This volume brings together a selection of late Prof. Jikido Takasaki's previously published papers written in English (and one in German). Their subject matter relates by and large to the tathagatagarbha theory or the idea of Buddha-nature, which have been his main subjects of research over the years. For convenience' sake this has been divided into seven parts according to subject matter. Part 1 presents a textual study, namely, a critical edition of chapter 6 of the Lankavatara. Part 2 deals with subjects concerning scriptures such as the Lankavatara, part 3 with technical terms and basis concepts of the tathagatagarbha theory, part 4 with tathagatagarbha doctrine in general, and part 5 with Japanese Buddhism and Buddhism in East Asia (on the basis of scriputres translated into Chinese). Part 6 presents a historical survey of Japanese scholarship on buddhism, and part 7 consists of several book reviews.

JIKIDO TAKASAKI, D.Litt. (1926-2013), was a specialist in Indian Buddhism, especially the philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1950, he studied at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute at Poona, making a special study of the Ratnagotravibhdga, for which he received a Ph.D. degree in 1959 from the University of Poona. He began his teaching career in 1957 at Komazawa University, Tokyo, and after a period of teaching at Osaka University he eventually gained a professorship at the University of Tokyo in 1977, from where he retired in 1987. His many publications include, A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga (MLBD 2014), The Formation of Tathagata Thought (in Japanese), Lectures on the Lankavatara-sutra (in Japanese), and An Introduction to Buddhism (in Japanese and English).

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