Our True Minds

Heart Sutra, The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (English)

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

When practicing deeply the Prajnaparamita,
He looked upon the five skandhas
And saw that they were all empty,
And thus relieved all suffering.

Shariputra, form is emptiness,
Emptiness is form;
Form is precisely emptiness,
Emptiness is precisely form.
In the same way, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness
Are also empty.

Shariputra, this is how all phenomena
Are marked by emptiness:
They are neither produced nor destroyed,
Neither stained nor pure,
Neither increasing nor decreasing.

Therefore, in emptiness, there is no form,
No feeling, perception, mental formations, or consciousness;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind;
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, or phenomenon;

No eye realm, up to and including
No mind realm.
There is no ignorance,
And there is no end to ignorance;
There is no aging and death,
And there is no end to aging and death.

There is no suffering, origination, cessation, or path;
There is no wisdom, and there is no attainment.
Since there is nothing to be attained,
The Bodhisattva relies on Prajnaparamita
And thus the mind is without hindrance.

Without hindrance, there is no fear;
Far away from confusion and distorted views,
One realizes Nirvana.

All Buddhas of the three times
Rely on Prajnaparamita
And attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.

Therefore, know that Prajnaparamita
Is the great spiritual mantra,
Is the great bright mantra,
Is the supreme mantra,
Is the incomparable mantra.
It can remove all suffering;
This is true, not false.

So, set forth the Prajnaparamita mantra,
Set forth this mantra and say:
“Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Svaha!”

The Heart Sutra, or “Prajnaparamita Hridaya,” is one of the most important texts in Mahayana Buddhism and a key scripture in the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) tradition. It is renowned for its concise and rich distillation of the concept of emptiness (śūnyatā), a central tenet in Buddhist philosophy. The Heart Sutra emphasises that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic existence and essence. It famously encapsulates this teaching with the phrase “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” In this context, to avoid misunderstanding of the word “emptiness means nothing or a void’’ a better word to use would be “stillness’’ because nothingness sits in the space of stillness’’ with the author’s understanding.

Heart Sutra is a profound Sutra that eliminates all darkness, fear and sufferings formations in the mind.

The Miracle is Within You