Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words

This is the English translation of the Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (“the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom”) by Nagarjuna (c. 2nd century A.D.). The book, in the form of an encyclopedia on Buddhism, is a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita (“the perfection of wisdom in five thousand lines”). Volume I describes the conditions...

Chapter XXXVI - The eight recollections (anusmṛti or anussati)

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- Sub-Contents: (+ / -)

+ Preliminary note on the Eight Recollections

. I. Lists of recollections (anusmṛti or anussati)

. II. Canonical definitions of the six Anusmṛti

+ Part 1 - Position and results of the recollections

. I. Position of the recollections in the prajñāpāramitā

. The Dhvajāgrasūtra

. II. All the recollections drive away fear

+ Part 2 - The Eight Recollections according to the Abhidharma

. I. Recollection of the Buddha (1): The ten names (adhivacana)

. I. Recollection of the Buddha (2): The miracles of his birth

. I. Recollection of the Buddha (3): Physical marks and superhuman power

. I. Recollection of the Buddha (4): The five pure aggregates (anāsrava-skandha)

. The Miracle of Ādumā

. The miracle of the multiplication of the Buddhas

. II. Recollection of the Dharma (dharmānusmṛti)

. III. Recollection of the community (saṃgānusmṛti)

. IV. Recollection of the moralities (śīlānusmṛti)

. V. Recollection of abandonment (tyāgānusmṛti)

. VI. Recollection of the Deities (devatānusmṛti)

. VII. Recollection of Breathing (ānāpānusmṛti)

. VIII. Recollection of Death (maraṇānusmṛti)

. The Maraṇasmṛti-sūtra

. IX. Logical order of the Eight Recollections

Part 3 - The recollections according to the Mahāyāna

Appendix 2 - The Anavolokitamūrdhatā (invisible cranial summit)

Appendix 3 - Legend of the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita

Appendix 4 - The conversion of Urubilvā Kāśyapa and the thousand Jaṭilas

Appendix 5 - Story of the nāga king Nandopananda

Appendix 6 - Story of the nāga of Urubilvā

Appendix 7 - The seals of the Dharma (dharmamudrā, dharma-mudrā)

Appendix 8 - The Catuḥśataka (the four hundreds) by Āryadeva

Appendix 9 - The first Madhyamika authors (Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, Rāhulabhadra)

Appendix 10 - The doctrine of the single sound (ekasvareṇa)

Appendix 11 - The various groups of noble individuals (āryas)

Appendix 12 - The Dharma is like good medicine (bhaiṣajya)

Sūtra (cf. Pañcaviṃśati, p. 20, l. 2–5; Śatasāhasrikā, p. 59, l. 20–60, l. 15). – [The following should be cultivated (bhāvitavyā) by the bodhisattva]:

recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti),
recollection of the Dharma (dharmānusmṛti),
recollection of the Community (saṃghānusmṛti),
recollection of discipline (śīlānusmṛti),
recollection of abandonment (tyāgānusmṛti),
recollection of the deities (devatānusmṛti),
recollection of inhalation and exhalation (ānāpānasmṛti),
recollection of death (maraṇānusmṛti).

Śāstra. –

Last Updated: 28 September, 2019