Electronic Buddhadharma Society
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The Electronic Buddhadharma Society (EBS) website is a site that records the origin, history, sponsors, and digital collection of the Electronic Buddhadharma Society of the Buddhist Association of the United States. EBS, which was founded in 1994, is dedicated to converting printed Chinese Buddhist texts into digital formats. It was one of the pioneers in developing methods of digital conversion of printed Buddhist texts, and is a collective effort supported by many individuals and organization sponsors.
The Electronic Buddhadharma Society (EBS) is affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions (IASWR). IASWR was first established at SUNY on the Stony Brook Campus on Long Island, and later moved to the Woo-Ju Memorial Library in 1991. The Woo-Ju Memorial Library was once an internationally important research center for scholars of Buddhism. It concentrated on developing resources for the study of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam, and also included Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Sikhism, Jainism, and folk beliefs. The collection boasted materials in 32 Asian and 11 non-Asian languages, in approximately 70,000 volumes of books[1], numerous periodical titles, and 66,000 Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscript, xylographs, and monographs in microform. Around 2006, the library closed down mainly due to budget constraints, and most of the collection was moved to University of Virginia[2].
EBS was established in 1994 under the leadership of Mr. Chia-Tsin Shen[3]. The primary purpose was to initiate a Buddhist information storage program [4]. The project converted some of the important historical collections in the Woo-Ju Memorial Library into digital form.
The most important result of the effort is the “Sutra”, a digital object born of 10 years of endeavor. It includes 60 titles of historical significance related to the famous Diamond Sutra such as works written by a Chinese Emperor and by Buddhist masters and scholars from Tang Dynasty to present day; 72 titles related to Kuanyin Bodhisattva; thousands of titles relating to particular sects of Chinese Buddhism; and several Buddhist dictionaries. It is one of the most important digital resources in academic research for Buddhism. New materials are still added to the site from time to time.
[1] Prebish, Charles S. 1999. Luminous passage: the practice and study of Buddhism in America. Berkeley: University of California Press. P.29-30. “Buddhist Association of the United States”.
[2] Jane Edmister Penner , “University of Virginia: Report for ALA Midwinter Meeting 2006 ”. Retrieved 4/20/08 www.loc.gov/library/bigheads/source/uva-rr-jan06.doc
[3] Who’s who in America. 1998. Chicago: A.N. Marquis
[4]Electronic Buddhadharma Society. (2005). Retrieved http://www.baus-ebs.org/origin-1.htm
The Enlightenment Of Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin (Avalokiteshvara) Part III
Kuan-yin continued: “Then, since ear-contact and audial objects produced no effect, the mind remained in a state of clarity, and the phenomena of motion and stillness no longer occurred.”
These words indicate that through ceaseless training in allowing the sounds to flow off and letting the objects disappear, one gradually attains a state in which the innate nature to hear becomes free from the object of hearing and the contact of the ear with the external world. The nature to hear becomes thoroughly quiet and clear, and the mind is not torpid, but remains lucid. When that occurs, one feels neither the sensation of motion, for sound is the result of motion or vibrations, nor does one feel the sensation of stillness, for stillness is perceived in relation to motion. At this stage, ’samadhi’ (a technical Buddhist term for meditative absorption) has been attained, but there are many degrees of samadhi and progress through them is made in stages. The state described here may be called the initial stage of meditative absorption. At this level two of the five deluded attachments have been removed – deluded attachment to sound, and deluded attachment to hearing. Nonetheless, having removed only these two deluded attachments, worldly suffering may be greatly reduced. If we can attain just this stage, we will enjoy ample happiness and freedom in this world.
The Enlightenment Of Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin (Avalokiteshvara) Part II
Kuan-yin begins his discourse by saying: “First, I (concentrated) on the audial consciousness” which means “during the first stage of meditation, using my hearing.” Here, special attention should be paid to the fact that the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin began his cultivation of realization at the level of an ordinary human being. He had a strong sense of self, of an ‘I.’ Second, he possessed the innate nature to hear. Third, both his audial consciousness and hearing were unimpaired. Fourth, he heard sounds, such as the sound of the tide mentioned above. We all possess these faculties and the delusions associated with them. This is significant, because in the course of this discussion we will see how Kuan-yin progressed from his ordinary state and proceeded to eradicate his deluded attachments one by one.
As I mentioned above, Kuan-yin practiced meditation by the sea. By listening to the coming and going of the sound of the tide, he realized that sound is neither permanent nor substantial, but arises and ceases momentarily within the field created by one’s innate nature to hear. Nonetheless, one becomes attached to sounds, and as a result, delusion arises. Therefore, by allowing the sounds that contacted the ear to flow off, and thereby being detached from the object sound, Kuan-yin was able to eliminate the delusion that has its origin in sound.
The Enlightenment Of Bodhisattva Kuan-Yin (Avalokiteshvara) Part I
Delivered at the University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii February 26, 1982 Co-sponsored by Kuan-yin Temple
Dear friends:
The Bodhisattva Kuan-yin made a great vow to release all sentient beings in the universe from suffering. Numerous miraculous events have been attributed to Kuan-yin all over the world. Because of the intimate relation that he has with us, it is taught that by undertaking his method of cultivating realization, one will obtain swift success.
There is an important passage in the Shurangama Sutra in which Bodhisattva Kuan-yin relates how he cultivated realization. In that sutra, twenty-five bodhisattvas, in response to the inquiry of Buddha Shakyamuni, explained their methods of cultivation and spiritual attainment. Afterwards, the Buddha asked Bodhisattva Manjushri to evaluate what had been said. Manjushri pointed out that Kuan-yin’s way of cultivating realization through hearing was best suited for the people of this world.