Table of Contents

Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION The Importance of Om Manipadme Hum CHAPTER 1 Background to the Karandavyuha Sutra CHAPTER 2 Puranic Influence on the Karandavyuha Sutra CHAPTER 3 Avalokitesvara as the Buddhist Isvara CHAPTER 4 Om Manipadme Hum and Namah Sivaya CHAPTER 5 Om Manipadme Hum and the Mahayana CHAPTER 6 The Meaning of Om Manipadme Hum CONCLUSION The Original Six-Syllable Formula? APPENDIX Annotated Precis of the Karandavyuha Sutra Notes Bibliography Index Index to Appendix

About the Author

Alexander Studholme received a Ph.D. from the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Bristol University, England.

Reviews

"This compact volume ... will be immediately accessible, and of great benefit, to both Tibetologists and Tibetophiles alike." - Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies "This book provides a very good example of the phenomenon of religious integration, and clearly shows how Buddhism managed to integrate ideas and practices from another spiritual tradition." - Francis Brassard, author of The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara "It was fascinating to read the author's brilliant insights into the syncretic construction of early tantric Mahayana Buddhist materials like the Karandavyuha." - John J. Makransky, author of Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet