I am Currently Reading and studying the Heart Sutra. I've read Red Pine's translation of it a number of times now and talked through it to an extent with Kevin.

The Sutra can be divided in to three sections. The first section talks about the fundamental emptiness of the Skandhas and all Dharma as realized through the Prajnaparamita meditation. The second part describes the state and mechanism of enlightenment and the Bodhisattva's path, the "mind without walls" of a mind acting without delusion or hindrances. The third part provides a refuge in the form of mind-less mantra. I expand on some of this below.

Japanese japanese

Each zendo at Blue Cliff Zen opens with a recitation of the Japanese chant of

Each sentence is broken in to its own line to make SRS flashcards. It

Reading w/ Kanji hints fc Buddhism vocabulary

• かん じ ざい ぼ さつ　 The noble Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

• ぎょう じん はん にゃ は ら みった じ while practicing the deep practice of Prajnaparamita,

• しょう けん ごう おん かい く looked upon the Five Skandhas

• どう いっさい く やく and seeing they were empty of self-existence,

• しゃ り し said, “Here, Shariputra,

• しき ふ い くう form is emptiness,

• くう ふ い しき emptiness is form;

• しき そく ぜ くう emptiness is not separate from form,

• くう そく ぜ しき　form is not separate from emptiness;

• じゅ そう ぎょ しき やく ぶ にょ ぜ　 The same holds for sensation and perception, memory and consciousness.

• しゃ り し　Here, Shariputra

• ぜ しょう ほう くう そう all dharmas are defined by emptiness

• ふ しょ ふ めつ not birth or destruction

• ふ こう ふ じょ　not purity or defilement

• ふ ぞう ふ げん　not completeness or deficiency

• ぜ こ くう ちゅう Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is

• む しき no form,

• む じゅ そう ぎょう しき no sensation, perception, memory, or consciousness

• む げ に び ぜ つ しん い no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body and no mind;

• む しき しょう そう み そく ほう no shape, no sound, no smell, no taste, no feeling and no thought;

• む げん かい no element of perception,

• ない し む い しき かい from eye to conceptual consciousness;

• む む みょ やく む む みょ じん no causal link, from ignorance to old age and death,

• ない し む ろう し やく む ろう し じん and no end of causal link, from ignorance to old age and death;

• む くう しゅ めつ どう no suffering, no source, no relief, no path;

• む ち やく む とく no knowledge, no attainment [and no non-attainment.]

• い む しょ とく こ without attainment,

• ぼ だい さった boddhisatvas

• え はんにゃ は ら みった こ rely on Prajnaparamita, live with

• しん む けい げ a mind without hindrances

• む けい げ こう without hindrances,

• む う く ふ and thus without fears,

• おん り いっさい てん どう む そう they see through delusions

• くう ぎょ ね はん and finally nirvana

• さん ぜ しょ ぶつ All buddhas past, present and future

• え はんにゃはらみった こう also take refuge in Prajnaparamita

• とく あ のく た ら さん みゃく さん ぼだい and realize unexcelled, perfect enlightenment [Anuttara samyak sambodhi]

• こう ち はにゃはらみった ぜ だい じん しゅ Therefore you should know Prajnaparamita the great mantra

• ぜ だい みょ しゅthe mantra of great magic

• ぜ む じょ しゅ the unexcelled mantra

• ぜ む とう どう しゅ the mantra equal to the unequalled,

• の じょ いっさい く which heals all suffering

• しん じつ ふ こ and is true, not false,

• こ せつ はんにゃ はらみた しゅ そく せつ しゅ わつ the mantra in Prajnaparamita spoken thus:

• ぎゃ てい gate

• ぎゃ てい gate

• は ら ぎゃ てい paragate

• は ら そう ぎゃ てい parasangate

• ぼ じ そ わ か bodhi svaha

• はんにゃ しんぎょ the heart sutra

Red Pine's english translation of The Heart Sutra fc Buddhism

• 1: The noble Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

• 2: while practicing the deep practice of Prajnaparamita,

• 3: looked upon the Five Skandhas

• 4: and seeing they were empty of self-existence,

• 5: said, “Here, Shariputra,

• 6: form is emptiness, emptiness is form;

• 7: emptiness is not separate from form,

• form is not separate from emptiness;

• 8: whatever is form is emptiness,

• whatever is emptiness is form.

