Алтыншы Патриарх Хуйнэннің «Платформа Сутрасы»

Popular Sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch ( or simply: 壇經 Tánjīng) is a Chan Buddhist scripture that was composed in China during the 8th to 13th century. The "platform" (施法壇) refers to the podium on which a Buddhist teacher speaks. Its key themes are the direct perception of one's true nature, and the unity in essence of śīla (conduct), dhyāna (meditation) and prajñā (wisdom). The text centers on teachings and stories ascribed to the sixth Chan patriarch Huineng. It contains the well known story of the contest for the succession of Hongren (enlightenment by the non abiding), and discourses and dialogues attributed to Huineng. The text attributes its recollection to Fa hai, but was probably written, or redacted, within the so called Oxhead school, which existed along with the East Mountain School and Shenhui's Southern School. The text attempts to reconcile the so called Northern School with its alleged gradual enlightenment teachings, and the so called Southern School with its alleged sudden enlightenment teachings. In effect, the text incorporates the "rhetorical purity" which originated with Shenhui's attack on Shenxiu, while effectively "writing him out of the story".

The Platform Sutra underwent various redactions. Though its recollection has been attributed to Fa hai, a student of Huineng, its origins are not clear:

The Dunhuang versions are the oldest texts available, with the full title Southern School's Sudden Doctrine, Supreme Mahayana Great Perfection of Wisdom: The Platform Sutra as Delivered by the Sixth Patriarch Huineng at the Dafan Temple in Shao Prefecture , subtitled, “one roll, recorded by the spreader of the Dharma, the disciple Fahai, who at the same time received the Precepts of Formlessness” (一卷，兼受無相戒弘法弟子法海集記). Two copies dated to between 830 and 860 have been found in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. Both are thought to be based on an edition from about 780. The finds at Dunhuang have been very important for the historical understanding of Zen:

In 1056, the Chinese scholar monk Qisong (契嵩, Wade Giles: Ch'i sung) produced a larger edition, entitled Liuzu fabao ji (法寶記 ‘Precious Record of the Dharma’). In 1291, Zongbao (宗寶, Wade Giles: Tsung pao) produced the edition that became part of the Ming Dynasty Chinese Buddhist canon. This canonical version, apparently based on the Qisong edition, is about a third longer than the Mogao Caves version, and structured differently.

Chapter Two contains a lecture on prajna, given after a recitation of the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra. From this chapter:

In Chapter Three Huineng answers questions from a lay audience. Huineng discusses the famous story of Bodhidharma telling Emperor Wu of Liang that his good deeds would bring him no merit. Next, he discusses the Pure Land of the West, asserting the greater importance of one's inner state compared to one's physical location. This leads to a conclusion in which Huineng asserts that lay practice outside of a monastery is preferable to following the forms of monastic renunciation without inner practice.

Chapter Six describes a repentance ritual.

Chapter Seven gives various stories of encounters and dialogues.

Chapter Eight also gives various stories of encounters and dialogues.

Chapter Nine describes the request of the Imperial Court for Huineng to visit the Emperor, and Huineng's decline of this command.

In the 1920s, Japanese scholar Yabuki Keiki (矢吹慶輝 1879 1939) produced an edition based on one of the Mogao Caves texts (the only one known at the time), dividing the text into fifty seven sections. In 1934, D. T. Suzuki published an edition based on the Mogao Cave text, but incorporating corrections from the Tsungpao (Zongbao) edition. In 1993, the Buddhist scholar Yang Zengwen (楊曾文, b. 1939, Shandong) published an annotated edition of the second Mogao Caves text (which has fewer errors than the first Mogao Caves text). (Pine, 2006, Introduction)

The first published translation into English was completed in 1930 by Wong Mou lam (黃茂林 c. 1886 1934) from Guangdong. It was based on the canonical Tsungpao edition, and published by the Yu Ching Press of Shanghai. The Suzuki edition was translated into English by Wing tsit Chan in 1963 and is written in his book, A source book in Chinese Philosophy. In 1967 Philip Yampolsky published a translation based on the Mogao Cave text. This translation is a landmark in the modern Western scholarship on Zen and its history. Charles Luk translated the sutra as "The Dharma Treasure of the Altar Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch" which was published in Ch'an and Zen Teachings (Third Series, 1973). John McRae translated the longer Yuan dynasty era composite edition. It was published by Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai. Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua commented on the Sixth Patriarch Sutra. The sutra and commentary were published by the Buddhist Text Translation Society as The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra (1971) 1st edition Hong Kong, (1977) 2nd edition, San Francisco, (2002) 3rd edition Burlingame,

Shoemaker & Hoard published a translation and commentary by the American writer Red Pine, based on the second Mogao Caves text, in 2006. Martin Verhoeven and Rev. Heng Sure, disciples of Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua, edited an edition based on the Chinese Zongbao Taisho Volume 48, Number 2008, in August 2014.