The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Grants for Critical Editions and Scholarly Translations

The project focuses on the “History of Kokonor” (Mtsho sngon gyi lo rgyus) by famous Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhist scholar Sum pa Mkhan po Ye shes dpal ‘byor (1704-1788). The author, being a contemporary witness of many events described, gives a valuable account of secular and religious history of the Mongols and the Tibetans at a turning point of their history when they fell under the hegemony of the Qing dynasty. We propose to provide a book-length manuscript, which will consist of a critical edition of the text, its Russian translation, detailed commentaries, and a comprehensive analysis of Sum pa Mkhan po’s biography and the text’s historical background in relation and comparison with Chinese and Mongolian sources.

We propose to publish a book-length translation and analysis of _Kōshō Bosatsu Eison gokyōkai chōmonshū_ (Collected Instructions of Kōshō Bodhisattva Eison), which consists of nearly eighty short teachings by Eison (1201-1290), recorded and edited by his closest disciples when he was in his 80s. This text, which has not been translated into English (or into any Western languages, as far as we know), provides an intimate glimpse into the life and thinking of a monk who died perhaps the most prominent and charismatic Buddhist figure of his day. It offers a wealth of nuanced information not only about the details of Eison’s contributions to the development of Japanese Buddhism, but also about thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhism more broadly, and its place in the Buddhist world of East Asia.

We propose to publish a book-length translation and analysis of _Ksh Bosatsu Eison gokykai chmonsh_ (Collected Instructions of Ksh Bodhisattva Eison), which consists of nearly eighty short teachings by Eison (1201-1290), recorded and edited by his closest disciples when he was in his 80s. This text, which has not been translated into English (or into any Western languages, as far as we know), provides an intimate glimpse into the life and thinking of a monk who died perhaps the most prominent and charismatic Buddhist figure of his day. It offers a wealth of nuanced information not only about the details of Eisons contributions to the development of Japanese Buddhism, but also about thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhism more broadly, and its place in the Buddhist world of East Asia.

This project will produce the first English translation of the “buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch” (YL), a ‘Buddhist Yoga Manual’ from Kuca, located on the Northern Silk Road of the Tarim Basin. Although the YL belongs to one of the major manuscript discoveries of the twentieth century, it has been almost entirely neglected, largely due to its having only received a translation into German. This is particularly lamentable as the YL outlines a unique meditation system that dramatically reshapes our understanding of Buddhist traditions in South, Central, and East Asia. Accounting for more recent research into associated Chinese meditation manuals and art from the region, our English rendering and comprehensive study shall reestablish the true significance of this forgotten work.

This project will produce the first English translation of the buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch (YL), a Buddhist Yoga Manual from Kuca, located on the Northern Silk Road of the Tarim Basin. Although the YL belongs to one of the major manuscript discoveries of the twentieth century, it has been almost entirely neglected, largely due to its having only received a translation into German. This is particularly lamentable as the YL outlines a unique meditation system that dramatically reshapes our understanding of Buddhist traditions in South, Central, and East Asia. Accounting for more recent research into associated Chinese meditation manuals and art from the region, our English rendering and comprehensive study shall reestablish the true significance of this forgotten work.

The primary aim of this project is to produce a critical edition of the complete Cintamayi Bhumi based on two surviving manuscripts. For those who want to study the Yogacarabhumi corpus, we will be providing a comprehensive view on this important chapter, as well as an improved text based on all available sources. The secondary aim is to encourage Korean Buddhist scholars and students to take an active interest in Buddhist texts written in languages other than classical Chinese. By publishing a Korean translation consulting the Sanskrit and Tibetan equivalents, we will be supplying more understandable interpretations of the enigmatic Chinese terminologies, and thus be reminding readers of the importance of studying Buddhist texts written in languages other than classical Chinese.

