Wednesday, August 6
5:31 pm
The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra
When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvarawas coursing in the deep Prajnaparamita,he perceived that all five skandhas are empty,thereby transcending all sufferings.
Sariputra, form is not other than emptinessand emptiness not other than form.
Form is precisely emptiness and emptiness precisely form.
So also are sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness.
Sariputra, this voidness of all dharmasis not born, not destroyed,not impure, not pure, does not increase or decrease.
In voidness there is no form,and no sensation, perception, volition or consciousness;no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;no sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought;there is no realm of the eyeall the way up to no realm of mental cognition.
There is no ignorance and there is no ending of ignorancethrough to no aging and death and no ending of aging and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,no cessation of suffering, and no path.
There is no wisdom or any attainment.
With nothing to attain, Bodhisattvas relying on Prajnaparamitahave no obstructions in their minds.Having no obstructions, there is no fearand departing far from confusion and imaginings,they reach Ultimate Nirvana.
All past, present and future Buddhas,relying on Prajnaparamita, attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.
Therefore, know that Prajnaparamitais the great mantra of power,the great mantra of wisdom, the supreme mantra,the unequalled mantra,which is able to remove all sufferings.
It is real and not false.Therefore recite the mantra of Prajnaparamita:Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha
Miyavi's back tattoo:
The Heart Sutra, in its Japanese form (the Hannya Shingyo), is often chanted by Zen groups before and/or after a meditation sitting. It's ideal for this purpose because its concise length (less than 300 syllables) makes it easy to memorize, while still capturing the essential elements of Buddhist teaching.
In the last line of "The Heart Sutra", it says:
"Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate! Bodhi Svaha!", which means "Gone, gone, gone over, gone fully over, Awakened! So be it!
Let it out,
