Morning Words on the Heart Sutra

Ed Mushin Russell

The most popular text in Mahayana Buddhism is the Prajnaparamitahrdaya, The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, or what we call The Heart Sutra. We could call it the essence of the realization of this life as it is. It was created as a counterpoint to the Sarvastivadin intrepation of the Abhidharma from the third century BCE, but I won't bore you with ancient history. It's a clear and concise expression of what this practice is all about and a copy of the version we use can be found on the PZC website. Starting Monday, we will go through this text line by line.


The Heart Sutra begins with "Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, doing deep prajna paramita". We talked before about Avalokiteshvara and you will remember that prajna paramita is perfection of wisdom. Right off the bat we're in trouble. Perfection? Wisdom? The perfection of wisdom? Sounds like a tall order. Fortunately, this sutra will let us off the hook shortly because what it's asking us to look at is our beliefs about, and attachment to, such things as perfection, wisdom and much more. As we go through this sutra, keep that in mind.


The next line in the Heart Sutra is "Clearly saw emptiness of all the five conditions". The five conditions are form, sensation, conception, discrimination and awareness. What does it mean to say that they are empty? The Heart Sutra is reminding us that they are ungraspable and in a constant state of change. Something that we often forget. When we release our grasp on the conditions of our life, we are able to respond to them more skillfully and we realize that our dissatisfaction and regrets are just a self-centered dream.


The Heart Sutra follows "Clearly saw emptiness of all the five conditions" with "Thus completely relieving misfortune and pain". When we truly see the transient and impermanent nature of what we hold to be fixed and permanent, we are able to directly and completely experience our life. Misfortune and pain may arise and pass, but we have been relieved of our attachment to them. When we are free of the burdens of pride and shame, our journey through this life can proceed unhindered by our attachments and aversions. After all, being just this moment is compassions way.


The next line in the Heart Sutra begins, "O Shariputra". Shariputra was an early disciple of the Buddha and is receiving this teaching because he believed that there was an ultimate reality which existed as dharmas, or fundamental entities. We tend to see the world in this way ourselves. It seems obvious to us that things are fixed, permanent and separate. This sutra takes a quite different point of view as we will see as we go through it. Do we have a firm ground to stand on? Don't be too sure.


Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form. We should remember that the word emptiness here doesn't mean some sort of vacuum, like outer space. It's referring to impermanence and co-dependence. This is the non-self that is the mark of all forms. Nothing exists as a separate entity, including us. Believing otherwise is the source of all suffering. This realization was the Buddha's awakening and is the foundation of his teaching. From here on, the sutra will press home this truth. It will serve us well to pay attention.


Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form. This is a rephrasing of the previous line but it uses the word exactly to dispel any doubts we have about ourselves and the world we experience. We should keep in mind that the teaching of the Heart Sutra is not something we need to, or even can, understand. Understanding, like form, is exactly emptiness. Instead, it invites us to experience directly the simple truth that is the true nature of ourselves and all things and to be the form that is exactly emptiness and the emptiness that is exactly form.


The Heart Sutra next goes on to expand on this teaching of emptiness and form by saying, "Sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness are likewise like this". These are the other four of the five conditions. So, no matter what we feel, think, believe or experience, there is no fixed self to be found. Without impermanence and constant change, there would be no conditions and the world would be a dead and stagnant place. In realizing and embracing emptiness, we are free to experience whatever form may arise and to respond with skill and compassion.


The Heart Sutra continues with, "O Shariputra, all dharmas are forms of emptiness, not born, not destroyed". What this is telling us is that emptiness is not empty and that conditioned arising is the mark of all existence. Pain is a form of emptiness. It comes and goes, but it still hurts, doesn't it. Our emotions are forms of emptiness. They arise and pass, but we still feel the happiness and the sadness, don't we. Our lives are manifestations of emptiness. They are constantly changing, but our lives aren't empty, are they.


The Heart Sutra goes on to say that all dharmas are not stained, not pure, without loss, without gain. It's not really making a statement here about some fundamental reality, although we could see it that way. It's actually inviting us to look at our beliefs about pure and impure, loss and gain. Do we react to what arises from a self-centered dream or do we respond to causes and conditions based on our appreciation of our life as it is? When we believe stained and pure, loss and gain, we have not only set a trap for ourselves, but we've taken the bait.


The Heart Sutra will now continue with a series of apparent negations, which we will look at next week. This morning I just want to remind us that this text is not trying to impart to us some theory about what exists and what doesn’t. Its function is to invite us to look at how we see the world and at the beliefs we cling to about it. We are asked to consider whether our notions about ourselves and everything and everyone we encounter is conducive to a life that manifests compassion and can skillfully respond to whatever arises. We have this ability and it's up to us to recognize and cultivate it.


