Mahayana Buddhism

Several videos about Lama Yeshe and his biography Big Love.



That $80 two volume book will go on sale soon.
 
A Special Opportunity

Nicholas Ribush, director of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, which published Big Love, wants to let FPMT students know of a special opportunity for receiving the biography. He writes:

“If you receive the LYTWA monthly eletter, you will know that through the kindness of a generous benefactor we are offering 200 copies of Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe for $35 (plus shipping), which is $50 off the regular price! So far about fifty copies have been bought.

“Not only is this a great opportunity for individual buyers, but FPMT centers should also consider buying several copies for their bookstores and to give away as gifts to benefactors.”
 
A new translation from the lost Sanskrit text of Vimalakirti Sutra. Vimalakirti is the inspiration for lay bodhisattvas for 2000 years or so. Here are some of the reviews.

Vimalikirtinirdesa: Reviews – Mangalam Press

Janet Gyatso, Hershey Professor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University:
"It is pure delight to welcome this long-awaited and definitive translation of one of the greatest Buddhist classics of all time. With the recent discovery of the lost Sanskrit text in Tibet, Gomez and Harrison have been able to produce an eloquently lucid and at the same time critically erudite rendition of the wonderful teaching of Vimalakīrti. This hugely influential sūtra anticipated many extraordinary developments in both theory and practice across Buddhist Asia, including Zen and Tantra, and is a riveting read for students, scholars, and the general reader alike."
 
A comment by the main disciple of Nagarjuna on the Heart Sutra:

Aryadeva [fl. 250] says, Prajnaparamita is the name of the dharma-kaya, the body that is neither born nor destroyed, that neither comes nor goes, that has the dimensions of emptiness, that is changeless, that fills the entire universe and includes all things and yet fits inside a mustard seed or a mote of dust, and for which metaphors fail.

Quoted in Red Pine's The Heart Sutra, page 55.
 
A large sangha of bodhisattvas planned to visit our realm to praise Sakyamuni Buddha. The Padmanetra Buddha in their realm warned them that our Endurance realm was not as sacred & holy as theirs -- so be careful He said in Ratnamegha Sutra 1.23-24:

"Once you are in that realm, be careful. Why? Because among the beings of that realm desire, anger, and dullness are rife. They have no regard for mendicants and no regard for brahmins. They have no concern for their fathers, no concern for their mothers. Numerous are their wishes that run counter to the Dharma. They are spiteful, savage, and malicious. They are impudent and haughty, easily carried away, and full of craving. They are lazy, unkind, and evil. They are tied down by envy and miserliness and suffer from an abundance of afflictions. It is among such beings that Sakyamuni thus-gone one teaches the Dharma.”

“Blessed One,” replied the bodhisattvas, “teaching the Dharma among such sentient beings is a tremendous feat displayed by Sakyamuni thus-gone one.”

“Yes, it is,” the Blessed One Padmanetra agreed. “Noble children, teaching the Dharma among such sentient beings is indeed a tremendous feat displayed by that thus-gone one. Moreover, noble children, when sentient beings within such a world of rampant afflictions give rise to just a single virtuous mind state then they also display a tremendous feat. Why? Well, what would be amazing about finding pure beings in pure worlds? On the other hand, it is indeed a wonder when anyone in a world of rampant afflictions is able, ever so briefly, to engender faith, or go for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, or purely observe discipline. However, it is an even greater wonder if, even for just a moment, they can attain a mind free from desire. Still, the greatest wonder of all is if they can briefly develop compassion and give rise to the mind of unexcelled and complete awakening.”

“The Blessed One is amazing!” the bodhisattvas responded. “The Thus-Gone One Sakyamuni is amazing!”
 
Motivation is supplied from within, so whether others decide to investigate Mahayana or not, is up to them. I am not a preacher.

Obviously not much of a teacher either. You don't care about your own subject enough to offer, well, ANYTHING on the subject other than it enthralls YOU.
 
And what says Buddhism about Putins senseless war in the Ukraine and the possibility that this war is able to start a bigger war which is able to destroy all sentient biological beings on planet Earth?
 
A local So. Cal. Mahayana monk, Master YongHua, began teaching from the Avatamsaka corpus in 2020. Here is his first of many video lectures:

 
You need to explain why we should be interested in your religion, not just tell us where to read up on it.
Buddhism isn't really a religion as no gods are worshipped. It's more of a philosophical approach to life intended to lessen discord within the individual.
 
The spiritual world of the Buddhists is very rich. It exists many Buddhas for example who you are easily able to compare with angels and/or gods.


There is no god worshipped in Buddhism. The enlightened are not worshipped.


Each persons path is their own
 
There is no god worshipped in Buddhism. The enlightened are not worshipped.


Each persons path is their own

But you are not alone. Why is it important for you that Buddhism is without spirituality = is not a religion? Why do you think exist Buddhist nuns and monks if Buddhism is not a religion? And is the human right "freedom of religion" not also a very important right for all Buddhists and their religion?

 
Last edited:
But you are not alone. Why is it important for you that Buddhism is without spirituality = is not a religion? Why do you think exist Buddhist nuns and monks if Buddhism is not a religion? And is the human right "freedom of religion" not also a very important right for all Buddhists and their religion?



There are no spirits. Buddhism is not based on anything other than mastering your own thoughts and actions
 
Actually many gods or devas are revered and Buddha even advised meditation on the devas. Look up the Six Recollections.
But Buddhism itself requires no deity worship.

There are no gods in Buddhism
 

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top