The Salistamba Sutra
by N. Ross Reat

The Salistamba Sutra a Mahayana text of great antiquity, has perished in its original Sanskrit form. It is however extensively quoted in Sanskrit commentarial literature which does survive in the original. Moreover the Salistamba survives in several Chinese versions and in Tibetan, includinga seventh century manuscript which represents one of the earliest extant examples of the Tibetan language.The resulting approximation of the Sanskrit text of the sutra is of considerable historical importance with regard of the origins of Mahayana Buddhism and the early history of Buddhism in general. N.Ross Reat was born in Textas on September 29. 1951. He had a Bachelor`s degree in journalism at Northwestern University before going on to do an M.A. (1974) and Ph.D. (1980) with Ninian Smart at the University of Lancaster . In the course of doing fieldwork for the Ph.D. he spent two years in India and Sri Lanka. studying Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan