BUDDHIST TEXT TRANSLATION

The Amitabha Sutra, 204 pages, $8.00. Spoken without request, this Sutra describes the Pure Land of Amitabha and attests to the efficaciousness of reciting that Buddha's name to gain rebirth there. Commentary by the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hua abounds with scores of lists-from the five means of deviant livelihood to the eight great freedoms of the self; from the three poisons to the twelve ascetic practices. Of special interest are the descriptive accounts of the names, lives, personalities, and events of the Great Arhats and Bodhisattvas found in the Sutra.

The Vajra Sutra, 192 pages, $8.00. Durable, luminous, and able to cut, this Prajna Paramita Sutra slices through to the ultimate meaning of the Middle Way—the Dharma-door of equality. There are five kinds of equality evident in the Sutra:

(1) The equality of living beings and Buddhas;

(2) The equality of emptiness and existence;

(3) The equality of all dharmas;

(4) The equality of one and many; and

(5) The equality of all views.

The Dharani Sutra, 352 pages, $12.00. Manual for understanding the cultivation of the Great Compassion Mantra and Great Compassion Mudras, this Sutra contains line-by-line explanations of these Dharmas in the commentary of Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua. More than a hundred woodcut illustrations of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva's transformations illumine the text. A manual of healing; remedies and formulas, blessed always by the mantra, are described in detail.

The Dharma Flower Sutra, Volume I Introduction, 66 pages, $3.95. This first volume contains a detailed discussion of the Five Periods and Eight Teachings and of the Five Profound Meanings as they apply to this Sutra. A descriptive biography of Kumerajiva, who translated the Sutra from Sanskrit to Chinese, is also part of this volume. Lively and easy to read, the Master's commentary brings the Buddhadharma to the Western world in his unfolding of the orthodox oral tradition expressing the mind-seal of all Buddhas.

The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra, 235 pages, $9.00 soft cover, $16.00 hard bound. Cause and effect, karma and retribution, goodness and rewards are all explained clearly in this Sutra, with chapter titles such as "Karmic Retribution of Living Beings," "The Names of the Hells," "Benefiting the Living and the Dead, "The Dharma Protection of the Earth Spirit," and the like. What happens before birth and after death? What happens in between, during a lifetime, which makes an indelible mark on the future while remaining unbeknownst to the ordinary eye and mind? In this "Sutra of Filial Piety" spoken for the sake of his mother, Sakyamuni Buddha presents an enlightening look at the cycle of birth and death in the six paths, and of Earth Store Bodhisattva's great vows to rescue all living beings from their karmic-bound suffering.

The Sixth Patriarch Sutra, 380 pages, $10 soft cover; $15 hard cover. Understand the mind and see the nature, is exactly what the Sixth Patriarch, the Great Master Hui Neng did. Without reading the words, he could listen and explain the principles of the Dharma Flower Sutra to Bhiksuni Wu Chin Tsang; without exchanging a word, he could pinpoint what was on Bhiksu Fa Da's mind; with unassuming clarity, he could predict the coming of Patriarch Ma Tzu a generation in advance; without hesitation he could seal and certify the One Enlightened Overnight; with apt analogies he counters young Shen Hui's extreme views. The Dharmas of prajna, repentance and reform, samadhi and wisdom, and sudden and gradual are elucidated in the Sutra.

The Sutra in forty-two Sections, 94 pages, $4.00. Forty-two lessons for us all, these sections aim at cutting away confusion at its root and piercing through to clear understanding and pure practice. The lessons are universal, such as those expressed in the twelfth section: "...It is difficult to abandon life and face the certainty of death...it is difficult to be born at the time of a Buddha...It is difficult to bear lust and desire...it is difficult to be insulted and not become angry. It is difficult not to gossip."

The Sramanera Vinaya, 112 pages, $5.00. Vital to the perpetual of the orthodox Dharma, the vinaya is one of the three major sections of the Buddhist Canon. This lively volume describes the range of bad habits these initial precepts and rules are designed to change; the particulars of each precept and rule; and the benefits derived from developing awesome deportment through daily practice.

Buddha Root Farm, 72 pages, $4.00. Compilation of the Venerable Master Hua’s instructions at the first intensive recitation session on the recitation of Amitabha Buddha's name held under open skies. Filled with questions and answers, this volume also describes a special method of recitation of those too busy to allow much time for practice. How big is Amitabha Buddha? Why are Buddhists vegetarian? How quickly can one become a Buddha? For the answers to these and other questions, read this book. Illustrated and indexed.

