Shawn Conners

Barton Williams

Siddhartha Gautama, the great Indian philosopher, is believed to have attained Enlightenment sometime in the middle of the 5th century before the Common Era, while meditating under a Bodhi tree. From that time of Enlightenment until his death, by which he entered Nirvana, he traveled by foot around the countryside of India, teaching others his philosophy of the Middle Path. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are often called the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (teachings), and the Sangha (community). These concepts eventually traveled from India to China, and then to Japan, and became distilled into the movement within the Buddhist faith known as Zen Buddhism. Presented in this modern special edition is a unique selection of the ancient texts which would follow the path of the Silk Road from India to China to Japan, and evolve into the school of thought known today as Zen Buddhism. This path follows the Indian Mahayana verses from the Dhammapada, to a collection of Buddhist sutras (scriptures) culled from Chinese texts, and finally concludes with the Threefold Lotus, the three Pure Land sect sutras favored in Japan. The beginning student of Buddhism can therefore seek the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha in the re-telling of the verses and sutras by those missionaries, merchants and scholars who traversed the Silk Road, spreading the word of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, each on their own path toward Enlightenment.

Barton Williams

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