Buddhism in Practice
Buddhism in Practice by Donald S. Lopez Jr.
A collection of texts from all over Asia. All written by the practitioners, except for annals written by a historian.
The last is entries about the advent of Buddhism in Japan, and such things as rejecting the worship because a plague broke out. Others include very detailed direction on how to mediate on Tara as the protectress from eight great perils, prophecies of the end of Buddhism or of evil times ahead (when people would refrain from rebuilding Buddhist buildings that their family had not erected, instead building their own, which is much lesser in merit), a prolonged denunciation of kingship as compatible only with evil, an account of the suffering of Buddha's abandoned wife, the prolonged path to becoming a Buddha instead of merely arhat who is enlightened himself, detailed directions for how a monk is to act (starting with how he is to get out of bed), account of how to bury a monk and how relics might be found after cremation, the precise visions you would have on your deathbed if you were to be reborn in the Pure Land (and the danger of damnation if anyone who drinks alcohol or eats meat or the five pungent hers is allowed to approach the death bed), an account of Buddhist wizards, and many others from various schools
A collection of texts from all over Asia. All written by the practitioners, except for annals written by a historian.
The last is entries about the advent of Buddhism in Japan, and such things as rejecting the worship because a plague broke out. Others include very detailed direction on how to mediate on Tara as the protectress from eight great perils, prophecies of the end of Buddhism or of evil times ahead (when people would refrain from rebuilding Buddhist buildings that their family had not erected, instead building their own, which is much lesser in merit), a prolonged denunciation of kingship as compatible only with evil, an account of the suffering of Buddha's abandoned wife, the prolonged path to becoming a Buddha instead of merely arhat who is enlightened himself, detailed directions for how a monk is to act (starting with how he is to get out of bed), account of how to bury a monk and how relics might be found after cremation, the precise visions you would have on your deathbed if you were to be reborn in the Pure Land (and the danger of damnation if anyone who drinks alcohol or eats meat or the five pungent hers is allowed to approach the death bed), an account of Buddhist wizards, and many others from various schools