SIXTH
PATRIARCHS PLATFORM SUTRA
SECOND EDITION NOW AVAILABLE
All of the
Sutras are guides to use in cultivating the Way. They may be spoken by the
Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, the Patriarchs, and also by Arhats,
transformation beings, and gods. Although they all serve the same purpose,
the doctrines within them differ. The Sixth Patriarch Sutra, which was
spoken by the great Chinese master, the Sixth Patriarch. Now it has been
translated into English and the mind-seal Dharma-door of the Buddha has
thereby been transmitted in perpetuity to the West. It is hoped that
Westerners will now read, recite, and study it, and all become Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas, and/or Patriarchs. This is the main objective of this
translation. May all who see and her it quickly accomplish Buddhahood.
-Master Hua
The
second edition of the Sixth Patriarch Sutra is available in paperback and
hard cover. The edition includes two indices: one general and one of
people and place names. The sutra text is prefaced by Bhiksu Fa Hai's
Introduction. Both this Introduction and the sutra text proper contain the
Venerable Master Hua's interlinear commentary.
If
you wish to understand the wonderful meaning of this sutra, you should
study this commentary, for within it are set forth the limitless,
inexhaustible, profound principles of the Buddhadharma.
Essentially, the mind-seal cannot be spoken or expressed in writing, but in
his commentary the Master has done just that, using numerous analogies and
expedient devices to cause people to understand what they have never
understood before.
-Bhiksuni Heng Yin
THE DHARMA FLOWER
SUTRA, VOLUME I IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM
THE BUDDHIST TEXT TRANSLATION
SOCIETY,
Sakyamuni
Buddha appeared in the world, we are told in the Dharma Flower Sutra,
because of the causes and conditions of the one great question. And what
is the one great question? It is the question of the birth and death of
all living beings. In VOLUME I the Buddhist Text Translation Society
presents in translation the Venerable Master Hua's introduction to the
Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.
The Buddha
spoke the Dharma Flower Sutra near the end of his teaching career to
reveal the Real Dharma, the miraculous Dharma; all previous teachings are
considered to be provisional--used to lead his disciples to the level
where they might understand the doctrines of universal salvation contained
in the Lotus teaching. For this reason, this is a most important Sutra,
and a clear understanding of it is necessary for all who wish to truly
understand the Buddhadharma.
To
return to the one great question: the Venerable Master has said,
"Human life is a round-trip affari. When you leave you'll always
return. If you understand how you were born you will understand the
problem of death." But that understanding comes only through study
and practice of the Buddhadharma.
We
present this volume as a clear guide. It is up to each one of us, however,
to follow it and quickly attain to Buddhahood. Thus solving the problem of
birth and death, we can return to help all living beings do the same. In
this way, we can, in some small measure repay the kindness of the
Buddhas), Bodhisattvas) and our teacher) Master Hua.
-By
Bhiksuni Heng Yin
co-chairperson of
Primary Translation
Buddhist Text Translation Society
THE DHARMA
FLOWER SUTRA, VOLUME II WILL BE AVAILABLE
IN JANUARY 1978 FROM
BTTS
In
VOLUME II Chapter I is set forth. In it, the stage is set for the Buddha's
speaking of the Sutra. On Vulture Peak, near the City of the House of
Kings, Sakyamuni Buddha has gathered with a great assembly of Bhiksus,
Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and the gods and dragons and the eight-fold
division. He manifests six portents and the Bodhisattva Maitreya asks the
Bodhisattva Manjusri to explain the reason for them. Manjusri explains in
detail, comparing the present portents to those he saw in the distant
past, in the Dharma assembly of Sun-Moon-Lamp Buddha. After manifesting
the portents, that Buddha spoke the Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra. Thus,
the Bodhisattva Manjusri concludes that Sakyamuni Buddha is about to speak
the Dharma Flower as well.
The Venerable Master’s commentary provides a wealth of information on
the lives of the Buddha’s disciples, as well as detailed explanations of
terms and concepts basic to an understanding of the Buddhadharma. Included
in this volume, also, is the outline of Ming Dynasty Master Ngou-i.
The combination of Sakyamuni Buddha’s most perfect Lotus teaching,
"purely perfect and solitarily wonderful," with the compassionate
commentary of the Master makes this work a particularly priceless Dharma
jewel. The Master teaches the Dharma of the heart, the Dharma which is
aimed only at showing us how to break our attachments and gain liberation.
The Buddha’s teaching now blooms, lotus-like, in the West. It is up to
us to study and practice it, and quickly bear the Bodhi-fruit.
By Bhiksuni Heng Yin
|
–hsien) When the Fifth Patriarch [The
Venerable Dhritaka, see VBS, #91] went to his country, he gazed with awe
upon him and bowed, saying, "In the distant past, long ago, I was
born together with you, Master, in a Brahma Heaven. I met with an immortal
who transmitted to me the dharmas of immortals. You, Master, met a
Buddhist disciples and thus cultivated Dhyana. Our retributions have sent
us down different paths now for six aeons."