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Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan
Forty years ago, after learning of the Heart Sutra in Japan, Alex Kerr set out on a quest to seek the wisdom that lies at the heart of this ancient Buddhist scripture. Guided by Zen abbots in Kyoto, Tibetan monks, a French writer, an American art collector, a magician and the writings of Chinese scholars over the centuries, he came to see how this brief poem on emptiness is a storehouse of a universe of thought. Travelling from Japan, Korea, and China, to India, Mongolia, Tibet and Vietnam, this intimate book weaves together memory, history and calligraphy. Alex reveals us to the many ways the Heart Sutra continues to influence the culture of Japan - and the world - today.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published November 26, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 27, 2020
From my review in Kyoto Journal :
The Heart Sutra is one of the most recited Buddhist texts of the Mahayana tradition. There are two versions. The long version became incorporated into the Tibetan canon; while the short version, which is our concern here, was translated in 635CE by the Chinese monk Xuanzang and is recited in many of the East Asian Schools of Buddhism. In Chinese, it is a mere 260 characters, while the English translation scarcely fills up a page.
The Heart Sutra is best known for the way it pulls the epistemological rug out from beneath our feet. The sutra defies summarization. But its core message is that the outer world is illusory. Nothing is real. Even now, over a thousand years after Xuanzang made his translation, people grapple with its core message that: FORM IS EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS IS FORM 色不異空。空不異色.
As noted writer and scholar of Japan Alex Kerr points out in his new book, Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan, the Heart Sutra is a text that has generated countless works of art and scholarly books—and even a few memoirs. As Kerr writes,
"So condensed is the sutra that generations of thinkers have felt drawn to unpack it all over again. Like diamond merchants in Antwerp examining the lustre of a gem against the background of a scrap of pale blue paper, they pick up each jewel phrase one by one, peer at it through a magnifying glass, and try to explain to themselves and others what it really means."
Kerr spent his younger days in Japan but also did not hear the sutra until he was an adult in the 1970s. This happened at the home of his friend, the legendary antiques dealer David Kidd, the art collector of the book’s title. Having taken up residence in a former daimyo’s palace, the day came when Kidd had to move, and so Kerr along with several friends helped Kidd with the dismantling of the house. After all the work was done, the mood was glum, when suddenly one of the friends, a Zen monk from Kyoto, whipped out his blue-and-gold fan and begin whirling around the room. Kerr is at his charming best as he described the monk laughing and twirling and chanting something, over and over again. He later found out it was the Heart Sutra.
Those who love Kerr’s Lost Japan or his more recent Bangkok Found will remember, as they read this latest offering, the reasons they have enjoyed his work: Kerr’s deep understanding of culture and his refined aesthetic sensibilities, qualities that allow him to capture the world he writes about in a way that is always compelling. His book is illustrated with his superb calligraphy—his rendering of the character for emptiness, 空, is breathtaking—but that is not all he gives us. He has also provided a new translation of the sutra. And the translation gives his book its structure, a line-by-line reading
of the sutra, with each section forming a new short chapter.
The book is playful and accessible, but at the same time remains a rigorous line-by-line analysis containing vast amount of lore and learning, enlivened by personal anecdotes. Those who read and reread the Heart Sutra will also find themselves returning to these two books that the sutra has inspired.
The Heart Sutra is one of the most recited Buddhist texts of the Mahayana tradition. There are two versions. The long version became incorporated into the Tibetan canon; while the short version, which is our concern here, was translated in 635CE by the Chinese monk Xuanzang and is recited in many of the East Asian Schools of Buddhism. In Chinese, it is a mere 260 characters, while the English translation scarcely fills up a page.
The Heart Sutra is best known for the way it pulls the epistemological rug out from beneath our feet. The sutra defies summarization. But its core message is that the outer world is illusory. Nothing is real. Even now, over a thousand years after Xuanzang made his translation, people grapple with its core message that: FORM IS EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS IS FORM 色不異空。空不異色.
