Blood Writing

Copying out sutras has long been regarded as highly meritorious within Mahayana Buddhism. Many texts extol the benefits of copying and distributing scriptures. The Lotus Sutra, for instance, emphasises that anyone who copies even a verse of its text is a spiritually advanced being. Copying sutras was a means to read, study, and memorize a sacred text and, through doing so, to generate merit, which might then be dedicated to departed relatives.

In China, devotees of particular sutras sometimes copied them out using a mixture of ink and their own blood. The justification for this practice comes from the apocryphal Brahma Net Sutra, which instructs: ‘keep, read and recite the scriptures and monastic regulations of the Great Vehicle with a single mind. Cut away your skin for paper, draw your blood for ink and use your marrow for water. Break off a piece of your own bone for a pen and copy out the Buddhist precepts.’

Blood writing is a form of self-sacrifice – the deliberate endurance of pain was regarded as spiritually meritorious and admirable. An especially dedicated individual might copy out the entire Avatamsaka Sutra (which in my English translation is about 2000 pages long) using their own blood. Blood writing remained popular into the modern period.

Reading Mahayana Scriptures

I have written a blog for Windhorse Publications' blog spot. It kind of funtions as a supplement to my recently published book Visions of Mahahyana Buddhism. You can read it by following this link:

Reading Mahayana Scriptures

What is Mahayana Buddhism?

I gave the first of a series of five talks introducing Mahayana Buddhism at the Manchester Buddhist Centre last night. If you are interested you can hear the talk by following this link:

What is Mahayana Buddhism?

I identified six distinctive feature of Mahayana Buddhism:

1 A distinctive literature - a 'literature of the fantastic'

2 A distinctive conception of the Buddha(s) - especially the notion of a 'transhistorical' Buddha

3 A distintive spiritual ideal embodied in the bodhisattva (awakening being)

4 Distinctive Soteriologies; e.g. Pure Land (Other-power) and Chan

5 Distinctive Philosophical Ideas; including Mdhyamika, Yogachara, and Buddha-nature

6 Distinctive Practices; including Buddha cults, koans, and sutra worship

Visions of Mahayana Buddhism 2

My new book, Visions of Mahayana Buddhism: Awakening the Universe to Wisdom and Compassion, will be launched at the Manchester Buddhist Centre on June 29 from 7pm. I would love it if you could come and celebrate the launch. If not, I hope to be doing other promotional activities in the late Summer and autumn in other parts of the country.

Besides the launch, I will be giving a series of talks on mondays on themes from the book, also at the Manchester Buddhist Centre beginning Monday, June 1 and culminating in the launch.
The topics are:

What is the Mahayana? (June 1)
The Ideal of Universal Awakening (June 8)
Mahayana Buddhist Scriptures (June 15)
Mahayana Philosophy (June 22)
Visions of Mahayana Buddhism (June 29)

Visions of Mahayana Buddhism

I have finally finished the writing of my forthcoming book, which has the rather epic title of Visions of Mahayana Buddhism: Awakening the Universe to Wisdom and Compassion. An epic title for an epic topic! The book is currently being proofread and should be out in mid-to-late June. It can be pre-ordered now. My first official launch will be at the Manchester Buddhist Centre on June 29, so please come along.

The launch may be preceded by a series of talks at the MBC on Monday evenings. I will post again with further information if this goes ahead.

I am also looking at some other promotional events including in Birmingham and Sheffield, and at the WBO Combined convention.