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    The Diamond Sutra
    The Diamond Sutra
    The Diamond Sutra
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    The Diamond Sutra

    By Kumarajiva Kumarajiva

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    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. In Japan, The Diamond Sutra appears to be perused extensively by what Max Müller termed the Shin-Gon sect, founded by Ko-Bo, a disciple of the renowned pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang, about the year 816 a.d. The Diamond Sutra was written originally in Sanscrit, and in process of time translated into the Tibetan, Chinese, Mongol, and Manchu languages. It represents the Mahayana school of Buddhist thought, a school founded by Nagarjuna, which flourished primarily at Tchakuka, and thereafter influenced appreciably a considerable part of the Buddhist Church.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPubMe
    Release dateMar 2, 2021
    ISBN9791220271592
    The Diamond Sutra

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      The Diamond Sutra - Kumarajiva Kumarajiva

      SUTRA

      PREFACE

      decoration

      This English version of The Diamond Sutra ,

      ¹

      translated from the Chinese text of Kumarajiva, 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-Tsz.

      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 Sanscrit by Max Müller, and from the Chinese by Beal. 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 productions of Müller and Beal, 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 enquiry, 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, and 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 (Seng-Kwan) of Chen-Chou prefecture, Hu-Nan, and the aged and affectionate Chioh-Hsien.

      WM. GEMMELL.

      Pollokshields, Glasgow,

      ¹ A learned Chinese commentator thus explained the rather striking title: "As the diamond exceeds all other precious gems in brilliance and indestructibility; so, also, does the wisdom of The Diamond Sutra transcend, and shall outlive, all other knowledge known to philosophy."

      INTRODUCTION

      decoration

      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 ,

      ¹

      perhaps no other Sutra ascribed to Buddha is regarded by the Chinese with so great esteem.

      In Japan, The Diamond Sutra appears to be perused extensively by what Max Müller

      ²

      termed the Shin-Gon sect, founded by Ko-Bo, a disciple of the renowned pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang, about the year 816 a.d.

      The Diamond Sutra was written originally in Sanscrit, and in process of time translated into the Tibetan, Chinese, Mongol, and Manchu languages. It represents the Mahayana school of Buddhist thought, a school founded by Nagarjuna,

      ³

      which flourished primarily at Tchakuka, and thereafter influenced appreciably a considerable part of the Buddhist Church.

      In the year 1836, Csomo Körösi published an account of the Tibetan translation, which interesting document may be consulted in Vol. XX. of the Asiatic Researches . The Diamond Sutra is therein designated The Sutra of Wonderful Effects, a treatise by means of which Sakyamuni Buddha instructs Subhuti, one of his conspicuous disciples, in The Prajna-Paramita of transcendent wisdom.

      ⁴

      To Kumarajiva,

      ⁵

      a native of Kashmir, who gained distinction as a monk of the later Chin dynasty

      ⁶

      (a.d. 384–417), is conceded the honour of having first translated The Diamond Sutra into the Chinese language. Of subsequent Chinese translations, perhaps the most noteworthy is the text ascribed to the scholarly Hiuen-Tsang , and completed about the middle of the seventh century.

      ⁷

      A rendering into English of Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation was accomplished by the Rev. S. Beal, and published in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , 1864–65. The text and German translation of the Tibetan version were published in 1873 by M. Schmidt, in The Mémoires de l’Académie St Pétersbourg . The Mongolian translation was presented by the Baron de Constadt to the library of the Institut de France. The Manchu translation is in the possession of M. de Harlez, who, with the aid of the Tibetan, Manchu, and Chinese versions, published a French translation of the Sanscrit text of The Diamond Sutra in the Journal Asiatique , 1892.

      ⁸

      It has been observed

      ⁹

      that at first sight it may seem as if this metaphysical treatise hardly deserved the world-wide reputation which it has attained. Regarding this descriptive world-wide reputation, devout Buddhists might suggest in extenuation, that throughout many centuries, the spiritual wisdom of The Diamond Sutra produced in countless minds a conscious blessedness of perfect peace. This spiritual wisdom also appeared to be a strong incentive to holiness, and a grateful inspiration to those who had entered the path which leads to Nirvana. In a few renowned monasteries of Central China, our Buddhist friends frequently affirmed that, by contemplating the spiritual wisdom of The Diamond Sutra , the mind would inevitably become transfused with the mellow light of imperishable truth.

      In the preface to The Vagrakkhedika , Max Müller made a critical observation regarding certain peculiarities of ‘style’ adopted in this treatise by the Buddhist philosophers who wished to convince their hearers of the truth of their philosophy. From the Sanscrit text, perhaps it is difficult to realise fully what Asvaghocha

      ¹⁰

      described as the persuasiveness of Buddha’s eloquence;

      ¹¹

      yet we may quite appreciate the academic instinct of Kumarajiva, whose work on The Diamond Sutra bears evidence of a laudable endeavour to produce a classic, which in the Chinese language is almost entirely beyond reproach.

      In all our aspirations to translate or to interpret Buddhist texts, perhaps it might prove advantageous to bear in mind the significant words incorporated in the Light of Asia :—

      " And time hath blurred their script and ancient sense,

      Which once was new and mighty, moving all. "

      Max Müller stated

      ¹²

      that The Diamond Sutra represents a treatise on metaphysical agnosticism, and he excused its endless repetition of the same process of reasoning on the assumption, that the subject-matter of the Sutra was probably perfectly familiar to children and ignorant persons.

      By referring to our Chinese text, we are led to suppose that The Diamond Sutra was delivered expressly for those who had entered the Path which leads to Nirvana, and for those who are attaining to the ultimate plane of Buddhic thought. Our Chinese annotators also appear to be unanimous in suggesting, that the spiritual wisdom of The Diamond Sutra is understood only in its rudimentary forms, by those of immature or uninitiated mind.

      Concerning what has been termed the agnosticism of The Diamond Sutra , Sakyamuni Buddha, when he admissibly delivered the text, indicated clearly that there is a sense in which the highest perfect knowledge

      ¹³

      may be referred to as unknown. Dante appears to have had a similar difficulty regarding knowledge and power wherewith to express the higher forms of spiritual experience; and the following lines, constituting the opening stanzas of The Paradiso , may serve to elucidate the Buddhist position, and make it perhaps more intelligible to those who are as yet unfamiliar with its peculiar modes of thought:—

      " La gloria di colui che tutto move

      Per l’universo penetra, e risplende

      In una parte più, e meno altrove.

      " Nel ciel che più della sua luce prende

      Fu’io; e vidi cose che ridire

      Nè sa nè può qual di lassù discende;

      " Perchè, appressando sè al suo disire,

      Nostro intelletto ¹⁴ si profonda tanto,

      Che retro la memoria non può

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