Profound Wisdom of the Heart Sutra: And Other Teachings

by Bokar Rinpoche, Christiane Buchet (Translator)

The Heart Sutra is one of the most famous texts of Buddhism.Bokar Rinpoche offers here a thorough explanation of the text. How can we approach outer and inner phenomena? This is the subject of the Heart Sutra. As a further help Bokar Rinpoche gives a teaching on anger and Khenpo Donyo comments on karma.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1994

About the author

Bokar Tulku Rinpoche, Karma Shedrup Yongdu Pel Zangpo, was heart-son of the Kalu Rinpoche and a holder of the Karma Kagyü and Shangpa Kagyü lineages. He was later one of the principle teachers of the Kalu Yangzi, held to be the reincarnation of H.E. Kalu Rinpoche, and served as director of the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group.

Reviews

[Dean Oken · Rating 5 out of 5]

could not have been a more apt time for me to read this

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is difficult for me to be critical of a work by an author whose goal was not egoic, seeking to be a literary star, but rather selfless and compassionate, seeking to benefit all beings.

That said, the two sections of this book that deal with the Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra are neither the most informative nor the most clearly presented that I have read. Admittedly, a good part of this criticism has to do with the layout and formatting of these sections, which seem disjointed at times. For example, Tibetan transliterations---idiosyncratic transliterations at that---are interspersed inconsistently throughout the text with brief commentaries that interrupt the flow of the commentary. As another example of the strange composition of the book, glossary-style definitions of terms will often simply appear, wedged between two sections of commentary, even though the book has a complete glossary at the back. ClearPoint Press is obviously not publishing these books to win prizes in book composition, though, so they can definitely be forgiven. :)

Composition and layout issues aside, the book contains a very powerful commentary on anger by the late author, Bokar Rinpoche, and a thoughtful lesson on karma by his primary disciple Khenpo Donyo. Two specific insights from these sections that continue to resonate like a bell within me are "Anger makes us stupid" and "If it impossible for us to immediately give up some aspects of our conduct, at least we can aspire that they will disappear sometime in the future."

All in all, a very worthwhile read, but perhaps not essential in a world increasingly saturated with books on Buddhadharma.