HEART SUTRA

The full title of this sutra is Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra.

The Heart Sutra in Sanskrit is Prajnaparamitahrdaya (Chinese: 心經 Xīnjīng).

The Heart Sutra explains the meaning of prajna paramita, the perfection of wisdom that enables one to clearly perceive the emptiness of self and all phenomena.

 

The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra

 

Translated by Tang Dharma Master of the Tripitaka Hsüan-Tsang on imperial command.

 

When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound prajna paramita, he illuminated the five skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So, too, are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.

Shariputra, all dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced. Not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or dharmas; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind-consciousness; and no  ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no  old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, no way, and no understanding and no attaining.

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on prajna paramita, is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana!

All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttarasamyaksambodhi through reliance on prajna paramita. Therefore, know that prajna paramita is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of prajna paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:

 

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!

 

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Glossary of terms

Prajna. Wisdom.

Paramita. A Sanskrit word which literally means ‘having arrived at the other shore’. It means to finish completely whatever you do.

Sutra. The sutras are records of the conversations of the Buddhas and or the Bodhisattvas or other enlightened disciples of the Buddha.

Tripitaka Hsüan-Tsang (Xuan Zang). Xuan Zang was a great enlightened master, translator, and founder of the Consciousness only School in China.

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion. His name, which is Sanskrit, is often translated as Observer of the Sounds of the World.

Bodhisattva. An enlightened sentient being who enlightens other beings.

Five Skandhas. The five skandhas are:

1. Form

2. Feeling

3. Cognition

4. Formations, and

5. Consciousness.

Skandhas is a Sanskrit word meaning heap, pile or aggregate.

The skandhas are general divisions for categorising all phenomena in the conditioned world.

Shariputra. One of the then great Arhat disciples of the Buddha who was known for his great wisdom.

Dharmas. All methods of cultivation taught by the Buddha which lead to ultimate enlightenment.

Nirvana. A Sanskrit term that is interpreted in several ways:

1. Cessation or extinction, referring to the elimination of afflictions at the time of enlightenment or the ceasing to be of the skandhas when an enlightened person at death chooses to be reborn no longer;

2. Freedom from desire; and

3. No longer either coming into being or ceasing to be.

Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. This is a Sanskrit term referring to the perfect and universal enlightenment of a Buddha. It is variously translated as meaning, “Utmost, Right, and Perfect Enlightenment“, “Supreme, Orthodox, and Equal Awakening “, or the like.

Mantra. Mantras are phrases of sound whose primary meaning or meanings is not cognitive, but on a spiritual level that transcends ordinary linguistic understanding.

 

Glossary of terms based on the entries in Buddhism A to Z compiled by Ronald B. Epstein.

 

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