The Perfection of Wisdom in First Bloom

“Bhikkhu Analayo has devoted much of his career to the study, translation, and explication of early Buddhism, with the result that he is eminently qualified for this undertaking. A deep and wide-ranging conversation between the Agamas and the Perfection of Wisdom, The Perfection of Wisdom in First Bloom challenges conventional scholarship and opens up new horizons. The ‘new early Buddhism’ of The Perfection of Wisdom in First Bloom is a step toward revitalizing an ‘old early Buddhism’ that has lost its bearings, encouraging us to gaze afresh and appreciate the beauty and diversity of the plants that flower in the abundant gardens of Buddhist ideas. New textual and ideational colligations/juxtapositions open new pathways of understanding. Clearly and persuasively written, well-grounded in the philology of the possible, The Perfection of Wisdom in First Bloom captures the spirit of the remarkable moment in which we all live.”–Peter Skilling, author of Buddha’s Words for Tough Times“In this ground-breaking study, the Venerable Analayo turns his attention to the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines), commonly thought to be the fountainhead of the Perfection of Wisdom tradition. Taking us on a tour through the entire work in the form of its two earliest witnesses, the Gandhari fragment and the first Chinese translation by Lokaksema–in effect, the Asta before it was the Asta–Analayo stops repeatedly to illuminate points of interest along the way, highlighting the continuities with the Nikayas and Agamas of the pre-existing Buddhist tradition while contextualizing the innovations. Written in lucid and persuasive prose and packed with insight and erudition, this study will prove an indispensable guide for any reader of this foundational Mahayana sutra.”–Paul Harrison, George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University

Bhikkhu Analayo is a scholar of early Buddhism and a meditation teacher. He completed his PhD research on the Satipatthanasutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2000 and his habilitation research with a comparative study of the Majjhima Nikaya in the light of its Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan parallels at the University of Marburg, Germany in 2007. His over five hundred publications are for the most part based on comparative studies, with a special interest in topics related to meditation and the role of women in Buddhism.