As noted writer and scholar of Japan Alex Kerr points out in his new book, Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan, the Heart Sutra is a text that has generated countless works of art and scholarly books—and even a few memoirs. As Kerr writes,
"So condensed is the sutra that generations of thinkers have felt drawn to unpack it all over again. Like diamond merchants in Antwerp examining the lustre of a gem against the background of a scrap of pale blue paper, they pick up each jewel phrase one by one, peer at it through a magnifying glass, and try to explain to themselves and others what it really means."
Kerr spent his younger days in Japan but also did not hear the sutra until he was an adult in the 1970s. This happened at the home of his friend, the legendary antiques dealer David Kidd, the art collector of the book’s title. Having taken up residence in a former daimyo’s palace, the day came when Kidd had to move, and so Kerr along with several friends helped Kidd with the dismantling of the house. After all the work was done, the mood was glum, when suddenly one of the friends, a Zen monk from Kyoto, whipped out his blue-and-gold fan and begin whirling around the room. Kerr is at his charming best as he described the monk laughing and twirling and chanting something, over and over again. He later found out it was the Heart Sutra.
Those who love Kerr’s Lost Japan or his more recent Bangkok Found will remember, as they read this latest offering, the reasons they have enjoyed his work: Kerr’s deep understanding of culture and his refined aesthetic sensibilities, qualities that allow him to capture the world he writes about in a way that is always compelling. His book is illustrated with his superb calligraphy—his rendering of the character for emptiness, 空, is breathtaking—but that is not all he gives us. He has also provided a new translation of the sutra. And the translation gives his book its structure, a line-by-line reading
of the sutra, with each section forming a new short chapter.
The book is playful and accessible, but at the same time remains a rigorous line-by-line analysis containing vast amount of lore and learning, enlivened by personal anecdotes. Those who read and reread the Heart Sutra will also find themselves returning to these two books that the sutra has inspired.
December 1, 2020
Alex Kerr’s story of the Heart Sutra unfolds metaphorically like the pocket accordion prayer book of the Heart Sutra itself. Between the two cover flaps we stretch from a brief introduction to Buddhism in the sixth century to the mystical chant at the end. The author remembers his first encounter with the sutra (as I suspect most Westerners do). For Kerr it took place in a hotel room in Kyoto, at a gathering of friends to mourn the fall of a grand house. Suddenly, a Buddhist priest springs out of his chair laughing, dancing and reciting the sutra with hilarity, much to the consternation of the young impressionable author looking on. Only much later did he understand the complete appropriateness of the priest’s gesture.
Kerr’s second encounter with the Heart Sutra was in the kabuki theater, when performer Tamasaburo gains entrance into a forbidden temple precinct by using the sutra’s most famous lines to crush the guards in a Buddhist debate:
The material world does not differ from emptiness.
Emptiness does not differ from the material world.
The material world is itself emptiness.
Emptiness is itself the material world.
In this way Kerr introduces us to the people in his life who have played mentor-roles in this panoramic unfolding of his own coming-of-age experience with the Heart Sutra. We too begin to learn from his experiences.
The sacred text is presented in the book phrase by phrase in both Japanese and English and then expanded upon through commentary and Kerr’s own experiences with the sutra. Those who have helped personify these phrases for the author are the mentors mentioned in the subtitle of the book: a magician (William Gilkey), an art collector (David Kidd), and sages (poets and writers from Zen Master Yakuin to French writer Marguerite Yourcenar).
The author notes that most of people turn to the Heart Sutra because “We just need something small, a useful idea or two to help us in our daily lives. The Heart Sutra is so short you can recite the whole thing in about a minute. It’s a haiku of wisdom, wisdom you can carry in your back pocket.” It’s brevity, he notes, “is just the right length for fans and neckties.” Indeed, many a souvenir emblazoned with this essence of Buddhist wisdom can be found in shops and temples all around Japan.
