More traditional translation of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra than the ones ...
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More traditional translation of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra than the ones by Thos. Cleary and John Powers. We should study all of them.
1692513
An updated version of the former "The Teachings of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu" (from "The Mirror" magazine, based on lectures from 1993-7) re-ordered, edited, & end-noted, it briefly describes Yogacharya; Shine, Sutra vs. Tantra, modern vs. ancient Bon, Yantra Yoga, bodhichitta, Mahamudra etc.  Per many other Tibetan works, it's a union of legend/myth & reality/practicality--traditional hagiography, metaphors, & assumptions are mixed with high teachings, practices, & views.  One needs discriminating wisdom IMHO to separate wheat from chaff.  Per Blanchard's "Situational Leadership" there are task skills (specific to a situation or, in this case, culture) & transportable skills (archetypal truths that cut across situations/cultures).  IMHO one needs to detach from the former to pursue the latter.  However, despite traditional biases, Norbu R. provides extensive wisdom & courageous insight: p. 86: "The various Tantric deities are personified forms of different functions of our own energy, pp. 89-90: "A serious teacher of Dzogchen must understand the experience of a particular student, & then be able to suggest practices according to the way in which that individual is developing, not just give practices according to a set formula regardless of the character, capacity, & progress of each student...When you enter the practice & become a good practitioner, the teacher is found within you," & that Tantra did not come from the physical (Nirmanakaya) Gautama Buddha but from his Samboghakaya.  Overall, there are good teachings in this short book, but it is debatable if it's worth the price for a new copy.  It's not IMHO up to the level of Norbu R.'s 9 other works I've read, esp. "The Cycle of Day and Night, "The Mirror, & "Supreme Source."
1299811
I am no expert on translation, so I will comment on the merits of the text.  The Dhammpada does indeed strike one as a classic of the Buddhist tradition - a brief, but very insightful work into human nature, spirituality, and ethics.  If one were to read the Bhagavad-Gita to get a beginning grasp of Hinduism, one should read the Dhammapada to get a basic grasp of Buddhism. There is, of course, always more to study, but this small gem should give a glittering exposition to the reader of the basic principles of Buddhist thought.
3203788
The translation in this book is indeed smoothly readable, but what are you reading?  In Bhikkhu Bhodi's lectures on the Sutta Nipata, he assigned this text, but was forced to retranslate words in *just about every single line* because the translator had failed to accurately render the intent of the Pali text.  These are minor errors; however, they are also not superficial, but rather fundamental misconstruals.  Bhikkhu Bhodi even theorized that this translation was not the work of Ven. Saddhatisa himself, but an English editor, due to the fact that a learned monk such as Ven. Saddhatisa would not have been expected to make such errors.  Certainly, it is valuable to have the text in English, but perhaps the only way to learn what the Buddha meant to convey is through more extensive study of the etymologies and contexts surrounding the Pali text.
3281622
Japanese Fairy Tales, also known as The Japanese Fairy Book, is a 1908 collection of traditional fables and folktales compiled and translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki.

As I understand it, this is a somewhat liberal translation; accuracy to the source material has obviously been sacrificed to a certain extent for the sake of accessibility. Interestingly, words that would not be translated today are translated here for the sake of the Western audience ("samurai," for example, is translated "knight"). Many of these stories are not concise - they tend to meander - and some end rather abruptly. Without substantial familiarity with the original material, it's difficult to determine how much of this is the stories themselves and how much is Ozaki's doing, but I suspect the latter is more responsible.

These stories are, nevertheless, mostly quite enjoyable, and the differences and similarities with Western fairy tales are particularly interesting. (Wicked stepmothers, apparently, are a source of plot conflict the world over.)

Many of these stories are grim and violent, of the degree of the original un-sanitized Grimm Brothers' tales. There are vicious revenge stories here, and the ones involving animals bring to mind Tom and Jerry (or, perhaps more accurately, Itchy and Scratchy, never mind Happy Tree Friends), even with some obvious sanitizing ("The Farmer and the Badger" is a notable example). Many stories do not have happy endings. They certainly aren't all for small children.

