Review: The Way is Beyond Language
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 25, 2012
The Hsin Hsin Ming (or Xin Xin Ming), or Faith in Mind, is a poem that could be printed on two sheets of paper. Yet, if put in a context, it is one of the most powerful expressions of Zen (Chan) teachings in existence.Some scholars argue that a more accurate translation would be "Inscription on Relying on the Mind" or "Inscription of the Perfected Mind", with the emphasis on the "Inscription" - as in an unchanging writing. Another school of thought tends to translate it as "Truthful Mind", making the meaning juxtapose the concepts of "trust," "confidence," or "belief."However, as always is the case with Zen writing, it's not about imperfect words, it's about using them to convey the meaning despite their limitations.That is why context plays such an important part when reading works like Hsin Hsin Ming - the reader should absorb the meaning, not think about how the words are arranged. The modern, contemporary translations, just like this one, that keep appearing with every new generation, help the reader to be submerged in the meaning because they speak the reader's language.This book does provide the context for understanding the poem with some very New Age take on Zen commentaries and the background history on the First Patriatchs of Chan, including the stories about Seng-Ts'an (Sengcan), the third Patriarch and the supposed author of the Hsin Hsin Ming.I'd recommend this book to the people who are new to Zen and not ready yet to jump into something truly complicated like reading "Transmission of the Lamp". For them, the commentaries will prove invaluable. The second group of readers I would recommend this book to are more advanced practitioners of the Way for it would provide them with a new and different take on the most influential Zen text in existence.