Pali Canon Structure and indexation

As a Zen practitioner I am not really supposed to be interested in the Pali Canon -  some think I am not even supposed to be interested in any scriptures. But, whatever they say is not really going to help me... So as I was investigating dependent origination, I came to realize that you cannot really be serious about it without delving into it.

The Pali canon is huge. The Pali Text Society's edition of the Tipitaka (English translation) fills over 12,000 pages in approximately fifty hardbound volumes, taking up about five linear feet of shelf space. Moreover, a few of the more obscure books in the Tipitaka are simply still unavailable in English translation, so that if you really must read the entire Tipitaka, you'll just have to learn Pali.

The PTS has for over a century been the leading publisher of the Tipitaka, both in romanized Pali and in English translation, but many of their translations are now badly out of date. Much better translations of several portions of the Canon are now available from other publishers.

These new translations are also often commented in very interesting ways.

Most of the texts are available online. One of the difficulty for a novice is to navigate between various texts. The way these texts are referenced in articles may differ depending upon the translators

The Pali Canon is composed of 3 main branches.

... to be continued...

Hello everyone, 

Here is the update on the Miura Hanshi Mosaic. As per this Monday morning, April 24, 2015, the project has collected a total of $1,436.00 of a total goal of $5,500.00. Pledges have been coming mostly from United States and France.

For those of you who did not read my last post, here is what it is all about : 


I launched last week a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to realize a mosaic portrait of Sword Master Takeyuki Hidefusa Miura, Hanshi. Miura Hanshi left this world in 2012. He was the 20th Grand Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, the style of Sword I practice, and I would like to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life of dedication to the transmission of this Art. 

The mosaic model.

The portrait I want to make of Miura Hanshi will be of him practicing "Tameshigiri": the actual cutting of targets with a real katana. Miura Hanshi was well know for his almost supernatural ability to cut rolls of papers with his sword.

Without men like Miura Hanshi, invaluable arts would be lost to humanity, and I want to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life and dedication to transmit to us the Art and Spirit of generations of Samurais before him.  When this mosaic is complete, I will donate it to the Headquarters of the KNBK – the organization that carries on Miura Hanshi's teachings.

Here is the link to the project : The Miura Hanshi Mosaic Portrait.

Miura Hanshi cutting rolled paper

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, this is how it works : 

There is a period of 30 days to raise the money (5,500.00). If you think the project is worthy and want to back it, please pledge some money. This is very easily done on the front page of project's Kickstarter website. You get rewards depending on the amount you pledge. This is also well described on the project's Kickstarter website.

 

When you pledge, the money is kept by Kickstarter in a special account. 

At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if the total amount has been pledged Kickstarter sends me the money and I get to work. If the total amount is not raised, you get fully reimbursed. 

I hope you find this project a valuable one and that you will participate to the cause. 

An other way to help would be to share this post to your facebook page and/or Twitter account, or any other social network you use. 

If you have any questions, please ask them, preferably through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read them, and my answers.

Thank you

When I do not practice Karate, Iaijutsu or other Martial Arts, I am also a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my mosaic work or would like to drop me a line 

please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

(and I recommend it !)

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

Raising Money / Mosaic Portait of Miura Hanshi

Some of you may know I am also a Mosaic Artist. 

I have just launched my first fundraising Kickstarter campaign to realize a mosaic portrait of Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa, Hanshi, 20th grandmaster of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu (MJER) Iai Jutsu. 

This is the style of Japanese Swordsmanship I practice and teach. 

Here is the Link to the MIURA Mosaic Project.

If you are not familar with Kickstarter, this is how it works : 

There is a period of 30 days to raise the funds (US $ 5,500.00). If you want to back the project, you pledge money. Depending on the amount you pledge, you get rewards after completion of the project. These rewards are described in details on the project's Kickstarter website. 

When you pledge, your money is kept by Kickstarter on a special account.  At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if the total amount of money was pledged, Kickstarter sends it to me and I get to work. If the total amount was not pledged, you get a full refund of your money. 

I hope you find this is a valuable tribute to the memory of Miura Hanshi and will participate to the cause. 

If I can, with your support complete this project, I plan to later realize mosaic portraits of other Martial Arts Masters, beginning with Shimabukuro Hanshi.

Please ask me all the questions you want, preferably 

through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read 

them, and my answers.

This project is a way for me to pay tribute to a great man. I never could meet Miura Hanshi, but many of my friends and instructors did. Without him, I would probably not be practicing Iaijutsu today.

 

 

When I do not practice Zen or Martial Arts, I am also a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

 

If you are interested by my work in mosaics or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

  You can also

(and I recommend it !)

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER