The Platform sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: the text of the Tun-huang manuscript PDF
Preview The Platform sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: the text of the Tun-huang manuscript
D ating back to the eighth century c.e., the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a foundational text of Chan/Zen Buddhism that reveals much about the early evolution of Chinese Chan and T H the ideological origins of Japanese Zen and Korean So˘n. Purported to be the recorded words E of the famed Huineng, who was understood to be the Sixth Patriarch of Chan and the father of all P later Chan/Zen Buddhism, the Platform Sutra illuminates fundamental Chan Buddhist principles L in an expressive sermon that describes how Huineng overcame great personal and ideological A challenges to uphold the exalted lineage of the enlightened Chan patriarchs while realizing the T ultimate Buddhist truth of the original, pure nature of all sentient beings. F Huineng seems to reject meditation, the value of good karma, and the worship of the buddhas, O R conferring instead a set of “formless precepts” on his audience, marked by embedded notes in the M text. In his central message, an inherent, perfect buddha nature stands as the original true con- dition of all sentient beings, which people of all backgrounds can experience for themselves. Philip S Yampolsky’s masterful translation contains extensive explanatory notes and an edited, amended U version of the Chinese text. His introduction critically considers the background and historical set- THE T ting of the work and locates Huineng’s place within the history and legends of Chan Buddhism. R This new edition features a foreword by Morten Schlütter further situating the Platform Sutra within A P L A T F O R M S U T R A recent historical research and textual evidence, and an updated glossary that includes the modern O pinyin system of transcription. F • OF T HE T H “ [Yampolsky] has consulted a considerable amount of Chinese and Japanese material and has given E us the most comprehensive and most scholarly account of the subject in English.” S S I X T H P A T R I A R C H —Journal of the American Oriental Society I X “ [This] translation of one of the most famous of all Chinese Ch’an texts is certainly the best rendition T THE TEXT OF T HE so far. Without sacrificing scholarly accuracy, Yampolsky has produced a lucid and idiomatic H TUN-HUANG MANUSCRIPT translation which even the layman can enjoy.” —Books Abroad P A • “ Remarkable. . . . Yampolsky’s study is characterized by a clarity of presentation and a thoroughness T of exploration of Chinese and Japanese sources.” —Philosophy East and West R with translation, introduction, I “ A good glossary and a valuable bibliography. The addition of the Chinese text of the Sutra (Tun- A and notes by Huang version) will be particularly welcome to those who read Chinese.” R PHILIP B. YAMPOLSKY —Journal of Asian Studies C • H with a new foreword by MORTEN SCHLÜTTER PHILIP B. YAMPOLSKY (1920–1996) was professor of East Asian languages and cultures and • director of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University. An eminent translator and Y and an updated glossary A scholar of Zen Buddhist texts, he edited Letters of Nichiren and Selected Writings of Nichiren and M translated The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings. P O L MORTEN SCHLÜTTER is an associate professor at the University of Iowa. He is the author of S How Zen Became Zen: The Dispute Over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song- K Y Dynasty China and coeditor, with Stephen F. Teiser, of Readings of the Platform Su–tra. Cover design by Kathleen Lynch/Black Kat Design Cover illustration: © The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved. Dunhuang manuscript, Or. 8210/Stein 5475 2-3. columbia university press / new york www.cup.columbia.edu printed in the u.s.a. COLUMBIA Yampolsky_cvr_mech_sm-S.indd 1 1/17/12 1:02:13 AM The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch translations from the asian classics translations from the asian classics Editorial Board Wm. Theodore de Bary, Chair Paul Anderer Donald Keene George A. Saliba Wei Shang Haruo Shirane Burton Watson The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch The Text of the tun-huang manuscript with translation, introduction, and notes by Philip B. Yampolsky Columbia University Press New York Philip B. Yampolsky was a Lecturer in Japanese at Columbia University until his death in 1996. This study, prepared under the Graduate Faculties of Columbia University, was selected by a committee of those Faculties to receive one of the Clarke F. Ansley awards given annually by Columbia University Press. Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2012 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huineng, 638–713. [Liuzu da shi fa bao tan jing. English & Chinese] The Platform sutra of the Sixth Patriarch : the text of the Tun-huang manuscript / with translation, introduction, and notes by Philip B. Yampolsky. p. cm. — (Translations from the Asian classics) In English and Chinese; translated from Chinese. Originally published: 1967. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-15956-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-15957-9 (pbk.) 1. Zen Buddhism—Early works to 1800. I. Yampolsky, Philip B. (Philip Boas), 1920-1996. II. Huineng, 638-713. Liuzu da shi fa bao tan jing. III. Title. IV. Series. BQ9299.H854L613 2012 294.3'85—dc23 2011019122 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. This book was printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. To Yoshitaka Iriya Contents Foreword to the Reprint Edition by Morten Schlütter ix Foreword by Wm. Theodore de Bary xiii Preface xv Abbreviations xvii Introduction: Ch’an in the Eighth Century I. The Formation of the Legend 1 The Laṅkāvatāra School 3 Shen-hui 23 II. The Birth of a Patriarch: Biography of Hui-neng 58 III. The Making of a Book: The Platform Sutra 89 IV. Content Analysis 111 The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch 123 Glossary 185 Bibliography 195 Index 209 The Tun-huang Text following 216 Tables 1. The Twenty-eight Indian Patriarchs 8 2. The Last Indian Patriarchs 102 Foreword to the Reprint Edition widely read and retold in East Asia since the eighth century, the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch is a foundational text of Chan Bud- dhism (known in Japan as “Zen”). The origins of the text can be traced back to the beginnings of Chan itself in seventh-century China, but for centu- ries the only known editions of the Platform Sūtra dated to 1290 or later. However, in the first decades of the twentieth century an early manuscript of the Platform Sūtra was found in a hidden temple library at Dunhuang in western China. This text, dating to ca. 780 and in many ways quite different from the later versions, is an invaluable source for understanding the early development of Chan Buddhism. The present reissue of Philip Yampolsky’s study and translation of the Dunhuang manuscript, originally published in 1967, will be of great value to anyone interested in the origins and early evolution of Chan Buddhism in China and the foundations of later Chi- ŏ nese Chan and Japanese Zen, as well as Korean S n. The Dunhuang Platform Sūtra is an exciting and inspiring text that still has the power to capture an audience well over a thousand years after its composition. Created at a time when Chan only recently had become a self-aware movement, and when issues of who held the true patriarchal succession and what constituted the true Chan teachings had come to the fore, the text affords us a window into both doctrinal innovations and fac- tional struggles within the nascent Chan school. At the core of the Plat- form Sūtra is the dramatic story of how a poor and despised commoner by the name of Huineng becomes the sole heir to an exalted lineage of en- lightened Chan patriarchs going all the way back to the Buddha himself. Cast as a recorded sermon addressed to both monastics and laypeople, the text has Huineng first tell his own story, then deliver a number of often startling teachings that seem to reject seated meditation, dismiss the value of seeking merit, and repudiate worship of the buddhas. In addition, Huineng personally confers a set of “formless precepts” on the members of his audience, a ceremony in which the readers of the Platform Sūtra are also invited to participate through embedded notes in the text. The in- novative format of the Platform Sūtra and its dramatic story, provocative teachings, and affirmation of the validity of lay practice have ensured its survival over many centuries and made it a popular text among monastics and laypeople alike.
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