The Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra serves as a guide for transcending duality and realizing ultimate wisdom, making it a cornerstone of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It is one of the most revered texts in Mahayana Buddhism, celebrated for its profound teachings on emptiness.

Despite its brevity, this sutra distills the essence of the Perfection of Wisdom tradition, offering deep insight into the nature of reality. Its famous declaration, "Form is emptiness; emptiness is form," challenges conventional perceptions, pointing to the interdependent and impermanent nature of all phenomena.

The Heart Sutra (short version)

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita, clearly saw emptiness of all the five conditions, thus completely relieving misfortune and pain.

Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form. Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form. Sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness are likewise like this. Oh Shariputra, all dharmas (phenomena) are forms of emptiness; not born, not destroyed, not stained, not pure, without loss, without gain.

So in emptiness there is no form; no sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomena; no realm of sight, no realm of consciousness; no ignorance and no end to ignorance, no old age and death and no end to old age and death, no suffering, no cause of suffering, no extinguishing, no path, no wisdom, and no gain.

No gain and thus the bodhisattva lives Prajna Paramita, (highest wisdom) with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance, therefore no fear.

Far beyond deluded thoughts; this is Nirvana.

All past, present, and future buddhas live Prajna Paramita (the highest most perfect wisdom) and therefore attain anuttara samyaksambodhi.

Therefore know Prajna Paramita is the great mantra, the vivid mantra, the best mantra, the unsurpassable mantra. It completely clears all pain. This is the truth not a lie. So set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra, set forth this mantra and say,

Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate! Bodhi Svaha!