• 9: The same holds for sensation and perception, memory and consciousness.

• 10: Here, Shariputra, all dharmas are defined by emptiness

• 11: not birth or destruction, purity or defilement,

• completeness or deficiency.

• 12: Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form,

• 13: no sensation, no perception, no memory and no consciousness;

• 14: no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body and no mind;

• 15: no shape, no sound, no smell, no taste, no feeling and no thought;

• 16: no element of perception, from eye to conceptual consciousness;

• 17: no causal link, from ignorance to old age and death,

• 18: and no end of causal link, from ignorance to old age and death;

• 19: no suffering, no source, no relief, no path;

• 20: no knowledge, no attainment and no non-attainment.

• 21: Therefore, Shariputra, without attainment,

• 22: bodhisattavas take refuge in Prajnaparamita

• 23: and live without walls of the mind.

• 24: Without walls of the mind and thus without fears,

• 25: they see through delusions and finally nirvana.

• 26: All buddhas past, present and future

• 27: also take refuge in Prajnaparamita

• 28: and realize unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.

• 29: You should therefore know the great mantra of Prajnaparamita,

• 30: the mantra of great magic,

• 31: the unexcelled mantra,

• 32: the mantra equal to the unequalled,

• 33: which heals all suffering and is true, not false,

• 34: the mantra in Prajnaparamita spoken thus:

• 35: ‘Gate gate, paragate, parasangate, bodhi svaha.’”

I have a lot of highlights from this Book that I would like to extract and present here.

I like how this one presents a lot of the nuance and I plan to spend more time dealing with my notes on this, particularly his translation of the Bodhisattva's path section and the commentary throughout the whole thing does a great job giving color and context to this somewhat ineffable document.

My Notes from Red Pine's Translation and commentary of The Heart Sutra Buddhism

The poem is dense in 35 lines. The commentary alongside of it is invaluable. My commentary and ignorant distillation is here. Hey Smell This.

Prajnaparamita - The Perfection of Wisdom

This poem lays out what I think is perhaps the most concise description of enlightenment and nirvana. maybe. i'm just this guy you know?

in short, "the deep practice of prajnaparamita" is a meditative and spiritual regime which leads to non-attachment through the application of transcendent wisdom to the mundane world, and mechanistically consists of fundamentally breaking down the analytical categories and so-called "walls of the mind" and leaving nothing to replace them except this application of transcendent/natural/unclouded wisdom

Through intense and careful meditation, it is possible through self-reflection, self-introspection, and ultimately dissociation of the self and non-attachment, to dissemble these walls of the mind, to take a sledgehammer through large parts of the ego. In reading Meditation from Cold Start to Complete Mastery, I was really spooked by some of the disclaimers and warnings in the document: this is dangerous stuff to do, mucking about, especially if you have animals hiding in the closet (if you live in CE 2022 or BCE 220 you probably do.)

but the prajnaparamita aims to provide a soft cushion that you can land on when/if you do finally dissolve the walls and find yourself in a dark alley with an angry ego. And so say you have an opening, an enlightenment experience of sorts, and you find yourself staring back at yourself and wondering how you'll ever go back to living and existing now that you have this unspeakable knowledge. the framework of this sort of intuitive wisdom, and "ultimate truth", seeing through or around our own biases and delusions and ignorances, allows us to apply ourselves to the work of living and liberating others.

NEXT on liberating others

Mahayana philosophies and dharma underlies the "east asian" buddhism and Indo-Tibetan buddhism and is important stuff in Zen. Mahayana's ultimate goal is to be the "great vehicle" to help people walk the path to becoming a buddha. Prajnaparamita is the engine of the great vehicle, perhaps.

i owe this further investigation.

Walls of the mind

here are some:

• Memories and experiences
• preferences, likes/dislikes
• Mental models
• Cognitive dissonances
• "blocked up" thoughts
• Traumas
• The entire abhidarama
• the idea of enlightenment

I really like this conception in the translation (woops!) the english translation on the back of the chant cards we have at Blue Cliff Zen is a little more — flat I guess. "hindrances" has perhaps a more dharmic meaning, but walls of the mind is visceral, and clearly constructed.

