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Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sūtra
The Heart Sutra is perhaps the most famous Buddhist text, traditionally regarded as a potent expression of emptiness and of the Buddha's perfect wisdom. This brief, seemingly simple work was the subject of more commentaries in Asia than any other sutra. In Elaborations on Emptiness, Donald Lopez explores for the first time the elaborate philosophical and ritual uses of the Heart Sutra in India, Tibet, and the West.
Included here are full translations of the eight extant Indian commentaries. Interspersed with the translations are six essays that examine the unusual roles the Heart Sutra has played: it has been used as a mantra, an exorcism text, a tantric meditation guide, and as the material for comparative philosophy. Taken together, the translations and essays that form Elaborations on Emptiness demonstrate why commentary is as central to modern scholarship on Buddhism as it was for ancient Buddhists. Lopez reveals unexpected points of instability and contradiction in the Heart Sutra, which, in the end, turns out to be the most malleable of texts, where the logic of commentary serves as a tool of both tradition and transgression.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 8, 1996
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About the author
Donald S. Lopez Jr.
70 books56 followersDonald Sewell Lopez, Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.
Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.
Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.
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December 30, 2023
Interpreting The Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra, probably written about 350 A.D. is among the most famous of Buddhist texts. It is short, enigmatic, and profound and has been the subject of more commentary than any other Buddhist text. It is a basic Scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, a broad Buddhist movement that arose in reaction to the earlier teachings which today are called Theravada Buddhism. (The relationship between Mahayana and Theravada is one of the themes of this book.)
The Heart Sutra is best known for its difficult statement, "form is empty; emptiness is form" and for the mantra included in the text, usually translated "gone, gone, gone completely beyond, enlightenment".
The earliest surviving commentaries on the Heart Sutra were written in India between 750 and 1050 A.D. which, historically, is near the end of the period of the development of Buddhism in India. There are eight commentaries of varying lengths and perspectives. The original versions of these commentaries in Sanskrit do not survive, but they have been passed down in their Tibetan translations. The Heart Sutra became an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism, and a recent commentary has been published by the Dalai Lama.
Professor Donald Lopez of the University of Michigan is the author of many books on Buddhism which manage somehow to be scholarly, naturalistic, and inspiring at the same time. In 1988, he published a book with the overly-ambitious title, "The Heart Sutra Explained" in which he discussed seven of the eight ancient Indian commentaries. His more recent book, "Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra" (1996)includes translations of all eight of the early commentaries interspersed with Professor Lopez's own commentary and essays.
Professor Lopez has written a formidable book indeed, but one which will reward study. The book discusses in detail the Heart Sutra, the commentaries, Buddhist practices and beliefs on which the commentaries were based, and the nature and limitations of commentarial interpretation.
The book opens with the text of the Heart Sutra which should be read carefully before the reader begins. Professor Lopez's essays discuss major issues in the interpretation of the Heart Sutra, and he attempts to explain why the early commentators focused on the issues that they did. Thus Lopez discusses the phrase "Thus have I heard" with which the Heart Sutra, in common with most Buddhist Sutras, opens and discusses the divergent commentarial views of who is speaking and why this issue is important to interpretation. Lopez discusses whether the Heart Sutra is, as some commentators have taken it, part of the Tantric school of Buddhism; and he explores the underlying question of what Tantra is. There is a fascinating chapter on the use of visualizations in Buddhist meditation together with a lengthy discussion of the meditation-drama associated in some commentaries with the text of the Sutra. Professor Lopez discusses the use of the Heart Sutra as part of an exorcism rite in Tibet, which will come as a corrective to those students who take an overly rationalistic view of Buddhist practice. Professor Lopez concludes with reflections on the nature of commentarial interpretation, both as practiced in ancient India and in today's world, emphasizing the purpose and difficulty of commentary and how it both illuminates and obscures a text. He draws on modern critical theory for his discussion, with good use of the work of Hans Gadamer and illuminating references to the use of commentary in Judaism, among other sources.
Lopez's discussions flow well into and illuminate the texts of the eight Indian commentators. They show as well why the commentaries as well as the Heart Sutra remain provocative, timeless and obscure.
