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Diamond Sutra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Diamond Stra is a Mahyna stra from thePrajpramit, or "Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment. The full Sanskrit title of this text is theVajracchedik Prajpramit Stra. A copy of the Chinese version of Diamond Stra, found among the Dunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th century by Aurel Stein, was dated back to May 11, 868.[1]It is, in the words of the British Library, "the earliest complete survival of a dated printed book."[2]
Contents [hide] 1 Title 2 History 3 Contents and teachings 4 Dunhuang block print 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links

Title

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The earliest known Sanskrit title for the stra is the Vajracchedik Prajpramit Stra, which may be translated roughly as the "Vajra Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Stra." In English, shortened forms such as Diamond Stra andVajra Stra are common. The Diamond Strahas also been highly regarded in a number of Asian countries where Mahyna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. Translations of this title into the languages of some of these countries include: Sanskrit: , Vajracchedik Prajpramit Stra Chinese: , Jingang Boreboluomiduo Jing (Chin-k ang Po-je-po-lo-mi-to Ching); shortened to , Jingang Jing (Chin-k ang Ching) Japanese: , Kong hannya haramitsu k y, shortened to ,Kong-k y Korean: , geumgang banyabaramil gyeong, shortened to ,geumgang gyeong Vietnamese Kim cng bt-nh-ba-la-mt-a k inh, shortened to Kim cng k inh Tibetan , Wylie: phags pa shes rab k yi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen poi mdo

History

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The full history of the text remains unknown, but Japanese scholars generally consider theDiamond Stra to be from a very early date in the development of Prajpramit literature.[3] Some western scholars also believe that theAashasrik Prajpramit Stra was adapted from the earlier Vajracchedik Prajpramit Stra.[3] Early western scholarship on theDiamond Stra is summarized by Mller.[4] The first translation of the Diamond Stra into Chinese is thought to have been made in 401 CE by the venerated and prolific translator Kumrajva.[5] Kumrajva's translation style is distinctive, Statue of Kumrajva in front of the Kizil Caves in Kuqa, Xinjiang province, China possessing a flowing smoothness that reflects his prioritization on [6] conveying the meaning as opposed to precise literal rendering. The Kumrajva translation has been particularly highly regarded over the centuries, and it is this version that appears on
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Diamond Sutra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the 868 CE Dunhuang scroll. In addition to the Kumrajva translation, a number of later translations exist. The Diamond Stra was again translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Bodhiruci in 509 CE, Paramrtha in 558 CE, Xuanzang in 648 CE, and Yijing in 703 CE.[7][8][9][10] The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang visited a Mahsghika-Lokottaravda monastery atBamiyan, Afghanistan, in the 7th century CE. Using Xuanzang's travel accounts, modern archaeologists have identified the site of this monastery.[11] Birchbark manuscript fragments of several Mahyna stras have been discovered at the site, including the Vajracchedik Prajpramit Stra (MS 2385), and these are now part of the Schyen Collection.[11] This manuscript was written in the Sanskrit language, and written in an ornate form of the Gupta script.[12] This same Sanskrit manuscript also contains the Medicine Buddha Stra(Bhaiajyaguruvairyaprabhrja Stra).[12] The Diamond Stra gave rise to a culture of artwork, stra veneration, and commentaries in East Asian Buddhism. By the end of the Tang Dynasty (907) in China there were over 800 commentaries written on it.[13] One of the best known commentaries is the Exegesis on the Diamond Sutra by Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School. [14]

Contents and teachings

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The Diamond Stra, like many Buddhist stras, begins with the phrase "Thus have I heard" (Skt.eva may rutam). In the stra, the Buddha has finished his daily walk with the monks to gather offerings of food, and he sits down to rest. ElderSubhti comes forth and asks the Buddha a question. What follows is a dialogue regarding the nature of perception. The Buddha often uses paradoxical phrases such as, "What A traditional pocket-sized folding edition [15] of the Diamond Stra in Chinese is called the highest teaching is not the highest teaching". The Buddha is generally thought to be trying to help Subhti unlearn his preconceived, limited notions of the nature of reality and enlightenment. Emphasizing that allforms, thoughts and conceptions are ultimately illusory, he teaches that true enlightenment cannot be grasped through them; they must be set aside. In his commentary on the Diamond Stra Hsing Yun describes the four main points from the stra as giving without attachment to self, liberating beings without notions of self and other, living without attachment, and cultivating without attainment.[16] Throughout the teaching, the Buddha repeats that successful assimilation of even a four-line extract of it is of incalculable merit and can bring about enlightenment. One specific extract that draws much attention in this respect is a highly ornate four-line verse aboutimpermanence appearing at the end of the stra.[17] Section 26 also ends with a four-linegatha. All composed things are like a dream, a phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning. That is how to meditate on them, that is how to observe them.[18]

Dunhuang block print

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There is a wood block printed copy in the British Library which, although not the earliest example of block printing, is the earliest example which bears an actual date. The book displays a great maturity of design and layout and speaks of a considerable ancestry for woodblock printing. The extant copy has the form of a scroll, about 16 feet long. The archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Steinpurchased it in 1907 in the walled-up Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in northwest China from a monk guarding the caves - known as the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas".
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Diamond Sutra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The colophon, at the inner end, reads: Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong [11 May 868]. This is approximately 587 years before the Gutenberg Bible was first printed. In 2010 UK writer and historian Frances Wood, head of the Chinese section at the British Library, was involved in the restoration of its copy of the book.[19] The British Library website allows readers to view the Diamond Sutra and turn the pages.[20]

The Chinese Diamond Stra, the oldest know n dated printed book in the w orld

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