Dating 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 the ideological origins of
Japanese Zen and Korean Son. Purported to be the recorded words of the
famed Huineng, who was understood to be the Sixth Patriarch of Chan and
the father of all later Chan/Zen Buddhism, the Platform Sutra
illuminates fundamental Chan Buddhist principles in an expressive sermon
that describes how Huineng overcame great personal and ideological
challenges to uphold the exalted lineage of the enlightened Chan
patriarchs while realizing the ultimate Buddhist truth of the original,
pure nature of all sentient beings.
Huineng seems to reject meditation, the value of good karma, and the
worship of the buddhas, conferring instead a set of "formless precepts"
on his audience, marked by embedded notes in the text. In his central
message, an inherent, perfect buddha nature stands as the original true
condition of all sentient beings, which people of all backgrounds can
experience for themselves. Philip Yampolsky's masterful translation
contains extensive explanatory notes and an edited, amended version of
the Chinese text. His introduction critically considers the background
and historical setting of the work and locates Huineng's place within
the history and legends of Chan Buddhism. This new edition features a
foreword by Morten Schlutter further situating the Platform Sutra
within recent historical research and textual evidence, and an updated
glossary that includes the modern pinyin system of transcription.
