The Lankavatara Sutra: Translation and Commentary

Preliminary observations: For a Lankavatarian, the arrival in the mail of Red Pine's new translation of the Lankavatara Sutra was like receiving the Holy Grail. This long anticipated release was well-worth the wait. Readers will not be disappointed as this contemporary rendition, through the skillful writing ability of Bill Porter, breathes new life into what is considered a difficult text. I found myself being mesmerized as soon as I opened the book. Often I find myself skipping through a book's preface to get to the content, but not this time. Red Pine weaves a masterful synthesis of the Sutra's origins--from the text itself to wonderful anecdotes revolving around key Zen players who were instrumental in the Lanka's promulgation. One such anecdote relates how Shen-Hsiu, who lost that famous poetry contest with Hui-neng, was actually a greater admirer of the Lanka than the Sixth Patriarch himself; he was even buried beneath a hillock that he affectionately named Mount Lanka. One salient feature that appears again and again in Bill Porter's translation is the Sutra's non-projection of dharmas: "Because the various projections of people's minds appear before them as objects, they become attached to the existence of their projections." The way to become free from one's projections is to realize that "they are nothing but mind" Itself. The Buddha makes Mahamati (the spokesman in the sutra who addresses questions to the Buddha) aware that his incessant inquires are nothing more than "his own and others' imagination and as such are tantamount to pie in the sky." Consciousness itself is a "self-fabricated" fiction, but "bodhisattvas transform their consciousness into the projectionless tathagata-garbha, or the womb from which the buddhas arise." Red Pine is right on target with his understanding of the tathagata-garbha and the alaya-vijnana, the latter "represents the defiled mind", the former "the mind purified." He also stresses a point about practitioners: "The Lanka is not a text that welcomes the casual reader. An understanding of its teachings requires a teacher, or incredibly good karma. And such teachers and karma have always been rare. There have been times when the Lanka achieved a certain amount of popularity, but it has never been a text whose readership was widespread--its reputation, yes, but not its readership." Hence, one can see the validly of his decision to take the reductionist approach in order to enhance the Sutra's readership. I am also delighted that Red Pine decided to include the "Introductory Chapter", something that editions like the Goddard abridged efforts have sorely left out. The interesting and edifying account of Ravana, the Overlord of the Yakshas, being transformed (Bill Porter's translation of pavavriti--or the "turn about" within the deepest recesses of consciousness) through his discourse with the Buddha, in effect having a Yogic self-awakening, highlights in a nutshell the whole teaching within the Lanka on the process of the self-realization of Noble Wisdom. Am looking forward to reading the rest of Bill Porter's marvelous and informative translation--his accompanying commentary is an invaluable and enjoyable asset. The only contentious points thus far is his decision to exclude arya-jnana in favor of buddha-jnana--in doing so he misses the authentic import of the true meaning of the "Noble-Ones" who are instilled with the proper Buddha-gnosis to attain that wonderful self-realization of Noble Wisdom...this is not some "personal revelation" as he asserts (personal revelation is akin to what I was describing in my recent blog: The Rapture ([...] wherein a woman had a personal revelation as to the coming "Rapture"). The self-realization of Noble Wisdom found within the Lanka is not a "personal" revelation, but rather a singular divulgement of the Tathatagas. Also, like most contemporary Buddhist scholars, his emphasis upon the "no-self" leaves much to be desired--even though he breaks-down this "self" down somewhat as being constituted of the Skandhas--he seems, thus far, to be leaning in the direction of pure anatmanism. All in all, a new majestic rendition of the Lanka's marriage between Yogacarism and Zen--what Red Pine calls, "Zen tea in a Yogacara Cup."

