Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Mahaprajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra
RichardH
Veteran
For those who practice with this Sutra. How has it opened or guided you?
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep prajna paramita,
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming all suffering and distress.
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form.
Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form.
Sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness are also like this.
Shariputra, all things are marked by emptiness -
not born, not destroyed,
not stained, not pure,
without gain, without loss.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
No colour, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought.
No realm of sight to no realm of thought.
No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance to no old age and death and also no ending of old age and death.
No suffering, and also no source of suffering, no annihilation, no path.
No wisdom, also no attainment.
Having nothing to attain, Bodhisattvas live prajna paramita with no hindrance in the mind.
No hindrance, thus no fear.
Far beyond delusive thinking, they attain complete Nirvana.
All Buddhas past, present and future live prajna paramita and thus attain anuttara samyak sambodhi.
Therefore, know that prajna paramita is the great mantra, the wisdom mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra, which completely removes all suffering. This is truth, not deception. Therefore set forth the prajna paramita mantra, set forth this mantra and say: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep prajna paramita,
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming all suffering and distress.
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form.
Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form.
Sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness are also like this.
Shariputra, all things are marked by emptiness -
not born, not destroyed,
not stained, not pure,
without gain, without loss.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
No colour, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought.
No realm of sight to no realm of thought.
No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance to no old age and death and also no ending of old age and death.
No suffering, and also no source of suffering, no annihilation, no path.
No wisdom, also no attainment.
Having nothing to attain, Bodhisattvas live prajna paramita with no hindrance in the mind.
No hindrance, thus no fear.
Far beyond delusive thinking, they attain complete Nirvana.
All Buddhas past, present and future live prajna paramita and thus attain anuttara samyak sambodhi.
Therefore, know that prajna paramita is the great mantra, the wisdom mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra, which completely removes all suffering. This is truth, not deception. Therefore set forth the prajna paramita mantra, set forth this mantra and say: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha
0
Comments
However they do open your eyes (I wouldn't dare to say I get the whole point though).
He is denying the doctrine as ultimate reality (the four noble truths, and so on), and stating it is based on empty concepts. (this would mean that concepts are dependent on perceptions, who are dependent on other perceptions and so on...). It is not really that Nirvana is so special that it's the only thing that can't be put into words (hence even the aggregates are empty), its just that language has its limitations.
It is the old "don't confuse the finger with the moon". However, the finger is still important, the sutra doesn't say otherwise.
All I can think of is that, based on this, you can pretty much see that this is a deep form of insight (hence it comes from Avalokiteshvara and not John Doe) that is attained through a lot of, well, insight meditation. I really don't expect to see what Avalokiteshvara saw directly anytime soon.
"So throw your rubbers overboard,
There's no one here but men."
So throw your concepts overboard,
There's nothing here but experience.
Just interested to hear how those who are familiar with the Heart Sutra, either in a casual way or in the course of formal study/practice, relate to the message.... and how it informs meditation and "post-meditation" (daily life).
form itself is empty. it is not made empty by emptiness. what is it that is empty? the form itself. the table itself. the body itself.
in the same way, all phenomena are empty of their own inherent existence. emptiness is not something made up by the mind. this is how things have been from the start. appearance and emptiness are one entity and cannot be differentiated into separate entities.
"No suffering, and also no source of suffering, no annihilation, no path."
A complete context is important.
its about the negation of intrinsic existence and the differentiation of the relative and ultimate truths.
Yes conventional truth is important to understand, because we are living within the limited and dualistic paradigm of the mind. But, is it not equally important to understand that the conventional truth is a limited understanding, or one piece of truth at a time?
Isn’t there also a whole truth, which the mind has trouble accessing with its wordy mindset? And isn’t it just because the mind cannot comprehend it, that it believes it to be empty? Yet, in truth, isn’t this larger truth, or complete truth, actually only empty of the mind objects?
Peace,
S9
One should become a bodhisattva (or, Buddha-to-be), i.e. one who is content with nothing less than all-knowledge attained through the perfection of wisdom for the sake of all beings.
