Subhuti, what is called the religion given by buddha is not, in fact buddha religion. Vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra is a mahayana buddhist. There is no doubt that the heart sutra is the most frequently used and recited text in the entire mahayana buddhist tradition, which still flourishes in japan, korea, vietnam, tibet, mongolia, bhutan, china, parts of india and nepal, and, more recently. Diamond sutra a new translation of the classic buddhist text. Like many buddhist sutras, the diamond sutra begins with the famous phrase. The diamond scripture vajracchedika sutra thus have i heard. Apr 05, 2017 the diamond sutra has been rendered into english many times over the last 40odd years. The first clue about the theme, so to speak, of this sutra, is to understand it is one of the prajnaparamita perfection of wisdom sutras. Jun 28, 2016 the vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra has been translated from sanskrit into english variously as the diamond sutra, the diamond cutter sutra, the vajra sutra and the vajra cutter sutra. Diamond sutra is one of the most influential mahayana sutras in east asia, and is a key object of devotion and study in zen buddhism. That is to say the diamond sutra is the expression, is an expression of the enlightened mind, it doesnt come from. This new translation of the diamond sutra allows the reader to experience and comprehend this timeless buddhist text in a more contemporary language and style.
The diamond sutra currently lives in the british library and you can even interactively peek through its pages online. Transforming the way we perceive the world by mu soenq gick here for the reluctant messenger host site the diamond sutra the walled city of dunhuang shachou was an outpost on the northwestern frontier, whose. Aug 02, 2009 the diamond sutra is one of the most historically important texts in the buddhist faith, in part because a copy of it is the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world 868 a. Jul 29, 2018 the most common interpretation of the diamond sutra is that its about impermanence. Honoring the diamond sutra wherever this sutra is honored and revered there is a sacred site enshrining the presence of the buddha or one of the buddhas most venerable disciples. On 11th september thay completed a profound and beautiful new english translation of the heart sutra, one of the most important sutras in mahayana buddhism this new english translation is based on the new vietnamese translation that thay began working on three weeks ago at the european institute of applied buddhism in germany. We will continue our discussion of diamond sutra explained by master nan huaichin. But this is an assumption based on a lot of bad translating. Y the previous passage explained that existent dharmas are non existent. Jun 25, 2015 this translation of the diamond that cuts through illusion, sometimes known simply as the diamond sutra, has been prepared by thich nhat hanh from the vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra in sanskrit, and the chinese taisho revised tripitaka, no. The buddha on managing your business and your life.
But one thing such an interpretation overlooks or fails to explain is that in the perfection of wisdom in eight. This is because buddha has explained that no body is called a great body. It is recorded in huinengs autobiography that when he was an adolescent selling firewood in a marketplace, he heard someone reciting the diamond sutra and immediately became enlightened. The significance of the second turning is the development of the doctrine of sunyata and the ideal of the bodhisattva who brings all beings to enlightenment. If you would like to know more about the diamond sutra as a buddhist teaching, one of the most accessible ways to learn is through videos by an american monk named hyungak paul muenzen. Because, subhuti, from this discourse issue forth all the buddhas and the consummation of incomparable enlightenment teachings of all the buddhas. Printed copy of the diamond sutra the british library. The diamond sutra of 868 now lives at the british library, whose turning the pages project includes close looks online at the worlds oldest printed book. The diamond sutra, a mainstay of the mahayana tradition, has fascinated buddhists for centuries because of its insights into dualism and illusion. The diamond sutra is relatively short, only 6,000 words and is part of a larger canon of sutras or sacred texts in mahayana buddhism, the branch of buddhism most common in. Presently, many buddhists read and recite the diamond. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published.
A general explanation of the vajra prajna paramita sutra by dhyana master. Like many buddhist sutras, the diamond sutra begins with the famous phrase, thus have i heard. On 11th september thay completed a profound and beautiful new english translation of the heart sutra, one of the most important sutras in mahayana buddhism this new english translation is based on the new vietnamese translation that thay began working on three weeks ago at the european institute of applied buddhism in germany below the sutra you can read thays explanation of why he made. The true meaning of the diamond sutra learn religions. The teacher is just there to help them in the process of selfdiscovery.
