Ti & SUTRA OF HUI-NENG GRAND MASTER OF ZEN With Hui-neng’s Commentary on the Diamond Sutra Translated by Thomas Clearyes) Hui-neng (617713) is pethaps the most respected and beloved figure in Zen Buddhism. An illiterate woodcutter who attained enlighten- ment in a flash, he became the renowned Sixth Patriarch of Ch’an, or Chinese Zen. He is the supreme exemplar of the fact that neither education nor social background has any bearing on the experience of enlightenment. Hui-neng’s teachings are characterized by their striking immediacy and by their concern with direct insight into the essential nature of awareness. The Sutra of Hui-neng is here accompanied by Hui-neng’s own commentary on the Diamond Sutra—in its first published English translation. THOMAS CL EARY holds a doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University. He is translator of many Zen texts, as well as other classics from Sanskrit, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. © 1998 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Printed in ULS.A. Cover art: The Sisth Pariarch Cutting Bamboo (detail), by Liang K’ai. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Reproduced courtesy Kyoryokukai . www.shambhala.com ISBN 978-1-570b2-348-b | 51795 gliza157olle2348el US $17.95 CAN $21.00THE SUTRA OF HUI-NENG GRAND MASTER OF ZEN With Hui-neng’s Commentary on the DIAMOND SUTRA Translated from the Chinese by ‘THOMAS CLEARY SHAMBHALA Boston & London 1998