The first two characters in the Heart Sutra are 摩訶, which is the Chinese transliteration of महा (mahā́), which in English means “great”. The third and fourth characters are 般若, which is the Chinese transliteration of प्रज्ञा (prajñā), which in English means, more or less, “wisdom”. But actually it’s best not to assume that prajñā […]
Tag: zen
The amazing adventures of Zen Master Moheyan in Tibet, Part One
Once upon a time Zen was very popular in Tibet. That is to say, it was popular in the way that Country Music is popular. Some people really liked it, but others weren’t so sure. The early history of Zen in Tibet is actually a lot like the early history of Zen in China. In […]
南無阿彌陀佛 (Homage to Amita Buddha in Chinese Characters)
Transliterating Sanskrit with Chinese characters is pretty interesting. Here I’ll look at one significant example: how to write “Homage to Amita Buddha” in Traditional Chinese characters. First up is “homage”, which can also be translated as “bow to” or “take refuge in”. The Sanskrit for this is नमः (namaḥ) or नमो (namo). This is transliterated […]