The Sixth Patriarch
A Book Review of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
This book review will identify the important origins of Ch’an Buddhism in China through The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, which has been edited and transcribed by Phillip Yampolsky. This book provides the most accurate origins of the Tun-huang text, which was found in a “sealed cave in Central Asia” (Yampolsky 5). This authentication of the text defines the origins of the Lankavatar School, which identifies a story of the Buddha and a bodhisattva in conversation about the original Nature of existence and other philosophical issues related to Buddha-nature. I found Yampolsky’s research and background on the Tun-huang text to be extremely objective and compelling as an original …show more content…
This is an important section because it provides the reader with a more in-depth analysis of the scholarship that Yampolsky implies in own objective observations about the historical limitations of the text, but more importantly, how the autobiography and the transmission of Buddhist ideas is extremely limited in providing more details about the life of …show more content…
This is a unique attempt at finding the true Buddha-nature of Hui-neng’s teachings, which are at the core of Ch’an and Zen Buddhist traditions. I would recommend this book to readers interested in the foundation of Ch'an Buddhism and the Zen ideology that arises from this type of Buddhist teaching and methodology. Although the Tun-huang has its limitations, Yampolsky’s translation is—by far—the most accurate translation an English-speaking reader can find in this sect of Buddhist teachings. Yampolsky provides an accurate account of the Chinese language in this text, which retains a highly objective and scholarly approach to The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch in the later half of the 20th century. I would suggest this book as the pinnacle of Western academic translation for the teachings of Hui-neng in the Ch’an Buddhist tradition. More so, this book is inspiring for all followers of Zen Buddhism, since it defines one of the earliest texts related to this adaptation of Buddhist thought in japan and in the United
This book review will identify the important origins of Ch’an Buddhism in China through The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, which has been edited and transcribed by Phillip Yampolsky. This book provides the most accurate origins of the Tun-huang text, which was found in a “sealed cave in Central Asia” (Yampolsky 5). This authentication of the text defines the origins of the Lankavatar School, which identifies a story of the Buddha and a bodhisattva in conversation about the original Nature of existence and other philosophical issues related to Buddha-nature. I found Yampolsky’s research and background on the Tun-huang text to be extremely objective and compelling as an original …show more content…
This is an important section because it provides the reader with a more in-depth analysis of the scholarship that Yampolsky implies in own objective observations about the historical limitations of the text, but more importantly, how the autobiography and the transmission of Buddhist ideas is extremely limited in providing more details about the life of …show more content…
This is a unique attempt at finding the true Buddha-nature of Hui-neng’s teachings, which are at the core of Ch’an and Zen Buddhist traditions. I would recommend this book to readers interested in the foundation of Ch'an Buddhism and the Zen ideology that arises from this type of Buddhist teaching and methodology. Although the Tun-huang has its limitations, Yampolsky’s translation is—by far—the most accurate translation an English-speaking reader can find in this sect of Buddhist teachings. Yampolsky provides an accurate account of the Chinese language in this text, which retains a highly objective and scholarly approach to The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch in the later half of the 20th century. I would suggest this book as the pinnacle of Western academic translation for the teachings of Hui-neng in the Ch’an Buddhist tradition. More so, this book is inspiring for all followers of Zen Buddhism, since it defines one of the earliest texts related to this adaptation of Buddhist thought in japan and in the United