Dear friends, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Thomas Dhammadipa for his translation and commentary, and to Somaiya Vidyavihar University for publishing this new book Brief Explanations of Meditation Methods: Kumarajiva’s Chanfa Yaojie: Translation and Commentary.
We would also like to thank Dr. Supriya Rai, Bhiksuni Choetso, Dr. Xu Ci Yi, Professor Charles Willemen, and everyone who contributed to the preparation of this book.
The book is based on Dhammadipa’s translation of Kumarajiva’s text from Chinese into English, together with his commentaries from a series of online lectures organized by the Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies in 2021:
dhammadipa.cz/recordings/kumarajivas-meditation-manual/
It is a wonderful and valuable contribution to the understanding of meditation methods in both early Buddhism and Mahāyāna. We are very happy that this work is now available in book form.
The book is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k..
or on Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/s?k…
Kumarajiva, known to students of Buddhist history as the great translator, also gave instructions on meditation, which were compiled into manuals. This volume is a translation of one of three such texts preserved in Chinese catalogues. A special feature of this text is the Mahayana perspectives Kumarajiva brings into instructions grounded in the early tradition, giving an insight into the period of transition in Buddhist history, before Mahayana became a distinct tradition. In the commentary to the manual Thomas Gutmann draws upon Sarvastivada and Madhyamaka traditions in which Kumarajiva trained, as well as the diversity of the works he translated.
This work is offered primarily as a guide for practitioners but will also be of interest to students and the academic community.
Authors: Tomas Dhammadipa
Year: 2026
Place: K J Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies
Topic: all traditions (theravada, dhjana, kumarajiva, mahájána, samadhi, zen
