Agama Sutra (Complete Three Volumes)

Author: Institute of Buddhist Culture, China (Editor-in-Chief)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-03-01
Features: The Majjhima Nikaya (Middle Length Discourses) comprises fifty volumes, translated by Gunabhadra during the 20th year of the Yuangia era of the Southern Dynasties of Liu Song (443 AD). It records the teachings and instructions of the Buddha to monks, nuns, upāsakas, upāsikās, deities, and celestial beings, elucidating the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. It is an essential scripture for practitioners of Zen. Three months after the Buddha's parinirvana, Mahākā?yapa led five hundred arhats to hold a council in the Bo tree cave of Rājag?ha, revising and compiling the teachings the Buddha had disseminated over nearly fifty years. Mahākā?yapa posed questions, and ānanda recited the Buddha's teachings throughout his life, which included the Majjhima Nikaya. Afterward, this scripture was passed down through generations in various schools of Buddhism in India.
After Buddhism was introduced to China, it coincided with the rise of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Due to a lack of comprehensive understanding of the āgamas, they were classified as the "lesser teaching" (Hsiao Chiao) during the Sui and Tang dynasties, leading to little attention from later Buddhists. In modern times, with in-depth research on the āgamas both domestically and internationally, people have gradually recognized that they preserve the original form of Buddhism and reflect the true intentions of the Buddha's teachings. To meet the needs of Buddhist scholars and practitioners, we have reconstructed and published this work based on the Gangyōng Cang (High Korean Canon), referencing the research and compilation achievements of recent modern times.