I'm drawn by this phrasing to the visual metaphor inside of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring: The doors without walls inside the monastery which represent a mind unclouded by dissonances, but still held up with moral living as espoused in The Noble Eightfold Path or the Zen Precepts.

Hui-chung says:

The sutras say, "Subduing demons is the place of enlightenment"

To see through delusion, and finally nirvana

Specific delusions, at that:

The word viparyasa refers to what is upside-down, what is contrary to the way things are.

In Buddhism this refers specifically to four delusions:

• claiming something is permanent that is not permanent,
• claiming something is pleasurable that is not pleasurable,
• claiming something is self-existent that is not self-existent
• and claiming something is pure that is not pure

So while it is fairly mundane to understand that breaking down the walls is a path to nirvana, true wisdom and enlightenment is in realizing that nirvana is also subject to delusional thinking. Even in nirvana there is no attainment!

"nirvana is, simply, the final delusion"

the key insight is that to enter nirvana is to step in to a space with no… thing. nothing. no lack of thing. a state probably akin to ego death, an animalistic state, perhaps even psychotic or mute. one has to realize that this, too, is a construction and will not last eternally, and thus be willing to step back in to the real world – in to sansara, the suffering, the dust, the muck – and pass this knowledge and framework on to others, to become a teacher like the buddha, in whatever way you can.

Longer forms of the perfection of wisdom talk about this:

stating that Bodhisattvas "wander without a home" (aniketacārī); "home" or "abode" meaning signs (nimitta, meaning a subjective mental impression) of sensory objects and the afflictions that arise dependent on them. This includes the absence, the "not taking up" (aparigṛhīta) of even "correct" mental signs and perceptions such as "form is not self", "I practice Prajñāpāramitā", etc

it seems like a very careful balance, but the solution which got you there (Meditation/zazen) can keep you there.

Abhidharma

Buddha taught like a doctor, not a scientist. He did not seek to teach the "spiritual pharmacology" instead performed it. His later disciples were left to figure these things out.

These disciples saw the Abhidharma as a matrix of dharmas, fundamental entities of the mind. our reality was seen as a conceptual construct fashioned out of dozens of them.

Sarvastivadins fc

Much of the poem is contextualized around early Buddhist Abhidharma tradition, specifically the Sarvastivadi tradition.

started in 3rd century BCE to 7th century CE, one of the most influential sects and was prominent during Buddhism's slow work in to Asia through Kushan Empire period. Their rigorous dharma teaching forms the basis of much of Mahayana and Theravada buddhism today.

and much of the poem's "digging in" to the various dharmas pointing out that theses fundamantal constructs themselves are also conceptual constructs. Red Pine argues this specifically:

On this basis, Red Pine has argued that the Heart Sūtra is specifically a response to Sarvastivada teachings that, in the sense "phenomena" or its constituents, are real. Lines 12–13 enumerate the five skandhas. Lines 14–15 list the twelve ayatanas or abodes. Line 16 makes a reference to the 18 dhatus or elements of consciousness, using a conventional shorthand of naming only the first (eye) and last (conceptual consciousness) of the elements. Lines 17–18 assert the emptiness of the Twelve Nidānas, the traditional twelve links of dependent origination, using the same shorthand as with the eighteen dhatus. Line 19 refers to the Four Noble Truths.

Wikipedia writes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhidharma#Sarv%C4%81stiv%C4%81da_Abhidharma

Despite numerous variations and doctrinal disagreements within the tradition, most Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣikas were united in their acceptance of the doctrine of "sarvāstitva" (all exists), which says that all phenomena in the three times (past, present and future) can be said to exist.[95] Another defining Vaibhāṣika doctrine was that of simultaneous causation (sahabhū-hetu).

The Twelve Abodes fc

The ayatana divide up the Skandhas differently to provide

• six roots of sensation
• six "domains" which senses reside

These pair.

• no eye, no shape
• no ear, no sound
• no nose, no smell
• no tongue, no taste
• no body, no feeling
• no mind, no thought/mental objects/dharma

The Buddha notes in the Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links of Dependent Origination that suffering comes from contact with the these sense-bases through sensation.

On existence and emptiness

A lot of this talks about existence and non-existence.

