Description: The Heart Sutra, or Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra, is the foundational text of Mahayana Buddhism and the core teaching of all schools of Zen. Anyone who practices in our school is very familiar with it, because it’s part of our daily chanting. But what does it mean? Why is it structured around so many negations (for example, “no attainment and nothing to attain”?) This class is intended to deepen your familiarity with the language of the sutra and also help you explain it in simple terms to others. In this class, we will read through Jess's translation of the Heart Sutra word by word, looking at the nuances of the Chinese characters and the significance of each line, and compare it with the official Kwan Um School translation and other versions as well. There will be time for questions throughout.

About the Teacher: Jess Row is a senior dharma teacher at Chogye International Zen Center in New York and a professor of English and Creative Writing at NYU. He studied classical Chinese and Chinese Buddhism at the University of Michigan and Princeton, and has taught many classes for KUSZ focused on deepening our understanding of essential Zen texts, including The Mirror of Zen, Trust in Mind, The Song of Dharma Nature, The Sayings of Yunmen and The Sayings of Baizhang (Pai-chang).