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Description: Of the forty-two books devoted to the 'perfection of Wisdom' the Diamond and the Heart Sutras have for centuries been considered the holiest. The Prajnaparamita texts, as the Buddhist Wisdom Books are called, were composed in India between 100 B.C. and A.D. 600 (the Diamond and the Heart Sutras probably about the fourth century) and became popular throughout Tibet, Mongolia, China, and Japan. Dozens of translations have been attempted, but the famous Buddhist scholar Edward Conze, who has studied the Prajnaparamita for more than thirty years, was the first translator to explain the sutras in a manner intelligible to Western readers. This edition offers a fine rendering of and lucid commentary on two of the world's great scriptures.
Table of Contents: The Bodhisattva's career --
The range of the spiritual life --
The first ending --
Transcendentality --
The Bodhisattvas --
The Buddhas --
Advice to the imperfecxt --
The heart sutra.
Location: COLLECTION: Teachings & Practices -- AREA: Great Traditions -- SECTION: Buddhism - Mahayana Sutras / Filing name: Prajnaparamita
Topics: In TinyCat -- See "Tags" above for our libraries topic areas. See "Subjects" below for LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) (note you can tour our library via Tags or LCSH, but LCHS are not available for all items in our holdings).
FY1997 /
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A landmark publication which offers Western readers a unique combination of what Buddhists worldwide consider the holiest of holy texts The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra, two sutras, or scriptures, ascribed to the early centuries of the first millennium. The Diamond Sutra, or the Perfection of Wisdom, which cuts like a thunderbolt, is one of the cornerstone texts of Mahayana Buddhism and provides a summary of the core concepts of the Buddha. The Heart Sutra, perhaps the most important of all Buddhist texts, sets out to formulate the very heart, or essence of perfect wisdom and is studied with special reverence in Zen monasteries and the Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries. Edward Conze, who was until his death in 1979 a powerful force for introducing Buddhism and its sacred texts to the West, has provided these translated key texts with an extensive commentary for the easiest possible appreciation phrase by phrase. For this new edition, Judith Simmer-Brown, a well-known American scholar of Buddhism, has contributed a lively, context-setting introduction. In the annals of spirituality, certain books stand out both for their historical importance and for their continued relevance. The Vintage Spiritual Classics series offers the greatest of these works in authoritative new editions, with specially commissioned essays by noted contemporary commentators. Filled with eloquence and fresh insight, encouragement and solace, Vintage Spiritual Classics are incomparable resources for all readers who seek a more substantive understanding of mankind's relation to the divine.… (more)
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The same approach is necessary for, say,
Speaking of literary translation, perhaps it is true that our recent, contemporary investigations into Sanskrit- and Chinese-based cultures constitutes a Renaissance II ; certainly, the West's translation of BuddhaDharma is a great engine for much outstanding literary translation of our time.
Once The Heart Sutra's been studied and practiced, there's this Diamond ... wisdom beyond wisdom.