Thích Nhất Hạnh

This new translation of the Buddha's most important, most studied teaching offers a radical new interpretation. In September, 2014 Thich Nhat Hanh completed a profound and beautiful new English translation of the Prajñaparamita Heart Sutra, one of the most important and well-known sutras in Buddhism. The Heart Sutra is recited daily in Mahayana temples and practice centers throughout the world. This new translation came about because Thich Nhat Hanh believes that the patriarch who originally compiled the Heart Sutra was not sufficiently skillful with his use of language to capture the intention of the Buddha's teachings—and has resulted in fundamental misunderstandings of the central tenets of Buddhism for almost 2,000 years. In The Other Shore: A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries, Thich Nhat Hanh provides the new translation with commentaries based on his interpretation. Revealing the Buddha's original intention and insight makes clear what it means to transcend duality and pairs of opposites, such as birth and death, and to touch the ultimate reality and the wisdom of nondiscrimination. By helping to demystify the term "emptiness," the Heart Sutra is made more accessible and understandable. Prior to the publication of The Other Shore, Thich Nhat Hanh's translation and commentaries of the Heart Sutra, called The Heart of Understanding, sold more than 120,000 copies in various editions and is one of the most beloved commentaries of this critical teaching. This new book, The Other Shore, supersedes all prior translations.

A New Translation of the Heart Sutra with Commentaries

The Other Shore

Laura Mei

Mother Earth is always taking care of us. When we learn to take care of our body, our feelings, our perceptions, our mental formations, and our consciousness, we are also taking care of Mother Earth.

From the point of view of Mother Earth, poison oak and weeds are as wonderful as chrysanthemum or rosemary. It is our mind consciousness that discriminates and declares, "I want this and I do not want that." Mother Earth does not have these ideas. The true nature of reality for her is neither defiled not pure, neither increasing no decreasing. The true nature of everything is free from concepts such as good and evil; it is indeterminate. There is no discrimination. As living beings, we have our needs, desires, and cravings, and we have our discrimination. So we see things in terms of good and evil, increasing and decreasing, defiled and immaculate. Mother Earth does not discriminate. If you throw perfume or flowers on her, she's not proud. If you throw urine or excrement on her, she's not offended. For her, everything is perfect. She knows that without this, the other cannot be. Without the mud, the lotus cannot be. So we can learn a lot from Mother Earth.

The Other Shore quotes

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