Heart Sutra
“When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara
Was Discoursing in the Deep Prajna Paramita,
He Perceived That All Five Skandhas Are Empty.
Thus He Overcame All Ills and Suffering.
Oh, Sariputra, Form Does not Differ From the Void,
And the Void Does Not Differ From Form.
Form is Void and Void is Form;
The Same is True For Feelings,
Perceptions, Volitions and Consciousness.
Sariputra, the Characteristics of the
Voidness of All Dharmas
Are Non-Arising, Non-Ceasing, Non-Defiled,
Non-Pure, Non-Increasing, Non-Decreasing.
Therefore, in the Void There Are No Forms,
No Feelings, Perceptions, Volitions or Consciousness.
No Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body or Mind;
No Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch or Mind Object;
No Realm of the Eye,
Until We Come to No realm of Consciousness.
No ignorance and Also No Ending of Ignorance,
Until We Come to No Old Age and Death and
No Ending of Old Age and Death.
Also, There is No Truth of Suffering,
Of the Cause of Suffering,
Of the Cessation of Suffering, Nor of the Path.
There is No Wisdom, and There is No Attainment Whatsoever.
Because There is Nothing to Be Attained,
The Bodhisattva Relying On Prajna Paramita Has
No Obstruction in His Mind.
Because There is No Obstruction, He Has no Fear,
And He passes Far Beyond Confused Imagination.
And Reaches Ultimate Nirvana.
The Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future,
By Relying on Prajna Paramita
Have Attained Supreme Enlightenment.
Therefore, the Prajna Paramita is the Great Magic Spell,
The Spell of Illumination, the Supreme Spell,
Which Can Truly Protect One From All Suffering Without Fail.
Therefore He Uttered the Spell of Prajnaparmita,
Saying ‘Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.’ ”
- The Heart Sutra of Buddhism
Green Way Wisdom - Zen Buddhist Poems and Scriptures
When I first learned about the Heart Sutra, in 1962, I was startled by its strangeness. What was it saying? What did it mean? After many years of reflection, I still have the same unsettledness. This state of mind, however, still appeals strongly to my mystical leanings.
The Heart Sutra pointed to the nature of consciousness, the rather jumpy and passing nature of mind, and the insubstantial nature of beings except as they are part of the interdependent Whole. It fostered a kind of letting go, acceptance, surrender, opening up, and spiritual freedom that would carry a person to real understanding.
It cast a magical spell over my spiritual heart, one from which I have never be released.
Blog Search Terms: Buddhism, Zen, Heart Sutra, Emptiness.
BruceMacRae Smith said,
April 21, 2007 @ 10:04 am
As with all texts based upon spoken words, expressed a very long time ago, there have been recording, repetition, transmission, translation, of the original words; so we do not know precisely what was originally said. There are those who will say that this is not important, because it is possible to find the core-message within the whole text. It is not as simple as that; errors in the precise wording will lead to errors in understanding and practice. For example : “matter is not different from emptiness and emtiness is not different from matter.”
The word “different” (sometimes it ocurrs as “differ”) is not correct. The correct word is “separate”. The acceptance of the word “different” leads to misunderstanding, because phenomena (matter) are certainly different from their source and sustainance, emptiness, though they are not separate, they are whole. The difference is that (phenomena) matter is dimensional, limited, and dependant upon emptiness; whereas emptiness is without dimension, unlimited, and independant.