An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra [Paperback]

Ken McLeod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2007

An Arrow to the Heart is an exciting, trail-blazing, non-traditional translation and commentary of the Heart Sutra, an ancient and highly revered text in Mahayana Buddhism. This sutra is a concise presentation of the emptiness of all experience. Almost cryptic in its brevity, it confounds and inspires all who read it.

Free of the cultural clothing in which Buddhism came to the West, An Arrow to the Heart goes straight to the heart of the Heart Sutra. In the tradition of Hakuin and others, McLeod's provocative tone and unpredictable turns consistently derail any conceptual understanding of this classic Buddhist scripture. Instead, he throws the reader into the very emptiness the Heart Sutra describes. The result is a sense of previously unsuspected possibilities that illuminate every nook and cranny of your life.

It's also a delightfully irreverent combination of wit, irony, prose, and poetry. If you are looking for a traditional commentary on the Heart Sutra, this is probably not the right book. This book is for people who aren't afraid of having the ground pulled out from under them.

Only in the last few years have senior Western teachers such as Ken McLeod started to write commentaries that truly mix the culture and style of Western thought with a deep respect and understanding of such traditional texts as the Heart Sutra.

Editorial Reviews

Review

…if you're the least bit interested in some of the more profound mysteries of the life of the mind, you'll find a great deal of guidance and inspiration in these pages. Like a good poem, it chooses not to explicate but rather to evoke, arouse, suggest, inspire. It's a book to be savored…as one might read a volume of poetry. It will surely delight those readers who allow themselves to be led into its dance of language, image, and idea--and it will surely shed more light on the Heart Sutra than many a more academic text.

Peter Clothier --The Huffington Post, December 4 2007

About the Author

Ken McLeod is one of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today. Known for his ability to explain difficult and subtle teachings, he distills the nature and purpose of Buddhism to make it accessible for any newcomer without dumbing it down. (Phil Catalfo, Yoga Journal, July 2001 in a review of Ken's first book Wake up to Your Life). Formerly a translator for Kalu Rinpoche and other high lamas, Ken has taken the same innovative approach to translation, consistently going beyond traditional terminology to express Buddhist teachings in clear, precise, contemporary English. Ken's private practice model of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the '90s only to become an accepted way of working with students. He has pioneered new retreat formats, integrating daily individual interviews and practical application exercises with traditional meditation and teaching. And, recently, he set up a development program for teachers who want to work outside established centers and institutions. Ken began his studies in 1970 under the tutelage of the late Kalu Rinpoche. After completing two three-year retreats, he was appointed to teach in Los Angeles. In 1990, he established Unfettered Mind (www.unfetteredmind.org) through which he teaches classes and retreats and sees people individually. In recent years, he has worked as a corporate consultant, advising executives at the highest levels of corporate America. With degrees in mathematics and years of experience in traditional Tibetan Buddhism, Ken is uniquely able to bridge the gap between contemporary life and traditional approaches to spiritual practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425133770
• ISBN-13: 978-1425133771
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

One of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today, Ken McLeod is known for his ability to explain deep and subtle teachings in clear and simple language. "He distills the nature and purpose of Buddhism to make it accessible for any newcomer without dumbing it down," writes Phil Catalfo, Yoga Journal, July 2001, in his review of Ken's first book Wake Up to Your Life.

Born in England in 1948, Ken grew up in Canada and journeyed overland to India (in large part by bicycle) in 1969-70. There he met his principal teacher, Kalu Rinpoche and served as his interpreter on Kalu Rinpoche's first two teaching tours in North America. After Ken completed two three-year retreats, he was appointed to teach in Los Angeles. In 1990, Ken established Unfettered Mind where he continues to teach today.

In 1996, Ken roiled the Buddhist world with his model of one-on-one consultations on Buddhist practice. His approach is now regarded as a viable model for Buddhist teachers in the West. Ken also conducts teacher training programs and mentors a growing number of newer teachers.

In 1999, Ken established a consulting practice focusing on executive coaching, team building and personal and organizational effectiveness. His particular focus is on the use of systems thinking to create organizational dynamics that naturally generate productive interactions within the organization.

Ken has a graduate degree in mathematics from University of British Columbia (Canada), more than twenty years intensive training in Eastern disciplines (including Buddhism, tai chi and other martial arts), and over twenty years teaching and consulting experience.

He is currently exploring the use of the internet for live interaction with students all over the globe, both in course settings and one-on-one meetings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bullseye, November 20, 2007

By 

Inkblot185 "inkblot185" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra (Paperback)

For those interested in a bold, unconventional exploration of Buddhism's "Heart Sutra", Ken McLeod's new book, which in my opinion falls closer to poetry than prose, is a great place to find what the author calls, "an experiential, rather than academic" interpretation of the classical text. This unusual blend of pithy incisiveness, on the mark commentary, Koan-like poetics and ever present wit stands apart from McLeod's other writings as well as from most of the ever growing canon of contemporary Buddhist writing. It is relentlessly challenging while remaining surprisingly accessible.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning!, November 25, 2007

By 

Amélie - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra (Paperback)

Buy this book now! Blows every other modern commentary out of the water. McLeod relentlessly pulls the reader back again and again into their own experience: away from scholarly mumbo-jumbo, and away from new-age mystical crap, right into the heart of the matter. He illuminates the text by quoting people like Bob Dylan, George Burns, Groucho Marx in addition to the usual Buddhist suspects. Dick Allen's cartoons add insightful, pithy injections of humour. Stunningly good!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IF YOU THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW, November 24, 2007

By 

J. Kushner - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra (Paperback)

No serious Dharma student should miss this book. It is much more than a commentary on the Heart Sutra; it is more of a guide into the Heart Sutra (a sitting-tour, if you like.)
There are many teachers who will tell you to meditate on emptiness and there are a few teachers who will show you how to meditate on emptiness. Ken McLeod is definitely among the latter, and, in this book, he has accomplished what I would have thought to be impossible -- he has demonstrated how it is to be done with the written word.
Prepare to be enthralled and to be changed.