Sutra du coeur | obsidian dragons

Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra also known as the "Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" in Sanskrit, is one of the shortest but most profound texts of Mahayana Buddhism.
It expounds the ultimate nature of reality from the perspective of emptiness (shunyata). In this sutra, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara transmits the teaching of emptiness to Shariputra, one of the Buddha's chief disciples.
The sutra emphasizes the concept of the emptiness of all phenomena, noting that things have no motivated existence and that liberation lies in the deep understanding of this truth.
It is a fundamental text in understanding Mahayana Buddhist philosophy.

Heart Sutra | Obsidian Dragons

 

HEART SUTRA:

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Blessed One was staying in the garden of Anāthapindada in the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, the Blessed One was absorbed in meditation on the profound vision of the emptiness of the five Then, through the kindness of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the son of the noble lineage, the disciple Shariputra said to Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara:

“How should a son of a noble family train his mind when he wishes to practice the perfection of transcendent wisdom?”

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara replied to him: "Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the perfection of transcendent wisdom should see thus: he should see form as emptiness, and emptiness as form. Form is none other than emptiness, and emptiness is none other than form. Likewise, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are all emptiness.

Thus, Shariputra, all phenomena are characterized by emptiness: they are neither born nor extinguished, neither defiled nor pure, neither increased nor diminished. Therefore, in emptiness there is neither form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor mental formations, nor consciousness; there is neither eye, nor ear, nor nose, nor tongue, nor body, nor mind; there is neither form, nor sound, nor smell, nor taste, nor tactile sensation, nor mental object; there is neither element of sight, nor even the absence of mental element of knowledge.

There is neither ignorance, nor the extinction of ignorance, nor even the absence of old age and death, nor the extinction of old age and death. There is neither suffering, nor the origin of suffering, nor the cessation of suffering, nor a path. There is no knowledge, nor acquisition, nor non-acquisition.

Therefore, Shariputra, because of his non-acquisition, the Bodhisattvas, by relying on the perfection of transcendent wisdom, dwell without fear. Thus surpassing the boundaries of confusion, they attain nirvana.

All Buddhas past, present and future, through the perfection of transcendent wisdom, have attained complete, perfect and awakened enlightenment.

Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of transcendent wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the incomparable mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that allays all suffering, is uttered:

Tayata om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.

           

Heart Sutra | Obsidian Dragons

 

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