Accuracy aside, Japanese Fairy Tales is a nice little collection of stories, and a decent introduction to Japanese folklore.
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In my recent (four-star) review of Aldous Huxley's "The Perennial Philosophy," I opined that Huxley's "Perennial vision" had been "flattened" due to the influence of Swami Prabhavananda's Vedanta philosophy. This reminded me that the only translation of Shankara's Crest Jewel of Wisdom (or Discrimination) I had read was Prabhavananda's, which I no longer have and hadn't read for decades. With this in mind, I decided to procure another version (this one) and review it.

This version had received all five-star reviews, and one reviewer who has read multiple translations of the text averred, "This version of the Crest Jewel of Wisdom is by far the most accurate and esoteric translation, in my humble opinion." The price was right for the Kindle edition--$3.99-- and after I downloaded it, I zipped through the short text in about an hour.

The first thing that hit me was the writing style of this 1895 translation:  lots of thees, thines, thous, and whences couched within old-fashioned nineteenth-century syntax. I seriously doubt if Shankara's original version read like this Theosophical Society translation. I didn't vibe with the style.

Shankara's Dharma, while ground-breaking at the time it was written, is unremarkable by today's spiritual standards. If this text were written by a contemporary Advaita Vedanta guru, it would be dismissed as unnoteworthy. Beyond describing the wonders of Self-realization and enjoining yogis to seek the Self by discerning between It and the non-self, there is little esoteric elaboration in the treatise.

Shankara, in a couple of places, differentiates between the individual Self and the universal Self, but he fails to elaborate on the distinction between the two or on how one can realize the latter after realizing the former. Here's an excerpt from the text that illustrates this:

"The binding is untied by perfect knowledge, not otherwise; the discerning of the Oneness of the Eternal and the Self is held by the scripture to be perfect knowledge. And this is accomplished by perfectly discerning between Self and not-self; thereafter discernment is to be gained between individual and universal Self."

Shankara's description of the bliss sheath, the final barrier to Self-realization, is unimpressive. Here's what he says:

"The principle sphere of the bliss-formed veil is in dreamless sleep; in dreaming and waking it is part manifest when blissful objects are beheld.

"Nor is this bliss-formed veil the higher Self. It is a form of objective nature; it is an effect caused by good acts accumulated in this changeful form."

I hate to say it, but I don't think Shankara groks the bliss sheath. The bliss sheath is simply the Energy, or Shakti, of the Self objectified. When this Energy is no longer objectified, then the plenary, or universal Self--Siva-Shakti-- is realized.

Whereas contemporary Advaita Vedantans and neo-Advaita Vedantans seem allergic to the quasi-dualistic term "union," Shankara repeatedly enjoins us to attain union with the Self; but again, he doesn't clarify how union with the individual Self [Atman] differs from union with the universal Self [Brahman].

I'm sure there are better translations of Shankara's Crest Jewel of Wisdom than this one, but I'm not motivated to sift through numerous versions to find the best one(s). Just as students of Buddhism should read Gautama, students of Advaita Vedanta should read Shankara. But I recommend finding a more refined and extensive translation of/commentary on his writings than what this version offers.
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Prefer the other translations I have of the Tao - those with what I can best describe as a more formal tone, less conversational. But then I'm old and prefer the King James translation of the Bible.
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sato's translations are as close to the original japanese as one can get. as a translator myself i'm really, really impressed.

even if this is only a selection of the verses in somokuto, it doesn't matter. read them as a sequence: you'll get into the 'santoka mind,' a heightened awareness of your surroundings, as well as your own existence.

i don't really consider santoka a 'zen poet' since he didn't really practice zen it a real sense. but he's something like it.

i'm too tired to comment on the beauty of the work, about which much can be said. i'll just say this: if you can't read the original, get this. the two are very close.
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It is good to read the preface for each reading, but I found that the NLT is not my favorite version of translation,
It helps to get the background on what is going on and why Jesus is telling us/his disciples certain things.
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nirdesha = "explanation"
paripcch = "Questions of "N"
vyha = "manifest power of"

THIS is a sutra not in the Treasury. "1. Rk No. # : T. - # , TITLE, Trans."
There are 49 in all. All were translated by this team. Only these were published. I have listed a few others in easy to find translations!

