Great Cessation-and Contemplation

We are happy to report that the first volume of my non-annotated English translation of the Great Cessation-and-Contemplation (Mohezhiguan/Makashikan) by Tiantai Zhiyi is now available on the BDK website. As many of you know, my fully annotated translation of this text was published in 3 volumes from University of Hawaii Press (2018) as Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight, but for the BDK English Tripitaka series I removed all the notes and revised and updated the translation as appropriate for a non-annotated text. The new publication can be purchased in hard copy for $50,00 or downloaded PDF for free.

https://www.bdkamerica.org/product/great-cessation-and-contemplation-volume-i/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLitUlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHqbpsP5o8CcPJr7hcsTXlr3GYhVmVZOKV7hU_5rZ4ZhaHnAzE-nh0u6JTnzP_aem_A35YtvPBIhT_rIu_fxbr3g

Volume 2 should be available within a few months or early next year.

Hundred Records of
the Temple of National Purity

We are happy to announce that Paul L. Swanson's translation of the Hundred Records of the Temple of National Purity has been published in the BDK English Tripitaka series. The Hundred Records of the Temple of National Purity (Ch. Guoqing bailu) is a collection of documents concerning the life and activities of Tiantai Zhiyi (538–597), the founder of the Tiantai tradition and one of the most creative and influential figures of East Asian Buddhism.

For details see:

https://www.bdkamerica.org/product/the-hundred-records-of-the-temple-of-national-purity/?fbclid=IwAR3gJUu4eTl8cy2B_-FXrGFpMmVhNrFz5TsK5Su74M6HhRfwd34DSJSObJM

Awards

We are happy to announce that Paul L. Swanson's book Clear Serenity,

Quiet Insight: T'ien-t'ai Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan (University of Hawaii

Press, 3 volumes, 2018) has been selected as the winner of the 2019

Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism, awarded on an annual

basis to an outstanding book in any area of Buddhist studies.

For details see

https://www.bdkamerica.org/blog/2019-numata-book-award-presented
https://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/news/cbs-announces-2019-

toshihide-numata-book-award

Publications

New Publication:

We are pleased to announce the first publication produced as part of Kukechu Translation Projects: In Search of Clarity: Essays on Translation and Tiantai Buddhism, now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an Apple iBook:

In Search of Clarity is a collection of essays, written over a period of more than thirty years, on the Chinese Buddhism of Tiantai Zhiyi and the challenge of translating Chinese Buddhist texts into English. It is meant as a supplementary collection to the author’s recent publication Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight (2018), a 3-volume annotated translation and study of the Mohe zhiguan, one of the most influential texts of Chinese Buddhism. This text, and the teachings and practices expounded therein, were of crucial importance for the later development of Buddhist traditions such as that of Chan/Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Buddhism. The collection also contains essays on the art of translation, a Buddhist take on consciousness and free will, and speculations on the wall-contemplation of Bodhidharma.

Formerly unpublished essays on "Bodhidharma, Wall Contemplation, and Mixed Binomes" and "Consciousness and Free Will" included in this collection can be viewed below.

Former Publications:

Books on Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism available on Amazon: