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The Great Heart Sutra of the Transcendental Wisdom to Reach the Other Shore
A Figurative Translation
A Bodhisattva named Avalokitesvara, meditating deeply on prajna-paramita,
perceived that the Five Skandhas are all equally empty, and thus overcame all
suffering and calamity.
Speaking to Sariputra, she said: Form is not other than emptiness; emptiness is
not other than form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. The
other four skandhas — sensation, perception, formations, and consciousness — are
also thus.
Listen, Sariputra: in transcendental reality all dharmas are marked with
emptiness: thus things are neither born nor destroyed; neither pure nor impure;
neither increasing or decreasing.
In ultimate reality, the Five Skandhas do not apply: thus, there is no form,
sensation, perception, formations, nor consciousness.
In ultimate reality, the Eighteen Dhatus do not apply: thus, there is no eye,
ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; there are no sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
textures, or thoughts; there is no vision, audition, olfaction, gustation,
tactition, or perception.
In ultimate reality, the Twelve Nidanas do not apply: thus, there is no
ignorance, activity, consciousness, or modality, no senses, contact, perception,
or desire, no attachment, becoming, birth, or age-death, and no ending of any of
these.
In ultimate reality, the Four Noble Truths do not apply: thus there is no
suffering, no cause of suffering, no extinction of suffering, and no Eightfold
Noble Path out of suffering.
In ultimate reality, the Eightfold Noble Path does not apply: thus, there is no
Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right
Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration, nor Right Contemplation.
In ultimate reality, the Six Paramitas do not apply: thus there is no charity,
discipline, tolerance, perseverance, meditation, or wisdom.
Thanks to prajna-paramita, Bodhisattvas understand that there can be no new
attainment of enlightenment because originally there was only enlightenment.
Thus, the mind of a Bodhisattva has no obstructions. Without obstructions, she
has no fear. Free from delusion and illusion, she is able to reach the ultimate
enlightenment called nirvana.
All of the Buddhas of the past, present, and future have relied on
prajna-paramita to reach the supreme perfect enlightenment known as
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Thus know that this Heart Sutra is a great divine mantra, a mantra of great
clarity, an unsurpassed mantra, a mantra that has no equal. It can eliminate all
suffering. This is the incorruptible truth, without falsehood. If you wish to
chant a mantra of prajna-paramita, recite thus:
ga-te ga-te para ga-te para sam ga-te bodhi svaha.
Glossary
anuttara samyak sambodhi – (Chinese: 阿耨多羅三藐三菩提): the perfect, unsurpassed
enlightenment of a Buddha.
Avalokitesvara – (Chinese: 觀 世 音 Guan Shi Yin or 觀 自 在 Guan Zi Zai); The
Bodhisattva of compassion. Known as “Guan Yin” in Chinese, and “Kannon” in
Japanese. In India, Avalokitesvara was depicted as male, but in China, she is
usually depicted as female. The changing gender of Avolitesvara points to the
non-duality of cosmic reality, where there is no gender.
Bodhisattva – (Chinese: 菩 薩 Pu Sa); a highly developed spiritual being who has
taken a vow to help all sentient beings to reach enlightenment. In Sanskrit, the
word means “awake existence”.
Buddha – (Chinese: Fo 佛): any being who has become fully enlightened. In
Buddhism, there are countless Buddhas of different ages and realms. The Buddha
of our age is the historical Buddha named Siddhartha Gautama, who lived c.
563-482 BCE.
dharma – (Chinese: zhu fa 諸 法); in the context of the sutra, dharma means
“things” or “phenomena”, but in the larger context of Buddhism it often refers
to “the teachings of the Buddha”.
dhatus — The Eighteen Dhatus, or Eighteen Realms, arise because of and through
the five skandhas. These realms can be divided into three groups of six: the six
sense organs; the six sense objects, and the six sense consciousnesses. Each
sense organs operates on an object, and thus creates a specific consciousness.
The 6 sense consciousnesses arise because of the interaction between the six
sense organs and their sense objects.
