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The Buddhist Scripture containing teachings that bestow heroic progress on the path to Enlightenment

The Surangamasamadhisutra is an early Mahayana Buddhist scripture. Within a narrative framework provided by a dialogue between the Buddha and the bodhisattva Drdhamati, it airs central issues of Mahayana Buddhism by means of philosophical discussion, edifying anecdote, marvelous feat, and drama. At its core is a description of the seeming conversion of Mara, the embodiment of all malign tendencies that obstruct advancement, and the prediction that he too will become a Buddha.

Concentration, Samadhi, is understood to denote the altered mental states attainable through Buddhist meditation techniques, in particular that in which discursive thought is allayed, the mind is calm and is capable of sustained awareness of a single object.

The present volume comprises the first full English translation Kumarajiva's Chinese translation of the Suramgamasamadhisutra, with an extensive explanatory introduction and annotations. Lamotte's French version appeared in 1965 and now Sara Boin-Webb's English rendering of that gives the English speaking world access both to an important Buddhist scripture and also to a classic work of Buddhist Studies scholarship.