Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi

Textual analysis and comparative discussion on early Buddhist sects and scriptures.
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Javi
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Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi

Post by Javi »

Just wanted to start a thread on this recent discovery of mine. The scholar Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi is available on in the following links, including a in depth translation of a key chapter of the text, which outlines the path to enlightenment of the Sarvastivada tradition. For those who do not know, this is a very important text in the northern tradition, it is basically their Visuddhimagga - but from around 3rd cent CE. Florin writes:
The importance of the Śrāvakabhūmi in the history of Buddhist spirituality and philosophy is undeniable. The text reflects a great and unique synthesis of centuries of contemplative practice and theory as transmitted in a Northern Buddhist tradition which appears to have been mainly associated with the (Mūla-)Sarvāstivāda school5 and was probably also influenced by (or at least displayed similarities with) the Sautrāntikas/Dārstāntikas.6 In many ways, the Śrāvakabhūmi can be said to represent the Northern counterpart of Buddhaghosaʼs Visuddhimagga, the most celebrated and comprehensive treatise of spiritual cultivation in the Theravāda tradition. The influence of the Śrāvakabhūmi on later Buddhism can be seen in the works of many illustrious figures from Kamalaśīla (ca 740-797) in India to Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419), the founder of the dGe lugspa tradition in Tibet, and Zhiyan 智儼 (602-668), the second patriarch of the Huayan school 華嚴宗 in China.
The Śrāvakabhūmi appears to belong to the oldest stratum of the Yogācārabhūmi. 13 There are, I believe, good reasons to assume that the Śrāvakabhūmi itself was compiled as an independent text in a gradual process spanning over a few decades. Roughly speaking, placing its formation in the 3rd century CE cannot be too off mark. A more daring, though arguably plausible, dating would be roughly between 200 and 270. The authors and redactors behind this compilation most probably belonged to one or several kindred groups of contemplatives (yogācāra) affiliated to the Sarvāstivāda tradition.
Far From the Madding Strife for Hollow Pleasures: Meditation and Liberation in the Śrāvakabhūmi [essay]
http://jairo.nii.ac.jp/0307/00000006/en

XX. The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamarga) in the Sravakabhumi: A Trilingual Edition (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Introductory Study. Volume I
http://jairo.nii.ac.jp/0307/00000278/en

XX. The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamarga) in the Sravakabhumi: A Trilingual Edition (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Introductory Study. Volume II
http://jairo.nii.ac.jp/0307/00000279/en

Also, if you click on Florin Delenau's name in any of those links it takes you to a search page with more of his work.

And here is a bonus link:
The Practice of Wakefulness Ālokasaṃjnā in the Śrāvakabhūmi by Takako Abe
https://www.scribd.com/document/2685173 ... bh%C5%ABmi

edit: I just realized that these links are already in the "chanjing meditation manuals" thread. However, I think a thread devoted to this particular text is still warranted, seeing as how it is a very important Buddhist text from a mainstream early Buddhist school.
Vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā — All things decay and disappoint, it is through vigilance that you succeed — Mahāparinibbāna Sutta

Self-taught poverty is a help toward philosophy, for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice. — Diogenes of Sinope

I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind — Ecclesiastes 1.14
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Pseudobabble
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Re: Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi

Post by Pseudobabble »

Thanks Javi, this is great, I've never seen it before. Very interesting. Do you have another link for the Scribd Ālokasaṃjnā in the Śrāvakabhūmi by Takako Abe? I can't download it without signing up.
"Does Master Gotama have any position at all?"

"A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are fabrications...such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.'" - Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta


'Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.' - Genesis 3:19

'Some fart freely, some try to hide and silence it. Which one is correct?' - Saegnapha
Javi
Posts: 479
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Re: Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi

Post by Javi »

Vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā — All things decay and disappoint, it is through vigilance that you succeed — Mahāparinibbāna Sutta

Self-taught poverty is a help toward philosophy, for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice. — Diogenes of Sinope

I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind — Ecclesiastes 1.14
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Pseudobabble
Posts: 938
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:11 am
Location: London

Re: Florin Delenau's work on the Sravakabhumi

Post by Pseudobabble »

Amazing, thank you.
"Does Master Gotama have any position at all?"

"A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are fabrications...such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.'" - Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta


'Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.' - Genesis 3:19

'Some fart freely, some try to hide and silence it. Which one is correct?' - Saegnapha
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