There is no such thing as a bodhisattva, or as all-knowledge, or as a 'being', or as the perfection of wisdom, or as an attainment. To accept both of these contradictory facts is to be perfect.'
This sutra has amazing flow, in a literal as well as symbolic way, for me anyway.
Namaste
_/
I have been a long time member of the Lay Thai Forest sangha and only encounter Theravadin chauvinism among the laity ......and only online.
its also pretty offensive and ignorant.
you're wrong, biased and extremely sectarian and obviously have no business speaking on a Mahayana sutra.
thats not what i was saying nor is it what the sutra says.
One of the greatest lines ever written.
S9
Tonight at the Zendo I was told ( for the millionth time I'm afraid). "Dont say!" as the teacher slapped the floor with his hand. Brought me up short....again.
What are the qualifications to be a long time member of the Lay Thai Forest sangha?
What is your background to be able to claim such a title?
Kind regards
DDhatu
If you are gonna be the bad cop can I be the good cop?
I get you might be a little offended, but he is just stating his opinion based on his previous experiences. As far as internet goes, there is, undeniably, in any forum for that matter, a strong presence of chauvinism. (My qualification is being a "old friend of the site" and having seen my fair share of vitriol
Whilst I misread the OP and deleted my posts, my views stand as what I regard as beneficial views.
If you wish to dwell in the sphere of fantasy about Hindu Gods and the General of the Dhamma, the practitioner of the greatest lucidity & virtue apart from the Buddha, so be it.
The Buddha advised Recollection of the Sangha is a practise. The Buddha advised he honored two things, namely, the Dhamma & the Sangha.
Vitriol & chauvinism are in the eye of the beholder.
you can agree or disagree but there is no need for name calling...
please...why bother with this sutra if your mind cannot go beyond becoming offended?
maybe it is best to return to the beginners form...
if i quoted the Buddha's rationale for my post, it is to complete unfulfilled gratitude...
for me, there is none more inspiring than the Venerable Sariputta and for you, it appears something similar occurs regarding Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva...
I dont doubt for a moment all the ego and and opinion of my posts, and only claim to speak for my own flawed practice.... not Buddhism. I hope you are doing the same, because if you think you are just a selfless mouthpiece of the Dhamma I honestly dont know what to say to you.
How do you use the sutra in _your_ practice?
How bout you Ren?
Obviously, when views were presented about what were considered unsatisfactory aspects of the sutra, your mind could not abide in oneness & emptiness.
Instead, all kinds of self-exalting & other-disparaging views were concocting in a holier-than-thou manner.
Funny how merely quoting some suttas on my behalf gives rise to all kinds of self-views and name calling in others.
Are we still calling the flock to support our sense of moral superiority & justification???
A long long way from any kind of emptiness.
Take care.
I have no delusion of opening my mouth and speaking from no perspective. To that degree at least I am not mad. I am not attacking the authenticity of the Pali Canon. No one here is. This post asked how people who practice with this sutra do so, and you have denigrated it as nihilistic nonsense. Yes you are Theravadin Chauvinist.
(Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, here. There has been plenty of suffering during chanting and listening to this sutra, in my case... I've never understood how chanting is supposed to work...)
They may be bringing to you, (believe it or not), something that you have not yet understood. The may, in fact, be open up doors to a treasure house to you.
But, lets say (for the sake of arguement) that they do not understand something that you do. Something of which it has been our good fortune to understand. Should we then begrudge them our help in this area? (They're not worth my trouble.)
We are not defending something that can be hurt, (Buddha's words), when we are hurting those who as of yet do not understand. Buddha’s words cannot be hurt; they have been around for centuries amid war and strife. We can only hurt each other.
When we start hurting each other, there are no winners...only loser.
Peace and love,
S9
I believe that chanting is supposed to work like a soothing medicine for people who cannot find peace in other ways. The monks very often, were the doctors in ancient times. They worked to heal the mind, as well as healing the body.
Peace can be had sometimes through distraction. Isn’t that why we read a book, watch a movie, to give us a vacation from our self?
But, I am sure there is more to be had in this way, by chanting.
Warm Regards,
S9