Elder Subhūti addresses the

Buddha. Detail from the

Dunhuang block print

Diamond SutraFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Diamond Sūtra is a Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or"Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abidingand non-attachment.

A copy of the Chinese version of Diamond Sūtra, found among theDunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th century and dated back to May 11,

868,[1] is, in the words of the British Library, "the earliest complete survival of

a dated printed book."[2]

The full Sanskrit title of this text is the Vajracchedikā PrajñāpāramitāSūtra.

Contents

1 Title2 History

3 Contents and teachings

4 Dunhuang block print

5 See also

6 References

7 Bibliography8 External links

Title

The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, which may betranslated roughly as the "Vajra Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra." In English, shortened forms such asDiamond Sūtra and Vajra Sūtra are common. The Diamond Sūtra has also been highly regarded in a numberof Asian countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. Translations of this title into thelanguages of some of these countries include:

Sanskrit: व��छे�दका��ापारिमतास�ू, Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra

Chinese: 金剛般若波羅蜜多經, jīngāng bōrěbōluómìduō jīng, shortened to 金剛經, jīngāng jīng

Japanese: 金剛般若波羅蜜多経, Kongō hannya haramitsu kyō, shortened to 金剛経, Kongō-kyō

Korean: 금강반야바라밀경, geumgang banyabaramil gyeong, shortened to 금강경, geumgang

gyeong

Vietnamese Kim cương bát-nhã-ba-la-mật-đa kinh, shortened to Kim cương kinhTibetan (Wylie): ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa zhes bya ba theg pa

chen po’i mdo

History

The full history of the text remains unknown, but Japanese scholars generally consider the Diamond Sūtra to be

The Chinese Diamond Sūtra, the

oldest known dated printed book in

the world.

A traditional pocket-sized folding

edition of the Diamond Sūtra in

Chinese

from a very early date in the development of Prajñāpāramitā

literature.[3] Some western scholars also believe that theAṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra was adapted from the earlier

Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra.[3] Early western scholarship

on the Diamond Sūtra is summarized by Müller.[4]

The first translation of the Diamond Sūtra into Chinese is thought tohave been made in 401 CE by the venerated and prolific translator

Kumārajīva.[5] Kumārajīva's translation style is distinctive, possessinga flowing smoothness that reflects his prioritization on conveying the

meaning as opposed to precise literal rendering.[6] The Kumārajīvatranslation has been particularly highly regarded over the centuries,and it is this version that appears on the 868 CE Dunhuang scroll. Inaddition to the Kumārajīva translation, a number of later translationsexist. The Diamond Sūtra was again translated from Sanskrit intoChinese by Bodhiruci in 509 CE, Paramārtha in 558 CE, Xuanzang in

648 CE, and Yijing in 703 CE.[7][8][9][10]

The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang visited a Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda monastery at Bamiyan,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 Mahāyāna sūtras have been discovered atthe site, including the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (MS 2385), and these are now part of the

Schøyen Collection.[12] These manuscript fragments are in a Sanskritized Gāndhārī language, and written in the

Kharoṣṭhī script.[13]

Contents and teachings

The Diamond Sūtra, like many Buddhist sūtras, begins with thephrase "Thus have I heard" (Skt. evaṃ mayā śrutam). In the sūtra,the Buddha has finished his daily walk with the monks to gatherofferings of food, and he sits down to rest. Elder Subhūti comes forthand asks the Buddha a question. What follows is a dialogue regardingthe nature of perception. The Buddha often uses paradoxical phrasessuch as, "What is called the highest teaching is not the highest

teaching".[14] The Buddha is generally thought to be trying to helpSubhūti unlearn his preconceived, limited notions of the nature ofreality and enlightenment. Emphasizing that all forms, thoughts andconceptions are ultimately illusory, he teaches that true enlightenment cannot be not grasped through them; theymust be set aside.

A four-line verse about impermanence appears at the end of the sūtra.[15]

Dunhuang block print

There is a wood block printed copy in the British Library which, although not the earliest example of blockprinting, is the earliest example which bears an actual date. The book displays a great maturity of design andlayout 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 Stein purchasedit 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".

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.[16] The British Library website allows readers to view the

Diamond Sutra and turn the pages.[17]

See also

Science and technology of the Tang Dynasty

References

1. ^ Soeng, Mu (2000-06-15). Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World(http://books.google.com/books?id=yhX_1dVKLtcC&pg=PA58) . Wisdom Publications. p. 58.ISBN 9780861711604. http://books.google.com/books?id=yhX_1dVKLtcC&pg=PA58. Retrieved 11 May 2012.

