The Diamond Sutra as seen through the eyes of the fundamental nonduality of this world.

Seon Master Daehaeng presents the Diamond Sutra through the lens of one mind, the great unfolding in which the energy of the whole is intimately connected with each of us. Through this energy, this one mind, we are directly connected with each and every other life and form, and are ceaselessly functioning together.

If you take this path,
everything works together as one.
If you take that path,
everything works together as one,
but if you can awaken to this great unfolding whole for yourself,
where everything in the universe
is functioning as one, through one mind,
each connected to the other,
realizing that all of this is happening here,
together with your foundation, your fundamental mind,
then forevermore,
you will be free,
free,
truly free.

(from the opening poem)

In the mid 1970's, Seon Master Daehaeng saw that many Koreans couldn't follow the ceremonies and sutras of traditional Korean Buddhism because they couldn't understand depths and nuances of the original Classical Chinese texts. So she began to write them in modern, vernacular Korean. Most translators read the words and try to understand the meaning, but she had deeply awakened and already understood what the words were trying to describe, so she was able to express it in striking, modern language.

This ebook edition also includes the original Korean text of her translation, titled, "The Diamond Sutra, by Meaning," (뜻으로 푼 금강경).

Praise for Seon Master Daehaeng's No River to Cross

"No River to Cross speaks directly and simply from the heart, much in the manner of Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Master Daehaeng's ability to penetrate the skin with plain and pointed words should give this work the same longevity." —Francisca Cho, Georgetown University, translator of Everything Yearned For

"This first taste of a fresh female voice leaves you hungry for more." —Shambhala Sun

Seon Master Daehaeng was a female Buddhist teacher in Korea who famously taught monks as well as nuns, and put a special emphasis on teaching laypeople how they too could practice spiritual cultivation and so awaken from the upside-down dreams that rule much of our lives.

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