It's not a sort of … "oh if i close my eyes the thing is not there" nor does it imply that there is no other people or creatures or anything that this is all some play being fed to "us" through our senses. It's a layer or two further down saying that the physical existence of a thing is value-less. without values. animalistic. natural.

A bear or a tree doesn't give a fuck about the abhidharma or enlightenment, she is simply light.

Edward Conze writes in "The Ontology of Prajnaparamita"

It is now the principal teaching of Prajñāpāramitā with regard to own-being that it is "empty." The Sanskrit term is svabhāva-śūnya. This is a tatpuruṣa compound (one in which the last member is qualified by the first without losing its grammatical independence), in which svabhava may have the sense of any oblique case. The Mahayana understands it to mean that dharmas are empty of any own-being, i.e.,that they are not ultimate facts in their own right, but merely imagined and falsely discriminated, for each and every one of them is dependent on something other than itself. From a slightly different angle this means that dharmas, when viewed with perfected gnosis, reveal an own-being which is identical with emptiness, i.e in their own-being they are empty.

NEXT The mantra itself

gate gate, paragate, parasangate bodhisvaha

SRS vocabulary from the Japanese translation kanji japanese vocabulary

菩提薩婆訶 fc vocabulary

bodhisattva

菩提 fc

bodhi - Enlightenment

舎利子 fc vocabulary

Shariputra

舎

利 fc

advantage; benefit; profit; interest​

kunyomi readings suspended fc

き.く

onyomi readings fc

リ

子 fc

child

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

• こ
• ね

Onyomi readings fc

• シ
• ス
• ツ

倒 fc

inverted, reversed, upside down

kunyomi readings suspended fc

• たお.れる
• -だお.れ
• たお.す
• さかさま
• さかさ
• さかしま

onyomi readings fc

トウ

僧 fc

monk, priest

Onyomi reading fc

ソウ

切

厄 fc

unlucky, misfortune, bad luck, disaster

Onyomi reading fc

ヤク

受 fc

accept, undergo, answer (phone), take, get, catch, receive, "sensation" or "feeling"

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

to receive/get/catch:

• う.ける
• -う.け
• う.かる

Onyomi reading fc

ジュ

"sensation" or "feeling"/vedanā

在

如 fc

Buddhist tathata / "suchness"

likeness, like, such as, as if, better, best, equal

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

ごと.し - adverb "as if"/"the same"

Onyomi readings fc

ジョ - archaic ニョ - Buddhist tathata / "suchness"

婆 fc

old woman, grandma, wet nurse

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

ばば ばあ

Onyomi readings fc

バ

実 fc

reality, truth, seed, fruit, nut

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• み - fruit, nut, seed
• みの.る - (verb) ripening
• まこと - truth, reality, honesty, fidelity, "that's right"
• みの - ripening
• みち.る

Onyomi reading fc

ジツ シツ

心

一 fc

one

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

ひと- ひと.つ

Onyomi readings fc

イチ イツ

三 fc

three

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

み み.つ みっ.つ

Onyomi readings fc

サン ゾウ

上 fc

on top of, on above, up,

Kunyomi readings suspended fc

• うえ - above, up, elder, top, summit, surface, emperor, honorable
• うわ- - pointing upward, trending up
• かみ - upstream, uppoer half, long ago, beginning, first, capital region
• あ.げる - (v.) to raise, to elevate, to launch, to improve, etc
• あ.がる - (v.) to rise, to go up, to ascend, to be raised, to increase
• あ.がり - rise, increase, income, takings, earnings, proceeds
• のぼ.る - to ascend, to go up, to climb, to swim upstream
• のぼ.り - ascent, climbing, ascending (path), climb, "inbound" train
• のぼ.せる - to feel dizzy, blood rushing to head, lose your cool, be upset
• のぼ.す - to raise, to record, to bring up a matter, to serve food
• たてまつ.る

Onyomi readings fc

• ジョウ
• ショウ
• シャン

不 fc

negative, non-, bad, ugly, clumsy

Onyomi readings fc

フ ブ

世 fc

world, society, lifetime, age, era, generation

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

よ

Onyomi reading fc

セイ セ ソウ

中

仏 fc

Buddha/Buddhism

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

ほとけ

Onyomi reading fc

ブツ フツ

多 fc

multi- , many, a lot, common

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

おお.い

まさ.に まさ.る

Onyomi reading fc

タ (た/ta)

