Buddhism as an Education

The path to Enlightenment



Namo Amitabha

Master Di-Xian and the student who so successfully chanted “Namo Amituofo” for three years, the student knew in advance when he would be born into the Pure Land. He told the woman who brought his food daily, that she need not bring it the following day. After he passed away from this world, he remained in a standing position for three days waiting for his master to come to make final arrangements. His birth into the Pure Land was into the highest level. His accomplishment is proof of the eighteenth vow, which explains to us that this birth can be accomplished with just ten recitations of “Amituofo”.




The Heart Sutra

Prajnaparmita Hrdaya Sutra

Translated by Tripitaka Master
Hsuan Tsang of the Tang Dynasty
With Commentary by Grand Master Tan Hsu

Of the seven known translations of the Heart Sutra the one by the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Tsang is the most popular. Tripitaka is a Sanskrit term designating Buddhist canon, a Buddhist text which consists of three sections: 1. Sutras or original texts, or in other words, Buddhadharma. 2. Vinaya or rules of discipline and 3. Sastras or commentaries related to theory and practice, as well as to the teachings in relation to non-Buddhist argument. Dharma master Hsuan Tsang understood the Tripitaka thoroughly and therefore the title of Tripitaka Master was bestowed upon him. He did not study canonical texts primarily for personal satisfaction; his purpose was to make them available to others and he acted in compliance with a direct order from the emperor. Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang is a very famous sage from the T'ang Dynasty. The description of the arduous way he obtained the scriptures is known to every family and household and there is no need to delve into it at this time.

The Prajna literature is very extensive; it covers approximately twenty years of the Buddha's teaching career. The seven translations of the sutra display minor differences but the essential meaning was respected in each case. There is no major difference between the seven of them. According to the Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva's translation, this sutra was spoken by the Buddha.

Every translation of the Heart Sutra includes a commentary which consists of three parts: i) The reason for the sutra; 2) the method used to convey the meaning; 3) the sutra's history. The Heart Sutra was composed of excerpts from the Mahaprajnapdramita texts, and simple words were carefully employed to convey profound meanings. Although the Chinese version contains only two hundred sixty single characters, nevertheless it embodies the entire Prajna literature in all its depth and subtlety. As to the reason for this sutra, we only need to look at the method used to put the text together and we realize that the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was chosen as the model for the rest of us, and that the sutra was spoken by the Buddha. To understand it thoroughly is to understand all of the Prajna literature. We are not going to address the sutra's history at this time.

 

 




Namo Amitabha

Life’s most awesome event is death, and death comes to all without regard to wealth, beauty, intelligence or fame. Death is inevitable, but how you die—terrified and confused, or with confidence and spiritual mastery—is within your control.