The diamond sutra 1 diamond sutra the full sanskrit title of this text is the vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra the vajra prajna paramita sutra. This passage explains that nonexistent dharmas are not nonexistent. The diamond sutra is a sacred buddhist scripture on an ancient chinese scroll. The heart sutra will change you forever lions roar. Nan huaichin, the diamond sutra explained, primodia media, 2004, isbn 0971656126. Yet if i were to teach it, noone would understand, so i shall remain silent here in the forest. Diamond sutra, brief and very popular mahayana buddhist text widely used in east asia and perhaps the best known of the 18 smaller wisdom texts that together with their commentaries are known as the prajnaparamita perfection of wisdom. Price and wong moulam translation see sources and links page, and i found that the stylistic conventions interfered with my absorbing the message, so i reworded it into a simplified form that was easier for me to read and consider. The diamond sutra has been rendered into english many times over the last 40odd years. Dated 587 years before the gutenberg bible, the diamond sutra is the oldest surviving printed.
The british library is a part of the international dunhuang project. Also known by its sanskrit title vajracchedika, the diamond sutra posits that something is what it is only because of what it is not. Diamond sutra by charles muller, the vajra prajna paramita sutra by the buddhist text translation society, the diamond sutra. The diamond sutra played an important role in the life of huineng 6387, the sixth patriarch of chan. The diamond sutra is the worlds oldest printed book. As he explains, it ignores another possible interpretation of twoterm. The buddha on managing your business and your life the tibetan book of yoga the garden. Aside from being the most indepth and profound commentary available on the diamond sutra, the translation of the diamond sutra included in it is the best english translation currently available.
The perfection of wisdom counterpoint, by red pine, the pen name of bill porter, an american who dropped out of his graduate studies in anthropology to become a buddhist scholar and the acclaimed translator of. As he took up the text of the diamond cutter sutra, his holiness explained how after attaining enlightenment the buddha declared profound and peaceful, free from complexity, uncompounded luminosityi have found a nectarlike dharma. This translation of the diamond that cuts through illusion, sometimes known simply as the diamond sutra, has been prepared by thich nhat. The diamond scripture vajracchedika sutrathus have i heard. The diamond sutra, a sanskrit text translated into chinese, was one of 40,000 scrolls and documents hidden in the cave of a thousand buddhas, a secret library sealed up around the year 1,000. New heart sutra translation by thich nhat hanh plum village.
The superiority of unformulated truth subhuti, if there were as many ganges rivers as the sand. As soon as we mention the diamond sutra to people, they know we are talking about buddhism, and conversely, it is often impossible to discuss buddhism without mentioning the diamond sutra. The diamond sutra and the study of wisdom and emptiness. Sep 29, 2017 penetrate the true meaning of the heart sutra, says karl brunnholzl, and nothing will be the same again. In addition to the actual text of the diamond sutra this web site provides a diamond sutra background page which explains the origins of the diamond sutra and information about how this new translation was done. The diamond sutra a general explanation of the vajra the diamond sutra, along with the heart sutra, are among the most popular works.
The opening gatha was composed by thich nhat hanh to precede the translation. The british library is part of the international dunhuang project, a groundbreaking collaboration which aims to make more than 100,000 manuscripts, paintings and artefacts from silk road sites available on the internet. Jun 25, 2019 the diamond sutra played an important role in the life of huineng 6387, the sixth patriarch of chan. To begin with the sutra is, by very definition, by virtue of the fact that it is termed a sutra it is the word of the buddha, what we call buddhavachana, the word or the utterance of the buddha, the enlightened one. Vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra is a mahayana sutra from the prajnaparamita sutras or perfection of wisdom genre. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the diamond sutra is one of the most influential mahayana sutras in east asia, and it is particularly prominent within the chan or zen tradition, along with the. Transforming the way we perceive the world by mu soeng, the diamond sutra by a. In the diamond sutra, the buddha responds to a disciples question about how to become a buddha. When patanjali codified, or compiled the yoga sutras, it was not that a new system was created, but rather, the ancient practices were summarized in an extremely organized and terse way. This sutra appears in thich nhat hanh, chanting from the heart. Sep 27, 2018 the diamond sutra is one of the most revered texts of mahayana buddhism. While the yoga sutr as are thought to be as old as 400 bce.
