Book
Exploring the Heart Sutra
(2021)
Abstract
Exploring the Heart Sutra offers readers an interdisciplinary philosophical approach to this much-loved Buddhist classic, with a new translation and commentary. Situating the Heart Sutra within a Chinese context, Sarah A. Mattice brings together voices past and present, Asian and Western, on topics from Buddhology, translation theory, feminism, religious studies, ethnography, Chinese philosophy, and more, in order to inspire readers to understand the sutra in a new light. Mattice’s argument for the importance of appreciating the Heart Sutra from a Chinese philosophical context includes a new hermeneutic paradigm for approaching composite texts; an argument for translating the text from the Chinese, rather than the Sanskrit; an extended discussion of the figure of Guanyin, bodhisattva of compassion and main speaker of the Heart Sutra, as a distinctively Chinese figure; an inquiry in to the history of women’s practice, with a special focus on China; and a commentary on the text that draws on philosophical resources from Chinese Buddhist, Ruist, and Daoist traditions. Mattice presents the Heart Sutra in its depth and complexity, inviting readers to return to this classic text with fresh perspectives and new insights into its relevance for living well in the contemporary world.
Keywords
- Comparative Philosophy,
- East Asian Buddhism,
- Heart Sutra,
- Feminist Philosophy,
- Translation Theory
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall October 15, 2021
Publisher
Lexington Books
ISBN
978-1-4985-9940-5
Citation Information
Sarah Mattice. Exploring the Heart Sutra. (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sarah-mattice/34/