About sutras
SUTRA (pronounced soo-tra) is a sanskrit word (sutta in Pali) literally meaning "thread." They are usually short aphorisms or verses that were used to express Buddhist teachings -- including rituals, philosophies, law and grammatical style.
Popular opinion on sutras is that they are mystical and difficult to understand: "Sutras were composed with an eye to economy of expression and mnemonic ease, and were often couched in technical language; as such they are frequently difficult to comprehend without the aid of a commentary."
In fact, this is not the case. Most sutras "seem" difficult to understand due to the poor translations available before more recent scholarship. For example, "emptiness" or "void" is a common stumbling block for students because in English this implies a "lack of something." A better translation of these terms would be "non-abiding," meaning that all phenomena do not abide, or exist permanently. New translations have taken care of many of these problems.
However, the translations in this series are older and often have the original difficulties in translation. Although veterans of Zen and other Buddhist traditions shouldn't have any problems, I would suggest that anyone having trouble understanding the meaning of these sutras find a more "up to date" source, such as translations published by Dharma Publishing or Shambhala.
As for how to chant these sutras, I can only recommend that you visit a Zen center and experience the wonder for yourself.
