amida-kyo/ Shokyo
Sanskrit : Ārya-sukhāvatīvyūha-nāma-mahāyānasūtra / Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra
3)
English : The Contemplation Sutra/ Amitāyus Buddha-mindfulness Sūtra/ Amitāyus Meditation Sūtra/ The Sutra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life / Sixteen Contemplations Sutra
Japanese : Bussetsu Kammuryoju-kyo/ Kangyo
Sanskrit : Amitāyurbuddhānusmṛti-sūtra/ Amitāyur-dhyāna-sūtra / Vipaśyanā-sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra
Do you know the Sutra names in other languages like Chinese,Vietnamese etc. ? I'll try post all the different titles in a new thread later, maybe in the Pure Land subforum.)
Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Thank you Nicholas.Nicholas Weeks wrote:Other traditional attitudes involve always shelving sutras high up; never tossing them about or letting them sit on the floor. Be careful in your handling of them.
Reading passages slowly & aloud is not a rule, but I think it helps the meaning sink it. Same with writing them out yourself.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Buddha said in some speaches that the subject of the speach -and the speach itself- embodies the Buddha -so reciting it is like the Buddha talking right there!-, so we easily can understand wich treatment we should have with the record of this speaches.
regarding meat consumption, in the sutra of karma -wich was directed to monks and lays- is said that one of the four things to avoid -for attaining happiness in this life and the others- is abstaining to kill and consume meat; and as general karma explanation the cause of vomiting blood is reciting pledges to the Buddhas while we have meat in our mouth.
so in conclution, all you need is there in the sutra haha do what you feel, what you understand. if you follow a rule without understand it has no value.
this is how i see it, regarding to sutrayana.
regarding meat consumption, in the sutra of karma -wich was directed to monks and lays- is said that one of the four things to avoid -for attaining happiness in this life and the others- is abstaining to kill and consume meat; and as general karma explanation the cause of vomiting blood is reciting pledges to the Buddhas while we have meat in our mouth.
so in conclution, all you need is there in the sutra haha do what you feel, what you understand. if you follow a rule without understand it has no value.
this is how i see it, regarding to sutrayana.
true dharma is inexpressible.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
If possible, could you provide the reference for this.javier.espinoza.t wrote:Buddha said in some speaches that the subject of the speach -and the speach itself- embodies the Buddha -so reciting it is like the Buddha talking right there!-
IMHO, this seems like an apocryphal work.javier.espinoza.t wrote:karma explanation the cause of vomiting blood is reciting pledges to the Buddhas while we have meat in our mouth.
http://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/ ... 0sutra.pdf
Looks like I'm not the first person to doubt its authenticity. https://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=3733
Anyways,the text is exhorting people to do good and abstain from harmful actions.
javier.espinoza.t wrote:so in conclution, all you need is there in the sutra haha do what you feel, what you understand. if you follow a rule without understand it has no value.
this is how i see it, regarding to sutrayana.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
references can be found in the Lotus Sutra, Surangama Sutra, etc.Dharmic wrote:If possible, could you provide the reference for this.javier.espinoza.t wrote:Buddha said in some speaches that the subject of the speach -and the speach itself- embodies the Buddha -so reciting it is like the Buddha talking right there!-
IMHO, this seems like an apocryphal work.javier.espinoza.t wrote:karma explanation the cause of vomiting blood is reciting pledges to the Buddhas while we have meat in our mouth.
http://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/ ... 0sutra.pdf
Looks like I'm not the first person to doubt its authenticity. https://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=3733
Anyways,the text is exhorting people to do good and abstain from harmful actions.
javier.espinoza.t wrote:so in conclution, all you need is there in the sutra haha do what you feel, what you understand. if you follow a rule without understand it has no value.
this is how i see it, regarding to sutrayana.
i found The Golden Precepts (Sutra of Karma) in tbsn. sutras are extremely criptic and this one is the same, we should not take it lightly.
http://tbsn.org/english2/sutra.php?id=6&keyword=&page=0
the best way to certify it's authenticity is by finding proofs, and to me this is authentic.
Best regards.
true dharma is inexpressible.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
I would like to strongly encourage to you to look for resources elsewhere and not rely on this particular organization. I think many others here would do the same.javier.espinoza.t wrote: i found The Golden Precepts (Sutra of Karma) in tbsn. sutras are extremely criptic and this one is the same, we should not take it lightly.
http://tbsn.org/english2/sutra.php?id=6&keyword=&page=0
Best regards.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Are they a big group down where you are?javier.espinoza.t wrote: in tbsn.
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Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
i would like to know why, it is important to me to know reliable sourcejake wrote:I would like to strongly encourage to you to look for resources elsewhere and not rely on this particular organization. I think many others here would do the same.javier.espinoza.t wrote: i found The Golden Precepts (Sutra of Karma) in tbsn. sutras are extremely criptic and this one is the same, we should not take it lightly.
http://tbsn.org/english2/sutra.php?id=6&keyword=&page=0
Best regards.
true dharma is inexpressible.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
Re: Studying Sutras - Any Rules to be follwed?
Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha SūtraDharmic wrote:Thanks Admin_PC.Admin_PC wrote:I've heard it's bad form to read them in bed or on the toilet. I've never been given any dietary proscriptions to practice when reading them. The recommendation I have been given is that the true meaning doesn't start to sink in until they've been read numerous times, one of my teachers had the goal of reciting the entire Lotus Sutra 100 times - a chapter a day, 1 full recitation a month, 10 to 12 recitations a year, for 10 years.
The advice given by your Master is useful for all of us. I’ll follow this suggestion.
( On a side note, it seems that the lengthier texts, such as the Lotus Sutra, come under the category of ‘vast discourses’ or ‘(Maha)Vaipulya Sutras’.Under which category are the Pure Land Sutras classified?
Also, I've noticed that there are different titles for the three Sutras. Generally, it is easy to identify which Sutra is being referred to but sometimes the titles are directly transliterated. I noted down the Sutra titles in various languages, this could serve as an easy reference for newcomers like me.
1)
English : Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra/ Infinite Life Sutra/ Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life/ The Array of Amitābha/ The Teaching on the Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī/ The Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life
Japanese : Bussetsu Muryoku-kyo/ Daikyo
Sanskrit : Ārya-amitābhavyūha-nāma-mahāyānasūtra/ Amitābhavyūha-sūtra/ Amitāyuḥ-sūtra/ Aparimitāyuḥ-sūtra
2)
English : Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra/The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī/ Amitabha Sutra/ The Sutra of Amida Buddha
Japanese : Bussetsu Amida-kyo/ Shokyo
Sanskrit : Ārya-sukhāvatīvyūha-nāma-mahāyānasūtra / Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra
3)
English : The Contemplation Sutra/ Amitāyus Buddha-mindfulness Sūtra/ Amitāyus Meditation Sūtra/ The Sutra of Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life / Sixteen Contemplations Sutra
Japanese : Bussetsu Kammuryoju-kyo/ Kangyo
Sanskrit : Amitāyurbuddhānusmṛti-sūtra/ Amitāyur-dhyāna-sūtra / Vipaśyanā-sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra
Do you know the Sutra names in other languages like Chinese,Vietnamese etc. ? I'll try post all the different titles in a new thread later, maybe in the Pure Land subforum.)
http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_cat ... k1199.html
http://cbeta.buddhist-canon.com/result/T12/T12n0363.htm
http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0363.html
http://www.fodian.net/world/363.html
http://www.buddhamountain.ca/ENT0363_F.Max_Mueller.php
Phật Thuyết Đại Thừa Vô Lượng Thọ Trang Nghiêm Kinh,
http://daitangvietnam.net/t0363.zip
Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
ārya-sukhāvatīvyūha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra
Tibetan:འཕགས་པ་བདེ་བ་ཅན་གྱི་བཀོད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ། ('phags pa bde ba can gyi bkod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo)
Sanskrit:आर्य-सुखावतीव्यूह-नाम-महायान-सूत्र (ārya-sukhāvatīvyūha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra)
Mongolian:qutuγ-tu ǰirγalang-tu orun-u ǰokiyal ner-e-tü yeke kölgen sudur
Chinese:阿彌陀經 (a mi tuo jing) | CBETA etext(s) | SAT etext(s)
Korean:아미타경 (a mi ta gyeong)
http://databases.aibs.columbia.edu/inde ... ll=kangyur
http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_cat ... k0192.html
http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_cat ... s0006.html
http://cbeta.buddhist-canon.com/result/T12/T12n0366.htm
http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0366.html
http://www.fodian.net/world/0366.html
http://lapislazulitexts.com/tripitaka/T ... avativyuha
Phật Thuyết A Di Đà Kinh
http://daitangvietnam.net/t0366.zip
Amitāyurbuddhānusmṛti-sūtra
http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_cat ... k0191.html
http://cbeta.buddhist-canon.com/result/T12/T12n0365.htm
http://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0365.html
http://www.fodian.net/world/365_sutra.htm
http://www.sutrasmantras.info/sutra24.html
Phật Thuyết Quán Vô Lượng Thọ Phật Kinh
http://daitangvietnam.net/t0365.zip