The Diamond Sutra and The Sutra of Hui-neng

Nov 2005 · Shambhala Publications

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Two classic Zen Buddhist texts that present the foundational teachings of the tradition—now collected in one volume for the modern practitioner

The Diamond Sutra, composed in India in the fourth century CE, is one of the most treasured works of Buddhist literature and is the oldest existing printed book in the world. It is known as the Diamond Sutra because its teachings are said to be like diamonds that cut away all dualistic thought, releasing one from the attachment to objects and bringing one to the further shore of enlightenment. The format of this important sutra is presented as a conversation between the Buddha and one of his disciples. 

The Sutra of Hui-neng, also known as the Platform Sutra, contains the autobiography of a pivotal figure in Zen history and some of the most profound passages of Zen literature. Hui-neng (638–713) was the sixth patriarch of Zen in China but is often regarded as the true father of the Zen tradition. He was a poor, illiterate woodcutter who is said to have attained enlightenment upon hearing a recitation of the Diamond Sutra. Together, these two scriptures present the central teaching of the Zen Buddhist tradition and are essential reading for all students of Buddhism.

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Wong Mou-lam (1886–1934) was from Guangdong, China. He completed the first published English translation of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch in 1930. Mou-lam also translated The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng, two of the most treasured works of Buddhist literature, the first of which is considered the oldest existing printed book in the world.

A. F. Price is the translator of the ancient and revered Zen Buddhist scriptures The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-neng. In her book Embracing Illusion: Truth and Fiction in the Dream of the Nine Clouds, author Francisca Cho praised Price's work for its "readability and faithfulness to Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation."

W. Y. Evans-Wentz (1878–1965) was an American author and anthropologist. Evans-Wentz was an innovator in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, whose work helped to introduce Tibetan Buddhism to Western culture. While best known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, he translated many other significant Tibetan texts and wrote the foreword to The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-neng.

Christmas Humphreys (1901–1983) took an interest in Buddhism at a young age and founded the Buddhist Society in London in 1924. The Buddhist Society is now the biggest and oldest Buddhist organization in Europe. In 1945, he expressed his interest in world Buddhism in his famous “Twelve Principles of Buddhism.” He is the author of Buddhism: An Introduction and Guide and A Western Approach to Zen, among others.