大

夢

垢 fc

dirt, filth, grime, dust

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

あか はじ

Onyomi reading fc

コウ dirty/unclean ク (polluting thought, delusion)

増 fc

increase

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• ま.す - to increase
• ま.し - better, preferable, more
• ふ.える - to increase, multiply
• ふ.やす - to increase, add to, to augment

Onyomi reading fc

ゾウ

声 fc

voice, sound, tone

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

こえ - voice, hoot, chirp, birdsong, opinion, etc こわ-

Onyomi reading fc

セイ ショウ

以 fc

with, by means of, because of, on account of,

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

もっ.て

Onyomi reading fc

イ

乃 fc

belonging to from … to

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

の - 's, of, belonging to すなわ.ち - "that is" "namely" "i.e." なんじ

Onyomi reading fc

• ナイ - "from … to" "between … and"
• ダイ
• ノ
• アイ

尽 fc

last day, expended, exertion

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• つ.きる - to be used up, to be run out, to come to an end
• つ.くす - to use up, to exhaust, to run out of, to devote oneself to
• つ.かす - to use completely, to use up, to exhaust, to give up (on someone)
• ことごと.く - altogether

-づ.く -ず.く

Onyomi reading fc

ジン サン

即 fc

instantly, immediately, is, at once, equals, oneness to be hired, to commence, to take (seat, office, etc)

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• つ.く - to take (seat office, etc), to start, to commence
• つ.ける - to install (a king, emperor, etc), to appoint, to promote, to assign
• すなわ.ち - that is, namely, i.e.

Onyomi reading fc

ソク

味

得

復

依

呪 fc

spell, curse, mantra

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

まじな.う - to pray, to curse, to recite a mantra のろ.い - curse, spell, etc まじな.い - charm, incantation, spell, curse のろ.う - to curse, to cast a spell on, to detest intensely

Onyomi reading fc

ジュ シュ シュウ ズ

怖

恐

意

所

提

故

明 fc

bright, light, insight, discernment

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• あ.かり - light, illumination, glow
• あか.るい - well-light, brightly-colored, sunny, promising, well-versed in
• あか.るむ - to brighten, to grow light
• あか.らむ - to become luminous at dawn (sunrise)
• あき.らか - clear, obvious, plain, definite
• あ.ける - to open, to unwrap, to empty, to remove
• あ.く - to open door, to open business, to be vacant, to be free
• あ.くる - next (day, morning, etc), following
• あ.かす - to pass (the night), to spend, to reveal, to expose, to prove

-あ.け

Onyomi reading fc

• メイ - brightness, discernment, insight, eyesight, vision
• ミョウ - mantra, wise "discernment", bright light, hope, bright future, light emanating from a buddha symbolizing their wisdom
• ミン - Ming dynasty of China

是 fc

righteousness, justice, correct

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

これ この ここ

Onyomi reading fc

ゼ シ

時

有

死

槃

涅

深

減

滅

日

想

法

波

智

浄

度

五

亦 fc

also, again, once again, some other time

see also 又.

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

また

Onyomi reading fc

エキ ヤク

埵

無

生

界

異

皆

相

真

等

照

究

竟

礙

知

神

罣

眼

羅

羯

空 fc

empty air, sky, Shunyata, meaninglessless

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

• そら - sky, air, heavens, etc
• あ.く - to open, to be empty, to be vacant, to be free
• あ.き - space, room, gap, emptiness, opening, empty seat, free time
• あ.ける - to open (a door, for business, etc), to unwrap, to unlock, to clear out, to leave temporarily
• から - emptiness, vacuum, blank
• す.く - to become less crowded, to thin out
• す.かす - to feel hungry, to get hungry
• むな.しい - empty, void, vacant, vain, fruitless, futile

Onyomi reading fc

クウ

経

道

遠

阿

限

集

顛

香

老

耨

舌

般

苦

菩

薩

藐

蘊

虚

蜜

識

行

見

触

訶

諦

諸

除

離

若

能

鼻

色 fc

color, hue, tint, "form" or "matter"

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

いろ

Onyomi reading fc

ショク シキ

耳

至 fc

to attain, to arrive at

Kunyomi reading suspended fc

いた.る

Onyomi reading fc

シ

観

自

説

身