The Diamond Sutra

I didn't really dig this translation, finding it a bit dense; much too wordy for modern sensibilities. I especially found all the variations in the honorifics for the Buddha (Arhan, Bhagavan, Sugata) confusing. Red Pine's translation is probably very authentic and in keeping with the Sanskrit or whatever language he translated from, but reading it produced the same reaction in me as if I were trying to read the King James Bible.

Red Pine has done a thorough job of collating texts among Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan versions, but this work is not the primary virtue of his work. The translation is very readable, and the notes and commentaries thorough, useful, and interesting.

My therapist called this "The Buddhist book", and so it is. A central Buddhist thread which has engendered more than, by one count, more than 20,000 commentaries, as a Zen Buddhist this just might be your one material possession!

long, dry, and more academic than his Heart Sutra book

long, dry, and more academic than his Heart Sutra book

The "Platform Sutra" records the teachings of Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch, who is revered as one of the two great figures in the founding of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. This translation is the definitive English version of the eighth-century Ch'an classic.

Phillip B. Yampolsky has based his translation on the Tun-huang manuscript, the earliest extant version of the work. A critical edition of the Chinese text is given at the end of the volume.

Dr. Yampolsky also furnishes a lengthy and detailed historical introduction which contains much information hitherto unavailable even to scholars, and provides the context essential to an understanding of Hui-neng's work. He gives an account of the history and legends of Ch'an Buddhism, with particular show more attention to the traditions associated with Hui-neng, quoting or summarizing the most important narratives. He then discusses the various texts of the "Platform Sutra," and analyzes its contents. show less

MAHAYANA