Buddhism -- the Heart Attack Sutra

The Craziness of the Heart Sutra

Before specifically referring to Chapter 1, one should note that the difficulty of a Western mind readily understanding the tenets and nuances of Buddhist thought are made abundantly clear in reading Brunnholzl's book. Epstein points out just such a problem when he explores the difficulty of translating Buddhist philosophy to workable 21st Century psychotherapy, for several reasons: differences in languages and thought processes (Epstein, 2007, p. 178); and modern psychotherapy's orientation as an active seeker of remedies while Buddhist philosophy tends toward a gentler approach which may be too temperate and passive to treat tough modern problems such as narcissism (Epstein, 2007, p. 178).

As for Chapter 1 in particular, Brunnholzl addresses the apparent absurdity of the Heart Sutra in that it appears to negate all principles on which Buddhism is based, including conceptual frameworks, belief systems and...
[ View Full Essay]