Cheng kuan, 53rd generation acharya of the shingon sect. In the lower lefthand corner, the buddhas disciple, subhuti, listens as the buddha. Text and commentaries translated from sanskrit and chinese. Everything you need to know about the ancient diamond sutra. It takes the form of a dialogue in the presence of a. The frontispiece depicts the buddha, surrounded by monks, devotees and deities. The type is called three steps involving breaking down and setting up. The buddha said this sutra may be known as the diamond that cuts through illusion. Written in the chinese language, the diamond sutra chronicles a gathering of disciples to hear the teachings of buddha and is dated the 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of xiantong, which translates to 11 may 868. The diamond sutra says that the buddha taught for decades, yet nothing is really taught. In the diamond sutra there are many instances of the type of threestep arguments that may be represented by the scheme of so, not so, named so. One day before noon, the bhagavan put on his patched robe and picked up his bowl and entered the.
Diamond sutra by charles luk english zenchan buddhism. It is an important buddhist text that has a long and profound history. The diamond that cuts through illusion presents a dialogue between the buddha and his disciple, subhuti, which illuminates how our minds construct limited categories of thought. Dec 09, 2016 diamond sutra is one of the most influential mahayana sutras in east asia, and is a key object of devotion and study in zen buddhism. This sutra a sanskrit word that means a religious teaching or sermon, in particular that of the buddha is commonly regarded as one of the most revered.
These sutras are associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel. This sutra appears in thich nhat hanh, chanting from the. It is the one most capable of capturing both the smoothness and subtlety of bodhisattva kumarajivas original translation from sanskrit. The vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra has been translated from sanskrit into english variously as the diamond sutra, the diamond cutter sutra, the vajra sutra and the vajra cutter sutra. May 11, 2016 the diamond sutra, a sanskrit text translated into chinese, was one of 40,000 scrolls and documents hidden in the cave of a thousand buddhas, a secret library sealed up around the year 1,000. As a teacher, i know that nothing can really be taught. Nonexistence and not nonexistence is the principle and tendency of the middle way. This excellent second edition of the diamond prajnaparamita sutra contains both the english and chinese text as well as annotations. Free shipping get free shipping free 58 day shipping within the u. To see more of the diamond sutra please go to our award winning turning the pages.
The diamond sutra and the sutra of huineng by huineng. Diamond sutra is the expression, is an expression of the enlightened mind, it doesnt come from the ordinary mind, doesnt come from the brain, doesnt come from the logical mind, doesn. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the diamond sutra is one of the most influential mahayana sutras in east asia, and it is particularly prominent within the chan or zen tradition, along with the h. The diamond sutra is the worlds earliest dated printed book. Once the bhagavan was dwelling near shravasti at anathapindada garden in jeta forest together with the full assembly of 1250 bhikshus and a great many fearless bodhisattvas.
The diamond sutra is one of the most revered texts of mahayana buddhism. Written in chinese and featuring an illustrated frontispiece, the woodblock printed scroll is fivemetres long and dated 868ad. The second and third statements quoted above are of this type. Diamond sutra explained by master nan huaichin part 2. A copy of the chinese version of diamond sutra, found among.
Also known by its sanskrit title vajracchedika, the diamond sutra posits. Download the buddhist text the diamon sutra here as pdf ebook. Sep 04, 2018 the diamond sutra currently lives in the british library and you can even interactively peek through its pages online. Upon a memorable occasion, the lord buddha sojourned in the kingdom of shravasti, lodging in the grove of jeta, a park within the royal domain which jeta, the heirapparent, had bestowed upon sutana, a minister of state renouned for his charities and benefactions. Five things to know about the diamond sutra, the worlds. This translation of the diamond that cuts through illusion, sometimes known simply as the diamond sutra, has been prepared by thich nhat hanh from the vajracchedika prajnaparamita sutra in sanskrit, and the chinese taisho revised tripitaka, no. The perfection of wisdom counterpoint, by red pine, the pen name of bill porter, an american who dropped out of his graduate studies in anthropology to become a buddhist scholar and the acclaimed translator. This sutra a sanskrit word that means a religious teaching or sermon, in particular that of the buddha is commonly regarded as one of the most revered texts of mahayana buddhism.
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