Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, The

Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, The
Author: Huineng
Publisher: BDK America
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2000
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

This record of the life and teachings of Hui-neng, the Sixth Chan (Zen) Patriarch, is an eleventh-century compilation with ancillary materials. It deals with the Buddhist notion that the only criterion of any significance whatsoever is the experience of "seeing the Buddha-nature," realizing one's innate status as an enlightened being.

Readings of the Platform Sutra

Readings of the Platform Sutra
Author: Morten Schlütter
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2012-02-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231500556

The Platform Sutra comprises a wide range of important Chan/Zen Buddhist teachings. Purported to contain the autobiography and sermons of Huineng (638–713), the legendary Sixth Patriarch of Chan, the sutra has been popular among monastics and the educated elite for centuries. The first study of its kind in English, this volume offers essays that introduce the history and ideas of the sutra to a general audience and interpret its practices. Leading specialists on Buddhism discuss the text's historical background and its vaunted legacy in Chinese culture. Incorporating recent scholarship and theory, chapters include an overview of Chinese Buddhism, the crucial role of the Platform Sutra in the Chan tradition, and the dynamics of Huineng's biography. They probe the sutra's key philosophical arguments, its paradoxical teachings about transmission, and its position on ordination and other institutions. The book includes a character glossary and extensive bibliography, with helpful references for students, general readers, and specialists throughout. The editors and contributors are among the most respected scholars in the study of Buddhism, and they assess the place of the Platform Sutra in the broader context of Chinese thought, opening the text to all readers interested in Asian culture, literature, spirituality, and religion.

The Sutra of Hui-neng, Grand Master of Zen

The Sutra of Hui-neng, Grand Master of Zen
Author: Thomas Cleary
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 169
Release: 1998-09-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834825414

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.

Three Zen Sutras

Three Zen Sutras
Author: Red Pine
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 90
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1640094954

A pocket-sized presentation of the 3 most venerated sutras of Zen Buddhism—the Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra, and Platform Sutra—from a legendary practitioner and translator of Buddhist teachings Three classic Buddhist sutras, often linked to form a trio of texts that have been revered and studied for centuries, are now available together in this single volume. Red Pine, whose acclaimed translations these particular Buddhist texts are considered canon, provides a sensitive and assured treatment of the classic triumvirate in a gift-sized volume, perfect for sharing with anyone seeking guidance and peace. The Heart Sutra, with its profound and wide-reaching influence on Buddhism, offers the Prajnaparamita teaching of emptiness. The Diamond Sutra, said to contain answers to all questions of delusion and dualism, outlines the bodhisattva path followed by the Buddha. The Platform Sutra is an autobiography of Hui-neng, the controversial 6th Patriarch of Zen. His understanding of the fundamentals of a spiritual and practical life has served as the introduction to the teachings of Zen that students have been putting into practice for the past 1300 years. In addition to new translations of all three texts, Red Pine has included an introduction that ties all three together and just enough footnotes to explain what needs explaining but not enough to get in the way.

Original Nature

Original Nature
Author: Mary Farkas
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2012-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781462053247

Original Nature is the historic translation and commentary on the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Zen by America's first Zen Master, Sokei-an Sasaki (1882-1945). Finally available, 75 years after its completion, Sokei-an considered the Sixth Patriach's message an essential foundation for the transmission of Zen to America "I think the Sixth Patriarch never dreamed that his record... would be explained to Westerners in New York... I feel that I am in a valley between huge mountains, and that the ancient simple minded woodcutters, fisherman, monks and nuns who are living in the mountains have come to the place where they always make their gatherings, and that I am one of them now..."

The Platform Sutra

The Platform Sutra
Author: Huineng
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2006
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781593760861

The Platform Sutra occupies a central place in Zen (Ch'an) Buddhist instruction for students and spiritual seekers worldwide. It is often linked with The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra to form a trio of texts that have been revered and studied for centuries. However, unlike the other sutras, which transcribe the teachings of the Buddha himself, The Platform Sutra presents the autobiography of Hui-neng, the controversial 6th Patriarch of Zen, and his understanding of the fundamentals of a spiritual and practical life. Hui-neng's instruction still matters — the 7th-century school of Sudden Awakening that he founded survives today, continuing to influence the Rinzai and Soto schools of contemporary Zen. Red Pine, whose translations of The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra have been celebrated and widely received, now provides a sensitive and assured treatment of the third and final sutra of the classic triumvirate. He adds remarkable commentary to a translation that, combined with the full Chinese text, a glossary, and notes, results in a Mahayana masterpiece sure to become the standard edition for students and seekers alike.

The Diamond Sutra and The Sutra of Hui-neng

The Diamond Sutra and The Sutra of Hui-neng
Author:
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2005-11-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834826097

Two classic Zen Buddhist texts that present the foundational teachings of the tradition—now collected in one volume for the modern practitioner 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 (638–713) 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.

The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma
Author: Bodhidharma
Publisher: North Point Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2009-11-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1429952768

A fifth-century Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen to China. Although the tradition that traces its ancestry back to him did not flourish until nearly two hundred years after his death, today millions of Zen Buddhists and students of kung fu claim him as their spiritual father. While others viewed Zen practice as a purification of the mind or a stage on the way to perfect enlightenment, Bodhidharma equated Zen with buddhahood and believed that it had a place in everyday life. Instead of telling his disciples to purify their minds, he pointed them to rock walls, to the movements of tigers and cranes, to a hollow reed floating across the Yangtze. This bilingual edition, the only volume of the great teacher's work currently available in English, presents four teachings in their entirety. "Outline of Practice" describes the four all-inclusive habits that lead to enlightenment, the "Bloodstream Sermon" exhorts students to seek the Buddha by seeing their own nature, the "Wake-up Sermon" defends his premise that the most essential method for reaching enlightenment is beholding the mind. The original Chinese text, presented on facing pages, is taken from a Ch'ing dynasty woodblock edition.

The Platform Sutra

The Platform Sutra
Author: Red Pine
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2006-11-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1582439958

A Zen Buddhist masterpiece, winner of the 2018 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation. The Platform Sutra occupies a central place in Zen (Ch’an) Buddhist instruction for students and spiritual seekers worldwide. It is often linked with The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra to form a trio of texts that have been revered and studied for centuries. However, unlike the other sutras, which transcribe the teachings of the Buddha himself, The Platform Sutra presents the autobiography of Hui–neng, the controversial 6th Patriarch of Zen, and his understanding of the fundamentals of a spiritual and practical life. Hui–neng’s instruction still matters—the 7th–century school of Sudden Awakening that he founded survives today, continuing to influence the Rinzai and Soto schools of contemporary Zen. Red Pine, whose translations of The Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra have been celebrated and widely received, now provides a sensitive and assured treatment of the third and final sutra of the classic triumvirate. He adds remarkable commentary to a translation that, combined with the full Chinese text, a glossary, and notes, results in a Mahayana masterpiece sure to become the standard edition for students and seekers alike.