Exploring the Heart Sutra

(Hardback)

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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. Mattices 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 womens 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.

Reviews

"Exploring the Heart Sutra is an object lesson on the world of correlative thinking it purports to engage. The north star is Sarah Mattice's philosophical translation of the Heart Sutra together with the expansive line commentary she provides in explanation. And the pedagogical constellation that pays the Heart Sutra homage are her chapters on authorship, historical context, translation issues, the iconic Guanyin, women practitioners, and the interpretive context necessary to take this text on its own terms. Mattice dishes out the cosmos in a spoon."

-- Roger T. Ames, Peking University

"In her Exploring the Heart Stra, Sarah Mattice reveals to us all the benefits of a multi-disciplinary approach to translating and re-engaging with classical texts of such profound importance for Buddhist practicers. Music sampling, ancient and modern translation theories, historical and philosophical analysis, and ethnographic field interviews all inform Mattice's new and compelling presentation of the Heart Stra. Her work discloses just how fundamental the text was for Buddhist thought and practice, in the ancient and modern worlds, and for women in both periods."

-- Douglas L. Berger, Leiden University

"A fascinating study and new translation of the Heart Sutra, Exploring the Heart Sutra sheds new light on this classic Mahayana text. Mattices nuanced interdisciplinary philosophical analysis brings together history, translation theory, feminist gender analysis, ethnographic interviews, and Chinese philosophy. Through the lens of her interdisciplinary analytic philosophical approach, Mattice offers us not only new ways of understanding, interpreting, and analyzing the Heart Sutra and its rich history, but also much needed new ways of understanding and appreciating the Heart Sutras place in womens practice and contemporary lived experience and what it has to offer us today."

-- Erin McCarthy, St. Lawrence University

"Sarah Mattice's outstanding new translation and commentary gives readers a living and breathing Heart Sutra. With attention to philosophical context, while taking seriously the text's Chinese heritage, and while centering women's voices and experiences, Mattice allows the text to speak to us as it speaks to the millions of practitioners who chant it daily worldwide."

-- Leah Kalmanson, University of North Texas

Author Bio

Sarah A. Mattice is associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of North Florida.