The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World

Composed of 32 short chapters, the Diamond Sutra is nonetheless one of the monumental scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism. The great Sixth Patriarch of Zen, Huineng, is said to have achieved enlightenment after hearing a single line of this sutra. We can't promise sudden enlightenment, but we can tell you that Mu Soeng's version is one of the best. A former Zen monk, Mu Soeng takes us back in an extensive introduction to the beginnings of Buddhist sutras and traces their development up to the appearance of the Diamond Sutra in the third or fourth century. He also details why Zen Buddhists in particular are attracted to it. The Diamond Sutra is intended as an antidote to suffering, which is achieved through wisdom. It tells us that realizing the emptiness of all things is the key step on this path and that its articulation comes, paradoxically, in the boddhisattva ideal of saving all sentient beings. Paradox is at the heart of this classic sutra, and in extensive commentaries Mu Soeng unravels the paradoxes while explaining the challenging vocabulary. For an authoritative version of the Diamond Sutra, you can't do better, and notice the fluid language:

So you should view all of the fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in the stream; A flash of lightning in a summer cloud; A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.

--Brian Bruya