This book is written for one, who wants to know more about Tantric Buddhism. It is a study about the Mahavairocana Abisambhodi Tantra, or abbreviated as Mahavairocana Sutra. You can read here the origin of fire ritual (Homa), the meaning of Sankrit syllables, which perform the Dharani, and also the translation of first and second chapter of the Mahavairocana Sutra (but not the complete translation of the Sutra) This book also compare the chapters between the Tibetan and Chinese translation of the Sutra. For more information and discussion about Buddhist Teaching, you could e-mail dh4rm4id@yahoo.com

Wayman's translation is a noble effort, and has probably been of some use to academics and fearless students of the Lam rim tradition.

However, his approach to the translation of a part of the Lam-rim chen-mo (quite possibly the most important text on spiritual paths ever written) is questionable in approach and methodology; often Wayman uses inappropriate occidental paradigms, and also misses idiomatic phrases, which would have been clarified if he had relied more upon the active interpretations availiable in the Tibetan academic community. Secondly, the grammar and sentential structure of his English text is not particularly clear, and although considerably better than his translations of the concentration and wisdom chapters (ASIN-0231044046), the text remains pretty obfuscatory.

As a rule, I would heartily recommend the new translation as an alternative- ASIN-1559391669.

Or even better, to learn Tibetan and read it in the original.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment is the first of a series of three projected volumes. In this first volume the reader is brought into basic Buddhist teachings as characterized in a Buddhist monastic setting, for people of little or middling capacity in religion to cultivate the awakening of Bodhichitta. The work is being expedited by a committee of exceptional Buddhist scholars and is being translated in a straightforward manner without commentary or cumbersome notes. It is hoped that the next two volumes will quickly follow However there is currently two provisional translations of these sections by Alex Wayman. The second volume describes the path of the Bodhisattva path. This work is available in part in Ethics of Tibet: Bodhisattva Section of Tsong-kha-pa's Lam Rim Chen Mo translated by Alex Wayman (SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies; State University of New York Press). Asanga's Chapter on Ethics With the Commentary of Tsong-kha-pa: The Basic Path to Awakening, the Complete Bodhisattva translated by Mark Tatz (Edwin Mellen Press) also addresses stages of the path and basic Buddhist morality but draws upon another commentary by Tsong-kha-pa. Alex Wayman's Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real (Columbia, 1978) provided a pioneering translation of the third part focuses on the practical integration of quieting techniques with spiritual discernment that leads to wisdom. It is true that Wayman's translations have been held up to censure by the Lama trained cadre of scholars who are now making this new edition. It is also true that some of their reservations are deserved but I still find much of value in the Wayman editions and until the next two volumes of The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment are available I suggest they be consulted. All told The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment is one of the masterpieces of world religion, a non parallel introduction to the fundamentals of Buddhist practice in all its subtlety and powerful psychological insight. The work will repay close study for anyone drawn to the salvific motive of religion, anyone who wishes to engage in-depth the nature of life and the way to knowing through meditation. By setting the conditions for practical reason, Tsong-kha-pa opens up the vast possibility of what we can approach and achieve as human beings. Do not pass up this most powerful work.

The Enlightenment of Vairocana and the Study of the Mahavairocana Sutra constitute probably the most imprtant text in Esoteric Buddhism. It is based on this text that Nagarjuna propagated the doctrine and created the Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas that Kobo Daishi brought back to Japan in the 9th century. It is basically a description of the two mandalas, how they should be set up, which deities should be placed in what position, and what their specific mantras and mudras are, for the purpose of worship, teaching initiates, and identifying with the nature of the buddhas. For the researcher, this is a real find; however, the book could use some illustrations and diagrams (perhaps the inclusion of the matrices) and the cover could be more attractive.