The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, with the Divisions of the Abhisamayalankara

Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, UC Berkeley

by Edward Conze

Some two thousand years ago Buddhism experienced a major reformation through a movement called the Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle," which dominated religious thought in much of Asia for many centuries and still exerts considerable influence. The basic Mahayana texts were sermons ascribed to the Buddha, called "Sutras" in Sanskrit. The earliest and most influential of these Mahayana Sutras had the "perfection of wisdom" as its main subject matter. Of these texts, the famous "Diamond" and "Heart" Sutras have been known in the West for many years, but they are merely condensations of the original "Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom" that took shape between 50 and 200 A.D. In the present volume, Dr. Conze offers the result of thirty-five years of close study, and makes available this "Large Sutra," the key document for dealing with early Mahayana doctrine. This scripture has, throughout the centuries, been revered as "The great mother of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas" not only in India but in China, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia and Southeast Asia as well. It is now made available in its complete form for the first time in an annotated translation.

Genres: Buddhism

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Eberhart Julius Dietrich Conze, who published as Edward Conze, studied Indian and comparative philosophy at the universities of Bonn and Hamburg. He later lectured in psychology, philosophy, and comparative religion at Oxford, held a number of academic appointments, and served as Vice-President of the Buddhist Society.

Reviews

[Mengsen Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this large book! This is a very clarifying read if you have been interested in Mahayana philosophy and missing something that ties everything together. This book is very comprehensive and the exposition is direct. You may find it repetitive at times but that's kind of the point.