2. ^ "Sacred Texts: Diamond Sutra" (http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/diamondsutra.html) . Bl.uk.2003-11-30. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/diamondsutra.html. Retrieved 2010-04-01.

3. ̂a b Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: the Doctrinal Foundations. London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02537-0. p.42

4. ^ Müller, Friedrich Max, ed.: The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XLIX: Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1894, pp. xii-xix

5. ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 235)(http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0013.html) ,http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0013.html

6. ^ Nattier, Jan. The Heart Sutra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text?. Journal of the International Association ofBuddhist Studies Vol. 15 Nbr. 2 (1992)

7. ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 236)(http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0014.html) ,http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0014.html

8. ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 237)(http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0015.html) ,http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0015.html

9. ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 220,9)(http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0016.html) ,http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0016.html

10. ^ The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog (T 239)(http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0017.html) ,http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0017.html

11. ^ "Schøyen Collection: Buddhism" (http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html) .http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html. Retrieved 23 June 2012.

12. ^ "Schøyen Collection: Buddhism" (http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html) .http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html. Retrieved 23 June 2012.

13. ^ "Schøyen Collection: Buddhism" (http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html) .http://www.schoyencollection.com/buddhism.html. Retrieved 3 July 2012.

14. ^ Diamond Sutra, Sec. 8, Subsec. 5 金剛經，依法出生分第八，五：結歸離相

15. ^ "The Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra"

(http://lapislazulitexts.com/vajracchedika_prajnaparamita_sutra.html) . Lapis Lazuli Texts.http://lapislazulitexts.com/vajracchedika_prajnaparamita_sutra.html. Retrieved 19 September 2010.

16. ^ "Restoring the world's oldest book, the Diamond Sutra" at bbc.co.uk (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11912738)

17. ^ "Copy of Diamond Sutra" at bl.uk (http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/sutra/sutra_broadband.htm?middle)

Bibliography

Thich Nhat Hanh: The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion: Commentaries on the Prajñaparamita

Diamond Sutra. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1992 ISBN 0-938077-51-1Mu Soeng: The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World. Boston: Wisdom

Publications, 2000 ISBN 0-86171-160-2

Friedrich Max Müller, ed.: The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XLIX: Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1894 ISBN 1-60206-381-8Nan Huaijin: Diamond Sutra Explained. Florham Park, NJ: Primordia, 2004 ISBN 0-9716561-2-6

Red Pine: The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom; Text and Commentaries Translated

from Sanskrit and Chinese. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2001 ISBN 1-58243-256-2

Frances Wood and Mark Barnard: The Diamond Sutra: The Story of the World's Earliest DatedPrinted Book. British Library, 2010 ISBN 978-0-7123-5090-7

van Schaik (2011-12): "The Diamond Sutra: History and Transmission. Sam van Schaik. IDP News,

No. 38, Winter 2011-12. ISSN 1354-5914, pp. 2-3.Wood and Barnard (2011-12): "Restoration of the Diamond Sutra." Francis Wood and Mark Barnard.

IDP News, No. 38, Winter 2011-12. ISSN 1354-5914, pp. 4-5.

Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters, Journeys on the Silk Road: a desert explorer, Buddha’s secret

library, and the unearthing of the world’s oldest printed book, Picador Australia, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4050-4041-9.

For a close reading of the text's rhetoric, see chapter 4 of Alan Cole's Text as Father: Paternal

Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature (Berkeley: U Cal Press, 2005) entitled "Be All

You Can't Be, and Other Gainful Losses in the Diamond Sutra."

External links

Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra: English Translation

(http://lapislazulitexts.com/vajracchedika_prajnaparamita_sutra.html) , Lapis Lazuli TextsDiamond Sutra: English Translation (http://www.gblt.site50.net/index.php?

main=main04.03&library=library06.02) , by A. F. Price and Wong Mou-Lam

The Diamond of Perfect Wisdom Sutra: English Translation (http://ctzen.org/sunnyvale/enUS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=141&Itemid=57) , by Chung Tai Translation Committee

Romanized Sanskrit (http://uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?

q=node/35&textID=a7dd52dbb052454c82) and Devanagari

(http://uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node/35&textID=d9cb449ebce04644c0) of theDiamond Sutra in the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon.

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