The 6 Sense Organs:
The Eyes
The Ears
The Nose
The Tongue
The Body
The Mind
The 6 Sense Objects:
Shapes
Sounds
Aromas
Flavors
Textures
Thoughts
The 6 Sense Consciousness:
Visual sense, or vision
Sense of hearing, or audition
Sense of smell or olfaction
Sense of taste, or gustation
Sense of touch, or tactition
Perception
Eightfold Noble Path (Sanskrit: arya stanga margah; Chinese: Bāzhèngdào 八 正 道 ):
the 4th of the Four Noble Truths, and the way to end the suffering in samsara.
It is a practical way to live which involves understanding the dharma (the
Buddha’s teachings), developing moral purity, and practicing meditation.
Right Understanding
Right Thought
Right Speech
Right Conduct
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Concentration
Right Contemplation
Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: Catvāri āryasatyāni; Chinese: Sìshèngdì, 四聖帝)
The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha): living in samsara (the endless cycle of
rebirth) is suffering.
The Origin of Suffering (Samudaya): the cause of suffering is desire.
The Extinction of Suffering (Nirodha): to eliminate suffering, one must
eliminate desire.
The Path out of Suffering (Magga): follow the Eightfold Noble Path
ga-te ga-te para ga-te para same ga-te bodhi svaha: a Sanksrit mantra that can
be loosely translated as: “Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to
the other shore, enlightenment, ah!”
Heart Sutra: (Sanskrit: Prajñāpāramitā Hrdaya Sutra; Chinese: 般若波羅密多心經 Bo re bo
luo mi duo Xin Jing): one of the most popular sutras in Zen Buddhism revered for
both its brevity and profundity. It belongs to a group of sutras known as the
Wisdom Sutras. The version here is the most popular, and comes from the Chinese
translation by Xuan Zang (596-664 CE).
mantra: a mystical syllable, phrase, or poem chanted in many religions,
including Buddhism and Hinduism. The most famous Buddhist mantra is “Om Mani
Padme Hum”. In the context of the Heart Sutra, we have two mantras: the sutra
itself, and the “ga-te” mantra at the end.
nidanas: the Twelve Nidanas, or the Twelve Links, is a Buddhist doctrine that
explains how suffering is perpetuated through samsara (the cycle of birth and
death). Each step in the twelve “links” is a consequence of the previous one.
Ignorance
Activity or action
Consciousness
Modality or Name-and-Form
The Six Senses
Contact
Perception or Sensation
Desire
Attachment
Becoming
Birth
Old Age & Death
nirvana (涅盤): the ultimate goal of Buddhism. The word literally means “no wind”,
and describes an enlightened state of permanence, tranquility, and bliss.
paramitas: The Six Paramitas, or perfections of wisdom. In Buddhism, these are
virtues that should be cultivated. In Mahayana Buddhism, The Six Paramitas are:
Charity, generosity, giving of oneself (Dana, 布施波羅密)
Discipline, morality, proper conduct (Sila : 持戒波羅密)
Tolerance, forbearance, acceptance (Ksanti : 忍辱波羅密)
Perseverance, diligence, effort (Virya : 精進波羅密)
Meditation, contemplation (Dhyana : 禪定波羅密)
Wisdom (Prajna : 智慧波羅密)
prajna-paramita (Chinese: 般若波羅密多): prajna means wisdom or understanding based on
direct experience; the three characteristics of Mahayana Buddhism are compassion
(karuna), wisdom (prajna), and emptiness (sunyata), all three of which are
emphasized in the first line of the sutra. Prajna-paramita refers to the the
transcendental wisdom leading to perfect enlightenment.
Sariputra (Chinese: She Li Zi 舍利子); a disciple of the historical Buddha.
skandhas (Chinese: wu yun五蕴); the five skandhas, or aggregates, that make up
human existence:
form or matter (se色 )
sensation or feeling (shou受 )
perception or cognition (xiang想 )
mental formations (xing行 )
consciousness (shi 識)
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