What Kerr does so well as a writer is delve into the smaller details that other scribes overlook. In trademark Kerr fashion, for example, we are informed that “After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha meditated in a cave, and the light from his body illuminated the darkness. This radiance explains why Buddhist statues are gold and sit in niches (representing the cave), and why their heads and bodies are framed with halos and swirling flames.” Most authors would have stopped after the first sentence. But Kerr, with a concern for the basics, wants to make sure we as readers get that. He taps into our basic observations—that Buddhist statues are painted gold—and wants us to know why they are that color and no other. The best books are about the reader, mindful of their wants and needs, while the author remains in the background where he or she can more effectively transmit the story and its meaning. Kerr excels at this, even while telling what is a highly personal story.
The author is the first to admit, and accept, the duality of the sutra: the aim of perfection in an imperfect world. But through practice and self-improvement, we are shown that we are all able to make our own small achievements toward the goal. One concept of Buddhism is that everyone possesses a “Buddha nature,” that we are all lotus flowers waiting to bloom, our path to enlightenment mirrored petal by petal as the lotus opens to full blossom. Kerr reminds us that we are not judged by how far we attain this perfection, just that we act upon it, each to the degree he or she is able to. While the author wonders whether perfection can ever really be achieved, he understands the effort to do so is also key to getting by in our every day lives.
While Kerr successfully places the people and events in his life into compact samplings of wisdom that have been passed down to him through the decades, there is an underlying message that we all learn from others, whether they be mentors, elders, parents, friends, writers, poets or even acquaintances. It is more a question of whether we make use of those sages and their teachings, and consciously allow them to guide us.
Sariputra, disciple of the Buddha and the listener of the Heart Sutra, asks the Buddha questions about life and our existence. Buddha, deep in meditation, requests Bodhisattva Kannon to reply in his place, and Kannon’s answers form the foundation of the Heart Sutra text. Sariputra then transmits these words (via the sutra) to the people. Kerr has proven an excellent student of friendship and fellowship and has himself become a vessel of wisdom which he now passes on to us readers. When we’re finished reading Finding the Heart Sutra, we find ourselves at the end flap of that metaphoric accordion book. We can keep Finding the Heart Sutra in a safe place, along with our other sacred treasures, so that it is ready to be taken out and read again.
Read the full review, including interior book art and calligraphy by the author at:
https://booksonasia.net/2020/12/01/bo...
Kerr’s second encounter with the Heart Sutra was in the kabuki theater, when performer Tamasaburo gains entrance into a forbidden temple precinct by using the sutra’s most famous lines to crush the guards in a Buddhist debate:
The material world does not differ from emptiness.
Emptiness does not differ from the material world.
The material world is itself emptiness.
Emptiness is itself the material world.
In this way Kerr introduces us to the people in his life who have played mentor-roles in this panoramic unfolding of his own coming-of-age experience with the Heart Sutra. We too begin to learn from his experiences.
The sacred text is presented in the book phrase by phrase in both Japanese and English and then expanded upon through commentary and Kerr’s own experiences with the sutra. Those who have helped personify these phrases for the author are the mentors mentioned in the subtitle of the book: a magician (William Gilkey), an art collector (David Kidd), and sages (poets and writers from Zen Master Yakuin to French writer Marguerite Yourcenar).
The author notes that most of people turn to the Heart Sutra because “We just need something small, a useful idea or two to help us in our daily lives. The Heart Sutra is so short you can recite the whole thing in about a minute. It’s a haiku of wisdom, wisdom you can carry in your back pocket.” It’s brevity, he notes, “is just the right length for fans and neckties.” Indeed, many a souvenir emblazoned with this essence of Buddhist wisdom can be found in shops and temples all around Japan.
What Kerr does so well as a writer is delve into the smaller details that other scribes overlook. In trademark Kerr fashion, for example, we are informed that “After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha meditated in a cave, and the light from his body illuminated the darkness. This radiance explains why Buddhist statues are gold and sit in niches (representing the cave), and why their heads and bodies are framed with halos and swirling flames.” Most authors would have stopped after the first sentence. But Kerr, with a concern for the basics, wants to make sure we as readers get that. He taps into our basic observations—that Buddhist statues are painted gold—and wants us to know why they are that color and no other. The best books are about the reader, mindful of their wants and needs, while the author remains in the background where he or she can more effectively transmit the story and its meaning. Kerr excels at this, even while telling what is a highly personal story.
