The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra are texts belonging to the Prajñpramit category of Mahayana Buddhism, which translates to ‘Perfection of Wisdom’.
The Prajñpramit literature consists of thirty-eight different books, composed in India between 100 B.C. and A.D. 600. The judgement of thirty generations of Buddhists in China, Japan, Tibet and Mongolia has singled out two of these as the holiest of the holy – the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, both perhaps of about the fourth century of our era. The first is known in Sanskrit as Vajracchedik Prajñpramit, the ‘Perfection of Wisdom which cuts like a thunderbolt’. The second sets out to formulate the very ‘heart’, ‘core’ or ‘essence’ of perfect wisdom, and is as diligently studied in the Zen monasteries of Japan as in the lamaseries of Tibet.
This English translation has rare insights into this ancient text.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Edward Conze
Dr. Conze, widely known as a leading Buddhist scholar through his many publications (among them Buddhism: Its Essence and Development, which has become a classic), has published during the thirty years of his working life a great number of important articles which are scattered over many periodicals difficult or almost impossible to obtain. To meet a growing demand for the most important of these articles to be re-published we are presenting this volume which contains both translations and original essays: the indispensable report on Recent Progress in Buddhist Studies; the survey of Mahayana Buddhism which is still the only account based on the actual sources; the comparisons of Buddhist and European philosophy; the essay on Buddhist Saviours. The remaining articles deal with the Prajnaparamita on which the author is the leading authority in the West. The translations included will be specially welcome because reliable English translations of Buddhist texts are still rare. Thus this volume will be invaluable and indispensable for all students of religion and philosophy.
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