We discussed a lovely English chanting of the Diamond Sutra at a recent class and I wanted to provide you with a link to both the chant and several translations of the sutra. It is an important part of the Prajnaparamita Sutra collection like the Heart Sutra and one that the Buddha Master has said we should study. It is timely to listen to and read this summary of the Buddhas teachings on prajna as we study incorrect views to hold on emptiness.
CLICK for link to the chanting of the Sutra by Sharon Kumuda Janis on YouTube. This is translated from the Pali so that it can be sung in English (56 minutes). It also contains many photos of the Buddha and the sites where he taught in India.
CLICK for link to English translation from the Tibetan by Michael Roach as the Diamond-Cutter Sutra: An Exalted Sutra of the Greater Way on the Perfection of Wisdom.
CLICK for link to English translation from the Chinese translation of the Diamond Perfection of Wisdom Sutra by Kumàrajãva from the Sanskrit and from the Chinese into English by Charles Patton.
CLICK for link to a new English translation. I have not read this or have any comment on it.
Today I examined the new and recent translation. The website is conveniently arranged so that one may access a specific chapter; read a chapter then advance to the next chapter; and, it contains an audio reading of the entire sutra that lasts about 37 minutes. After I had read the first four chapters I erroneously thought that reading the entire sutra would take well over an hour because an hour is the approximate length of the CD I have. Then I noticed the audio file was relatively short. I listened to the audio as I read along and found that a good experience. There are places where this translation provides a more detailed version that I found helpful in uderstanding. I also like the early statements the Buddha made that the enlightenment of those who listened to the sutra, as well as his own enlightenment, was because of all the karma that had been generated in previous lifetimes coming to fruition in the conditions that arise/srose from listening to the sutra. That is my poor paraphrasing.