I am halfway through this book but wanted to get a review out to encourage anyone interested in this classic scripture to get it in this edition. It's great. When I first got it in the mail I was worried that the comments and notes that accompany the text by Mr. Pine would be a distraction. On the contrary, there are very helpful: extremely intelligent with an occasional dash of humor (I laughed out loud in the hospital when I read the note that said "Amen," expressing Mr. Pine's gratitude that a certain difficult passage had come to an end. Very funny). As a matter of fact, I have found that Mr. Pine's comments on some of the Buddhist terms used in the text have clarified them for me for the first time. Here is his explanation of the "three modes of reality." "The three modes of reality (tri-sva-bhava) include imagined reality (parikalpita), dependent reality (paratantra), and perfected reality (parin-ishpanna). The three modes do not refer to separate realities. They simply represent the three ways we perceive what is real." This type of comment typifies Mr. Pine's commonsense help for the reader throughout the text. Here is a sample of the text, in this case the Buddha on beings having no "self," translated by the able hand of Mr. Pine. "And what does it mean that beings have no self? The assemblage of the skandhas, the dhatus, or the ayatanas arises from ignorance, karma, and desire and includes neither a self nor anything that belongs to a self. As the grasping and attachment of such senses as the eye to from give rise to consciousness, bodies, houses and the world of objects that are perceptions of one's own mind are fabricated and manifested from one's own projections. They change and disappear every moment, like a river or a seed or a candle or the wind or a cloud. Restless like a monkey, attracted to impurities like a fly, and insatiable like a windblown fire, they move like a waterwheel, through life after life and bodily form after bodily form, impelled by habit-energy without beginning, like figures produced by some sort of magic trick or spell or mechanical device. To be skilled in the knowledge of such appearances means to know that beings have no self." I am reading the hard copy at the moment, and am taking it slow--how else could you read a text like this?! But when I get my iPad I am going to download the digital version so I can highlight sections for study (I could have cut and pasted sections here rather than typing them). Great book; great, balanced translation. Extremely helpful notes and comments. I have been waiting for years for a new edition of this after Mr. Suzuki's work. I only wish it had come sooner. Thank you Mr. Pine! This is among my top-ten all-time favorite books, along with Homer ( The Odyssey (Fitzgerald translation) by Homer, Robert Fitzgerald (Translator), D. S. Carne-Ross (Introduction) and The Iliad: The Fitzgerald Translation ), Plato, Plutarch, Plotinus ( Plotinus: The Enneads (LP Classic Reprint Series) ), Yoga Vasistha ( Vasistha's Yoga ), Shakespeare, Emerson, Dostoyevsky, Nisargadatta (I Am That), and the works of Jane Roberts/Seth: Seth Speaks ( Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul ), The Nature of Personal Reality ( The Nature of Personal Reality: Specific, Practical Techniques for Solving Everyday Problems and Enriching the Life You Know (Jane Roberts ), The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events ( The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events: A Seth Book (Roberts, Jane ), The Nature of the Psyche ( The Nature of the Psyche: Its Human Expression (A Seth Book ), etc., and a couple of outstanding contemporary works, Wonders of the Natural Mind by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche ( Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet )and Understanding Our Mind by Thich Nhat Hanh ( Understanding Our Mind: 50 Verses on Buddhist Psychology ). Incidentally, it has been years since I read the Lankavatara, and reading this version now, I am astounded by the similarities of worldviews embodied in it and Jane Robert's/Seth's work: their emphasis on the importance and possibility of the clarity of consciousness, on reality as a creation of mind, on inner levels of reality that are accessible through contemplation, and their notion of the fluid nature of identity, to name a few points. As both authors stress (the Buddha and Jane Roberts, among countless others) reading about spiritual reality is not the same as experiencing it, or as the Buddha reminds us in the Lankavatara, the finger pointing is not the same at the thing pointed at. Nevertheless looking for and finding parallels in works as distant as the words of the Buddha and a 20thy century American mystic is extremely enjoyable and rewarding. I hope you enjoy this editing of the Lankavatara as much as I did!

This is a beautiful translation by Red Pine. It really communicates the transcendent truths of the Lankavatara Sutra with words that go beyond their ordinary meaning. It is the perfect balance that is easy to understand and authentic. The commentary is well written and gives useful context and interpretation. I also like how the commentary is arranged. It has all the comments in the margins, so that you can read the sutra without distraction, or read both the sutra and commentary without having to flip back between pages.