4. Rk No. 4 : Not in Treasury , Sukhvat vyha, Trans.
5. Rk No. 5, T. 18, Amitabha-vyha aka Larger Sukhvatvyha Stra, Lokakema.
6. Rk No. 6, T. 17, Akobhyatathgatasyavyha Stra, Lokakema.
10. Rk No. 10 : T. 8, Samantamukha-parivarta, Bodhiruci.
11. Rk No. 11 : T. 11, Rashmisamakta-nirdesha, Trans.
12. Rk No. 12: Not in Treasury , Bodhisattva piaka Stra, Xuanzang (c. 602-664).
15. Rk No. 15 : T.10, Manjusri-buddha-kshetra-guna-vyuha, Bodhiruci.
18. Rk No. 18 : Not in Treasury , Rrpala pari prcch, Trans.
19. Rk No. 19, U. -Not in Treasury , Ugra paripcch Stra, Lokakema.
20. Rk No. 20 : T. -Not in Treasury , Vidyut prapta-prcch, Trans.
21. Rk No. 21 : Not in Treasury  , Bhadra-maya kara-vyakarana, Trans
24. Rk No. 24 :T. 15. , (Vinaya-vinishcaya) upali-paripcch, Bodhiruci.
27. Rk No. 27 : T. 13 , Surata-paripcch aka "Surata Stra", Bodhiruci.
30. Rk No. 30 : T.14 , Sumati-drika-paripcch, Bodhiruci.
31. Rk No. 31 : T. 3 , Gangottava paripcch, Bodhiruci.
32. Rk No. 32 : T.7 , Ashokadatta-vyakavana, Buddhanta.
33. Rk No. 33 : T. 5 , Vimaladatta-paripcch, Nich Taochen.
36. Rk No. # : Not in Treasury , Susthitamati-paripcch, Nich Taochen.
38. Rk No. 38 : T.22 , Jnanottara-bodhisattva-paripcch, Nandi.
39. Rk No. 39 : T.12 , Bhadrapala-shresthi paripcch, Divkara.
41. Rk No. 41 : Not in Treasury , Maitreya's Prayer, Trans (soon, BY PKTC and Lama Tony Duff).
43. Rk No. 43, T. 20, Kyapaparivarta Stra, Lokakema.
44. Rk No. 44 : T.16, Ratna ri, Ven. Tao Kung, and then Jonathan Alan Silk (1994).
45. Rk No. 45 : Not in Treasury , Aksayamati-paripcch, Trans.
46. Rk No. 46 : T. 6, Saptashatika-Praj&ntilde;pramit, Mandra, see also the "Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines" translation by Edward Conze in his Perfect Wisdom: The Short Prajnaparamita Texts (2003).
48. Rk No. 48# : T. 19 , rml-devi-sihanda, Trans.

Please access these 2 resources for background:

