A Buddhist Bible

First Edition

BY DWIGHT GODDARD

[1932, Copyright not renewed]

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This is the first etext of A Buddhist Bible to appear on the Internet. One of the favorite books of the Beat writers, particularly the ultimate 'Dharma Bum' Jack Kerouac, A Buddhist Bible has had a huge influence on the growth of Buddhism in the English-speaking world in the 20th century and beyond. This etext was scanned and proofed from an autographed copy of the first edition. We are indeed fortunate that this book slipped into the public domain due to a lack of timely copyright renewal.
The first edition, which was tightly focused on source documents of Zen Buddhism, was self-published in Vermont by Goddard and had 316 pages. Subsequently, a second revised and greatly enlarged edition of 677 pages was published in 1938 by E.P. Dutton (New York), and later republished by Beacon Press. The second edition, which has been in print ever since (see box to right), covers a much wider range of Buddhist texts including Southern Buddhism, some related documents such as the Tao te Ching, and modern texts. The reprint also includes introductions by Robert Aitken and Huston Smith.
Goddard, particularly in this first edition, took the best available translation of key documents and edited them heavily to eliminate repetitious passages and extraneous material. So this is a readers edition, not a critical edition, of these texts. However, he did nothing to water down or simplify the message of the sutras; quite the contrary. One can read this book repeatedly and still come back with new insights on each reading.

--John Bruno Hare, August 28th, 2004.

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Title Page
Dedication
Advertisements
Table of Contents
Preface
History of Ch'an Buddhism Previous to the Times of Hui-Neng (Wei-Lang)

The Lankavatara Sutra

Preface
Introduction
Chapter I. Discrimination
Chapter II. False-Imagination and Knowledge of Appearances
Chapter III. Right Knowledge or Knowledge of Relations
Chapter VI. Perfect Knowledge, or Knowledge of Reality
Chapter V. The Mind System
Chapter VI. Transcendental Intelligence
Chapter VII. Self-Realisation
Chapter VIII. The Attainment of Self- Realisation
Chapter IX. The Fruit of Self- Realisation
Chapter X. Discipleship: Lineage of the Arhats
Chapter XI. Bodhisattvahood and Its Stages
Chapter XII. Tathagatahood Which Is Noble Wisdom
Chapter XIII. Nirvana

The Diamond Sutra

Preface
The Diamond Scripture

Sutra of Transcendental Wisdom

Preface
Sutra of Transcendental Wisdom

Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

Preface
Chapter I. Autobiography of Hui-Neng
Chapter II. Discourse on Prajna
Chapter II. Discourse on Dhyana and Samadhi
Chapter IV. Discourse on Repentance
Chapter V. Discourse on the Three-Bodies of Buddha
Chapter VI. Dialogues Suggested by Various Temperaments and Circumstances
Chapter VII. Sudden Enlightenment and Gradual Attainment
Chapter VIII. Royal Patronage
Chapter IX. Final Words and Death of the Patriarch