The Platform Sutra
Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:41 am
I think it would be nice to do a group study of the Platform Sutra.
Any takers?
Best,
Laura
Any takers?
Best,
Laura
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The Platform Sutra is not a sutra strictly speaking. I agree that it makes a very valuable contribution in terms of the teachings of an enlightened teacher, even if it is likely mythologized as Dr. McRae says.Ngawang Drolma wrote:I think it would be nice to do a group study of the Platform Sutra.
It's great! A young man in the market place overhears a monk reciting the Diamond Sutra and has an awakening. The young man goes to a monastery where the abbot recognizes his potential and assigns him to grind rice in the kitchen. After many years the abbot announces his intention to pass the lineage on to someone. They have to demonstrate their insight in a poem. The head monk writes a poem about the body being a Bodhi tree, the mind a mirror and the need to keep it clean and clear. The rice grinding young kitchen hand responded very profoundly:meindzai wrote:I read Suzki's Doctrine of No-Mind which largely drew on this (non) Sutra, and felt like I was probably missing a lot of what he was getting at since I hadn't read the Sutra itself. Was planning on getting back to it one of these days.
The master erased the young man's poem, praised the head monk but transmitted the lineage to the young man secretly with instructions to head for the hills and not teach for a period of time. The abbot also retired that night. A big chase ensues with the head monk and his followers chasing the young man for the instruments of religious power, the robe and bowl. The young man throws them at the head monk who then realizes his error. Later the young man, now old, Huineng, gives a couple of sermons.Originally Bodhi has no tree,
The bright mirror has no stand.
Originally there is not a single thing:
Where can dust alight?
Yes, often the claim is made "the only Chinese work to be called a 'sutra'."kirtu wrote:The Platform Sutra is not a sutra strictly speaking. I agree that it makes a very valuable contribution in terms of the teachings of an enlightened teacher, even if it is likely mythologized as Dr. McRae says.Ngawang Drolma wrote:I think it would be nice to do a group study of the Platform Sutra.
Kirt
Yes, I am familiar with the actual story of Hui Neng but not the platform sutra itself, which is probably the "couple of sermons" part.kirtu wrote:It's great! A young man in the market place overhears a monk reciting the Diamond Sutra and has an awakening. The young man goes to a monastery where the abbot recognizes his potential and assigns him to grind rice in the kitchen. After many years the abbot announces his intention to pass the lineage on to someone. They have to demonstrate their insight in a poem. The head monk writes a poem about the body being a Bodhi tree, the mind a mirror and the need to keep it clean and clear. The rice grinding young kitchen hand responded very profoundly:meindzai wrote:I read Suzki's Doctrine of No-Mind which largely drew on this (non) Sutra, and felt like I was probably missing a lot of what he was getting at since I hadn't read the Sutra itself. Was planning on getting back to it one of these days.
The master erased the young man's poem, praised the head monk but transmitted the lineage to the young man secretly with instructions to head for the hills and not teach for a period of time. The abbot also retired that night. A big chase ensues with the head monk and his followers chasing the young man for the instruments of religious power, the robe and bowl. The young man throws them at the head monk who then realizes his error. Later the young man, now old, Huineng, gives a couple of sermons.Originally Bodhi has no tree,
The bright mirror has no stand.
Originally there is not a single thing:
Where can dust alight?
Now we have this text and not even a t-shirt!
Kirt
Well, you know how Zen masters are - you understand everything they say until the end and your head falls off and rolls on the floor.meindzai wrote:Yes, I am familiar with the actual story of Hui Neng but not the platform sutra itself, which is probably the "couple of sermons" part.
The main point of the Platform Sutra is that sudden enlightenment is possible, It has been read by academics like Dr. McRae as a treatise (and possibly as a polemic treatise) advocating sudden enlightenment. So academics read it as a product of the "struggle" between sudden and gradual enlightenment in Chan, between the Northern and Southern schools of Chan.kirtu wrote:meindzai wrote:Yes, I am familiar with the actual story of Hui Neng but not the platform sutra itself, which is probably the "couple of sermons" part.
I think we can compare both text's.Huifeng wrote: 1. To use the longer text which has been traditionally used in China, Korea and Japan for 1000+ yrs? Or, to use the shorter (and older) text which has been recently (100 yrs ago) found in Dunhuang?
Which is the best translation of the transitional text?2. Which English translation of the afore-chosen text to use? (Not all translations are created equal, and some of them are pretty poor.)
Though I think that this is a nice idea, experience with trying to do these sorts of things on 'net forums is already difficult enough, let alone trying to do comparative studies.kirtu wrote:I think we can compare both text's.Huifeng wrote: 1. To use the longer text which has been traditionally used in China, Korea and Japan for 1000+ yrs? Or, to use the shorter (and older) text which has been recently (100 yrs ago) found in Dunhuang?
What do you mean by "transitional text"? The Dunhuang or later Standard issue?Which is the best translation of the transitional text?2. Which English translation of the afore-chosen text to use? (Not all translations are created equal, and some of them are pretty poor.)
Kirt
This should have read "traditional text". Looks like a spell check artifact and I didn't catch it.Huifeng wrote:What do you mean by "transitional text"?kirtu wrote:Which is the best translation of the transitional text?2. Which English translation of the afore-chosen text to use? (Not all translations are created equal, and some of them are pretty poor.)
Okay, seems we have most votes for McRae's translation of the traditional (later, longer) version of the Chinese text.kirtu wrote:
Shall we read McRae's text and discuss it or how would people like to proceed?
Kirt