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The Heart Sutra
Translator's Introduction
Wonderful
Prajna! Mother of all buddhas, the supreme guide and teacher of sages
and saints. All that is comes from Prajna and returns to Prajna.
Sentient beings experience birth and death in the wheel of life, their
mind deeply affected by ignorance, bent by the five skandhas, confused
and submerged in the ocean of suffering for long kalpas. How
regrettable! Prajna is said to be the light in the darkness of a very
long night. On the ebb and flow of the ocean of suffering, Prajna is a
raft. To a house consumed by a blazing fire, Prajna is the rain.
Without Prajna the universe is darkness, without Prajna the human mind
is ignorant, without Prajna sentient beings suffer without respite.
Cultivation of Prajnaparamita, the perfected virtue of knowing truth by
intuitive insight, relieves us from our suffering and helps us to
overcome, every kind of calamity. All buddhas of the past, present and
future attain Prajna, all sages and saints have cultivated Prajna:
Therefore, all of us need to cultivate the practice of Prajna.
The
wonderful doctrine of Prajna is true and, therefore, real, perfect in
all places, at all times and yet it is inconceivable. If one can
understand that voidness is not void since the radiant existence exists
within its mystery, then at this moment all is perceived as void. Sages
and saints become accomplished by means of Prajna, the ultimate ground
all sentient beings share. The uninformed majority fails to understand
that all existing is produced by causes and conditions, and the self is
a false self without any selfhood. Most grasp form and mistake it for
the True Existence, enduring immeasurable suffering in the wheel of
life. The practice of truth or reality of Prajna excepted, there is no
release from suffering in the three realms, no hope of freedom from
worldly worries.
It is
said in the Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra that "all forms are unreal and
illusory, and if they are seen as such, the Tathagata will be
perceived" because, originally, the true Void is formless. The sutra
says further: "The one who sees me by the form and seeks me by the
sound cannot perceive the Tathagata because of deluded views." It is to
be understood as saying that the one who perceives the form (or body)
and the sound or voice as the Buddha is grasping merely the form.
Missing the true meaning of reality he/she is unable to perceive that
all dharmas are voidness. Says the sutra further: "A bodhisattva that
(still) clings to the false notion of an ego, a personality, a being
and a life, is not a bodhisattva". Bodhisattvas, same as the buddhas,
establish themselves in Emptiness, apprehending their ego, personality,
being and life as false views rooted in duality. "The one who hears
this pure teaching with a clear and faithful mind can attain the really
real, the reality that is formless; those freed from all forms are
called buddhas" continues the sutra.
The
Prajna Paramita Hrydaya Sutra is the core of the Maha Prajna Paramita
in six hundred scrolls. Its teaching is the teaching of supramundane
Void as the only true existence, the true Void being mysteriously
concealed in the existing. Therefore one might say the substance of
this sutra is the characteristic of Void of all dharmas; non-obtaining
is the purpose. There is nothing to be obtained from the manifestation
of dharmas, all dharmas being void, or empty. Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara, coursing deeply in Prajna Paramita comprehended the
substance of the Prajna reality: All dharmas, as well as all five
skandhas are empty of self, completely free from thought. For this
reason the Bodhisattva received the Chinese name "Guan Zi Zai Pu Sa".
As
the substance of all dharmas, Void confirms the true reality of form as
non-form. The one who understands that buddha and sentient beings are
not different can liberate all sentient beings from disease and
calamity, end the cycle of birth and death and attain perfect, complete
enlightenment and Nirvana.
The
aggregate of form (rupa skandha) stands for all matter as produced by
causes and conditions, with no permanent substance and no separate,
lasting self. The remaining four skandhas are: Feelings, perceptions,
volitions, and consciousness. They all belong to the Dharma of Mind,
which is, likewise, void. But mind cannot find expression without form
and form cannot manifest itself without mind. Without form, mind cannot
be expressed, without mind, form cannot be made manifest. In other
words, apart from form there is no mind, apart from mind there is no
form. Although they are inseparable, they are not the same, as stated
in the sutra: "Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is form." Being neither
form nor mind, all dharmas are empty here and now; this is the
wonderful Dharma of Reality as Suchness, transcending all.
The
uninformed view the perceptible world with all its beings and
non-beings as real or true. Some of them know it to be an illusion
produced by interaction of matter and mentality, that it is deceptive
and impermanent and must return to the Void. That particular
interpretation of void has not been especially created by buddhas and
bodhisattvas in order to emphasize that all dharmas are rooted in
emptiness, because all existence is originally devoid of self-hood and,
therefore, empty. It is what they have been practicing for countless
kalpas. All those who attain enlightenment attain understanding of the
true substance of reality. They perceive that the five skandhas are
empty, and thereby overcome all ills and suffering.