Pure Land and Ch'an Dharma Talks, 72 pages, $4.00. More instruction the recitation of Amitabha Buddha's name, plus talks on the Dharma-door of Ch'an meditation. Poems and discussions designed to awaken faith and arouse vigor. Informative and detailed teaching by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua: "You should meditate with a level mind and a quiet air. Your eyes should watch your nose; your nose should watch your mouth, and your mouth should watch over your heart. Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth so that you can swallow easily...

Go too fast and you'll trip;

Dally and you'll fall behind.

Never rush and never tarry

and you'll get there right on time."

The Ten Dharma Realms are not beyond a Single Thought, 72 pages, $4.00. Poems by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua and accompanying commentary. "Sitting on lotus thrones, Buddhas simultaneously move the earth and emit light from their eyes, ears, noses, tongues, and teeth...every pore emits light and moves the earth, and in every one, worlds as numerous as motes of dust appear, each containing incalculable numbers of Buddhas who emit light in the same way. Yet all these lights do not contend, but fuse together. So too should people not clash; they should allow their lights to shine on one another like the interpenetrating lights in the net canopy of the Great Brahma King."

Records of the Life of Venerable Master Hua, Volume 1, 96 pages, $5.00. From his extraordinary birth on, the Master led a life of exceptional purity and dedication. This volume relates vivid incidents in the early life of the Master, including, practices beside his mother's grave, his cultivation, disciples, subsequent pilgrimage, reception of the Dharma transmission, and more.

Records of the Life of Master Hua, Volume II, 229 pages, $8.00. Accounts of the Master's compassionate aid to living beings through healing, instruction, by example, and as host to numerous Dharma assemblies and intensive sessions. Ten years of events while in Hong Kong including the abating of typhoons, construction of temples, subduing of evil forces, and miraculously manifesting water out of barren rock.

World Peace Gathering, 128 pages, $5.00. A collection of talks, stories, songs, poems, lectures, and person accounts, surrounding the celebration of world peace during the bowing pilgrimage of Bhiksus Heng Ju and Heng Yo, the first journey of its kind on American soil.

Three Steps, One Bow, 156 pages, $5.95. Documentation of the 1,100-mile bowing pilgrimage successfully completed by Bhiksu Heng Ju and Bhiksu Heng Yo in 1974. Daily records kept by the two monks reveal the hardships, fears, joys, and rewards of this pioneering journey. Heng Ju writes: "What I'm really concerned about is mindfulness. This, besides personal conduct, is the crux of cultivation. It is a real challenge to be without selfish views, to not be rushed, to not worry about the future, to not reminisce about the past. Mindfulness is an attempt to perceive the world in its pure state without putting labels on everything or dividing experiences into good, bad, big and little, and various other opposites."

Celebrisi’s Journey, a novel by David Rounds, 178 pages, $4.00 A man's physical journey across America, through the depths of his mind and beyond to bright stillness, beyond the self. "I remembered...a children's story about a Greek soldier who was sentenced by the gods to wander for eternity among the stars. I thought of him up there, rowing, maybe, across the black straits between those two bright star-islands, or resting at a harbor in that constellation, crossing that diamond continent, then setting out again across that long sea, his sail bellied by the winds of space. There, was that his beacon? Who knew what distances there were in the night? Who could tell what distances there were in the mind, what continents in it and constellations, what sun might rise and flood it with light? I thought to that wandered: if we travel together, brother, who will be the first to reach his destination, you the ends of space, or I the bottom of my mind?"

COMING IN 1978:

Listen to Yourself: Think Everything Over, Dharma talks by the Venerable Master during one week of recitation of the name of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and three weeks of Ch'an meditation.

Shurangama Sutra, Volume II, Shakyamuni Buddha reveals ten aspects of seeing to Ananda, using the false to reveal the true. Then he discloses the false and brings out the true by telling Ananda about individual and collective Karma. Commentary by the Venerable Master Hua, English translation of Dharma Master Yuan-Ying's outline.

The Dharma Flower Sutra, Volume III, Expedients. Shakyamuni Buddha tells Shariputra that he has a door to wisdom which is difficult to understand and difficult to enter and which those of the Two Vehicles do not know about. Shariputra asks repeatedly for the Dharma, and the Buddha admonishes him to cease asking. Upon third request, however, the Buddha begins to reveal the univerality of the Buddha-nature in all its aspects, five thousand leave the assembly. The Venerable Master Hua's commentary offers vivid narrative and insights into these events and this wonderful Dharma. Volume also includes English translation of Ming Dynasty Master Ngou-i's outline.

With One Heart, Bowing to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, subsequent volumes of the bowing monk's daily records, photographs, news articles, and letters surrounding their journey to eliminate calamities and disasters.