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A landmark publication when it first appeared in 1958, Buddhist Wisdom offered Western readers a unique combination of both The Diamond Sutra - one of the cornerstone texts of Mahayana Buddhism - and The Heart Sutra, perhaps the most important of all Buddhist texts, in a single authoritative volume. With its appearance in the Vintage Spiritual Classics series, this definitive translation by the Western scholar of Buddhism Edward Conze is now available to a new generation of readers. Conze, who until his death in 1979 was a powerful force for introducing Buddhism to the West, translated and wrote the introduction to this breakthrough edition in which extensive commentary is interleaved with the text for the easiest possible appreciation of the core ideas on the page. The result is a work of permanent value, a classic for anyone interested in the way to wisdom.
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the determination to reach enlightenment, which directs all the actions of a Bodhisattva; progress, to his steady growth in concentration and wisdom; control thought, to this ability to keep distractions away from the calm core of his inward mind. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
the determination to reach enlightenment, which directs all the actions of a Bodhisattva; progress, to his steady growth in concentration and wisdom; control thought, to this ability to keep distractions away from the calm core of his inward mind. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never trained as a "proper" Buddhist, and I have also rarely chosen to try meditation. Despite these apparent disadvantages, I can say that this book is deeply involving and a joy to read. It is basically a translation of the two sutras, and that translation is, to my mind, one of the most thorough and careful of any of the great Buddhist scriptures.
This is despite the fact this translation was done (by Edward Conze) a number of years ago.
I was particularly impressed at the exhaustive way in which each phrase (of the two sutras) was carefully dissected and discussed - this is scholarly work, and made all the more relevant by the great level of care taken in producing it.
Anyone who has recently found themselves wondering "what's it all about", or "what direction is my life taking" should buy, and read, this book.
This is despite the fact this translation was done (by Edward Conze) a number of years ago.
I was particularly impressed at the exhaustive way in which each phrase (of the two sutras) was carefully dissected and discussed - this is scholarly work, and made all the more relevant by the great level of care taken in producing it.
Anyone who has recently found themselves wondering "what's it all about", or "what direction is my life taking" should buy, and read, this book.
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book for getting to grips with the Diamond and Heart Sutras. My only criticism is that in addition to the annotated version of the two sutras it would have been nice to have a section of the un-annotated text to read the full text in a complete run and also for those who would like to chant the sutra in full in English. The commentary is very useful, though sometimes the layout makes things a little muddied.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
57 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Heart & Diamond reviewed
22 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
I am familiar with Edward Conze's translations and comments on the Diamond and Heart Sutras primarily through the 1958 edition of this work. First of all, these are scholarly translations and commentaries. The commentaries are logical and precise, as they need to be to get at the heart of the teaching, in particular, of the Heart Sutra. Conze states, correctly, that to understand the Heart Sutra one has to understand something about Abhidharma concepts. The Abhidharma texts represent early schools of thought in India regarding consciousness and read like a Sears catalog of psychological elements put into a moral context and including conditioned and unconditioned dharmas. The Heart Sutra is in part a response to Abhidharma; one which goes beyond it. Abhidharma is considered the "dry bones" of Zen for good reason. Nevertheless, there are equally good reasons why Shunryu Suzuki told his students at San Francisco Zen Center to study with Conze (advice which was followed). The Heart Sutra is such a pure and intense condensation of wisdom that the effort to understand it is repaid tenfold by even small glimpses of its meaning. It is paradoxical that the teaching of "form is emptiness, emptiness is form,"etc., is amenable to a logical approach, yet Conze is very effective at demonstrating that, at least for those of us who have not attained wisdom-that-goes-beyond (prajna), this is precisely the path to take. His analysis of the Sanskrit in the context of Buddhist logic unlocks a very fruitful path for following the meaning of the Heart Sutra. An openminded approach to Conze's translation and commentaries, applied with some determination and perseverance, is well worth the effort, both with the Diamond and the Heart Sutras, though perhaps more so with the latter. What hits us in the face at first as flatly contradictory reveals itself to be something more than we can imagine. Shunryu Suzuki told us that the "No" in the Heart Sutra is far more positive than any "Yes" could ever be. I haven't seen another approach to the Heart Sutra in print that equals Edward Conze's.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
An insightful read
22 May 2001
Format:Paperback
Two of the most well-known of Buddha's Sutras, the "Diamond Sutra" and "the Heart Sutra", are explained clearly and succintly in this concise volumne. Edward Conze translates directly from the original Sanskrit with care and insight, skillfully combining deeply obtuse concepts with a gentle, sensitive rye sense of humor. The piercing brevity of "The Heart Sutra" is an astonishingly remarkable 'tool' for helping us to change our behavior. It affords an opportunity for those seeking to return to their origin, to see and to understand their True Heart which is unsurpasssable, Perfected Wisdom.
9 of 15 people found the following review helpful
uninspiring
26 July 2008
Format:Paperback
The work of translation is notoriously difficult. Especially if the translator intends to make the work unreadable by adding sommentary after virutally every line. As a Buddhist, I was really hoping to see the work itself, and then read the commentary to explain points that were less than clear. Unfortunately, this work is almost a line by line back and forth between the actual work and the commentary. It was almost unreadable due to the proximity of the commentary to the text and definitely lacking, in terms of the actual translation. There was also way too much of a focus on apologetics to the western (Christian) world. The work would have been better if it had not gone out of its way to make sure it did not offend Christian sensibilites, and make itself into nothing more than a treatise on eastern philosophy. There are better translations out there (for free) on the internet. Don't waste your money on this one, unless you really like commentary.
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