Note to the forum: Make sure to check if your quotes are from the text itself (a primary source) or the translator's notes.

I saw something strange from u/planetbyter when he attributed a quote to Linji that didn't seem to jive with the record of Linji that I read.

I couldn't find it in my copy, so I asked him for the chapter. He graciously gave me the page numbers and a link to the pdf where he got the quote.

However, the quote wasn't from Linji at all! It was from the translator's reading of Linji, and their comparison to another meditation text.

PlanetByter clearly made an error that I'm sure we've all made on occasion. I just thought I'd use this example to say "Watch out!" for potentially honest mistakes of this sort!

It's tricky sometimes. The translator here is quoting the meditation that Linji is specifically saying is wrong, and confusing those two quotes obviously flips it all topsy turvy!

Submitted February 13, 2018 at 05:19AM by NegativeGPA http://ift.tt/2EnfKKx