Ebook: The Sutra Petitioned by the Householder Uncouth

This book presents a Great Vehicle sutra of the third turning of the wheel of dharma which has not been translated until now and which is regarded as specially important for two reasons. Firstly, the sutra deals with the issue of whether a bodhisatva can live a householder's life and effectively practice dharma at a high level. In the time when the Buddha gave this discourse it was regarded in Indian culture as a whole that it was necessary to leave the household and additionally to become ordained as a monk or nun in order to practice dharma at the highest level. The Buddha ends the sutra by saying that not only is it possible to practise whilst living as a householder but that a householder bodhisatva can be a much more capable and effective bodhisatva than a bodhisatva living the celibate life of an ordained bodhisatva.

The person who petitioned the Buddha for his authoritative statements on this matter was a householder bodhisatva named Uncouth. His concerns, which are the main issues in the sutra, result in the sutra fitting very closely with the situation of today's Western Buddhists, most of whom do not wish to leave home and become mendicants and most of whom are equally determined that this should not mean that they are relegated to a life which has been officially stamped as lesser than that of an ordained life. These have become prominent issues for Western Buddhists at this time and a careful consideration of the actual meaning embodied in this sutra can be a very fruitful exercise for today's Western Buddhists. I have found that investigating the sutra carefully raises many issues of great relevance and interest to today's Western Buddhists, but more than that, the issues are raised in the environment of the Buddha giving his authoritative statements about them. We found it to be very provocative but very rich at the same time.

The sutra is very rich; it has many very interesting threads. Aside from the above, it has another very important feature, which is that it teaches non-dual wisdom at the highest level. It is one of the ten sutras which the Other Emptiness followers of Tibet marked out as the ten essential sutras of the third turning that show the Other Emptiness meaning. We have also translated another of those ten, which has the title "Point of Passage Wisdom Sutra". These two sutras are indispensable for those who are trying to understand the Other Emptiness teaching. A lot more could be said about this but it would take up too much space here. The book includes a long introduction which deals with the main themes of the household bodhisatva and Other Emptiness that appear in the sutra.

More about the author

Biography
Lama Tony is a very well-known practitioner, scholar, and translator who has spent over forty years of his life fully dedicated to studying, practising, teaching, and translating the Buddhist teachings. He has been a full-time Buddhist practitioner-scholar since 1973. He was a member of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Nalanda Translator Committee in which he retains honorary status. He was Tsoknyi Rinpoche's personal translator during the 1990's and has translated orally and in writing for many other great teachers during the years. He has been a member of several translation committees and has published or been involved in the publication of many Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Based on his long experience with Kagyu teachings, he has prepared many books on the Kagyu view, called "Other Emptiness", and on Mahamudra and the Kagyu teaching of it.

Tony has spent decades with the Nyingma teachings. In particular, he spent long periods in Tibet, receiving and practising the highest Dzogchen teachings in retreat. He has made a point of translating the key texts of the system for others who need accurate, reliable, and in-depth information about the practices of Dzogchen. His translation of the ultimate text of Longchen Nyingthig, known in Tibetan as "triyig yeshe lama" or "Guidebook to Highest Wisdom", has been highly praised by Tibetan teachers.

Tony is well-known not only as an author but as a teacher who gives particularly clear explanations of dharma at all levels, from sutra through to Dzogchen and Mahamudra. To support his teachings and to provide resources for Tibetan Buddhists in general, he has also translated many sutras and sutra-related items.

One of the things that readers of Tony's books often say is that the vocabulary used across all of the books is consistent, making it easy to have a library of books that are easy to comprehend. Another comment is that all of the books have copious notes and a very extensive glossary which provide many insights into the deeper meanings embodied in these teachings. The Tibetan text is usually provided with each translation as well, if not in the book, on the Padma Karpo Translation Committee website in searchable digital form. A free reader is also provided for easy use of the digital texts.