The Tamang form of Mahayana Buddhism developed essentially through the Rnyingmapa and Kagyupa sects of the southern Himalayan Tibetan populations, since the very early periods of expansion of Buddhism in Tibet. Their Buddhism is strongly tinged with a Himalayan form of shamanism, which has for long been assimilated by the Hindus as well as by the Buddhists. We propose to edit, translate and analyze four large collections of texts constituting the pillars of Tamang wisdom; the lKug pa kha chos, or “Symbolic language - Silent language”, the Jig rten gtam chos, or “Folk Stories”, the Rus chen Chyopge (brgyad) or “Book of the Eighteen Large Clans”, and the Rama, or “Songs of Rama” – only small parts of which have been translated into a booklet titled Tamba Kaiten.

The project will bring to fruition the study of five important birch-bark manuscripts of the “Bajaur Collection”:
1. A Gāndhārī version of the Dakṣiṇāvibhaṅga-Sūtra from a Madhyamāgama (fragment BC 1)
2. A fragment of a Gāndhārī Prātimokṣasūtra (BC 13)
3. A manuscript with two Gāndhārī Karmavācanā formulae (BC 7)
4. A protective text featuring the nāga king Manasvin (BC 3)
5. The “Bajaur Mahāyāna Sūtra” (BC 2) (in collaboration with Andrea Schlosser)
All texts will be published for a first time in the form of a critical edition, accompanied by a translation, a detailed evaluation of their relation to parallel texts in various languages of the Buddhist transmission (Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese) and a
commentary. The project is carried out under the auspices of the project “Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhara” in Munich. The results of the project will be published in the series “Gandharan Buddhist Texts.”

This project brings together an international collaborative team with expertise in Buddhist manuscripts, palaeography, and the Mulasarvastivada vinaya (MSV) in order to sort, transcribe, study and catalog a set of unique eighth century birch bark manuscript fragments presently held in the Schøyen Collection in Oslo. The manuscript contains various portions of the MSV Bhaisajyavastu (‘Chapter on Medicine’) and Uttaragrantha (‘The concluding/superior scripture’), part of the former and the entire body of the latter having until recently been considered lost in Sanskrit.This collaborative project will for the first time make the preserved Sanskrit text of these sections available for editing, translation, comparison, and in-depth study.

This project brings together an international collaborative team with expertise in Buddhist manuscripts, palaeography, and the Mulasarvastivada vinaya (MSV) in order to sort, transcribe, study and catalog a set of unique eighth century birch bark manuscript fragments presently held in the Schyen Collection in Oslo. The manuscript contains various portions of the MSV Bhaisajyavastu (Chapter on Medicine) and Uttaragrantha (The concluding/superior scripture), part of the former and the entire body of the latter having until recently been considered lost in Sanskrit.This collaborative project will for the first time make the preserved Sanskrit text of these sections available for editing, translation, comparison, and in-depth study.

The scripture entitled Tara-mula-kalpa (Tara's Fundamental Ritual Text) documents the emergence of the quintessential female Buddha Tara in seventh-century India. Its contents capture an important Buddhist tantric tradition in mid-formation. In this regard, it presents a singularly unique snapshot of a canonical religious text in a stage of evolution that is seldom, if ever, seen. By examining Tara in the Tara-mula-kalpa with enlightened figures in other early Buddhist Tantras, one learns how Tara was promoted as a female Buddha within the context of primarily male Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This primary source introduces crucial new material for gender studies in religion and Tara's origins, status, and relationships with other Indian goddess traditions, including the ten Hindu Mahavidyas.

This project is an edition, translation, and study of the "Commentary to the Scripture on the Skandhas, Dhatus, and Ayatanas," the only fully extant Chinese-authored scriptural commentary composed during the first two hundred years of Chinese Buddhism. My translation and study of this long-ignored text will allow us to understand how the earliest Chinese readers of Buddhist literature grappled with the first Chinese translations of the basic doctrinal formula and modes of systematic analysis typical of Indian Buddhist exegesis. This will enable a new perspective on the earliest history of Chinese Buddhism that highlights translation, exegesis, and commentary as a transcultural contact zone for new modes of thought in China in the wake of the collapse of the Han dynasty.