The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahayanasutralamkara) was transmitted from the bodhisattva Maitreyanatha to Arya Asanga, the fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar-adept. The most foundational of the set of the famous Five Teachings of Maitreya, the Discourse Literature is considered the wellspring of what the Tibetans call the "magnificent deeds trend of the path," the compassion side, which balances the "profound view trend of the path," the wisdom side. The Discourse Literature is also considered to be metaphysically aligned with and foundational for the Idealist (Vijñanavadin) school of Mahayana thought. Translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese by Lobsang Jamspal, Robert Thurman, and the AIBS team, the present work contains a fully annotated, critical English rendition of the Discourse Literature along with its commentary (bhasya) by Asanga's brother, Vasubandhu. It also includes an introduction covering essential historical and philosophical topics, a bibliography, and a detailed index. This long-awaited work is the founding cornerstone of the AIBS Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series

Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasutrālamkāra) (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Maitreyanatha / Aryasanga

Religion & Spirituality

American Institute of Buddhist Studies

This is the first complete English translation of the second chapter of the esoteric Buddhist Kalacakratantra text, and its eleventh-century commentary, the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabha) , often accorded pride of place as the first volume of the Tibetan Tanjur. This chapter elaborates the human "individual" in terms of the cosmic human who embodies the cosmos within, showing the homology of macrocosm and microcosm, the outer and inner aspects of the person. The translation is supplemented with copious references to Tibetan commentaries, and includes the first critical edition of the Mongolian version of the second chapter. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

The Kalacakratantra: The Chapter on the Individual together with the Vimalaprabha (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

The Reason Sixty is the most concise philosophical work by the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna. It is one of that master's works most often cited by Centrist (Madhyamaka) commentators, and it is included in the Sixfold Canon of Reason (rigs tshogs drug) which forms the textual basis for Centrist studies in the Tibetan philosophical curriculum. Standing midway between his other masterpieces on philosophy and religion, in the Reason Sixty Nagarjuna describes the central thrust of his therapeutic philosophy of language - the elimination of cognitive bias and affective resistances to the gradual cultivation of nondualistic wisdom and compassion. The seventh-century Centrist master Chandrakirti, concerned with applying his language therapeutic method to define the social epistemology of Centrism, likewise links the critical hermeneutic-pedagogy and the practical therapeutic-anthropology of his other works in his acclaimed Reason Sixty Commentary. Includes detailed introductory essays, annotated translations, critical Tibetan editions, trilingual glossary, intellectual-historical and biographical tables, bibliography, and index. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

Nagarjuna's Reason Sixty (Yuktisastika) with Candrakirti's Commentary (Yuktisastikavrrti) (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Loizzo, Joseph

Buddhism

The present work is a translation of The Perception Chapter of Jewel of Reflection on the Truth, a foundational text by the great fourteenth-century Indian logician Gangesa Upadhyaya. The authors' introduction and running commentary to the translation provide essential theoretical and historical background, contextualization, analysis, and comparison of Nyaya and Western traditions. Includes a detailed glossary and index. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

Epistemology of Perception: Gangesa's Tattvacintamani (Treasury of the Indic Sciences)

Phillips, Stephen H.

Tatacharya, N. S. Ramanuja

This is the first complete English translation of the fourth chapter of the esoteric Buddhist Kalacakra Tantra text and its eleventh-century commentary, the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabha). Building upon the Chapter on the Cosmos and particularly the Chapter on the Individual (AIBS, 2004)―which provide the theoretical background to the Chapter on Sadhana, and the reasons for the given structure and contents of the Kalacakra sadhana practice―this fourth chapter illuminates the intricate connection between the practice of the Kalacakra sadhana and the Kalacakra Tantra's worldview. This fourth chapter describes Buddhist Tantric generation stage practices (utpatti-krama), including instructions on protecting the place of practice, the meditative practices of the origination of the body and the deities abiding in the body, and the diverse mundane sadhanas designed to induce the mundane siddhis. It then also describes the more advanced Buddhist Tantric completion stage practices (sampatti-krama), designed to lead directly to the attainment of buddhahood, called here the "Adibuddha" (Primordial Buddha). The translation is supplemented with annotations and references to Tibetan commentaries and other esoteric Buddhist works. It also includes the first critical edition of the Mongolian version of the fourth chapter. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

