MAHĀPIṬAKANewsletter New Series No. 21

January 1, 2016

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE ofthe ENGLISH TRANSLATIONof the CHINESE TRIPIṬAKA
Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai(Society for the Promotion of Buddhism)

Editor: MAYEDA Sengaku

Table of Contents
Publishing Schedule
Published in 2015.................................................................................................. 1
Forthcoming titles ................................................................................................. 1

Report:World Sanskrit Conference andJoint Research with the Wat Phra Dhammakāya in Thailand
By WATANABE Shōgo .......................................................................................... 2

Announcement:
Guidelines for the English Translation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon
By Editorial Committee of the English Translation ............................................. 4

Obituary:URYŪZU Ryūshin (1932-2015) and John Yokota (1947-2015)
By Kenneth K. Tanaka.......................................................................................... 6Committee Members .................................................................................................... 7

Publishing Schedule
Published in 2015:

1. THE COLLECTION FOR THE PROPAGATION AND CLARIFICATION OF
BUDDHISM, Volume I(弘明集 Gumyōshū, Taishō 2102)
Translated by Harumi Hirano Ziegler

2. THREE ESOTERIC TEXTSSUTRA OF THE VOW OF FULFILLING THE GREAT PERPETUAL ENJOYMENTAND BENEFITING ALL SENTIENT BEINGS WITHOUT EXCEPTION(大楽金剛不空眞實三麼耶經 Dairakukongōfukūshinjitsusanmayakyō, Taishō 243)
Translated by MIYATA TaisenMĀTAṄGA SUTRA(摩登伽經 Matōgakyō, Taishō 1300)
Translated by Rolf W. Giebel
THE BODHICITTA-ŚĀSTRA(金剛頂瑜伽中発阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心論
Kongōchōyugachūhotsuanokutarasanmyakusanbodaishinron, Taishō 1665)
Translated by KIYOTA Minoru

3. THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA’S LENGTHY DISCOURSES,
Volume I(長阿含經 Jō-agongyō, Taishō 1)
Translated by Shohei Ichimura
Forthcoming titles:

1. MAITREYA AND MAÑJUŚRĪTHE SUTRA ON THE DESCENT OF MAITREYA BUDDHA AND HISENLIGHTENMENT(彌勒下生成佛經 Mirokugeshōjōbutsukyō, Taishō 454)
Translated by IIDA Shōtaro and Jane Goldstone
Introduction by SADAKATA Akira
THE SUTRA OF MAÑJUŚRĪ’S QUESTIONS(文殊師利問經 Monjushirimongyō, Taishō 468)
Translated by John R. McRae

2. THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA’S LENGTHY DISCOURSES,
Volume II(長阿含經 Jō-agongyō, Taishō 1)
Translated by Shohei Ichimura

3. THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA’S LENGTHY DISCOURSES,
Volume III(長阿含經 Jō-agongyō, Taishō 1)
Translated by Shohei Ichimura1

Report:World Sanskrit ConferenceandJoint Research with the Wat Phra Dhammakāya in Thailand
WATANABE ShōgoProfessor, Toyo University
From June 26–July 3, 2015, I participated in the World Sanskrit Conference and conducted a joint
research with the Wat Phra Dhammakāya in Thailand.
The 16th World Sanskrit Conference was held at the Renaissance Hotel, located inBangkok under the auspices of the Sanskrit Studies Centre, Silpakorn University from June 28th toJuly 2nd, 2015.
After the opening ceremony on Sunday June 28th, the Inaugural Speech was delivered by
Chief Patron, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand. It was followed by the Keynote
Speech by Prof. John Brockington entitled “Rāma’s Travels Eastwards.”
We had a social gathering in the evening that included a Plaque Giving Ceremony by thePrincess and an opening address by Guest of Honor H.E. Ms Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External
Affairs of Govt. of India. She revealed some knowledge of Sanskrit and integrated it in her InauguralSpeech.
This conference was comprised of 24 theme-based sections with specialist conveners foreach section; they were as follow;<Sections>
1) Veda and Vedic Literature
2) Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata
3) Purāṇa Studies4) Āgama and Tantra5) Linguistics
6) Vyākaraṇa
7) Poetry, Drama and Aesthetics
8) Buddhist Studies
9) Jaina Studies
10) Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism11) History of Religions & Ritual Studies
12) Sanskrit in Southeast Asia
13) Philosophy14) History, Art and Architecture15) Epigraphy216) Sanskrit in relation with Regional Languages and Literatures17) Sanskrit, Science and Scientific Literature18) Sanskrit Pedagogy19) Contemporary Sanskrit Writing
20) Sanskrit and the IT World21) Yoga22) Āyurveda23) Sūtra, Smṛti, and Śāstra24) Manuscriptology
Asanga Tilakaratne and M.M. Laohavanich served as conveners of the “Buddhist Studies”
panel, and in addition, another panel “The Transmission of Sanskrit texts” was also held separately.
After the opening ceremony of the Conference, I proceeded to the Dhammakāya Temple
together with my colleagues. There, we spoke with the two monks responsible for the Movement's
Japan branch, Bhikkhu Thanavuddho and Bhikkhu Somkiat. We learned that the Movement is in theprocess of producing a revised edition of the Pali Canon with the assistance of specialists in Theravada
Buddhism and that they also plan to make the revised edition available online.
I returned to the Sanskrit conference on the 29th to hear some of the presentations. Theconference was large in scope, with 10 daily sections featuring some 16 speakers per sections on theaverage. I gave a presentation on the 30th entitled, “Some Questions Concerning the Title of the
Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-[sūtra].” In it, based on an analysis of the many manuscripts of thePrajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra (“the Heart Sutra”), I discussed the tradition of that text as having been
regarded as a dhāraṇī. I, then, explained the significance of it being broadly classified as such, due toits title, which means, “the Heart consisting of 25 gāthās.”
On this research trip, I was able to deepen my understanding about the realities andpossibilities of the role that Sanskrit can play in a multicultural co-existent context. Sanskrit has
proven itself to be a living language rather than a dead one, and is being used as a tool for exchange
among different peoples and culture that transcend borders.

