Sutra

It feels good to GEICO.

the diamond sutra by unknown translated from the chinese with an introduction and notes by william gemmel preface and introduction preface This English version of the Diamond Sutra, translated from the Chinese text of Kumara Jiva, owes its inception to successive conversations with a friend profoundly interested in the interpretation of Oriental systems of philosophy.

During those conversations renderings into English were made of numerous passages from the works of Confucius, Mencius, and Lao Tzu.

having surveyed briefly those fertile fields of thought we passed by a natural transition into the delectable buddhist realm some passages from the chinese sutras comprising texts and annotations were consecutively examined and variously considered eventually it was suggested that the diamond sutra perhaps one of the most metaphysical of the works ascribed to buddha be conveniently rendered into the english language in order that the rather unfamiliar text might assume due intelligibility parallel passages and numerous annotations were subjoined as the pleasant work of translating proceeded the idea of printing and publishing the text seemed to follow as a natural sequence already there exist in the english language renderings of the diamond sutra from the sanskrit by max muller and from the chinese by this new version does not seek to enter into rivalry with those erudite works and a possible apology which might readily be offered for the publication of this modest volume is that the scholarly production of mller and biel in their present forms are perhaps slightly inaccessible to the general english reader it would appear that the peculiar charm of the buddhist philosophy and the remarkable purity of the buddhist faith are becoming more generally appreciated in europe should this imperfect rendering of the diamond sutra even in the faintest degree confirm this just sense of appreciation or prove a gentle incentive to further inquiry then its unexpected publication may prove to be not entirely unjustified in recording our many obligations to those scholars whose works were frequently consulted we also give expression to a hope that nothing of importance is omitted which ought to be gratefully acknowledged it may also be permissible to express admiration of the piety appreciation of the friendship of those learned monks in central china to whom we are everlastingly indebted for even a slight initiation into those inexhaustible truths which are alike the heritage and the glory of the disciples of buddha Amongst those we should like to specify are Chang Ming, the chief monk Sun Quan of Chenchao Prefecture, Hunan, and the aged and affectionate Zhou Xian.

W. M. Gemmel.

Pollock Shields, Glasgow, 6 September 1912.

INTRODUCTION The Diamond Sutra is one of the most valued and widely read philosophical works in Buddhist literature.

It is very popular amongst ardent Buddhists in China, and excepting the Lotus of the Good Law and the Leng Yen Ching, perhaps no other sutra ascribed to Buddha is regarded by the Chinese with so great esteem.

So, you know...

I think the intention from the Buddha in this version of the Sutra is to turn things into an ordeal, to be a chore to get through.

And I feel like if we were to look into the different types of gods that are referred to here, like what does the capital C Conqueror mean? The dimension of the infinitude of space, right? etc.

That's chasing a red herring.

And in the light of that inner awareness, there's nowhere to hide from ourselves.

The Sutra on the Eight Realizations of Awakened Beings is a treasure of insight that is both the Buddha's response to that question, and at the same time, it's a profound meditation manual to help us integrate that insight into our daily lives.

And so here are some questions that we might contemplate, that we might work with when we come to the practice of Zen.

And I want you to really consider these questions.

One of those teachings, one of those guide maps is this sutra, the sutra on the eight realizations or awarenesses of awakened beings.

And I've spoken in the past a little bit about some of the aspects of this sutra, and my brother Daiko did an excellent talk on this sutra more than a year ago, particularly examining it from Dogen Zenji's perspective.

And one of the things that I find just incredibly telling, and no small coincidence, is that this sutra, the Sutra on the Eight Realizations of Awakened Beings, is said to have been the Buddha's final teaching, his final formal teaching or formal discourse to his disciples and his followers before his passing away.

This was said to be the last formal teaching that he gave, was the Eight Awarenesses of Awakened Beings.

vows.

So first let's look at the Sutra text.

Dhammakara said, May the World Honored One listen and observe with great mercy, if I attain Supreme Bodhi, After realizing ultimate enlightenment, the Buddha Land I reside in will be adorned with immeasurable and inconceivable meritorious adornments.

There will be no hell beings, no hungry ghosts, no animals, no flying and crawling creatures, or any such beings.

So first Amitabha Buddha said, If I attain Supreme Bodhi after realizing ultimate enlightenment, the Buddha land I reside in will be adorned with immeasurable and inconceivable meritorious adornments.

So the wondrous of the Pure Land is really beyond our imagination.

In the Infinite Life Sutra, in the Amitabha Sutra, in the Visualization Sutra, the Buddha described the Pure Land in great details.

But still, the beauty, the wondrous of the Pure Land is really inconceivable, beyond our imagination.

During the special gathering, all the precepts were compiled and given the name Vinaya Pitaka, the Basket of Discipline.

The basket of compiled Dharma talks was named Sutra Pitaka.

The sutras were divided into four categories based on their length and subject matter.

Venerable Ananda shared with the assembly that the Buddha had told him that after the Buddha's death, they could discard the lesser precepts.

Um, again, my languaging.

Sutra, and I'm, I'm gonna use the Sanskrit instead of the Pali.

Um, Sutra versus, uh, not versus, and Tantra.

And so for me, um, Sutra is anywhere from, like, you know, I mean, basically we, we could do a dark retreat here by closing our eyes for a few minutes, right? [laughs] You know, it doesn't take much to do a dark retreat, right? It really doesn't.

We enter a- a little microcosmic dark retreat every single night when we fall asleep.

Um, but the idea here is anywhere from a couple hours to, again, my languaging, um, three days.

So who knows if that's mere coincidence.

But there's definitely something about, uh, the resurrection motif, the narrative that's applicable to the dark.