Böcker av Bhikkhu Analayo

"Abiding in Emptiness presents a practice-related exploration of emptiness in daily life and formal meditation, based on instructions found in the Buddha's Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness. This presentation provides translations of the relevant textual portions followed by explanations, a summary of the main points covered in each chapter, and practice instructions. The presentation in what follows is firmly grounded in early Buddhist thought, contextualized within the doctrinal framework provided by the early discourses, in clear awareness that this differs in some respects from perspectives underlying the Chan and the Mahåamudråa / Dzogchen traditions. Versions of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness exist in Påali, Chinese, and Tibetan. Nevertheless, meditation on emptiness in its various forms has not garnered as much attention from Theravåadins as it has from practitioners of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism. In an attempt to build a bridge between these different traditions and to facilitate an adoption of emptiness practices by contemporary practitioners operating within the framework of Theravåada thought, the translations are based entirely on Påali discourse passages. The author's annotations provide a comparative perspective on such quotations. The main part of each chapter in this book consists in practice-related explorations of quotations from the Påali version of the Greater and the Smaller Discourses on Emptiness (the Mahåasuänänatasutta and the Cåuòla- suänänatasutta). Toward the end of each exploration, the author presents a verse, translated from some other Påali text, which in one way or another captures in a poetical manner some of the main points to be kept in mind, and a summary of the main points covered in the exploration. The first part of the verse taken up in the first chapter, entirely dedicated to daily-life dimensions of emptiness practice as the indispensable foundation for going deep in formal sitting, can also serve to convey the main theme underlying this whole book"--

"Nirvana is a critical part of the Buddhist path, though it remains a difficult concept to fully understand for Buddhist practitioners. In The Signless and the Deathless: On the Realization of Nirvana, scholar-monk Bhikkhu Anåalayo breaks new ground, or rediscovers old ground, by showing the reader that realizing Nirvana entails "a complete stepping out of the way the mind usually constructs experience." With his extraordinary mastery of canonical Buddhist languages, Venerable Anåalayo first takes the reader through discussions in early Buddhist suttas on signs (Pali nimitta), the characteristic marks of things that signal to us what they are, and on cultivating concentration on signlessness as a meditative practice. Through practicing bare awareness, we can stop defilements that come from grasping at signs-and stop signs from arising in the first place. He then turns to deathlessness. Deftly avoiding the extremes of nihilism and eternalism that often cloud our understanding of Nirvana, Venerable Anåalayo shows us that deathless as an epithet of Nirvana "stands for the complete transcendence of mental affliction by mortality"-ours or others'-and that it is achievable while still alive. Advanced practitioners and scholars alike will value the work for its meticulous academic expertise and its novel way of explaining the highest of all Buddhist goals-the final end of suffering"--

The Madhyama Agama was translated into Chinese from a now lost Indian original in 398 CE. It corresponds mainly to the Majjhima Nikaya of the Pali canon, although many of its sutras have parallels in other sections of the Pali canon.

Renowned scholar-monk writes accessibly on some of the most contentious topics in Buddhism—guaranteed to ruffle some feathers.Armed with his rigorous examination of the canonical records, respected scholar-monk Bhikkhu Analayo explores—and sharply criticizes—four examples of what he terms “superiority conceit” in Buddhism: the androcentric tendency to prevent women from occupying leadership roles, be these as fully ordained monastics or as advanced bodhisattvas the Mahayana notion that those who don’t aspire to become bodhisattvas are inferior practitioners the Theravada belief that theirs is the most original expression of the Buddha’s teaching the Secular Buddhist claim to understand the teachings of the Buddha more accurately than traditionally practicing Buddhists Ven. Analayo challenges the scriptural basis for these conceits and points out that adhering to such notions of superiority is not, after all, conducive to practice. “It is by diminishing ego, letting go of arrogance, and abandoning conceit that one becomes a better Buddhist,” he reminds us, “no matter what tradition one may follow.” Thoroughly researched, Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions provides an accessible approach to these conceits as academic subjects. Readers will find it not only challenges their own intellectual understandings but also improves their personal practice.

Buddhist meditator and scholar Bhikkhu Analayo introduces the Buddhist backgrounds to mindfulness, ranging from mindful eating to its formal cultivation as satipatthana (the foundations of mindfulness). Providing an accessible guide, he offers practical exercises on how to develop mindfulness.

Mindfulness in Early Buddhism is a timely and thoroughgoing examination of the significance, meaning and development of mindfulness. In his far-ranging explorations of a number of discourses in the Chinese Agamas and in the Pali Nikayas, Bhikkhu Analayo captures the function and range of mindfulness.

Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a rich tour of rebirth, from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions. 

Analayo offers an inspiring biography of the Buddha based on the early discourses and focusing on his meditative development and practice.