3Announcement (Item 11 below has been modified.) :GUIDELINES FOR THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
OF THE CHINESE BUDDHIST CANON (Revised December 17, 2015)
1.

The primary aim of the English translation of the Chinese Buddhist canon is propagation of theBuddhist tradition, and to further Buddhist studies.

2.

The primary text for translation purposes is the Taishō Daizōkyō. Text not included in theTaishō Daizōkyō will be taken from publications dated after the Meiji Period (1868–1912).

3.

In principle, the texts are translated whole, rather than in sections, and are always accompaniedby a translator’s introduction, which should include some discussion of the texts in its historicalcontext and place in the Canon, and provide pertinent biographical information on authors andoriginal translators, and list any other versions of the texts in Chinese, Tibetan, etc.

4.

Endnotes may be provided to aid the reader in understanding the text. However, extensive
annotation is discouraged. Endnotes should be concise and should not be used only to provide
definitions of technical terms; these should be included in a glossary provided by the translator.
As with the translation, the Editorial and Publication Committees will retain editorial rights overendnotes.

5.

The translator(s) will be clearly credited.

6.

Chinese transliterations of Sanskrit terms are to be translated into English except in the case ofproper nouns, where the original name is to be maintained in so far as possible. For dhāraṇīsand mantras, such as those found in esoteric scriptures, the Sanskrit form is to be supplied (inparentheses) within the translation.

7.

In the case of Chinese proper nouns, Pinyin system is to be given. Although Wade-Giles system
is also accepted, it will be converted to the Pinyin by our editors. For Japanese proper nouns, theRomanized Japanese transliteration will be used.

8.

In the event that there are multiple Chinese versions of a particular text, in principle, only one
will be translated, but translator should mention other versions in his/her introduction.

9.

On the cases and title pages of the books, the titles will appear in normative English, and volume
titles will be used in instances of volumes containing multiple texts. The English andSanskrit/Chinese/Japanese titles will appear on the modified title pages before each individual
text.

10.

The bibliography should include a list of all previous translations from Chinese (or othersources) into other European languages. All bibliographic entries should include the title of themanuscript or text, name(s) of translator(s), publisher, and year of publication. In the case ofjournal articles, please provide volume number, year, etc.

11.

No Chinese characters can be included in the main body of translation. However, Chinesecharacters can be used in the other parts, i.e. translator’s introduction, endnotes, bibliography,and glossary, though the amount should be kept to a basic minimum.

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12.

Translations should be submitted to the Editorial Committee in both digital data and printed
hard copy (or PDF file).
1)2)

Digital datai)
The document(s) should be saved in one of the below three formats:
A. Native application format, preferably Microsoft Word.
B. RTF (rich text format).
C. ASCII text file(s).
ii) Concerning the font(s) used in the above document(s), enough information should
be provided. The font files are to be sent together if necessary.
iii) The data are to be e-mailed to bdk@bdk.or.jp.
Printed hard copyi)
All editorial marks and/or Sanskrit/Chinese/Japanese diacritical marks are to beproperly shown in this paper printout(s).
ii) This printed hard copy can be replaced by PDF file(s) in which theabove-mentioned conditions are fulfilled.

