The Heart Attack Sutra: A New Commentary on the Heart Sutra - Paperback

by Karl Brunnhölzl (Author)

Brunnholzl is a brilliant teacher whose devotion and energy have resulted in this rich, wide-ranging study of the Heart Sutra, the page-and-a-half-long text that contains the entire essence of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. In 160 pages of fast-moving explication, he quotes sources as varied as Janis Joplin and Ludwig Wittgenstein, probes the text, explains its terminology, and answers students questions.

Back Jacket

The radical message of the Heart Sutra, one of Buddhism's most famous texts, is a sweeping attack on everything we hold most dear; our troubles, the world as we know it, even the teachings of the Buddha himself. Several of the Buddha's followers are said to have suffered heart attacks and died when they first heard its assertion of the basic groundlessness of our existence hence the title of this book. Overcoming fear, the Buddha teaches, is not to be accomplished by shutting down or building walls around oneself, but instead by opening up to understand the illusory nature of everything we fear including ourselves. In this book of teachings, Karl Brunnholzl guides practitioners through this "crazy" sutra to the wisdom and compassion that lie at its core.

Author Biography

Karl Brunnhölzl, MD, was trained as a physician and also studied Tibetology. He received his systematic training in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators, founded by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. Since 1989 he has been a translator and interpreter from Tibetan and English. He is presently involved with the Nitartha Institute as a teacher and translator.