Notes on the Ratnaka Collection by K. Priscilla Pedersen
[...] ... /8521/2428

`Origins'.: Silk, Jonathan A..The Origins and the History of the Mahratnakta Tradition of Mahayana Buddhism With a Study of the Ratna ri Sutra and Related Materials, Dissertation, University of Michigan. (1994)
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Wasn't sure at purchase (because of the cover) whether this is in fact the Spanish translation of B.K.S. Iyengar's Light on Yoga (the yoga bible)&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Light-on-Yoga-Yoga-Dipika/dp/0805210318/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika</a>, but it is. It is a translation castellano, printed in Barcelona. The translators are listed as Jose Manuel Abeleira y Erika Pastrana and the book was published originally in 2005 by Editorial Kairos, with the volume I received from Serendipity Unlimited in New condition being the 8th edition published in 2012. As Spanish is a second language for me I can only say generally that the translation appears accurate. All the photos are the same as in Light on Yoga. There is a year 2000 Preface to the New Edition: My Reflections, written by Guruji. Then all the sections in the original are here, including the Introduction, Asanas Bandhas Kriyas, Pranayama, Appendix I Asana Courses, Appendix II Therapeutic Courses, Table of Figures, Glossary, and Index. Physically the book is larger than my English version of Light on Yoga, meausring 19cm wide x 25cm long (7 1/4" x 9 3/4").
260464
I haven't taken the time yet to compare the translations to the Japanese  versions,but going just on memory the translations appear to be pretty  good.
Of course there are some things I would have translated  differently.  For example, in many cases the word "daija"  (literally "big snake") should be translated into English as  "dragon" (even though it's commonly used in modern Japanese for  its literal meaning).  But this is something that a translator probably  wouldn't know unless they were a student of Japanese cryptozoology.
The Konjaku Monogatari is a huge multi-volume text.  The first chapters  involve Indian tales, the next few chapters involve Chinese tales, and the  second half is devoted to Japanese tales.  The really interesting thing  about stories reported in the Japanese tales, is not that they were all  supposedly "true stories", but rather the fact that they involved  not only tales told by the aristocrasy or the clergy, but also tales told  amongst the peasants.
(My favorite, volume 27, is devoted to ghost  stories.)
It is of serious interest to anyone interested in ancient  Japanese folkore and thought patterns.
It is difficult to find  translations into Enlish, or even into Modern Japanese.  For this reason  alone, a true Japanophile should grab any translation they can get their  hands on for the collector's value alone.
In regards to the story  selection of this book, I must say it's rather unorthodox.  Most  translations of the Konjaku into English or Modern Japanese focus  exclusively on the stories from Japan.  The idea here is that people  interested in Indian or Chinese stories would rather read them directly  from Indian or Chinese sources.  OTOH, the author's story selection could  still prove to be of use to people who are trying to study the spread of  Indian and Chinese legends to Japan.  However, people looking just for  Japanese folkore could be disappointed in this purchase if not forewarned.
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Albeit, any translation of this book from the Greek will find itself  lacking, this particular edition is found wanting in comparison with  Orthodox translations.  Paulist Press, being a Roman Catholic publishing  institution, tends to put a more western translation to a, very, Eastern  Orthodox writing.  In comparison to the edition published by Holy  Transfiguration Monastery, this book, published by Paulist Press, is an  inferior rendering of the original document, and very slanted towards  western spirituality.
For western readers, this would be, somewhat, an  "easy read", but this translation will not provide the full  impact of the meanings from the original.
4173337
Perhaps it is because of my background in Tibetan Buddhism and sanskrit, that I have a difficult time with some of the Pali text.  The footnotes aren't very well developed and I was often left wondering if my lack of comprehension was my fault or the translation's.  Overall, it is a good work and very informative on some of the differences between Theravadan and Mahayanan Buddhism at a primary source level, but it really took some time to get through.
2217462
while sanskrit scholars might aver that a better translation is possible, the given translation is lucid and their power is such that for this reader they appear to have captured the essence of Shankara's Vivekachoodamani.
Those wishing for verse-by-verse commentary can refer to Swami Chinmayananda's version; however the version under review makes for a more streamlined read.
