October 4, 2002

A Lost Buddhist Literary Tradition Is Found

By PETER MONAGHAN

Scholars decipher a stunning findan unknown canon in an ancient dialect

In certain cliffhangers on late-night television, dashing and strangely underdressed archaeologists in faraway places unearth artifacts of uncertain provenance. The discoveries cast new light on an ancient civilization.

In reality, archaeologists are less swashbuckling, but once in a great while they do turn up objects -- ancient manuscripts, say, inscribed in little-known languages -- that have

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