Heart SutraRezensionen

Although this is a contemporary book written in English, it has a much more traditional feel—text and commentary—than most shiny new psychology books that are Buddhist (or use Buddhism). I like this, as I feel that we don’t allow brown and yellow people to have much, even Buddhism, but (alas), reading this also makes me see that I’m not about to start over as a Buddhist. (I’m sorry Thay, but no soul makes no sense. Just be glad I learned how to say your first name and let’s go.)

But anyway. I guess that when we read history or about kings—say King David—we think that the king was really around when he was at that awesome plateau at the peak of his power, even though for most of his life he’s either gaining or losing power, and can’t avoid the bell curve of impermanence, if life is a graph. Life, we think, is later, when we finally finish what we start. Reading this I sorta realized that your life is the whole thing, every day, although nothing that broad is still new to me.

Also, and I don’t know what this is in relation to except personal history, job history, but the cross-cultural truth that suffering is chosen even when circumstances are not cannot safely be made too high-minded: I create my suffering by mishandling painful circumstances (and I still don’t think this is a reason to have to sweat sing and make six figures), yes, but very importantly my personal immediate circumstances—not just my place in world history, and the history of abstract cartoon kings.

And I still chase butterflies—don’t just read the reviews—although I have to learn to let them go too. Or maybe I don’t, because when I die they’ll burn my body along with my books, ensuring that I still have them in the ether library with Jesus and King Arthur….

Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation and commentary on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, written and revised over the course of almost 30 years:

1. The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra by Thích Nhất Hạnh. Audio recording of Dharma talk given at Green Gulch Zen Center, Muir Beach, Calif. on 4/19/1987. 120 min audio CD published by Parallax Press in 2002. Listen to Thich Nhat Hanh’s live teaching.

2. The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh. Parallax Press (1988), Paperback, 56 pages
Based on Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings at Green Gulch (and perhaps elsewhere). Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation and commentary.

3. The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries by Thich Nhat Hanh (Author) Palm Leaves Press (2017), Edition: Revised ed., 196 pages. Deeply moving revision of his translation and commentary.

From the author’s preface: “On the twenty-first of August in 2014, at around three in the morning, just after I finished the translation, a moon ray penetrated my room.”

[Thich Nhat Hanh sustained a “severe brain hemorrhage” less than three months later.]

Gone, Gone, All together gone, Everybody is gone.
Awaken, Yes1

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a lucid and engaging interpretation of this core Buddhist text—The Heart Sutra—which is one of the most important sutras, offering subtle and profound teachings on nonduality.

read in one day. not bad
notebook #834 no notes

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist Zen master from Vietnam who hosts retreats and lectures on Buddhism across the world. This short book features a translation of and commentary on The Heart of the Prajnaparamita Sutra, an import work in Buddhist thought. The key idea is the interbeing of everything. For example, without the clouds, there would be no rain; without rain, trees would not grow; without trees, paper could not be made; and without paper, this book couldn’t be written. Nothing ever ceases to exist, it just changes form. Once we accept the interbeing of all things, we eliminate fear, particularly the fear of death.

I first read this book for a philosophy class in college, and I liked it enough to keep it. At only 54 pages, it’s perfect to read in one sitting and gives you a lot to think about. The author explains difficult concepts in a clear manner, most of the time. This is the type of book that you can come back to many times throughout your life and find something different in it each time.

Accessible commentary on a key early Mahayana text from the difficult Perfection of Wisdom literature. A good place to start when approaching this short but important text.

Very clear & concise for those that may be intimidated or lost from reading other texts. It's inspiring and will be a big help when looking to read similar books.

"Recording of Thich Nhat Hanh's lecture on the Heart Sutra at Green Gulch Farm in Muir Beach, California, on April 19, 1987."
This is not an abridgment of TNH's book of the same name, but rather a teaching given by Thay in 1987 at Green Gulch. As such, it complements the book and provides depth in understanding the Heart Sutra. Thich Nhat Hanh explains dependent arising and emptiness in terms of "Interbeing".