The Lankavatara Sutra, according to tradition, contains the actual words of the Buddha spoken in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Nothing is known about its author, the time of its composition, or its original form. Scholars have tended to date the original compilation to early in the first century, and the written work to the fourth century of the Common Era. The sutra was foundational in establishing the central tenets of Mahayana Buddhism, and especially Zen. The Lankavatara was virtually unknown in the West until D.T. Suzuki's Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra was published in 1929. Suzuki's subsequent translation and publication of The Lankavatara Sutra in 1932 earned him the respect and gratitude of scholars and Buddhists worldwide. Professor Suzuki felt that an editing of the Lankavatara, for the sake of easier reading, would make the sutra more widely accessible. He encouraged the editor Dwight Goddard to take on the challenge, and the publication of the 'epitomised' version appeared in print also in 1932, under the title, Self-Realization of Noble Wisdom: The Lankavatara Sutra.
The Lankavatara Sutra: An Epitomized Version, Translated by D.T. Suzuki, Provenance Editions, Paperback, 128 pp, $11.95
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin (and Far Eastern philosophy in general) to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature. Suzuki spent several lengthy stretches teaching or lecturing at Western universities, and devoted many years to a professorship at Otani University, a Japanese Buddhist school.
CONTENTS: The Lankavatara Sutra: An Epitomized Version
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Foreword to the Provenance Edition by John Daido Loori
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ix
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Foreword to the 1932 Edition by D. T. Suzuki
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xi
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Preface by Dwight Goddard
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xiii
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Introduction by Dwight Goddard
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xv
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Glossary
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xix
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Chapter I
Discrimination
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1
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Chapter II
False-Imagination and Knowledge of Appearances
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8
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Chapter III
Right Knowledge or Knowledge of Relations
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28
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Chapter IV
Perfect Knowledge or Knowledge of Reality
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28
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Chapter V
The Mind System
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33
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Chapter VI
Transcendental Intelligence
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42
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Chapter VII
Self-Realization
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50
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Chapter VIII
The Attainment of Self-Realization
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59
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Chapter IX
The Fruit of Self-Realization
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65
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Chapter X
Discipleship: Lineage of the Arhats
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72
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Chapter XI
Bodhisattvahood and Its Stages
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78
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Chapter XII
Tathagatahood Which Is Noble Wisdom
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86
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Chapter XIII
Nirvana
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96
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