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The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng
from: Shoemaker & Hoard
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3927
EAN: 9781593760861
ISBN: 1593760868
Label: Shoemaker & Hoard
Manufacturer: Shoemaker & Hoard
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: November 06, 2006
Publisher: Shoemaker & Hoard
Studio: Shoemaker & Hoard
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Editorial Review:
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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - So Straightforward
Hui-Neng's wisdom is straightforward and goes to the heart of enlightment. Red Pine (Bill Porter) does a wonderful job with his commentary. He provides context and illumination that I found incredibly helpful. I highly recommend this text to all serious Dharma practitioners.
Rating: - Excellent translation and reference source
I like this translation a lot. The translation into English is clear. But Red Pine's commentary is what makes this a valuable resource as it gives those not so familiar with Buddhist technical terms a clear understanding of the text. Moreover, I really like the classical Chinese in the appendix, so I can compare my translation efforts to that of Red Pine, thereby improving my own skills in reading classical Chinese. A very valuable and necessary resource. When reading it one really feels that ... Read More
Rating: - A Profound Platform
Red Pine's translation, and to me more importantly, his commentary, is in an unalloyed language of working people who just do their jobs without fancy talk or arrogance. I feel Hui-neng, not as a wizened Ch'an master trained in a monastery and educated in the Buddhist cannon, but as an individual who was just a worker, `awakened' by a phrase, who realized the Dharma straight out and taught with a worker's directness. This is a wonderful translation and commentary that doesn't miss.
Rating: - Essential Mahayana reference enthusiastically recommended for Zen Buddhism reference shelves
Award-winning translator Red Pine has rendered the work of the controversial Sixth Patriarch of Zen into English in The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-Neng. Red Pine's commentary illuminates this classic; unlike other sutras, which transcribe the teachings of Buddha himself, The Platform Sutra transcribes the spiritual and practical teachings of Hui-Neng, whose seventh-century school of Direct Awakening still thrives today and whose wisdom continues to influence the Rinzai and Soto schools ... Read More
Rating: - Another masterwork
Red Pine is simply the best translator of and commentator on Chinese Buddhist texts that I have encountered. I heard him describe his translation process in the following terms (though my paraphrase from faulty memory will only do it faint justice): "I dance with the original text: I need to know it intimately, to move and breathe with it, but if I get too close, try to control it, I step on its toes and we fall over."
His translation is always exquisite, his commentary clear, and he always ... Read More
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