A 1st look: Red Pine's Lankavatara Sutra as Jasmine Tea First Sniff. - The Brisk Advertisement Copy: Before beginning I will let Mr. Red Pine introduce his own characterization of the Lankavatara: "Think of the Lankavatara as Zen tea in a Yogacara cup.", (Page 15). I received Red Pine's translation of the Lankavatara yesterday. 3 things struck me right off. 1. - Zen tea in a Yogacara cup Steeps Quickly On the very same page as the self characterization of the text by the translator is this statement: "These include the 5 Skandhas (form, sensation, perception, memory, and consciousness)", (page 15). That rendering into English of "samskara" as "memory" immediately struck me as suggesting the same kind of treatment of a complex term as would be the translation of Nama-rupa as "name and form" followed by an explanation which indicated that it was simply a the conceptual process of labeling rather than a dynamic process by which the 7th consciousness expressed its assertion of the self and then imposed its agenda by yanking something out of its context in our experience to make it a moon of the planet of our fictional self and in turn creates of it an object to which we would constantly be responding by "seeing it" and being triggered into egocentric outflows of behavior. Memory itself has been defined before in the sense of "non-losing" and "sustaining", or "reminding" and "paying attention to details" within the context of mindfulness. In Paul L. Griffith's essay "Memory and Classical Indian Yogacara" in the Mirror of Memory edited by Janet Gyatso, Prof. Griffiths quotes the Trimsikabhyasaya as saying "Smrti is the minds nondeprivation of an object with which it is directly acquainted.... [It is an object] which which is directly equated by means of the previous experience [object]." (Page 111) The word "memory" is a little limited, while the 4th Skandka is a much broader concept - a deep contributor of contour or responsiveness within experience that is like a coral reef built-up changing the flow of waves coming in to a beach that I usually think of what I think of when I think of the word samskara. 2. - Zen tea in a Yogacara cup is Naturally Sweet In his notes on page 116, in chapter 2, note 323, he discusses if word "hostility" is short for "hostility and kindness" or not, but he goes with "hostility". He interprets this saying "however, the place of "hostility" here is clear when it is understood that is based on the 7th form of consciousness, or ego consciousness. And wherever the ego is involved, hostility, and not kindness is the operant emotion." Now, I really am going to go a little bit out on the limb here. I would think that just as there is a background characteristic insufficiency going on always behind the 10 aspects of suffering there is also a background hostility going on all the time that is actually distinctly different than any of its aspects or expressions as what we would call "anger". This "ground hostility" is closer to a universal principle of cognizance which is to tear things apart by analysis, to divide things against each other, to yank things out of their context and make them submissive to our hierarchy of projected expectation. This is not "anger" hostility but it is more like the existential paranoia that creates dualistic thought. 3. - Zen tea in a Yogacara cup is Spicy The original 1st section of the text, the so-called "108 questions and answers" has all along been a daunting section because it is hard to find any order in it. On page 44 Red Pine says "I'm of the opinion it is merely an example of the way the repository consciousness works: you never know what seed is going to sprout next." On one hand that is a really functional way of looking at it, on the other hand it's a little bit too cute. I think it's not so helpful because he himself earlier on said that he thought that this presentation represented a kind of "yoga practitioner's sense of priorities" rather than an academic organization of the material. But he never described what that presentation would look like itself in distinction to a scholarly presentation. And in this one case in which were talking about a famous problem of the book, at least a sentence of orientation would seem proper to expect, rather than throwing aside that original assertion of a alternative form of organization in the 108 questions and answers and offering up a simple surrender, the kind of secret knowledge that is implied but not demonstrated when someone, even a Buddha, responds to a question by just smiling slyly in silence. I have been waiting for this book so long and I am so grateful to get it that I just thought I'd make these 3 points as a way to get a conversation going about it because a meal enjoyed alone really isn't the same as a meal with friends. Leo Rivers

