#buddhist scripture

The Yijin Jing 'Muscle/Tendon Change Classic') is a manual containing a series of exercises, coordinated with breathing, said to enhance physical health dramatically when practiced consistently. In Chinese yi means "change", jin means "tendons and sinews", while jing means "methods".

It is this manuscript of the Shaolin buddhist monastery, that set them apart from other monasteries, and led to them being associated with kung fu or qigong practice as a method toward enlightenment.

経典 "Kyo-ten"

the Buddhist Scripture ~Japanese bible~

I grew up seeing my grandmother reading the letters written in the scriptures here.That scenery worshiped towards the Buddha was divine unlike the usual grandmother's expression.There is another world that only grandmother feels in this scripture.I remembered that.

This is "kwaidan" for me.

Santidevā

The Heart Sutra is the most famous text of Mahayana Buddhism. Here ChatGPT translated the Heart Sutra from Chinese. I had thought of trying a translation from Tibetan since religious texts in Tibetan are said to be very close to Sanskrit. I tried inputting the Tibetan text but that didn’t work. The Tibetan language with only a few million speakers. Most likely not enough Tibetan texts were input…

   You lit a fire in the small pot bellied stove more to dry the few clothes you’d brought rather than any need for warmth. You wondered whether this morning’s sit in the hall would again involve great scenes of violence, like yesterday, where you watched yourself inflict harm upon those who had intimidated and threatened three women who were close to you. Or maybe there would be more moments of…

Buddhist Art: Great Wisdom Sutra from the Chū sonji Temple Sutra Collection

The frontispiece to this sutrachapter shows a dramatic three-quarters view of the Buddha seated with two bodhisattvas. Seven figures pay obeisance to the Buddha, with the six in front raising offerings of food. The silver used to articulate sections of the ground, the ribbons that hang from the tree behind and the altar before the Buddha, and the offering bowls raised before him provides a…

The Heart Sutra along with the Lotus Sutra are the two most predominant Buddhist scriptures. In the Heart Sutra (Essence of Wisdom Sutra) the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is asked about the proper way to pursue the path to enlightenment (prajnaparamita or “the perfection of wisdom”). The Bodhisattva replies (in part) 

… Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva said to venerable Sariputra, “O, Sariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness …

 … The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA ("Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment hail!")

You may listen to the correct pronunciation of this mantra here.

You may read the entire English translation here on Pema Chödrön’s website. 

There is far more to this short sutra than I can go into in an ask response. I will consider writing a longer more exhaustive article at some point.