English Section

      Buddhism Today 

Vietnamese Section

   

...... ... .  . .  .  .
The Heart Sutra

When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the five Skandhas and saw that they were all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness: emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, mental function and consciousness.

Shariputra. all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, and they neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, mental function, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch, or dharmas; no field of the eyes, up to and including no field of mind-consciousness: and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death, or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accu no way, no wisdom and no attaining.

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on Prajna Paramita, is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dreamthinking far behind.
Ultimately Ninana! All Buddhas of the past, present and future attain enlightenment through reliance on Prajn Paramita. Therefore, know that Prajna Paramita is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!

 


Updated: 1-8-2000

Return to "Buddhist Texts"

Top of Page