This is a scholarly book which presupposes a certain background in Buddhism in the reader. It is tough-minded and academically rigorous. Professor Lopez shows a love and devotion for the texts, but he writes to show Westerners with perhaps an overly-rationalistic and anachronistic vision of Buddhism something of the nature of Buddhist belief and practice that often tends to be overlooked.
The fact remains, I think, that any profound text is greater than the sum of its commentaries. This is true of the Heart Sutra. I found myself chastened by this book but inspired to return to and attempt to draw wisdom from the Heart Sutra.
Robin Friedman
The Heart Sutra, probably written about 350 A.D. is among the most famous of Buddhist texts. It is short, enigmatic, and profound and has been the subject of more commentary than any other Buddhist text. It is a basic Scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, a broad Buddhist movement that arose in reaction to the earlier teachings which today are called Theravada Buddhism. (The relationship between Mahayana and Theravada is one of the themes of this book.)
The Heart Sutra is best known for its difficult statement, "form is empty; emptiness is form" and for the mantra included in the text, usually translated "gone, gone, gone completely beyond, enlightenment".
The earliest surviving commentaries on the Heart Sutra were written in India between 750 and 1050 A.D. which, historically, is near the end of the period of the development of Buddhism in India. There are eight commentaries of varying lengths and perspectives. The original versions of these commentaries in Sanskrit do not survive, but they have been passed down in their Tibetan translations. The Heart Sutra became an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism, and a recent commentary has been published by the Dalai Lama.
Professor Donald Lopez of the University of Michigan is the author of many books on Buddhism which manage somehow to be scholarly, naturalistic, and inspiring at the same time. In 1988, he published a book with the overly-ambitious title, "The Heart Sutra Explained" in which he discussed seven of the eight ancient Indian commentaries. His more recent book, "Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra" (1996)includes translations of all eight of the early commentaries interspersed with Professor Lopez's own commentary and essays.
Professor Lopez has written a formidable book indeed, but one which will reward study. The book discusses in detail the Heart Sutra, the commentaries, Buddhist practices and beliefs on which the commentaries were based, and the nature and limitations of commentarial interpretation.
The book opens with the text of the Heart Sutra which should be read carefully before the reader begins. Professor Lopez's essays discuss major issues in the interpretation of the Heart Sutra, and he attempts to explain why the early commentators focused on the issues that they did. Thus Lopez discusses the phrase "Thus have I heard" with which the Heart Sutra, in common with most Buddhist Sutras, opens and discusses the divergent commentarial views of who is speaking and why this issue is important to interpretation. Lopez discusses whether the Heart Sutra is, as some commentators have taken it, part of the Tantric school of Buddhism; and he explores the underlying question of what Tantra is. There is a fascinating chapter on the use of visualizations in Buddhist meditation together with a lengthy discussion of the meditation-drama associated in some commentaries with the text of the Sutra. Professor Lopez discusses the use of the Heart Sutra as part of an exorcism rite in Tibet, which will come as a corrective to those students who take an overly rationalistic view of Buddhist practice. Professor Lopez concludes with reflections on the nature of commentarial interpretation, both as practiced in ancient India and in today's world, emphasizing the purpose and difficulty of commentary and how it both illuminates and obscures a text. He draws on modern critical theory for his discussion, with good use of the work of Hans Gadamer and illuminating references to the use of commentary in Judaism, among other sources.
Lopez's discussions flow well into and illuminate the texts of the eight Indian commentators. They show as well why the commentaries as well as the Heart Sutra remain provocative, timeless and obscure.
This is a scholarly book which presupposes a certain background in Buddhism in the reader. It is tough-minded and academically rigorous. Professor Lopez shows a love and devotion for the texts, but he writes to show Westerners with perhaps an overly-rationalistic and anachronistic vision of Buddhism something of the nature of Buddhist belief and practice that often tends to be overlooked.
The fact remains, I think, that any profound text is greater than the sum of its commentaries. This is true of the Heart Sutra. I found myself chastened by this book but inspired to return to and attempt to draw wisdom from the Heart Sutra.
Robin Friedman
Displaying 1 of 1 review