All Buddhas, when they first attain
Anuttara
samyaksambodhi speak the Great Means Expansive Buddha
Flower Adornment Sutra ( )
in Sanskrit the Mahavaipulyabuddhavataipsaka Sutra); but only beings with extremely good roots in the Great
Vehicle are able to see, hear, and understand this most
vast and profound of all the Buddhas' Teachings. After
being spoken by Sgkyamuni Buddha, the Sutra was stored
away in the Dragon Palace, in three volumes. The first two volumes are too long for our world to hold,
but the third, which consists of 100,000 gathas, was recovered by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and brought back to
India. From India it was transmitted to China, and throughout the Orient. Only now does that Sutra come
to the West.June 13, 1971, marked the opening of the first Western lecture series on the Great Flower Adornment Sutra, delivered every evening at 7:00 pm (Saturdays and Sundays also at 12:30 pm) at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco, California, by the Venerable Tripitaka and Dhyana Master Hua, Abbot of the Monastery. The Sutra has never, with the exception of a few isolated fragments, been translated into any Western language. primarily because it is impossible to understand without a Teacher--and few Teachers capable of explaining the Flower Adornment Sutra have appeared in the world. Now with the lectured commentary of the Venerable Master Hua, translation of this essential Sutra is being undertaken by the Buddhist Text Translation Society of the Sino-American Buddhist Association. The translation will be published in installments as it progresses. The Venerable High Master began by lecturing the Preface and Prologue composed by T'ang Dynasty Tripitaka Master Ch'eng Kuan (  ), who was
National Master Ch'ing Liang ( ). The Preface and Prologue explain all of the doctrines and principles contained in the Flower Adornment Sutra and, with
the Venerable Master Hua's elucidation, constitute an indispensable introduction to the Sutra. Write the Sino-American Buddhist Association for details. |