Kalavinka Buddhist Classics

"The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation" is a classic Buddhist meditation instruction manual deeply rooted in the Indian Buddhist "calming-and-insight" meditation tradition. Within its tradition, it is the universally, acknowledged standard beginning-to-intermediate meditation manual, one which offers, perhaps the most reliable, comprehensive, and practically, useful Buddhist meditation instruction currently available in English. The author of "The Essentials" is the sixth-century monk and meditation master, Shramana Zhiyi (Chih-i), one of the most illustrious figures in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Master Zhiyi is famous for his role in the founding of the Tiantai teachings lineage and for his authorship of a quartet of meditation manuals of which this is one. The translator of this volume is the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a translator of numerous classic works from the Indian and Chinese Buddhist traditions.

"Nāgārjuna's Treatise on the Ten Bodhisattva Grounds" is Bhikshu Dharmamitra's extensively annotated original translation of Ārya Nāgārjuna's "Daśabhūmika Vibhasa" rendered from Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva's circa 410 ce Sanskrit-to-Chinese translation. It consists of 35 chapters that explain in great detail the cultivation of the ten highest levels of bodhisattva practice leading to buddhahood, focusing almost exclusively on the first two of the ten bodhisattva grounds. This is a work which has never been translated into English before.

In this volume, Bhikshu Dharmamitra presents translations of three classic works on the bodhisattva vow (bodhicitta) authored by: The early Indian monastic eminence, Arya Nagarjuna (2nd c.); The Dhyana Master and Pureland Patriarch, Sheng'an Shixian (1686-1734); The Tang Dynasty literatus and prime minister, the Honorable Peixiu (797-870). Given that the bodhisattva vow constitutes the very essence of the path to buddhahood, this text can be said to be dedicated to the most important topic in all of Mahayana Buddhism. The translation and notes are by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

This is Tripitaka Master Paramartha's earliest (ca 550 ce) complete edition of The Ratnavali, one of Arya Nagarjuna's most important works. In its five 100-verse chapters, Nagarjuna presents both abstruse teachings and practical advice to lay and monastic practitioners while also describing in considerable detail the short-term and long-term terrains of the Bodhisattva Path. This very early edition is particularly useful in shedding light on difficult passages in the much-later Tibetan "revised translation" edition, the only other complete edition of this work. Translation by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

This volume consists of 130 stories and short Dharma anecdotes selected from Nagarjuna's immense commentary on The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (Mahaprajnaparamita-upadesa). Each story is "framed" by the inclusion of Nagarjuna's introductory and summarizing Dharma discussions, which place the stories in the context of the Bodhisattva Path to buddhahood. The translation and story selection are by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

"Nāgārjuna on Mindfulness of the Buddha" consists of three extended passages from Bhikshu Dharmamitra's original annotated translations from Sino-Buddhist Classical Chinese of works written by Ārya Nāgārjuna (circa 150 CE). All three of these passages have been selected from Tripitaka Master Kumārajīva's early Fifth-Century Sanskrit-to-Chinese translations of works by Nagarjuna, as follows: 1) "The Easy Practice" -Nāgārjuna's Treatise on the Ten Grounds, Chapter 9; 2) "The Pratyutpanna Samadhi" -Nāgārjuna's Treatise on the Ten Grounds, Chapters 20-25; and 3) "Recollection of the Buddha" -Nāgārjuna's Exegesis on the Mahāprajnāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter 1, Part 36-1

This is a very detailed commentary on the meaning of each stanza comprising Arya Nagarjuna's Bodhisambhara Shastra ("Treatise on the Provisions for Enlightenment") wherein Nagarjuna, explains the essential prerequisites for achieving the enlightenment of a Buddha, and explains, as well the most important practices to be, undertaken by bodhisattvas. This is the only extant commentary on one of the most important works of Arya Nagarjuna, the 2nd-century Indian monk who figured most importantly in articulating, the terrains of the Bodhisattva Path. This commentary was, composed by the early Indian monk, Bhikshu Vasitva, sometime in the middle or first half of the first millennium. Translation and clarifying notes are by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

This is The Bodhisambhara Shastra ("Treatise on the Provisions for Enlightenment"), written by Arya Nagarjuna, the early Indian monk (ca 2nd c.) who is one of the most famous figures in the history of Indian Mahayana Buddhism. This work describes the essential prerequisites for achieving the complete enlightenment of a Buddha, while also describing the most important practices to be, undertaken by bodhisattvas. The text is, accompanied here by an abridged version of its only commentary, originally written by the early Indian Bhikshu Vasitva, a monk, who lived sometime in the middle or first half of the first millennium.

