Our True Minds

Sutra Cordis (Heart Sutra) Latina (Latin)

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva,
Cum profunde Prajnaparamita exercebat,
Vidit quinque skandhas esse vacua,
Et sic omnem dolorem superavit.

Shariputra, forma est vacuitas,
Vacuitas est forma;
Forma est vere vacuitas,
Vacuitas est vere forma.
Ita etiam sensus, perceptio, formationes mentales et conscientia
sunt vacua.

Shariputra, omnia phaenomena
habent naturam vacuitatis:
Non nascuntur et non moriuntur,
Non sunt impura neque pura,
Non augentur neque minuntur.

Ita in vacuitate nulla forma est,
Nulla sensatio, nulla perceptio, nulla formationes mentales, nulla conscientia;
Nullum oculum, nullum auris, nullum nasus, nullum lingua, nullum corpus, nullum mens;
Nullum color, nullum sonus, nullum odor, nullum gustus, nullum tactus, nullum phaenomenon;

Nullum oculi regnum, usque ad ipsum
Nullum conscientiae regnum;
Nulla ignorantia,
Nec desinit ignorantia;
Nulla senectus nec mors,
Nec finis senectutis vel mortis.

Nullum dolus, nulla origo, nulla cessatio vel via;
Nulla sapientia, nec est quod detur.
Cum nihil sit quod detur,
Bodhisattva in Prajnaparamita confidit
Et sic mens sine obstaculo est.

Sine obstaculo, nullum timorem habet;
Longe ab erroribus et falsis cogitationibus,
Aliquis nirvanam attingit.

Omnes Buddhae trium aetatum
In Prajnaparamita confidunt
Et Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi attingunt.

Itaque scito Prajnaparamita
Esse magnum mantra,
Esse magnum lumen mantra,
Esse supremum mantra,
Esse incomparabile mantra;
Potest omne dolorem tollere;
Hoc verum est, non falsum.

Itaque mantra Prajnaparamita pronuntia,
Dic mantra hoc:
“Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Svaha!” (3x)

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