This book demonstrates how popular ritual texts and story narratives have shaped the religious life and culture of the only surviving South Asian Mahayana Buddhist society, the Newars of Kathmandu. It begins with an account of the Newar Buddhist community's history and its place within the religious environment of Nepal and proceeds to build around five popular translations, several of which were known across Asia: the Srngabheri Avadana, the Simhalasarthabahu Avadana, the Tara, the Mahakala Vratas, and the Pancaraksa. Lewis documents how the respective texts have been domesticated in Nepal's art and architecture, healing traditions, and rituals. He shows how they provide paradigmatic case studies that transcend the Nepalese context, illustrating universal practices or issues in all Buddhist communities, such as gender relations and stupa veneration, the role of merchants, ethnicity, violence, devotions to celestial bodhisattvas by kings and women, and the role of mantra recitations and healing rituals in the lives of Buddhists.

This first volume of the Silk Roads Studies is a reference manual of the published Uygur Buddhist literature. Uygur Buddhist Literature creates a complete inventory of the published Uygur Buddhist texts along with a bibliography of the pertinent scholarlyliterature. The work includes an introduction that outlines the history of the discovery of the Uygur Buddhist Literature and a short history of the Buddhist Uygurs and their translation activities. The survey of the literature itself is divided into six sections: (1) Non-Mahayana Texts, including Sutra, Vinaya, Abhidarma, Biographies of the Buddha (including Jatakas) and Avadana; (2) Mahayana Sutras; (3) Commentaries; (4) Chinese Apocrypha; (5) Tantric Texts (6) Other Buddhist Works. Included under each title of a text is a brief synopsis of the text and an explanation of the Uygur manuscript, including where known: origin of translation, the translator and the place of translation, the place it was found, and any other interesting points. After this brief survey of the manuscript, the signature of the manuscript with references to the editions of the text is provided as well as additional references to the secondary literature. The survey concludes with an index to titles, translators, scribes and sponsors. This manual is an essential tool not only for specialists in the field of Altaic, especially Turcological or Monogolian, Iranological, Sinological or Buddhological Studies, but is also written for a larger public of students interested in Asian religions and cultural history in general. This book provides in a systematic and exhaustive way the most recent information on the places where the documents are kept, a synopsis of the text, editions and secondary literature.

This handbook contains the liturgy for daily morning and evening recitation as well as for special ceremonies in Mahayana Buddhist monasteries. The Chinese text for these ceremonies is accompanied by Yale Romanization and English translation. Morning ceremony, which traditionally last from 4 to 5 am every morning, consists of the Surangama Mantra (from the Surangama Sutra), the Great Compassion Mantra and other shorter mantras, the Heart Sutra, and the Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra (Universal Worthy) Bodhisattva taken from the Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra. Evening ceremony traditionally lasts between 6 to 7 pm and alternates between the Amitabha Sutra and the Eighty-Eight Buddha Repentance Ceremony. In addition, the handbook contains ceremonies for liberating life, bathing the Buddha, the Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony, among others. It also includes the Ullambana Sutra, the sutra on the practice of filial respect.

The remarkable fact is, that we have here set forth a view of religion entirely independent of the soul theories, on which all the various philosophies and religions then current in India were based; entirely free from the idolatries and superstitions of the day.... We are struck at once with the analogy between it and the ideals of the last pagan thinkers in Europe before the rise of Christianity, and of some of the most advanced thinkers to-day. And the similarity is no mere chance.-from "The Signs, the Path, and the Fetters"What firsthand sources of information do we have about the life of the Buddha? What are the stages of the Wheel of Life? How well do modes of Eastern and Western thought mesh? One of the late 19th century's foremost experts on sacred Buddhist texts offered this layman's introduction to India's great religious tradition in a series of popular lectures delivered in 1894-1895 at a variety of highly respected educational institutions, including Cornell University, Columbia College, and the Lowell Institute. Published in book form in 1896, the lectures cover: .Religious Theories in India Before Buddhism.Authorities on Which Our Knowledge of Buddhism Is Based.Notes on the Life of the Buddha.The Secret of Buddhism.Some Notes on the History of BuddhismLucid and informative, this remains an excellent primer on Buddhistic beliefs and practices.British scholar THOMAS WILLIAM RHYS DAVIDS (1843-1922) was an expert in the ancient Indian language Pali and served as professor of Pali at the University of London from 1882 to 1904. He wrote numerous articles about and published many translations of sacred Buddhist texts.

Looks at a variety of Buddhist sacred writings as literature and includes insights from literary theory.