The author is the first to admit, and accept, the duality of the sutra: the aim of perfection in an imperfect world. But through practice and self-improvement, we are shown that we are all able to make our own small achievements toward the goal. One concept of Buddhism is that everyone possesses a “Buddha nature,” that we are all lotus flowers waiting to bloom, our path to enlightenment mirrored petal by petal as the lotus opens to full blossom. Kerr reminds us that we are not judged by how far we attain this perfection, just that we act upon it, each to the degree he or she is able to. While the author wonders whether perfection can ever really be achieved, he understands the effort to do so is also key to getting by in our every day lives.
While Kerr successfully places the people and events in his life into compact samplings of wisdom that have been passed down to him through the decades, there is an underlying message that we all learn from others, whether they be mentors, elders, parents, friends, writers, poets or even acquaintances. It is more a question of whether we make use of those sages and their teachings, and consciously allow them to guide us.
Sariputra, disciple of the Buddha and the listener of the Heart Sutra, asks the Buddha questions about life and our existence. Buddha, deep in meditation, requests Bodhisattva Kannon to reply in his place, and Kannon’s answers form the foundation of the Heart Sutra text. Sariputra then transmits these words (via the sutra) to the people. Kerr has proven an excellent student of friendship and fellowship and has himself become a vessel of wisdom which he now passes on to us readers. When we’re finished reading Finding the Heart Sutra, we find ourselves at the end flap of that metaphoric accordion book. We can keep Finding the Heart Sutra in a safe place, along with our other sacred treasures, so that it is ready to be taken out and read again.
Read the full review, including interior book art and calligraphy by the author at:
https://booksonasia.net/2020/12/01/bo...
December 3, 2023
A short and sweet book discussing the themes and translations of the heart sutra. I’d say it’s fairly accessible even if you don’t have much knowledge about Buddhist teachings, and there’s likely something that will resonate for most people.
Would definitely recommend if you are interested in Chinese, Japanese and Sanskrit language.
My only criticism is that the ending felt quite abrupt.
Would definitely recommend if you are interested in Chinese, Japanese and Sanskrit language.
My only criticism is that the ending felt quite abrupt.
April 24, 2023
Niesamowita <3
Read
March 28, 2025This was ok, but as in most cases, you're better off reading a book by a monk
October 10, 2022
A refreshing and non-scholarly explication of the Heart Sutra.
Read
January 31, 2024'The material world is itself emptiness
Emptiness is itself the material world.'
Emptiness is itself the material world.'
April 8, 2024
“In the Heart Sutra there is no faith, only doubt and courage. Having only doubts, and nothing in particular to hope for, but not giving up - what could be a better definition of the word ‘courage’?”
Alex Kerr’s line-by-line analysis of the Heart Sutra, one of Buddhism’s most well-known texts, including in Japan, is an insightful read with much of value to ponder.
“We’re all of us captives in a universe of ephemeral objects and events. We have no real control over anything, except our own heart - and even that has its limits.”
But I found that the precise nature of the emptiness at its heart remained inscrutable to me.
“There are two ways to handle misfortune: the easy or the hard way. The hard way is to get angry and upset. The easier way to bear with bad things is simply to maintain one’s good cheer. Bad things are going to happen anyway, so one might as well face them optimistically.”
Alex Kerr’s line-by-line analysis of the Heart Sutra, one of Buddhism’s most well-known texts, including in Japan, is an insightful read with much of value to ponder.
“We’re all of us captives in a universe of ephemeral objects and events. We have no real control over anything, except our own heart - and even that has its limits.”
But I found that the precise nature of the emptiness at its heart remained inscrutable to me.
“There are two ways to handle misfortune: the easy or the hard way. The hard way is to get angry and upset. The easier way to bear with bad things is simply to maintain one’s good cheer. Bad things are going to happen anyway, so one might as well face them optimistically.”
January 16, 2022
Alex Kerr is an amazing writer who focuses on Asia, traditional arts, and Buddhism. In this book, he does a translation of the Heart Sutra. It is a very fast and easy read, but full of the wisdom of this sutra.
