Dear Sukhi,

You wrote:

> After meeting Ajahn Sujato (assistant to Ajahn Brahmavamso) I realise the

urgency and

> value of learning Classical Chinese. Ajahn Sujato is specially interested

in research

> in Yogacara meditation method (esp Satipatthana/Smrtyupasthana) esp the
> Sravakabhumi.

Glad to hear that you are interested in learning Buddhist Chinese. Perhaps
I can give you some advice.
First, the style of Chinese used in Buddhist texts varies enormously -- the
translation period covers over 1000 years of continuous effort. Chinese
translations of Buddhist texts reflect the skill and understanding of the
translators involved -- though normally, as in Tibet, the work was done as a
team effort involving at least an Indian / Central Asia scholar-monk and a
Chinese scholar-monk, although possibly with an interpreter. Consequently,
some translations are very poor and very difficult to understand, while
others are very clear and instructive. The translators traditionally
considered to have produced high-standard work were Kumarajiva, Xuan-zang
and Amoghavajra. There were others, of course, mainly in the Sui-Tang era,
who produced good work.

As for Yogacara, I have spent many years working with Yogacara materials,
though I would still hesitate to call myself an expert. You mentioned
Yogacara meditation methods. What Asanga presents in the Sravakabhumi
portion of the Yogacara-bhumi-sastra is not specifically Yogacara meditation
at all -- rather, it is basically the standard mainstream Indian Buddhist
method current at that time and is not even specifically Mahayana. In fact,
the affiliation of Asanga is not certain. He is thought to have observed
the Mahishasaka vinaya, thought to have been a mainland school closely
linked to Theravada, but in other respects, Asanga seems to have followed
the Mula-sarvastivadin school (aka Sautrantika) for his non-Mahayana
doctrines etc. Nevertheless, the Sravakabhumi (also available in Sanskrit
as well as an excellent Tibetan translation) is an exceedingly important
text and I hope that a translation will appear soon -- a comparison of the
contents with Buddhaghosa's Visuddhi-magga would be especially illuminating
as it is recognized by some scholars that Budhaghosa incorporates "Yogacara"
concepts into his own, a fact that is carefully ignored in some quarters.

> I almost took up a course in Classical Chinese while in Berkeley, but I

had too many

> irons in the fire then. Anyway if anyone knows of online course or books

for

> self-study on Classical Chinese (Buddhist) through English, it would be

great. Please

> let me know.

I have been planning a "Buddhism Trough Reading Chinese" introduction, as an
companion to my Introduction to Classical Tibetan, but the publishers I was
working with seem to think people like me can survive on thin air -- they
don't pay and expect to pocket all the profits ! So it has gone onto hold
while I do writing / translating that pays something. The reason why an
introduction specifically for Buddhist Chinese is required is because
standard Classical Chinese is not very helpful for Buddhist stuff -- the
grammar, vocabulary, style etc etc is fairly different. Of course, a quick
look through one of the two or three intros to Classical Chinese available
in English will be some use to orientate onself to the way pre-modern
Chinese works but then what ?? Ideally, if you could read Japanese, you
could use one of the several excellent books devised specifically for
reading Buddhist texts. Alternatively, if you are interested in the earlt
suttas / agamas, you could look at short texts, using the Pali / English on
the one hand and comparing it with the Chinese, as these are quite easy to
understand. I have been looking out at the recent AN translations in this
list but none so far have any Chinese equivalents. Just as Ven Yuttadhammo
finds it helps his learning process for Pali, you might find the same for
Buddhist Chinese. If there was sufficient interest, I might even be
persuaded to start an introductory on-line course like the Pali courses
here.

OK -- I've written quite a lot here so I'll sign off now, but I can give you
more advice or even help if you want at a later stage.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge