Synopses & Reviews
Preface and Acknowledgments
Notes to the Reader
I. The Heart Sutra Here and Now
A New Translation
Encountering the Enigma
Inspiration of the Sutra
II. Story of the Sutra
Pilgrimage to the West
A Tiny Text by a Giant Translator
Talisman of Talismans
In Print for One Thousand Years
Ancient Tower Resurrected
III. Modern Scholarship
The Earliest Mahayana Scripture
Prajna Paramita as the Basis for the Heart Sutra
Versions of the Chinese Heart Sutra
Versions of the Hridaya
IV. Most Recent Scholarship
A Chinese Apocryphal Text?
Thoughts on the Apocrypha Theory
Roles of Ancient Chinese Translators
Emergence and Expansion of the Heart Sutra
V. Globalizing the Sutra
Chinese Enthusiasm
Pan Asian Experience
Japanese Interpretations
Scriptwise
Rituals in the Western World
Scientific Thinking
VI. Terms and Concepts
Notes
Appendix
Comparative Texts
Preceding Texts
Shorter Texts
Longer Texts
Identical Expressions in the Chinese Texts
Names in Ideography
List of Illustrations
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Terms
Synopsis
An illuminating in-depth study of one of the most well-known and recited of all the Buddhist texts by a renowned modern translator The Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra is among the best known of all the Buddhist scriptures. Chanted daily by many Zen practitioners, it is also studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition, and it has been regarded with interest more recently in the West in various fields of study--from philosophy to quantum physics. In just a few lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release of suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language.
Kazuaki Tanahashi's guide to the Heart Sutra is the result of a life spent working with it and living it. He outlines the history and meaning of the text and then analyzes it line by line in its various forms (Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongolian, and various key English translations), providing a deeper understanding of the history and etymology of the elusive words than is generally available to the non-specialist--yet with a clear emphasis on the relevance of the text to practice. This book includes a fresh and meticulous new translation of the text by the author and Roshi Joan Halifax.
Synopsis
KAZUAKI TANAHASHI is the translator and editor of numerous works by the great Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen. He is also a renowned calligrapher, a pioneer of the genre of "one stroke painting," and the creator of multicolor enso (Zen circles). His brushwork has been shown in solo exhibitions in galleries, museums, and universities all over the world.
Table of Contents
An illuminating in-depth study of one of the most well-known and recited of all the Buddhist texts--by the renowned modern translator.The first-century classic Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra may be the best known of all the Buddhist Scriptures. It's a key Zen text, chanted daily by many, but is studied extensively in the Tibetan tradition too. In just about thirty-five lines, it expresses the truth of impermanence and the release of suffering that results from the understanding of that truth with a breathtaking economy of language. Kazuaki Tanahashi's guide to the Heart Sutra is the result of a life spent working with it and living it. He outlines the history and meaning and then analyzes the text line by line in its various forms (Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Mongolian, and various key English translations), providing a deeper understanding of the history and etymology of the elusive words than is generally available to the nonspecialist, yet with a clear emphasis on the relevance of the text to practice. It includes a fresh, modern translation of the text by the author and Roshi Joan Halifax.