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Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition: Hisamatsu's Talks on Linji
The "Record of Linji" stands as one of the great classics of the Zen tradition, and modern Zen master and reformer Hisamatsu Shin'ichi offers a lively and penetrating exploration of the religious essence of the text. The Record is a compilation of the sayings of Linji, the Chinese founder of Rinzai Zen.; Several decades ago, Hisamatsu gave the 22 talks translated here. This book features a preface by renowned Zen philosopher Abe Masao and an introduction by Yanagida Seizan, a leading scholar of classical Zen texts. The translators have added annotation for technical terms and textual references.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2002
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May 5, 2019
I came across a sermon given by Linji in Psychoanalysis and Zen Buddhism, by Erich Fromm, D. T. Suzuki and Richard de Martino. In Suzuki's third talk to a gathering of psychologists in Cuernavaca, Mexico (at the invitation of Erich Fromm) Suzuki discusses "The Concept of the Self in Zen Buddhism." Most of the talk consists of Suzuki reading his translation of sermons by Rinzai, beginning with one about "the true man of no rank." This true man, jen, or taojen (man of the Tao), is the Tao personified. Now to my problem with Hisamatsu's commentary.
I downloaded a pdf of this book from terebess (Hungarian site) and went straight to the talk about "the true man of no rank," only to find that Hisamatsu, who has been called the greatest Zen philosopher of the 20th century, mistranslates "the true man of no rank" and renders this "You, the follower of the Way right now before my eyes listening to the Dharma" (p. 45). This is the third or fourth time I got excited about a translation of an ancient scripture only to find that Suzuki's translation was still the best and the newer one was a partial or complete mistranslation. (The Tao Te Ching, The Diamond Sutra, final sermon of Matsu; as for the Platform Sutra, Verhoeven's isn't bad, but Suzuki's is still truer).
Long story short, to translate something that personified the Tao as "you, the follower of the Tao" is a translation crime of such magnitude that it throws everything else that this "master" says into doubt. When there is a divergence, I am compelled at all times to trust Suzuki's understanding of the great scriptures. I don't know whether it was his spiritual insight or his scholarship or both, but to me Suzuki always got it.
I downloaded a pdf of this book from terebess (Hungarian site) and went straight to the talk about "the true man of no rank," only to find that Hisamatsu, who has been called the greatest Zen philosopher of the 20th century, mistranslates "the true man of no rank" and renders this "You, the follower of the Way right now before my eyes listening to the Dharma" (p. 45). This is the third or fourth time I got excited about a translation of an ancient scripture only to find that Suzuki's translation was still the best and the newer one was a partial or complete mistranslation. (The Tao Te Ching, The Diamond Sutra, final sermon of Matsu; as for the Platform Sutra, Verhoeven's isn't bad, but Suzuki's is still truer).
Long story short, to translate something that personified the Tao as "you, the follower of the Tao" is a translation crime of such magnitude that it throws everything else that this "master" says into doubt. When there is a divergence, I am compelled at all times to trust Suzuki's understanding of the great scriptures. I don't know whether it was his spiritual insight or his scholarship or both, but to me Suzuki always got it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review