Heart Sutra
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The Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra or Heart Sutra or Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिताहृदयसूत्र Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra; traditional Chinese: 般若波羅蜜多心經, Pinyin: Bōrĕbōluómìduō Xīnjīng; Japanese: 摩訶般若波羅蜜多心経, Maka Hannyaharamita Shingyō; Korean: 반야심경, Banya Simgyeong, Vietnamese: Bát Nhã Ba La Mật Đa Tâm Kinh, Thai: ปรัชญาปารมิตาหฤทัยสูตร) (Tibetan: sNying mDo or shes rab snying po'i mdo) is a well-known Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra that is very popular among Mahayana Buddhists both for its brevity and depth of meaning.
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[edit] Introduction
The Heart Sutra is usually considered a member of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) class of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, and along with the Diamond Sutra, is considered by many to be the primary representative of the genre. It consists of just 14 shlokas or verses in Sanskrit and 260 Chinese characters in the most prevalent Chinese version, Taisho Tripitaka Vol. T08 No. 251, translated by Xuan Zang. This makes it one of the most highly abbreviated versions of the Perfection of Wisdom texts, texts which exist in various lengths up to and including 100,000 slokas. This sutra is classified by Edward Conze as belonging to the third of four periods in the development of the Perfection of Wisdom canon, although because it contains a mantra (sometimes called a dharani), it does overlap with the final tantric phase of development according to this scheme, and is included in the tantra section of at least some editions of the Kangyur. [1]
The study of the Heart Sutra is particularly emphasized in the practice of East Asian Buddhism. Its Chinese version is frequently chanted (in the local pronunciation) by the Zen (Chan/Seon/Thiền) sects during ceremonies in Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam respectively. It is also significant to the Shingon Buddhist school in Japan, whose founder Kūkai wrote a commentary on it, and to the various Tibetan Buddhist schools, where it is studied extensively.
A striking feature of the sutra is the fact that the teaching is not actually delivered by the Buddha, which places it in a relatively small class of sutras not directly spoken by the Buddha. In some Chinese versions of the text, the Buddha confirms and praises the words of Avalokiteśvara, although this is not included in either the extant Sanskrit version nor the preeminent Chinese version translated by Xuan Zang. Based on literary evidence, some scholars have suggested that the earliest (shortest) version of the Heart Sutra was probably first composed in Chinese language, and later translated into Sanskrit[2]
[edit] The text
Various commentators divide this text in different numbers of sections. Briefly, the sutra describes the experience of liberation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara, as a result of insight gained while engaged in deep meditation to awaken the faculty of prajña (wisdom). The insight refers to the fundamental emptiness of all phenomena, the five aggregates of human existence (skandhas) — form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), volitions (samskārā), perceptions (saṁjñā), and consciousness (vijñāna).
Avalokiteśvara then addresses Śariputra, who in this text — as with many other Mahāyāna texts — is a representative of the Early Buddhist schools, described in many other sutras as being the Buddha's foremost disciple in wisdom. Avalokiteśvara famously states that, "Form is empty (Śūnyatā). Emptiness is form." and declares the other skandhas to be equally empty — that is, empty of an independent essence. Avalokiteśvara then goes through some of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and explains that in emptiness none of these labels apply. This is traditionally interpreted as saying that Buddhist teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality — they are not reality itself — and that they are therefore not applicable to the ultimate truth that is by definition beyond dualistic description. Thus the bodhisattva, as the archetypal Mahāyāna Buddhist, relies on the perfection of wisdom, defined in the larger Perfection of Wisdom sutras to be the wisdom that perceives reality directly without conceptual attachment. This perfection of wisdom is condensed in the mantra with which the Sutra concludes.
[edit] Mantra
This mantra, chanted throughout the Mahāyāna Buddhist world, appears in transliterated Sanskrit even in the Chinese version, as pronunciation of mantras is held to be important if they are to function properly. The mantra goes:
| Sanskrit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Devanāgarī | Romanization | Pronunciation | Translation |
| गते गते | Gate gate | [gəteː gəteː] | Gone, gone |
| पारगते | Pāragate | [pɑːɾə gəteː] | Gone beyond |
| पारसंगते | Pārasaṃgate | [pɑːɾəsəŋ gəteː] | Gone completely beyond |
| बोधि स्वाहा | Bodhi svāhā | [boːdɦɪ sʋɑːhɑː] | Praise to awakening. |
(The translation can only be loose since, as with many mantras, the Sanskrit does not appear to be completely grammatical)
The text itself describes the mantra as "Mahāmantro, mahā-vidyā mantro, ‘nuttara mantro samasama-mantrah", which Conze translates as "The great mantra, the mantra of great knowledge, the utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra, the allayer of all suffering." These words are also used of the Buddha, and so the text seems to be equating the mantra with the Buddha. Although the translation is acceptable, the case ending in Sanskrit mantra is the feminine vocative, so gate is addressed to a feminine person/figure. A more accurate translation is "Oh she who is gone!" In this respect, the mantra appears to be keeping with the common tantric practice (a practice supported by the texts themselves) of anthropromorphizing the Perfection of Wisdom as the "Mother of Buddhas."