13.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editorial and Publication Committees. During theeditorial process, the translator will be fully consulted, which will give the translator theopportunity to review all copyediting that has been done. A copy of the “Editorial StyleGuidelines” used by the Publication Committee in Moraga is available upon request totranslators.

14.

The translator(s) will be informed of the remuneration rate (excluding special circumstances)directly by the Editorial Committee. Please note that the sum paid to the translator is net.
Expenses incurred by the translator for royalties, postage, word processing, etc., will not becompensated.

15.

For elaborate works requiring more than two years to complete, the translator may submit apartial or year’s work worth of manuscript (i.e. 20 to 30 pages of the Taishō Daizōkyō).

16.

All copyrights for translations performed under the auspices of the Editorial Committee are held
and reserved by the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai. The Publication Committee shall enforce allcopyrights.
1) Manuscripts received from translators will not be returned.
2) The remuneration is understood to include the copyright transfer cost.
3) If the translator should wish to publish another version (i.e. with detailed notes foracademic purposes), they may do so only after obtaining approval from the BukkyōDendō Kyōkai. After approval to publish outside the Translation Project has been granted,
the translator may then choose a publisher.
4) This second publication is permissible only after five (5) years have passed since theoriginal Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai translation has been published.
5) The separate academic publication must be distinctly different from the Bukkyō Dendō
Kyōkai publication.

Notes
If there is no response to the written request for translation sent from the Editorial Committee by the designateddeadline, it will be considered as an indication of declination and another translator will be selected.

5Obituary:URYŪZU Ryūshin (1932-2015) and John Yokota (1947-2015)
Kenneth K. Tanaka
Professor, Musashino University

It is with enormous sadness that we report the passing of two of our translators. It turns out that they
were the co-translators of the same two texts, the Exposition of the Middle (Zhong lun 『中論』 T no.
1579) and the Profound Meaning of the Three Treatises (San-lun-xuan-yi 『三論玄義』T no. 1852).
We extend our deepest condolences to both families.
Professor URYŪZU Ryūshin (1923-2015), Professor Emeritus, Kyoto Women’s University,
passed away on February 12, 2015 of illness. Born in Shiga Prefecture, he studied at Ryukoku
University and at the Department of Indian Philosophy at Tokyo University. Prof. URYŪZU taught atKyoto Women’s University for most of his professional career, during which he serving as itsPresident. He was also a well-known priest with the Jodo Shinshu community in Japan. Academically,
he was a specialist on Nāgārjuna.
Professor John Yokota (1947-2015), former Professor of Kyoto Women’s University,
passed away on November 16, 2015 of illness. Born in Los Angeles, California, he received his Ph.D.
at Claremont College under the tutelage of the eminent scholar of Process Theology, Prof. John Cobb,
Jr. He was also ordained as a Jodo Shinshu priest and served with the Buddhist Churches of America
for a few years, after which he taught at University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) and Chikushi
Jogakuen University (Fukuoka, Japan) before being appointed to his last position at Kyoto Women’s
University. He specialized in Jodo Shinshu thought and Process Theology.

6Committee Members
Editorial Committee, Tokyo:
MAYEDA Sengaku (Chairperson), Professor Emeritus, The University of TokyoICHISHIMA Shōshin, Professor Emeritus, Taisho University
ISHIGAMI Zennō, Professor Emeritus, Taisho University
KATSURA Shōryū, Ryukoku University
NAMAI Chishō, Koyasan University
NARA Yasuaki, Professor Emeritus, Komazawa UniversitySAITŌ Akira, The University of TokyoSHIMODA Masahiro, The University of Tokyo
Kenneth K. Tanaka, Musashino University
WATANABE Shōgo, Toyo University
YONEZAWA Yoshiyasu, Taisho University
Publication Committee, Berkeley:Charles A. Muller (Chairperson), The University of Tokyo
Carl W. Bielefeldt, Stanford University
Marianne Dresser, BDK America
Hudaya Kandahjaya, BDK America
Brian Kensho Nagata, BDK America
Robert H. Sharf, University of California, BerkeleyMAHĀPIṬAKANewsletter New Series No.21
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE ofthe ENGLISH TRANSLATION of the CHINESE TRIPIṬAKA
c/o Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism)
4-3-14 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0014, JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-3455-5851
Fax: +81-3-3798-2758
E-Mail:bdk@bdk.or.kp
URL: http://www.bdk.or.jp

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