In this volume, Bhikshu Dharmamitra presents his translations of the three earliest editions of Arya Nagarjuna's "Letter from a Friend" (Suhrllekha), a work on the layman's practice of the Buddhist path. This text was written by Nagarjuna in the form of a letter of spiritual counsel to the early Indian monarch, King Satakarni. These three editions were produced in the middle part of the first millennium by Tripitaka Masters Gunavarman, Sanghavarman, and Yijing. English translations and notes by Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

This text is a translation of chapters 17-30 of Arya Nagarjuna's immense "Exegesis on the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra" (Mahaprajnaparamita-upadesa). It is a free-standing section of that commentary exclusively devoted to analyzing and explaining the various levels of practice of the bodhisattva's six perfections. In it, Nagarjuna sets forth numerous stories, analogies, and analyses as he reveals the deepest meaning of giving, moral virtue, patience, vigor, meditative discipline, and transcendent wisdom, the six primary qualities cultivated by a bodhisattva in progressing toward buddhahood. The translation is by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra.

"The Ten Grounds Sutra" is an annotated English Translation by Bhikshu Dharmamitra of Tripitaka Master Kumārajīva's circa 410 CE Sanskrit-to-Chinese translation of the Daśabhūmika Sūtra. This sutra describes in great, detail the ten highest levels of bodhisattva practice on the path to buddhahood. This edition includes as an appendix the entire appended P. L. Vaidya Sanskrit text. The Sanskrit section headings are, inset in the English translation to facilitate easy correlation of the translation with the Sanskrit original. In addition to the Sanskrit text, this edition also includes, a very detailed table of contents, extensive annotation, and a bibliography.

"The Six Gates to the Sublime" is a classic Buddhist meditation instruction manual explaining the six practices crucial to success in traditional Indian Buddhist breath-focused (anapana) meditation and calming-and-insight (samatha-vipasyana) meditation. Correctly implemented, these six "gates" lead the meditator to realization of the fourth of the four truths (cessation), of which the "sublimity" referenced in the title is one of the four canonically-described practice aspects. This classic was, written by the sixth-century monk and meditation master, Shramana Zhiyi (Chih-i), one of the most illustrious figures in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Master Zhiyi is famous for his role in the founding of the Tiantai teachings lineage and for his authorship of a quartet of meditation manuals of which this is one. The translator of this volume is the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a translator of numerous classic works from the Indian and Chinese Buddhist traditions.

This is a treatise on the meaning of "The Sutra on Generating the Resolve to Become a Buddha." It was written by the famous early Indian shastra master and bodhisattva, Shramana Vasubandhu (ca 300 ce). In this text, Vasubandhu discourses on the causality behind the origination of the bodhisattva vow (bodhicitta) and on each of the six perfections through which that vow reaches its fruition in buddhahood. This eBook does NOT include facing-page Chinese source text as found in the printbook equivalent. It does include variant-readings from other editions, and the translator's notes. The translation is by the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a translator of numerous important classic Buddhist works.

"The Ten Bodhisattva Grounds" is an annotated English Translation by Bhikshu Dharmamitra of Tripitaka Master Śikṣānanda's circa 699 ce Sanskrit-to-Chinese translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter 26. This text describes in great detail the ten highest levels of bodhisattva practice on the path to buddhahood as taught in that sutra. This edition of the translation includes the P. L. Vaidya Sanskrit text. The Sanskrit section headings are inset in the English translation to facilitate easy correlation of the English translation with the Sanskrit text.