LOZANG JAMSPAL ROBERT THURMAN : THE UNIVERSAL VEHICLE DISCOURSE LITERATURE (MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLAṀKĀRA)

by Maitreyanātha/Āryāsaṅga, together with its Commentary (Bhāṣya) by Vasubandhu  
 

The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature(Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) was transmitted from the bodhisattva Maitreyanātha to Āryā Āsaṅga, the fourth-century Indian Buddhist scholar-adept. The most foundational of the set of the famous Five Teachings of Maitreya, the Discourse Literature is considered the wellspring of what the Tibetans call the “magnificent deeds trend of the path,” the compassion side, which balances the “profound view trend of the path,” the wisdom side. The Discourse Literature is also considered to be metaphysically aligned with and foundational for the Idealist (Vijñānavādin) school of Mahāyāna thought. Translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese by Lobsang Jamspal, Robert Thurman, and the AIBS team, the present work contains a fully annotated, critical English rendition of the Discourse Literature along with its commentary (bhāṣya) by Āsaṅga’s brother, Vasubandhu. It also includes an introduction covering essential historical and philosophical topics, a bibliography, and a detailed index. This long-awaited work is the founding cornerstone of the AIBS Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series.

BOOK INFORMATION

• Hardcover
• 368 pages, 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• $59.95 
• ISBN 9780975373408

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Lozang Jamspal holds a Rigs-chen degree from Tashi Lhunpo Monastic University in Tibet, an Acharya degree in Sanskrit from Sanskrit University, Varanasi, and a PhD from Columbia University. Formerly Lecturer in Buddhist Sanskrit and Classical Tibetan in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, he is currently a professor at the International Buddhist College in Thailand.

 

Other books by Lozang Jamspal:
The Range of the Bodhisattva, A Mahāyāna Sutra (byang chub sems dpa’i spyod yul)
The Range of the Bodhisattva, a Mahāyana Sūtra (Ārya-bodhisattva-gocara)

 

Robert Thurman is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, before retiring in June 2019. He held the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West. After education at Philips Exeter and Harvard, he studied Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism for almost thirty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has written both scholarly and popular books, and has lectured widely all over the world. As President of the American Institute for Buddhist Studies, he convened the First Inner Science Conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Amherst College in 1984. He is also a founding trustee of Tibet House New York.

 

Other books by Robert Thurman:
The Esoteric Community Tantra with The Illuminating Lamp
Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages
The Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa
MindScience