The Kālacakra Tantra: The Chapter on Sadhana, Together with the Vimalaprabha Commentary (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

The Lamp that Integrates the Practices is a systematic and comprehensive exposition of the most advanced yogas of the Esoteric Community (Guhyasamaja) Tantra as espoused by the Noble Tradition, an influential school of interpretation within the Mahayoga traditions of Indian Buddhist esoterism. Equal in authority to Nagarjuna's famous Five Stages (Pañcakrama), Aryadeva's work is perhaps the earliest prose example of the "stages of the mantra path" genre in Sanskrit. Its studied gradualism exerted immense influence on later Indian and Tibetan tradition, and it is widely cited by masters from all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume presents the Lamp in a tri-lingual format: its Sanskrit original critically-edited from recently-identified manuscripts, a critical edition of the eleventh-century Tibetan translation by Rin-chen Bzang-po (including notes on readings found in "lost," alternative translations), and a thoroughly-annotated English translation. Includes an introductory study discussing the history of the Guhyasamaja and its exegetical traditions, surveying the scriptural and commentarial sources of the Noble Tradition, and analyzing in detail the contents of the Lamp. Features a detailed, tri-lingual glossary. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

Aryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryamelapakapradipa): The Gradual Path of Vajrayana Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition

Christian K. Wedemeyer

This is the first complete, critical English translation of the Cakrasamvara Tantra, also known as the Sriherukabhidhana and Laghusamvara. Composed in India during the eighth century, this text is a foundational scripture of one of the most important Indian Buddhist tantric traditions, as evidenced by the vast number of commentaries and ritual literature associated with it. The author's introductory essay provides an analysis of the historical and intellectual contexts in which the text was composed, and also investigates the history of its adaptation by Buddhists. The translation itself is heavily annotated, with extensive translations from the Indian and Tibetan commentaries on the text. Includes a trilingual glossary and index. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): Śrīherukābhidhāna: A Study and Annotated Translation (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Gray, David

This volume gives a complete introduction to the techniques and procedures of Sanskrit commentaries, including detailed information on the overall structure of running commentaries, the standard formulas of analysis of complex grammatical forms, and the most important elements of commentarial style. Since the majority of expository texts in Sanskrit are composed in the form of commentaries on earlier texts, this Manual will be of great use to many Sanskrit translators. Furthermore, because many philosophical and scientific texts are written in the style of formal debate using the same basic principles, the features covered in the manual are useful for reading all expository texts, whether they are commentaries or not. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

Scholastic Sanskrit: A Manual for Students (Treasury of the Indic Sciences)

Gary A. Tubb

Emery R. Boose

This is the only complete catalogue of the nearly four hundred Sanskrit manuscripts contained in the Rare Book Library at Columbia University. The collection is especially strong in works on mathematics and astronomy, assembled by David Eugene Smith (1860-1944), Professor of Mathematics at Teachers College from 1901 to 1926. In addition to scholarly descriptions of the manuscript and the works they contain, the volume has numerous indices covering the persons, places, titles, and dates associated with the manuscripts.Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

A Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts at Columbia University (Treasury of the Indic Sciences)

Reference

Pingree, David

Catalogs & Directories

Kalacakra and the Tibetan Calender describes the contents of current Tibetan almanacs, from basic mathmatics to symbolic and historical information. Essential for understanding the Kalacakra Tantra's first chapter, this book describes the origin of the calendrical systems in this Tantra and translates and elucidates the relevant sections from its famous commentary, the Vimalaprabha. The main calenders in use in Tibet today have remained unchanged since the 15th century, when lamas in several different traditions tried to make sense of the calculation systems they had inherited from India, and to adjust them to remove increasingly obvious errors. This book analyzes the main systems that survive today, assesing their accuracy and comparing them with the methods described in the original Tantra. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

Kalacakra and the Tibetan Calendar (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Henning, Edward

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