Phật Pháp Căn Bản – Basic Buddhist Doctrines

PHẬT PHÁP CĂN BẢN – BASIC BUDDHIST DOCTRINES

VIỆT-ANH – VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH – VOLUME THREE

Giáo Pháp Căn Bản II – Basic Buddhist Doctrines II

Phật Giáo Việt Nam Hải Ngoại – Oversea Vietnamese Buddhism

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Ngoc Tran has assembled and described in this document the tenets of the Buddhist religion, that which is known to be the greatest attended religion in the world today. He has spent almost two decade reading and studying voluminous Buddhist material and in writing this book. He has arranged this text of over 5,000 pages, in Vietnamese and English, in a manner understandable to the average reader and student of Buddhism.

In the myriad of documents, books and records of the Buddha’s talks, there are no words written by the enlightened one called Sakyamuni Buddha during his forty-five years of walking and teaching in northeast India. He spoke his messages of living a life of loving-kindness and compassion to kings, high intellectuals and the poor and ignorant, and their gaining the wisdom to achieve salvation from the rounds of birth and death, and for each person to lead others to achieve that wisdom. Texts written in the Pali and Sanskrit languages purport to contain the teachings of this Sixth Century, Before Common Era (B.C.), Indian enlightened one.

The author, Ngoc Tran, is a meticulous researcher in the literary sense. His exploration into ancient Sanskrit and Chinese references was demanded of him in writing this Basic Buddhist Doctrine. Tran has reached back into reliable texts translated from the Agamas in Sanskrit and the Nikaya in Pali. He is a serious Buddhist devotee, householder and one who practices his religion to the extent which he lives it – with happiness and serious simplicity.

The reader who already has some knowledge of the Buddhist doctrine will find herein presentations which can further improve her/his understanding. As with any literary work of this nature, the primary objective of the author is to be concise, yet thorough and steer away from the pedantic. The middle path is, of course, to describe a complex system such as Buddhism in terms appealing and understandable to the novice as well as those highly informed. Tran’s technique of both style and content accomplish this, I believe, in all respects.

There are a number of texts I have used in teaching in the university at both the undergraduate and graduate level which I know do justice in explaining the doctrine of Buddhism. Historically, and with accurate research, many are excellent and very understandable. However, the style of this author’s descriptions temper the material content in such a balanced fashion to remove any questionable conflicts which are known to the Enlightened One’s teaching. This author’s explanations are factual and need no further details to exemplify or extend meanings to be commonly understood. The text flows in a well-ordered fashion, linking the factual, down-to-earth, commonplace aphorisms of doctrine.

The author explains those collected beliefs of the Buddha as found in the Sutras (Canonic body) and the liturgically accepted comments (the Sastras), covering firstly the profound points of view of human life. From there, Mr. Tran writes of the Buddha’s training as a yogi with his teachers, his marvelous transition to enlightenment and the lessons on “The Middle Way” to his firsts five disciples. (Turning the Dharma Wheel in Deer Park, directly after his enlightenment.)

The doctrines to be understood by every seeker of this great religion are described clearly, with documentation referring to original Pali and Sanskrit written records. The reader find’s herself/himself immersed in the profound presentation of the Buddha’s fundamental teachings, e.g. The Eightfold Path, Four Noble Truths, Prajna Paramita (Six Ways to Wisdom), Karma, re-birth, Nirvana, Conditioned Beginnings, the Doctrine of No-Soul and the Setting–up of Mindfulness.

The factors of style and content which set this work above other like texts, and in a superior manner, are that all writing is in Vietnamese and English. I personally find this helpful in describing the phrases I use in my Dharma talks I give at my pagoda as well as at the universities where I teach. This publication will be a great help to those many Vietnamese in temples in he United States at lectures and study groups in order to have a better understanding of the Dharma.

My personal congratulations go to Ngoc Tran for this product of his laborious, detailed and extensive work in highlighting details and summarizing the beliefs, teachings and practices of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha. I am very please to praise the author’s merits for his accomplishment of this rare religious and cultural work. This is a genuine contribution of his share to the propagation of the Dharma. I would like to take this opportunity to highly recommend to all Monks, Nuns, Buddhist practitioners, as well as to any readers of Buddhist texts. With the hope that each and everyone of you will possess the series of Basic Buddhist Doctrines in Vietnamese-English to aid in your deeper study of Buddha-Dharma.

Most Venerable Thich An-Hue – Dr. Claude Ware, Ph. D.

Thiên Phúc Biên Soạn

Down load Phật Pháp Căn Bản – Nguồn Thư Viện Hoa Sen

Copyright © 2009 by Ngoc Tran. All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations. However, staff members of Vietnamese temples who want to reprint this work for the benefit of teaching of the Buddhadharma, please contact Ngoc Tran at (714) 778-2832.

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