The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-neng

by MOU-LAM, WONGPRICE, A. F.

• ISBN13: 9781590301371
• ISBN10: 1590301374
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-11-08
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

The Diamond Sutra, composed in India in the fourth century CE, is one of the most treasured works of Buddhist literature and is the oldest existing printed book in the world. It is known as the Diamond Sutra because its teachings are said to be like diamonds that cut away all dualistic thought, releasing one from the attachment to objects and bringing one to the further shore of enlightenment. The format of this important sutra is presented as a conversation between the Buddha and one of his disciples. The Sutra of Hui-neng, also known as the Platform Sutra, contains the autobiography of a pivotal figure in Zen history and some of the most profound passages of Zen literature. Hui-neng (638713) was the sixth patriarch of Zen in China, but is often regarded as the true father of the Zen tradition. He was a poor, illiterate woodcutter who is said to have attained enlightenment upon hearing a recitation of the Diamond Sutra. Together, these two scriptures present the central teaching of the Zen Buddhist tradition and are essential reading for all students of Buddhism.

Author Biography

Wong Mou-lam (1886–1934) was from Guangdong, China. He completed the first published English translation of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch in 1930. Mou-lam also translated The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng, two of the most treasured works of Buddhist literature, the first of which is considered the oldest existing printed book in the world.

A. F. Price is the translator of the ancient and revered Zen Buddhist scriptures The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-neng. In her book Embracing Illusion: Truth and Fiction in the Dream of the Nine Clouds, author Francisca Cho praised Price's work for its "readability and faithfulness to Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation."

W. Y. Evans-Wentz (1878–1965) was an American author and anthropologist. Evans-Wentz was an innovator in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, whose work helped to introduce Tibetan Buddhism to Western culture. While best known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, he translated many other significant Tibetan texts and wrote the foreword to The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-neng.

Christmas Humphreys (1901–1983) took an interest in Buddhism at a young age and founded the Buddhist Society in London in 1924. The Buddhist Society is now the biggest and oldest Buddhist organization in Europe. In 1945, he expressed his interest in world Buddhism in his famous “Twelve Principles of Buddhism.” He is the author of Buddhism: An Introduction and Guide and A Western Approach to Zen, among others.

Table of Contents

THE DIAMOND SUTRA
Foreword	3	(8)
W. Y. Evans-Wentz
Translator's Preface	11	(6)
The Convocation of the Assembly	17	(1)
Subhuti Makes a Request	18	(1)
The Real Teaching of the Great Way	19	(1)
Even the Most Beneficent Practices Are Relative	20	(1)
Understanding the Ultimate Principle of Reality	21	(1)
Rare Is True Faith	22	(2)
Great Ones, Perfect Beyond Learning, Utter No Words of Teaching	24	(1)
The Fruits of Meritorious Action	25	(1)
Real Designation Is Undesignate	26	(2)
Setting Forth Pure Lands	28	(1)
The Superiority of Unformulated Truth	29	(1)
Veneration of the True Doctrine	30	(1)
How This Teaching Should Be Received and Retained	31	(1)
Perfect Peace Lies in Freedom from Characteristic Distinctions	32	(3)
The Incomparable Value of This Teaching	35	(1)
Purgation through Suffering the Retribution for Past Sins	36	(1)
No One Attains Transcendental Wisdom	37	(2)
All Modes of Mind Are Really Only Mind	39	(1)
Absolute Reality Is the Only Foundation	40	(1)
The Unreality of Phenomenal Distinctions	41	(1)
Words Cannot Express Truth; That Which Words Express Is Not Truth	42	(1)
It Cannot Be Said That Anything Is Attainable	43	(1)
The Practice of Good Works Purifies the Mind	44	(1)
The Incomparable Merit of This Teaching	45	(1)
The Illusion of Ego	46	(1)
The Body of Truth Has No Marks	47	(1)
It Is Erroneous to Affirm That All Things Are Ever Extinguished	48	(1)
Attachment to Rewards of Merit	49	(1)
Perfect Tranquillity	50	(1)
The Integral Principle	51	(1)
Conventional Truth Should Be Cut Off	52	(1)
The Delusion of Appearances	53	(14)
THE SUTRA OF HUI-NENG
Foreword	57	(1)
Dih Ping-tsze
Forewords	58	(3)
Christmas Humphreys
Foreword	61	(2)
Joe Miller
Translator's Preface	63	(4)
Autobiography	67	(12)
On Prajna	79	(9)
Questions and Answers	88	(6)
Samadhi and Prajna	94	(4)
Dhyana	98	(2)
On Repentance	100	(9)
Temperament and Circumstances	109	(20)
The Sudden School and the Gradual School	129	(9)
Royal Patronage	138	(4)
His Final Instructions	142	(13)
Appendix by Ling-t'ao, the Stupa Keeper	155	(2)
Notes	157