Bravo Mr. Porter, You have rendered yet another masterpiece that only one who has plumed the depth of consciousness could have achieved. The brilliance of Buddha's dialogue comes through bright as the moon and no one is lost looking at the finger for meaning. When reading this, I for the first time saw Buddha referring to the speech of Sri Krishna to Arjuna the great warrior, saying " the Self cannot be pierced by weapons or burned by fire; water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it." I also see Vishnu in repose with the open of an eye creation rises from the water and with the eye closing creation sinks below the stilled waters. Also a biblical perspective of Jesus "The world you see must be denied, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. Your cannot see both worlds, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing, and depends on what you cherish." "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke.12:34-35 Others in history has had such thought as this point is expressed by Socrates "For the body wastes and perishes while the man still lives, but the soul always weaves anew what is worn away, it would, however, be necessary that when the soul perished it would happen to be wearing the last body and it would perish before the last only, and when the soul perished, the body would show at once the nature of its weakness and would quickly rot and vanish and decay. This argument, then is not yet enough to give confidence that when we die our soul exist somewhere. "Unless he can show that the soul is wholly immortal and imperishable; for if he cannot show this, it is necessary that he who is about to die must always fear for his soul lest at the present separation from the body it may utterly perish". Not bad for a old Greek guy of about 61 years of age (469-399 B.C.) The artful translation is without peer. Creatures of the threefold realm will rejoice that the light has been brought back to the world of their language. It cannot be measured the worth of your contribution to meaning which will transcend time. The lion continues to roar. Again, thank you.

Red Pine's translation of Bodhidharma changed my life. It's concise, confident and luminous. This translation? Not so much. It's overly technical and overly-considered. I suspect his problems with the translation came from overthinking the vagaries of the sources. Sorry, Mr. Porter, but you got a little timid and scholarly on us this time. I prefer Red Pine when he's getting to the essence. This translation is decent, but not great. UPDATE: I'm upgrading this from 3 to 4 stars. I've compared it to several other translations (including Suzuki's) and it's fine. Still not Pine's best work, and not as immediately readable as his Bodhidharma translation, but I understand the difficulty with this one, and I believe it's very useful as a scholarly, comparative reference.

This work will be a classic! Not only does its translator state the work's teachings in the English of our times, but gives us the benefit of his own years of studies with Chinese masters in Asia in explaining them. Rightly considered the foundation book of Mahayana Buddhism today, The Lankavatara Sutra lets you experience and not just understand many of its most profound teachings: and with the urgency of its original author (or authors, as scholars today consider it more a compendium by several writers). If Buddhism claims to be the faith that awakens us, this is the Sutra that shows you how it does so. Now, proclaims its translator, "live it." It arrived in excellent condition and right away. Many thanks. I will be ordering and looking forward to the translator's companion work, The Diamond Sutra.

by far the best Sutra i ever read. The MOST IMPORTANT SUTRA there is. if anyone is interesting in the science of obtaining enlightenment this is the book for you. To simply sum up the whole book for you... If anyone of you are reading it or wants to read it. Projection is created by Duality. All duality creates illusion to the observer. The observer if not being the witness becomes part of the play and becomes the actor which he forgets to take of the mask. Think of it like a on going line which when the observer thinks, speaks. or observes it creates a sinusoidal wave. This duality is formed creating projection. When the observer says im the observer these emotions, feelings, ideas, life is real he is then part of the play and forgets to take off the mask. when he realizes hes not all this and becomes still in himself. Then the waves dies down lower and lower until it gets to stillness where there is no amplitude. Thus non arising non projection and the mind instead of seeing which it cant only reflects the nature of everything which that there was no boundaries to begin with. That chair is you that dog is you that tv remote is you. its just the boundaries you put on it but the nature within it all is just that spirit. soul. whatever. one energy which we are unable to describe because words in themselves create that wave which i was discussing to begin with. Thus even one who lives out of sutras alone are deem to be living a projection filled life until one actually becomes a living reality of this by direct experience

Es steht da, man befasst sich damit, und das war es. Wer sich nicht damit befasst, der lässt es stehen, und das war es auch. Alles was ich weitergeben kann ist soviel: das Lankavatara ist eine angenehme Herausforderung, für meine Meditationspraxis das Sutra der Wahl um darüber zu meditieren. Es zieht einen Satz für Satz in die Reflektion, denn logisch erschliesst es sich nicht. Ich meine, es wurde für jahrelang praktizierende Laien geschrieben. Für den Buddhisten der voll im hektischen Berufs- und Familienleben steht, ist dieses Sutra ein sehr guter Begleiter.