One can also interpret the mantra as the progressive steps along the five paths of the Bodhisattva, through the two preparatory stages (the path of accumulation and preparation — Gate, gate), through the first bhumi (path of insight — Pāragate), through the second to seventh bhumi (path of meditation — Pārasamgate), and through the eight to tenth bhumi (stage of no more learning — Bodhi svāhā).
The current Dalai Lama explains the mantra in a discourse on the Heart Sutra both as an instruction for practice and as a device for measuring one's own level of spiritual attainment, and translates it as go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment. In the discourse, he gives a similar explanation to the four stages (the four go's) as in the previous paragraph.
Unlike Greek, Sanskrit distinguishes between 'para' (across, as in Greek and our derivations) and 'pāra', which means across to the other side. The preposition 'sam' equates to the Greek 'συν', with (which here we can reasonably expand to together with). So, "Gone [or go] across to the other side, together with" would be an absolutely literal translation of 'Pārasamgate'. This may be understood as referring to the bringing of one's entire world over onto the previously realised higher plane of energy, and as identical in meaning to the Zen saying "First there is a mountain [our initial condition of perception], then there is no mountain [pāragate], then there is [pārasamgate]". "Bodhi svāhā" - "Enlightenment, awaken!".
[edit] Musical setting
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American composer Lou Harrison set Esperanto language texts translated from the Heart Sutra to music in his 1973 cantata La Koro Sutro.
The Band Akron/Family set the English version to music entitled Gone Beyond on their album, Meek Warrior.
Peter Rowan incorporated a musical setting of the Heart Sutra in the chorus of "Vulture Peak" on his 2001 album Reggaebilly.
Cantonese new age musical arranger Imee Ooi also performs electronic versions of Buddhist sutras, notably the Heart Sutra, in Sanskrit, and Mandarin.
Chloe Goodchild, British singer and composer, completed a version of the Heart Sutra on her album "Fierce Wisdom"
American Hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan has included the Heart Sutra in their album the 8 Diagrams. It was performed in Mandarin by Shifu Shi Yan Ming in the last track titled "Life Changes" as a tribute to the late Old Dirty Bastard. [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Conze, The Prajnaparamita Literature
- ^ Based on literary evidence, Jan Nattier has argued that the short version was constructed initially in Chinese and then translated into Sanskrit. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 314
- ^ theworsthorse blog entry
[edit] External links
[edit] Translations
- Buddhist Text Translation Society. The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. - from the Chinese translation by Tang master Hsüan-Tsang
- Conze, Edward. The Heart Sutra. Digital International Buddhism Organization. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- Halifax, Joan; Kazuaki Tanahashi. The Sutra on the Heart of Realizing Wisdom Beyond Wisdom (PDF). Upaya Zen Center. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- The Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sūtra. Retrieved on 2008-05-14. Translated from the Chinese version of Xuanzang by the Sutra Pagoda Institute.
- McLeod, Ken. The Sutra of the Heart of the Lady Perfection of Wisdom. Unfettered Mind. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. - a very accessible translation by an American Buddhist scholar
- English Buddhist Text. fodian.net. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. - Links to various English translations in PDF format
- The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom. LamRim.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra (with annotation). Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. - translated from Chinese by Buddha Gate Monastery
- The Heart Sutra (in Chinese calligraphy). Asiawind. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
[edit] Discourses
- Pasada; Chris Dooks. "The Perfection of Wisdom" A discourse on The Heart Sutra. BuddhaNet Audio Dharma Talks. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. - A discourse on The Heart Sutra by Pasada of Edinburgh Buddhist Centre (links to a series of mp3 files)
- Master Hsing Yun at UWest - Class 1A. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. A YouTube video of a 47-minute discourse by Master Hsing Yun
- "Heart Sutra and Emptiness". - 5 Talks on the Heart Sutra by Norman Fischer
[edit] Further reading
- Conze, Edward (translater) (1984). Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary. Grey Fox Press. ISBN 978-0877040491.
- Lopez, Donald (1990). The Heart Sutra Explained. South Asia Books. ISBN 978-8170302384.
- McLeod, Ken (2007). An Arrow to the Heart. Victoria, BC, Canada: Trafford. ISBN 978-1425133771.
- Nhat Hanh, Thich (1988). The Heart of Understanding. Berkeley, California: Parallax Press. ISBN 978-0938077114.
- Porter, Bill (Red Pine) (2004-08-31). The Heart Sutra: The Womb of Buddhas. Shoemaker & Hoard. ISBN 978-1593760090.
- Waddell, Norman (1996-07-15). Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala. ISBN 978-1570621659.