As for the text itself, Shankara points the way to seeing the Eternal Reality underlying the apparent world of Name and Form, by directing the reader inwards where, like a mirror image of the sensory world, the world of thoughts is superimposed on the unchanging pure Consciousness.
As within, so without. Shankara's words exhort the reader to examine their sense of being a separate individual and by a process of careful discrimination discover for themselves that this sense is based on a fallacy. When this is clearly seen, this false ego disappears of its own accord and the inherent peace of the true ego is self-evident as the eternal underlying natural Truth of Being. why this isn't known to all at all times anyway, how the Truth comes to be shrouded in a veil of fallacious perceptions and what is required for the veil to be pierced - all these are elucidated by the sage. for those drawn to path of non-dual silent investigation of Reality, this is a must-read.
2846523
This book is a mixed bag.
The fact that this book represents one specific and accutely sectarian viewpoint is made abundantly clear by both the translators and Kelsang himself throughout the book. This is unfortunate and detracts from its readability for anyone who is not a member of the New Kadampa Tradition that Kelsang heads.
This book is a translation and commentary on the Entrance to the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara) by Indian Madhyamika Chandrakirti. Chandrakirti offers a strong interpretation of Nagarjuna in this work and in his commentary to Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way entitled Clear Words.
The root text translated herein is a summation of what Chandrakirti saw to be the philosophical essence of Nagarjuna's teachings. The presentation is organized using the structure of the ten progressive Bodhisattva Grounds by which the yogi is said to progress on the path to Buddhahood. Most of this book is occupied with an analysis of the Sixth Bodhisattva Ground, wherein the yogi completes the perfection of wisdom.
Chandrakirti (and Kelsang) present their interpretation of emptiness, which came to be called Prasangika-Madhyamaka by Tibetans, and seek to refute rival interpretations of Buddhist scripture, particularly those espoused by the Mind Only idealist school of Indian philosophy.
Kelsang Gyatso's commentary does not view itself as an interpretation; rather it is framed as an explication of the actual meaning of Chandrakirti's text.  A reader new to the material may be surprised to learn that the commentary goes well beyond the scope of what Chandrakirti could have argued.  Nor does he distinguish between issues that Chandrakirti may have been addressing and those which arose centuries later in Tibet.
The result of this is that the reader is left with little sense of the widely divergent uses to which Nagarjuna's thought has been put throughout the Buddhist world.
One might think from reading this book that the arguments which Kelsang recasts against holders of other tenet systems are current.  In fact, no Buddhist school has defined itself as Cittamatrin for many centuries, and no school has defined itself as Svatantrika ever.
I wonder why so much energy is spent reliving debates that have been over for more than a thousand years, and so little energy is spent understanding competing views that are actually propounded by living people.
In any case, this book contains a strong translation of the root verses, and the commentary is serviceable, though it is strongly patterned after Je Tsong Khapa's commentary and is not particularly orignal.
I am personally turned off by the quiet (but ubiquitous)  sectarianism of this work, but I value it as a good translation of an important Madhyamaka text.  The commentary is also useful as a methodical presentation based on Ge-luk-ba sources.
For an very different (but also flawed) translation and commentary of the Madhyamakavatara, see Huntington's The Emptiness of Emptiness. For a Ge-luk presentation of the sixth chapter, see Geshe Rabten's Echoes of Voidness.  The first through the fifth chapter are translated with Tsong-kha-pa's commentary in Jeffrey Hopkins' Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism.  A wonderful but extremely challenging study of the issues can be found in the magnificent Path to the Middle by Kensur Yeshe Thubten and Anne Klein.
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Nice interpretation. I wonder about the authenticity of this as a completely original work though. There are way too many similarities with the ISKCON version of Bhagavad Gita translated by Bhaktivedanta Swami. Some of the verse translations seem to be copied almost word for word. The illustrations are also very similar to those in the ISKCON version of the Gita.  In my opinion, they are tasteless.  Still, I enjoy having this as a reference in my library of Gitas and would highly recommend it over the ISKCON version, which is extremely dogmatic and sectarian.  I would recommend this to anybody looking for a comprehensive version of the Gita.  Thank you, Swami Mukundananda for your fine work in the commentaries.  I would love to see a more affordable version as well.  30 bucks is too much!  Make it available to a wider audience by lowering your price.