The Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra or Heart Sutra (Sanskrit: Prajñā Pāramitā Hridaya Sūtra, Chinese: 般若波羅蜜多心經) is a well known Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra. Notable for its brevity, concision and clarity, the Heart Sutra is considered to represent the core teachings of the much longer Perfection of Wisdom sutras, hence its name. The sutra fits easily on a single manuscript page.
The study of the Heart Sutra is particularly emphasized in the Zen sects, and its Chinese version is frequently chanted (in the local pronunciation) during ceremonies in China, Japan, and Korea.
Some scholars believe that the Heart Sutra was originally composed in China and only later translated into Sanskrit. However this appears to be a minority position; most hold that the Sanskrit is the original, even though the Chinese version has undoubtedly been more influential.
Content
In this sutra, the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara presents sunyata to Shariputra as a metaphor for dependent origination and the Two Truths. The bodhisattva famously states "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" and declares the skandhas (the five aggregates of human existence) to be equally empty. Avalokiteshvara then proceeds to deny the truth of all fundamental Buddhist teachings, again in allusion to the two truths of conventional reality and absolute unreality.
The Heart Sutra ends with a famous mantra or dharani , which appears in transliterated Sanskrit even in the Chinese version, and as follows:
| Sanskrit
| Pronunciation
| Translation
|
| Gate gate
| guh-tay guh-tay
| Gone, gone
|
| Pāragate
| pah-rah-guh-tay
| Gone beyond
|
| Pārasamgate
| pah-rah-sahm-gah-tay
| Completely gone beyond
|
| Bodhi svāhā
| boh-dee swah-hah
| Enlightenment, how wonderful!
|
See also
External links
Further reading
