The Sutra of Hui-neng, Grand Master of Zen

by CLEARY, THOMAS

• ISBN13: 9781570623486
• ISBN10: 1570623481
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1998-09-14
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

Hui-neng (638-713) is perhaps the most beloved and respected figure in Zen Buddhism. An illiterate woodcutter who attained enlightenment in a flash, he became the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Zen, and is regarded as the founder of the "Sudden Enlightenment" school. He is the supreme exemplar of the fact that neither education nor social background has any bearing on the attainment of enlightenment. This collection of his talks, also known as the Platform or Altar Sutra, is the only Zen record of its kind to be generally honored with the appellation sutra, or scripture. The Sutra of Hui-neng is here accompanied by Hui-neng's verse-by-verse commentary on the Diamond Sutra-in its very first published English translation ever.

Author Biography

Thomas Cleary holds a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. He is the translator of over fifty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic texts from Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Pali, and Arabic.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	3	(82)
1. PERSONAL HISTORY	5	(11)
2. PRAJNA	16	(9)
3. QUESTIONS	25	(6)
4. STABILIZATION AND INSIGHT	31	(4)
5. SITTING MEDITATION	35	(2)
6. REPENTANCE	37	(7)
7. KEY EVENTS	44	(16)
8. IMMEDIATE AND GRADUAL	60	(8)
9. THE IMPERIAL SUMMONS	68	(17)
HUI - NENG'S COMMENTARY ON THE DIAMOND SUTRA	85	(60)
PREFACE BY HUI-NENG	85	(3)
1. THE CAUSE AND REASON OF THE TEACHING ASSEMBLY	88	(2)
2. SUBHUTI INITIATES QUESTIONING	90	(1)
3. THE TRUE SOURCE OF THE GREAT VEHICLE	91	(4)
4. SUBTLE PRACTICE WITHOUT DWELLING	95	(2)
5. REAL SEEING IN ACCORD WITH TRUTH	97	(1)
6. THE RARITY OF TRUE FAITH	98	(3)
7. NO ATTAINMENT AND NO PREACHING	101	(2)
8. EMERGENCE INTO LIFE THROUGH THE TRUTH	103	(2)
9. ONENESS WITHOUT FORMS	105	(2)
10. ADORNING A PURE LAND	107	(2)
11. THE SUPERIORITY OF UNCREATED BLESSINGS	109	(1)
12. HONORING TRUE TEACHING	110	(1)
13. ACCEPTING AND HOLDING THE TEACHING ACCURATELY	111	(3)
14. ABSOLUTE PEACE BEYOND FORMS	114	(6)
15. THE VIRTUES OF HOLDING THE SUTRA	120	(3)
16. THE CAPACITY TO CLEAR AWAY KARMIC OBSTRUCTIONS	123	(2)
17. ULTIMATE SELFLESSNESS	125	(4)
18. IMPARTIAL VIEW OF ONENESS	129	(2)
19. THE TEACHING PERVADING THE COSMOS OF REALITIES	131	(1)
20. DETACHMENT FROM FORMS AND APPEARANCES	132	(1)
21. NOT PREACHING A DOCTRINE	133	(1)
22. THERE IS NOTHING TO ATTAIN	134	(1)
23. PURIFYING THE MIND AND DOING GOOD	135	(1)
24. BLESSINGS AND WISDOM WITHOUT COMPARE	136	(1)
25. TEACHING WITHOUT TEACHING ANYONE	136	(1)
26. THE EMBODIMENT OF REALITY IS NOT EXTERNAL APPEARANCES	137	(2)
27. NO ANNIHILATION OR EXTINCTION	139	(1)
28. NOT ACCEPTING, NOT BEING GREEDY	139	(1)
29. SERENITY OF CONDUCT	140	(1)
30. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE COMPOUND	140	(2)
31. VIEWS DO NOT OCCUR	142	(1)
32. THE REWARD AND THE EMANATION ARE NOT THE REAL	143	(2)
NOTES ON THE SUTRA OF HUI-NENG	145