Re: r/e deleuze + Buddhis


MC>Could anyone suggest any books on Zen or Buddism in general that would
MC>help me see these parallels. I am fairly ignorant on Eastern philosophy,
MC>but I would like to look at this point more closely.

I believe a good place to start is with the Prajna Paramita Hridaya
Sutra (Sutra on the Heart of Perfect Wisdom). Don't let the title get
you down. It's a *very* short sutra and for most Buddhists is indeed
the heart of Buddhism. Here are a few lines (if memory still serves):

Form here is only Emptiness
Emptiness only form . . .
Feeling, thought, and choice,
consciousness itself,
are the same as this . . .
Dharmas (i.e. things) here are empty
All are the primal void
None are born or die
Nor are they stained or pure
Nor do they wax or wane. . .
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch
nor what the mind takes hold of
Nor is there pain
nor cause of pain
nor cease in pain
nor Noble Path to lead from pain
(in these previous four lines the Four Basic Truths of Buddhism
are negated)
Not even wisdom to attain
Attainment too is emptiness
So know that the Bodhisatva,
holding to nothing whatever. . .
is freed of delusive hindrance,
rid of the fear bred by it
and reaches clearest Nirvana . . .

I would also suggest the Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Hiu Neng) as a
place to start with Zen in particular. And perhaps best of all would be
to read some of the Mumonkan (a collection of Zen koans used in Zen
practice). A good version of these, with commentaries, is Zenkei
Shibayama's "Zen Comments on the Mumonkan". In one sense, each of the
koans in this collection deals with mind.

If you check any of this out, I'd appreciate hearing whether you feel
any reverberations with D&G, consonant or disonant or . . .


* SLMR 2.1a *

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