This is a new translation into English of the Lanakvatara Sutra by award winning translator Red Pine (Bill Porter). The only other translation available of this Sutra is the one done by D T Suzuki and published 80 years ago ( The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text (1932)). Suzuki's translation was based on the recension of the Sanskrit text prepared by Bunyu Nanjo and published in 1923. This recension was, as Suzuki was aware, problematic and error strewn. This is the first translation into English of the Chinese translation made by Gunabhadra in 443 CE. This was the text used by Bodhidharma (5th/6th century CE), who is regarded as the transmitter of Chan (Jp. Zen) Buddhism from India to China. It is also the text he is said to have passed on to his successor Dazu Huike (487-593). Bodhidharma is said to have told Huike that the Lanakavatara Sutra contained everything he needed to know. It therefore holds an important place in the early understanding and transmission of Zen. This is not an easy Sutra, indeed Red Pine himself says "The Lanka is not a text that welcomes the casual reader. An understanding of its teachings requires a teacher, or incredibly good karma. And such teachers and karma have always been rare. There have been times when the Lanka achieved a certain amount of popularity, but it has never been a text whose readership was widespread - its reputation, yes, but not its readership." It is a text to be read and contemplated over a lifetime. Not only do I like the translation of the core text but Red Pine has also included chapter summaries, explanations and notes based on the commentaries of a number of Ming Dynasty and 20th century monks. The layout of the text is also helpful with the translation itself on the right hand page with notes etc.. on the left, for easy reference. Red Pine has also provided a helpful introduction. Red Pine, as always, seems to take great care and give a good deal of thought to all his translations. I certainly value all the works of his that I own. An excellent work. Thank you Red Pine. Also of interest may be Red Pine's translations of the The Heart Sutra , The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom and Platform Sutra, The: The ZEN Teaching of Hui-Neng .

The lankAvatAra sUtra is a famously difficult sUtra to read and understand. I started with DT Suzuki's translation and tried reading it along with the Sanskrit original, but quickly discovered that I needed a more idiomatic English presentation. This translation by Red Pine served the need well. Red Pine's style is very clear, or at least, as clear as can be given the abstruse nature of the material and the presentation of the root text. There's plenty of notes to help you along. But even so, you will need a familiarity with major Mahayana notions in order to follow this sutra very well. As DT Suzuki says, this sUtra probably originated as a set of notes kept by a yogAchAra master over his lifetime in central India. It contains most of the ideas that were prevalent in 4-5th century CE in India's Buddhist circles: tathAgatagarbha, AlayavjnAna, shUnyatA, trisvabhAva, anAtman, chittamAtra, mAyA, advaya/non-dualism, the nature of bodhisattvas and their conduct, non-conceptual understanding of reality, critique of opposing schools, arguments for vegetarianism - all are discussed. The style is not straightforward nor is the material systematically arranged, which, combined with the depth of ideas presented in it, makes this sUtra extremely challenging. I have read this scripture once, reading some portions several times, but I haven't understood more than 15-20% of the material, if that. Note that it's not the intellectual content of the ideas that's perplexing, but how they interact with each other in challenging our received notions of reality. It is this non-conceptual vision of ultimate reality that this sUtra tries to convey using concepts (!), and this makes for a challenging read. I am sure that a second or a third reading after I have studied the Mahayana ideas in detail from other sources will make this sUtra a lot clearer. I highly recommend this book. Just don't expect a smooth sailing.

Open the doorways, journey down the passage ways and find yourself facing Buddha. Red Pine's translation makes this text a true Zen reader.

E' un testo complesso ma interessante. Il Lankavatara sutra è una pietra miliare del buddismo, in particolare della tradizione chan cinese (ovvero zen giappo). Red Pine ha fatto un gran lavoro di ricerca tuttavia avrebbe potuto semplificare alcune parti per renderlo più fruibile alla massa.