{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--BOOKS & PAPERS ABOUT THE PILGRIMAGE--

-THE HEART SUTRA-

The

• An Arrow To The Heart: A Commentary On The Heart Sutra, Ken McLEOD. As Ken says in his introduction, "In contrast to most commentaries, I approach the Heart Sutra not as a philosophical exposition of emptiness, but as the presentation of a moment of being completely awake and present. ... Accordingly, the aim of this commentary is not to explain this experience to you, but to elicit in you."
  Trafford Publishing, 2007

• Buddhist Scriptures, Edward CONZE. Chapter 3 contains a translation of the sutra, but there is no commentary other than having the sutra catagorized by section. However, by attaching titles to the sections, isn't that a type of commentary?
  Penguin Books, 1959

• Buddhist Wisdom, Edward CONZE. Translations of, and commentary on, both the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra.
  Vintage Books
  Vintage Spiritual Classics, 2001 Reprint

• Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra, Donald LOPEZ, Jr. A scholarly study of the eight extant Indian commentaries on the sutra along with Donald's commentaries on the commentaries. Interesting reading, but wading through the Indian, Tibetan, and Sanskrit words used liberally throughout made it very slow reading, for me.
  Princeton University Press, 1996

• Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings, translated and edited by Geshe Thupten JINPA. This is the Dalai Lama's commentary and explanation of the Heart Sutra. Since there isn't anything the Dalai Lama could write that i wouldn't recommend, read this.
  Wisdom Publications, 2002

• Heart of Wisdom: The Essential Wisdom Teachings of Buddha, Geshe Kelsang GYATSO. A very detailed look into the sutra from the Tibetan point of view. Highly recommended.
  Tharpa Publications, 1996

• On The Heart Sutra, Abbot OBORA. This constitutes the greater part of Trevor LEGGETT'S book A Second Zen Reader and is a line-by-line, word-by-word explanation of the sutra from the Sōtō Zen point of view.
  Charles Tuttle Company, 1988

• Makahannyaharamitsu (The Accomplishment of the Great Wisdom of Buddha), DŌGEN Kigen. Chapter two of the Shōbōgenzō, The Eye and Treasurey of the True Law, and Dōgen's commentary on prajnaparamita.
  Nakayama Shobō, 1988
  Kōsen NISHIYAMA, Translater

• Mountain Record of Zen Talks, John Daido LOORI. Chapter 4 is a short, very short, and to the point, dharma talk given by Loori on the Heart Sutra.
  Shambhala Publications, 1988

• The Cave of Poison Grass: Essays on the Hannya Sutra, Seikan HASEGAWA. The first half of the book is an introduction and the last half is a line-by-line commentary of the sutra.
  Great Ocean Publishers, 1975

• The Compass of Zen, Seung SAHN. Section 3, on Mahayana Buddhism, contains Seung Sahn's commentary on the sutra in ten pages. I love his writing style and would recommend anything he writes, including this book.
  Shambhala Publications, 1997

• The Four Noble Truths, Volume 1: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Geshe Tashi TSERING. This is far more than just a book on the four noble truths. To explain them he goes over a lot more material than just these four basic foundational ideas. In fact he covers almost all of the ideas covered in the Heart Sutra. This is a wonderful overview of the basics of Buddhist thought from a Tibetan Geshe (Ph.D., basically) living in London.
  Wisdom Publications, 2005

• The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra: With "Verses Without A Stand" And Prose Commentary, Master Hsuan HUA.
  Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003

• The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Thich Nhat HANH. As with all of Nhat Hanh's writings this is a pleasure to read.
  Parallax Press, 1988

• The Heart Sutra, Red Pine (a.k.a. Bill PORTER). A new translation with commentary culled from many Chinese and Sanscrit sources, by the author of Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. Nothing new, but a good read none-the-less.
  Shoemaker & Hoard, 2004

• The Heart Sutra: An Oral Teaching, Geshe Sonam Rinchen. Another commentary from the Tibetan point of view.
  Snow Lion Publications, 2003

• The Heart Sutra: Discourses on the Prajnaparamita Hridayam Sutra, OSHO. Personally i'm not a great fan of Osho, but that's certainly not relevant and this is a very good commentary on the sutra.
  Element Books, 1994

• The Heart Sutra Explained, Donald LOPEZ, Jr. A translation and explanation of the early Indian and Tibetan commentaries on the Heart Sura. As with his other book above, this was very hard reading for me.
  State University of New York Press, 1988

• The Perfection of Wisdom. R.C. JAMIESON has selected and translated portions of the The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines. The Heart Sutra belongs to the The Perfection of Wisdom family of sutras, which makes this book relevant.
  Viking Studio Books, 2000

• The Secret Key to the Heart Sutra, Kūkai. This is the translation of Kūkai's thesis on the sutra found in Section 8, Part 3 of Hakeda's wonderful book Kūkai: Major Works.
  Columbia University Press, 1972

• There Is No Suffering: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra, Sheng-Yen. One of the few commentaries that approaches the Heart Sutra from the point of view of how to apply it to your practice.
  Dharma Drum Publications, 2001

• What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola RAHULA. Maybe one of the best overviews of the basic teachings of Buddhism ever written. It is easy to read and makes many of the difficult areas clear. While not specifically about the Heart Sutra, like The Four Noble Truths by Geshe Tsering above, it covers the material you need to understand in order to make sense of the sutra. In fact, without this understanding, the Heart Sutra won't make sense no matter how often you read it. Highly recommended.
  Grove Press, 1974

• What Am I?: Everyone's guide to the Heart Sutra, Albert LOW. Another very nice commentary on the Heart Sutra, looking at it from a new perspective. Guaranteed to make you think, or meditate. Albert says in his preface, the Heart Sutra "is not some exotic flower that has only aesthetic or 'comparative religious' value, but, through its affiliation with creativity, is deeply embedded in our human nature, and is as relevant to a North American as it was to the first century Buddhist."
  Smashwords Publishing, 2010

• Zen Words For The Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Translated by Norman WADDELL and a great read.
  Shambhala Books, 1996

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