Index to Buddhist Books

 

 

Photo on left shows the ruins of the great ancient Buddhist university at NALANDA (427-1195), located in north-east India in the state of Bihar, about 55 miles south-east of Patna.

Shariputra Stupa at Nalanda
Above is a photo of the stupa of Venerable Shariputra, one of the greatest disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, who died at Nalanda. Nalanda is regarded as the first great residential university with as many as 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Many of the leading Buddhist scholars and practitioners whose books are listed here were abbots and teachers here. Its library was located in a nine storied building. Nalanda in Sanskrit means "giver of knowledge." It is believed that Shakyamuni Buddha once used the village located at this site as His base of operation. A consortium lead by Singapore and including China, India, and Japan are raising $1billion to build a revived Nalanda International University at this site with construction starting in 2009.

Click photos for enlargements.

 

 

 

Books

Dorje Pa Mu has told us that studying the principles but not practicing or, conversely, practicing but not understanding the principles or concepts are both superficial approaches to the Buddha-dharma. Mastery of principles will cause you to attain a certain understanding or awareness and enable you to cultivate yourself accordingly. To realize enlightenment, it is absolutely necessary for you to have thoroughly understood the principles, but you must not be attached to a mere understanding of the principles. The books listed here are offered as holy texts that will help you gain an understanding of these principles, but remember that unless you apply these principles to your daily life, they will not benefit you. As Dorje Pa Mu says, "Reading is not the same as remembering and remembering is not equal to practice. Likewise, listening is not the same as understanding, and understanding is not equal to practice."

The following sources are listed as reference sources to help you understand the dharma, but should not be considered as necessarily true Buddha-dharma. Although the words of Buddhas and fully realized masters are always correct, the translations may not be.  This is even true for the works of His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu and Dorje Pa Mu. And how can you be sure the person doing the translation had a level of realization that was high enough to translate these works correctly? The sources listed below are mostly by or about Buddhas and true Dharma Kings and Rinpoches, but since they were not composed in English by these Buddhas and holy beings, we cannot be sure of their authenticity in English. See "Receiving the Dharma" for more. The most important book in English for understanding the true Buddha-dharma is H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, which contains certain sutras and discourses of His Holiness.

Books by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu (Master Wan Ko Yee)

  • Correcting the Treatise of Patriarch Bodhidharma.  [Chinese only]
  • Commentary on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra. [Chinese only]
  • Essential Buddha-dharma (The Essence of the Buddha-Dharma).  [Chinese only]
  • The Mahamudra of Liberation.  [Chinese only]


Books by Female Dharma King Dorje Amang Nopu Pa Mu

  • Brief Commentary on the Precepts and Discipline Treatise. Describes the essence of morality (sila) with an emphasis on the bodhisattva precepts and the fifty precepts of a Master (Gurupancasika). [Chinese only]
  • Commentary on the Hetu-Vidya (Logical Reasoning) Treatise. Describes the true laws governing the changes which take place in all things in the universe and the Five Vidyas and provides a correct understanding of the world. [Chinese only]
  • Entering the Door of the Dharma. Describes the path of cultivation one must follow, starting from the fundamentals of Buddhist practice, to the practice of high awareness, to the realization of supreme enlightenment. [Chinese only]
  • The Dharma of Concentration, Contemplation and Visualization Essential for Enlightenment (includes commentary on the Middle Way and the Practice of Vajrasattva). All those hoping to realize true powers must deeply cultivate themselves. Deep cultivation and true powers are realized through concentration. This book describes the gradual process of entering deep concentration. [Chinese only]
  • Dharma That Every Buddhist Must Follow. Translated from the Chinese by Bodi Wentu Rinpoche, Rosemead, CA:  World Dharma Voice, 2001. Contains extremely valuable and essential instruction to be practiced by all Buddhists, whether Great Rinpoche, Geshe, Kenpo, Dharma Teacher, or ordinary practitioner.
  • The Prajna of Ultimate Reality.  [Chinese only]


Core Hinayana Suttas (See also Tripitaka.)


Core Mahayana Sutras (See also Tripitaka.)


Classic Commentaries by Great Dharma Masters (Scholastic Treatises or Shastras that augment, explain, and expand upon a primary text).

  • Master Dharmakirti (530-630), The Commentary on Valid Perception (Pramana Varttika, tsad-ma rnam-‘grel) on Master Dignaga’s Compendium on Valid Perception (Pramanasamuccaya) , (5th century). Also referred to as the Hetu-Vidya Treatise, another of the "Five Classic Treatises." No complete translation found. Indian-Mahayana.
  • Master Fa-tsang (7th century), Huan-yen i-ch’eng chiao i fen-ch’i chang (Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra). Not in print. Chinese-Huan-yen.


Free Books available through Internet (See also Tripitaka):


Biographies and Autobiographies of Holy Beings

  • Zi-Gong Zhuang, Master Yi Yungao: Biography of Master Wan Ko Yee. [Chinese only]


Other Books of Interest about Master Wan Ko Yee (See International Arts Publishing for more information.)

Poetry

 

 

 

 

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