ThepresentbookcollectsresearchpapersbyBhikkhuAnālayowithtranslationsofEkottarika-āgamadiscoursesandcomparativestudiesoftheirPāliparallels,togetherwiththreeappendicesonthetermsMahāyāna,Hīnayāna,andTheravāda.SeveralpapersstudyaspectsoftheEkottarika-āgamaasacollectiondistinctfromotherNikāyaandĀgamacollections.Inaddition,topicstakenupinthecourseofthisbookareseclusion,thelion’sroar,thewheel-turningking,Paccekabuddhas,andthefournobletruths,aswellasdepictionsofaccomplishednunsandtheirsignificance.
DharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArts(DILA)Series
In1994,MasterShengYen(1931-2009),thefounderofDharmaDrumBuddhistCollege,beganpublishingtheseriesoftheChung-HwaInstituteofBuddhistStudies.ThepurposesofpublishingthisseriesweretoprovideavenueforacademicresearchinBuddhiststudiessupportedbyscholarshipsfromtheChung-HwaInstituteofBuddhistStudies,toencouragetop-qualityBuddhistresearch,andtocultivateaninterestinBuddhistresearchamongthereadershipoftheseries.Moreover,byencouragingcooperationwithinternationalresearchinstitutions,MasterShengYenhopedtofostertheacademicstudyofBuddhisminTaiwan.
Inkeepingwiththisvision,inordertopromotedifferentaspectsofexchangeinacademicresearch,weatDharmaDrumBuddhistCollegebegantopublishthreeeducationalseriesin2007:
-DharmaDrumBuddhistCollegeResearchSeries(DDBCRS)
-DharmaDrumBuddhistCollegeTranslationSeries(DDBCTS)
-DharmaDrumBuddhistCollegeSpecialSeries(DDBCSS)
InJuly2014,theTaiwaneseMinistryofEducationdeliberatedonthemergingoftheDharmaDrumCollegeofHumanitiesandSocialSciencesandtheDharmaDrumBuddhistCollegeintothenewlyformedDharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArts(DILA).
ThenewDILAincarnationsoftheformerthreeseriesarenow:
-DharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArtsResearchSeries(DILA-RS)
-DharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArtsTranslationSeries(DILA-TS)
-DharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArtsSpecialSeries(DILA-SS)
AmongourgoalsistheextensivedevelopmentofdigitalpublishingandinformationtoadapttotheinteractiveandhyperconnectiveenvironmentoftheWeb2.0age.Thiswillallowresearchoutcomestobequicklysharedandevaluatedthroughtheparticipationofindividualusers,throughsuchmediaasblogs,sharedtagging,wikis,socialnetworksandsoon.Ourhopeistoworktowardsdevelopinganopenenvironmentforacademicstudies(perhapscalledScience2.0)ondigitalhumanitiesthatwillbemorecollaborativeandefficientthantraditionalacademicstudies.Inthisway,theDharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArtswillcontinuetohelpfostertheavailabilityofdigitalresourcesforBuddhiststudies,thehumanities,andthesocialsciences.
BhiksuHuimin
President,DharmaDrumInstituteofLiberalArts
15August,2014
