Heart Attack Sutra interview

[Nindo]

The Heart Sutra really turned over how I see things. Having first joined the Buddhist stream through a tradition that based practice in (a moment to moment interpretation of) the Four Noble Truths, I struggled with the Heart Sutra after moving to Zen practice, and no one really explained it, or seemed able to. I thought it was just negating them, and other people, including my teacher at the time, described it that way. It didn't feel right, then the obvious finally dawned on me that it is saying the 4NT's are empty, and it was one of those life changing "aha" moments. Realizing that the 4NT's are empty freed and completed them. They were mountains, then they were not mountains, then they were mountains again. They were freed. Form is Form, Form is empty, Form is form . I could just be who I am, with my honest values and honest striving, and suddenly it didn't weigh a million tons. Everything completely changed, and that change was so complete, that not single thing changed, not single hair on a single head, not a single value, or measure.

Just sharing.

Gassho
Daizan

[Jundo]

...then the obvious finally dawned on me that it is saying the 4NT's are empty, and it was one of those life changing "aha" moments. Realizing that the 4NT's are empty freed and completed them. They were mountains, then they were not mountains, then they were mountains again. They were freed. Form is Form, Form is empty, Form is form .

Gassho.

[jeff_u]

Is the Heart Sutra itself not a wonderful expression of emptiness? Its evolution through translations, recensions, reinterpretations is a fluid, living process. Some byproducts of this are not always "skillful", conveying the Truth as we're familiar or as we believe was the original, authentic teaching. Some could be outright scams, whipped together by someone looking to sell a bunch of books.


But each of these instances is part of a stream. The unbroken, always folding and wiggling of things. The "original" text itself is not fixed. Whether translated from a Sanskrit original, or back translated to seem authentic, the most often used Chinese version is an expression of Chinese thought as much as Indian, it carries history and stories, politics and culture in between each of its characters.


I don't believe this gives us an excuse to believe or interpret what we want to about the text as far as emptiness goes. We still have to read it and understand it within the relative and absolute. The Heart Sutra has been a really inspiring part of my practice because it feels like a thread that I can pull on to reveal Buddhism and practice to me.


This makes me wonder though, to what degree can or should Buddhist texts be rewritten or reinterpreted? Just as Joshu's dog has or doesn't have Buddha Nature according to the moment-to-moment interaction between teacher and student. Where is the line between recognizing and honoring tradition and creating new teachings that can speak in a modern language?


Sorry for the silly thoughts, hope they make sense.


Gassho,
Jeff

[Jishin]

I recommend this book as perhaps the best introduction for folks by the great Translator Red Pine, which has good explanations of history and traditional doctrine etc. line by line ...

This book is awesome! I have easily read 150 Zen books in the last 4 years and this has got to be one of the best ones. I should have started with this one before reading the others.

Gassho, Jishin

[Myosha]

Hello,

Red Pine reading is like eating salted peanuts.^^


Gassho,
Myosha