Throughout the translation, he evokes the sayings and memories of his teachers, and in particular, David Kidd a collector in China and Japan.
I wish Alex Kerr wrote more books because his writing is excellent and his themes are very interesting: the traditional arts of Japan and Thailand.
Throughout the translation, he evokes the sayings and memories of his teachers, and in particular, David Kidd a collector in China and Japan.
I wish Alex Kerr wrote more books because his writing is excellent and his themes are very interesting: the traditional arts of Japan and Thailand.
April 4, 2022
I really enjoyed his personal touch and experiences in relation to the Heart Sutra, what it meant for him and how different people have interpreted the work. For people who enjoyed the Heart Sutra, these quirky observations and sometimes random comments are a joy to read. However, for people not really familiar with it, little to no background on the different players or even a background in Chinese and Japanese, this book can come across as even more random, to the extent it is not so enjoyable. This is strange, given the targeted audience seems to be those kind of people.
April 4, 2024
I enjoyed this short book of reflections on the Heart Sutra. I especially liked being able to get to know the Japanese version of the sutra better and the way it goes through line by line. The writer does describe himself as not a Buddhist, and there are a couple of interpretations I think I'd consider wrong...for example, I don't think you could consider Bodhicitta and Buddha nature to be identical, as he does here. But I did find some interesting reflections here and enjoyed this different perspective on the sutra.
February 13, 2021
The Heart Sutra is a very ambitious topic for a layperson but Kerr handles it well. In part amusing, insightful, and profound, Kerr weaves in conversations with colorful characters and mentors as well as scholarship. This book expanded my understanding of mantra in general and the Heart Sutra in particular. It is well worth reading.
October 14, 2023
I needed time and a relaxed state of mind to read and absorb this book. I liked it and I think it can resonate differently with different people (like most books, but this in particular). It is not a book to read if you are not yet aware of the Buddhist teachings and Zen.
September 29, 2021
Alex Kerr- one of the finest writers I have ever read, but this one… no. It is full of heart and honesty and humour, but no.
March 15, 2022
Relic.
June 13, 2022
Frábær lesning, ekki alltaf á dýptinni sem ég vildi, en fer vel yfir sútruna og gerir henni góð skil.
July 23, 2022
About illusions and emptiness and the heart. Love Alex' book!
September 26, 2023
Charming, nostalgic, and longing for magic. Bits of physics for poets.
December 10, 2023
Sydänsutran taustoitusta ja läpikäyntiä lause lauseelta yhdistettynä kirjailijan omiin kokemuksiin pääosin Japanissa.
December 18, 2024
A very enjoyable read. Great insights and perspectives into the Heart Sutra and the wider field of Buddhism.
February 1, 2025
A beautiful, personal explaination of the Heart Sutra. I loved the Japanese perspective and the author’s anectodes.
March 10, 2025
A readable, unscholarly, anecdote-heavy introduction to the Heart Sutra.
June 2, 2021
When I learned that Alex had written this introduction to the Heart Sutra I bought the book. I knew very little about the Sutra, although I have been becoming more familiar with Buddhism over the past ten years through Dalai Lama books, Buddhism histories and an excellent Buddhism dictionary.
Alex's "transmission" of the Sutra works well for me. As he discusses his experiences and the separate verses of the Sutra, I was able to connect my understanding of Buddhism with the Sutra's message. Alex thoughtfully added additional information about the people he references in his explanations, vocabulary from the Sutra and other notes to the text. This has made my reading easier, and opened new avenues for further study.
I recommend this book and hope that it helps others with a deeper appreciation of the Buddhist Middle Way.
Alex's "transmission" of the Sutra works well for me. As he discusses his experiences and the separate verses of the Sutra, I was able to connect my understanding of Buddhism with the Sutra's message. Alex thoughtfully added additional information about the people he references in his explanations, vocabulary from the Sutra and other notes to the text. This has made my reading easier, and opened new avenues for further study.
I recommend this book and hope that it helps others with a deeper appreciation of the Buddhist Middle Way.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews