Customer Reviews

An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra

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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.

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!

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.

Grab a copy of this! Ken McLeod is a teacher of immense intelligence, great compassion and no little spiritual wit. Readers of his other books and translations may be startled (and hopefully woken up) by this latter quality, which is well-represented in this purposefully playful and beautiful (thanks to designer, Deborah Neikirk) new commentary on the Heart Sutra, one of the most confounding, because so brief, expositions of the pith of Buddhist experience. His respect for and devotion to the texts and traditions of both his own lineage (his primary teacher was Kalu Rinpoche), and that of others, is informed by the realization that text is, in the end, not the point; it is the pointer, a corrective lens that helps us to see/experience what really is. Just as a pair of glasses can get dirty or scratched over time, a text can be obscured as it travels through years and cultures. It takes one familiar with the materials and manner with which it was made, to clean and polish it so that it can be used again. This is the gift, the dharmic valentine, that Ken has given us with "An Arrow to the Heart." He is intimately familiar not only with the manner and the materials, but with the experience that is the ultimate end of all our effort. En-joy!

Inspired, unconventional, and more than a little mischievous, An Arrow To The Heart aims not to explain but rather to evoke the essence of the mystery of life. And readers who take the time to savor the offering will soon realize that McLeod hits his target's bullseye.

A commentary like no other, McLeod offers experiential insights into the Heart Sutra that will be of interest to anyone - Buddhist or not - who wonders just what is meant by `Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form.'

The key to understanding this offering, however, is to understand the book's unusual structure. Each of two of the facing interior pages touch on just a word or phrase from the sutra. On the left you'll encounter snippets of poetry, narrative, quotes, and the like. On the right you'll find notes that illuminate what was just put forth. You're then asked to consider it all in light of the particular sutra passage being covered. To some this may sound like work but it is actually a playful construct that brings forth the meaning of the sutra in your own mind.

This approach makes Arrow something to be read and reread since each time it brings forth something new or previously unseen. And, as if anything more were needed, the icing on the cake are the clever illustrations by Dick Allen which provide a visual interpretation to the McLeod's `commentary.'

On p.6, the author's words express my experience of the entire book: "This meeting? It's a mystery... You know something took place, but you can't put it in words." Throughout my initial reading I often understood, re-lived, or sensed things for which words were inadequate. These experiences were both intense and ephemeral. I found that allowing the words to wash over me--without struggling to make certain that I had the "correct" understanding--made the work all the richer. I expect this book will feel new each time I step into its pages.

The author depends on snippets, some cryptic, to try to get the reader beyond words. If it works, fine, but for the most part it didn't connect with me. If this is the approach you're looking for, go no further than Hakuin. If you prefer a more academic approach that includes traditional commentary materials while explaining the doctrinal issues the Sutra addresses, I'd recommend Red Pine's 'The Heart Sutra'. For a commentary from the heart on the Heart, Thich Nhat Hahn's 'The Heart of Understanding' is good.

I am not Buddhist and yet this book spoke to me. Its simplicity and directness stirs something within that engages the reader on many levels. I am surprised and quite pleased to say good things about this small wonderful treasure of a book!

I highly recommend this book. You can feel the gesture of the author's hand in every word, written with careful intent, yet no word locks you up, tells you where to be or gives you an outcome, the result of which leaves you wide open.

Try this --Carry "An Arrow to the Heart" around with you. When you have a quiet moment, take out the book. Open it to any page. Read the left page, read the right, and then close the book again. Don't analyse, don't think about what the words mean -- just let whatever you experience sink in. Keep doing this.

This is a great book.