Ultimately,
mind and form are not different. Likewise, the rest of the existing
world has neither birth nor death, is neither pure nor impure, it
neither increases nor decreases because it is originally void (of
selfhood). In case one perceives birth as coming and death as going, or
if one claims that clean is pure and dirty is defiled, holds "full" to
be an increase and "less" a decrease, one is not yet empty of skandhas.
These views represent obstacles which bind. Not being able to liberate
oneself, how can one hope to liberate others? When one has finally
reached the understanding that all existence is produced by causes and
conditions and, therefore, empty of permanent self, then all reality
equals stillness and the absence of diversified form. Then birth and
death, pure, impure, increase and decrease all are void. Without
defiled thought arising, suffering and calamity vanish. The entire
range of artificial or contrived forms is the result of the six organs,
six kinds of data and six kinds of consciousness. Reality, in truth,
does not comprise any realm. When the five skandhas are empty, there is
no diversity of form. Without ignorance there is no ending of ignorance
and no ending of old age and death.
Supreme
Prajna is stillness without form. When one is neither the resultant
person, nor the dependent condition, one's suffering ends. When
delusory thoughts and views are severed it is the end of the cause of
suffering. To relinquish the doctrine of unreality is to block the
cessation of suffering. Without the three studies there is no path. If
there is no subject of wisdom, that is called "Non-wisdom." Without the
object and its domain there is nothing to obtain. True mind is not
empty, yet it is Emptiness. Although Bodhi is considered to be an
attainment, there is nothing to attain. To perceive the ground of all
buddhas is Suchness. There are adornments everywhere and ten-thousand
merits manifest themselves. When Dharma-kaya becomes manifest, there is
only true Emptiness. Mind established in true Emptiness completely
encompasses the universe. There should be no seeking; no "inside" and
"outside". The universe is not attainable that way. As long as there is
something to attain, there are obstacles; thought arises and, there is
then an object. To have an object means duality, which means the loss
of true reality. It cannot be called Prajnaparamita.
The
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara practiced wonderful wisdom and attained
enlightenment completely free of attachment. He entered Emptiness,
unobstructed, through the gate of liberation. Since there is nothing
but Emptiness, (including the body, the mind and all that exists), a
bodhisattva is never moved by eulogy, ridicule, slander or fame. Even
war, famine or the bubonic plague are dismissed by him/her as illusions
taking hold through karma. Letting go of all that seemingly exists on
its own, independently of the mind, sets forth brightness and the one
experiencing it will no be intimidated. The Bodhisattva then entered
the kind of liberation that is Nirvana. Similarly, the one who has been
practicing over a long period of time achieves wonderful calmness which
empowers when faced with disturbance. Water cannot submerge him/her nor
fire burn. Because he/she attained liberation, he/she is fearless.
Seeking Dharma "outside", in what exists, apparently independent of
mind, is proceeding backward, perpetuating a misunderstanding as to
what is good and evil, dreaming of gain and holding the cycle of birth
and death to be the opposite of Nirvana. It is essential to let go of
distinctions such as dreaming versus thinking, right side up, and so on
if one wants to enter the gate of liberation through non-action. Only
when the name/form is dispatched and there is no mind object, can the
original enlightenment become manifest and Nirvana, the perfect
liberation in the Dharma-dhatu, obtained.
All
the buddhas in the three periods depend on Prajnaparamita for the
attainment of Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. Because of superb causes, they
attain the fruit of sainthood. Consequently, we know that
Prajnaparamita can dispose of all kinds of demons. Independent of
personality and Dharma, free at all times and in all places, the
buddhas manifest or remain concealed depending on potential. The great
mantra is beyond comprehension of the Saints and the worldly alike.
Endowed with a power to sever ignorance, it radiates brilliance and
stillness. This great, bright mantra emanates unadulterated wisdom, and
its power to transcend the three realms and attain supreme Nirvana is
beyond comparison. Illuminating the ten directions, it shines, like the
sun, everywhere without discrimination. Such is the unequaled mantra.
The
one who can receive and hold this sutra and mantra will liberate all
sentient beings from obstacles, release them from suffering and attain
complete enlightenment. This is true, and it is real; therefore the
Prajnaparamita Mantra says: "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, Bodhi
Svaha." The great master T'an Hsu commented that "mantra belongs to the
esoteric tradition and accordingly, belongs to the five kinds of texts
deemed primal, untranslatable, and inconceivable; when they are
translated and explained they will became conceivable dharma and their
original meaning and merit will be lost." In short, the primary purpose
of the Prajna Paramita mantra is to liberate self and others, traverse
the sea of suffering and, attaining complete enlightenment, reach the
serenity and joy that is Nirvana.
Venerable
Dharma Master Lok To
Young
Men's Buddhist Association of America
Bronx, New York.
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