After telling us that form is emptiness and emptiness is form, the Heart sutra now says, "So in emptiness there is no form". This next section is an admonition to be aware of what we believe about form and emptiness and everything else for that matter. Is our view of this world, and our reaction to it, based on what we believe we know, what we want and don't want, like and don't like? This sutra is asking us to take a close look at this human condition that we all share and realize that we don't have to be slaves to our thoughts and feelings. We can loosen the bonds of our attachments and free ourselves of our clinging to self. It just takes practice.


The Heart Sutra now tells us that there is "No sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness". The conditions are ideas we have about how humans function. They can help clarify our view of our nature but, when they become fixed ideas, they become more baggage that we carry around. It's gets fairly redundant at this point but we need to realize this, that impermanence is foundational, so whoever wrote this sutra decided to beat us over the head with it. We humans can be obstinate occasionally so sometimes that’s just what we need. Eventually, it starts to sink in that we can let go of our attachments and be free of our clinging to that which is ungraspable.


The Heart Sutra goes on to tell us that there is "No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind". It's reminding us that what we think of as physical, as ourselves, is just as empty, or impermanent, as our ideas and feelings. We know that the eye is a part of the organism and the organism is part of the ecosystem and the ecosystem is part of the universe which is in a constant state of change. Still, we tend to see ourselves as separate and distinct from everything around us. Yet, without everything else and without constant change, we wouldn't exist. This is the true meaning of emptiness and non-self.


The Heart Sutra now tells us that there is "No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomena". So, after saying there is no subject, as in eye, ear, nose, etc., it now says there is no object. Again, we are reminded about how we get stuck in our ideas about this life, this experiencing moment. We believe the experiencer and the experienced to be separate, that we are things that experience things, and this belief creates stress and a dissatisfaction with our life as it is. When we see through this dream of self and other, we are able to respond with skill and compassion. Remember, it just takes practice.


Now we are told that there is "No realm of sight . . . no realm of consciousness". A realm is the combination of the sense organ, such as the eye, the sense object, or what is seen, and the awareness that arises from their interaction. The Heart Sutra points our that a realm isn't a separate entity either. There is no ultimate reality or ultimate anything. There is just this moment experiencing, impermanent and constantly changing. When pressed for his teaching, Bodhidharma said to the emperor, "Vast emptiness, nothing holy". Joko rephrased this by saying, "Just this moment, nothing special". Our practice is to appreciate how wonderous this nothing special is.


The next line in the Heart Sutra is, "No ignorance and no end to ignorance". Again we are reminded of the ungraspable nature of our life and everything we encounter. Here it speaks to what we believe we know and don't know. Genmyo coined a phrase I like when he said, "Knowing is the booby prize". Have you noticed that, as soon as we think we know something, it changes? Knowledge is a wonderful aspect of human functioning, until we mistake it for some ultimate truth. This practice isn't about finally knowing who and what we are, it's focused on always being who and what we are, whether we know it or not.


The Heart Sutra next tells us that there is, "No old age and death, and no end to old age and death". Do we get old and die or don't we? It sure appears that way to us. This sutra tells us that the fundamental reality is impermanence, that form, our form, is in a constant state of change and that all things arise and pass, including us. Rather than be concerned about such things, our practice teaches us that we cannot know where we came from or where we are going. Our concern must be where we are and what we are doing. Right here now is where our life always is. The rest is stories and speculations.


Next, the Heart Sutra says, "No suffering, no cause of suffering, no extinguishing, no path". This looks like a refutation of the four noble truths; suffering, the cause of suffering, an end to suffering and the path to end suffering. What's going on here? We are being advised that to cling to any teaching, including Buddhism, is to risk making it a dogma. It can become a static and dead pile of concepts and ideas. Our practice is alive, dynamic and ungraspable. The Buddha's teaching speaks to our life, as it is experienced in each moment. It may enlighten us, but it doesn't try to define us.


The Heart Sutra now tells us that there is, "No wisdom and no gain". One might ask, if there is no wisdom, why is it called the perfection of wisdom sutra? But I think we've gotten the point by now. Who doesn't want to gain wisdom? The difficulty is in what we believe wisdom to be and in who we believe has it and who we believe doesn't. In our practice, wisdom isn't a full mind, but an open mind. A mind open to our life as it is and to what arises moment by moment. The wise person embraces what is and responds accordingly. Knowledge is a wonderful thing and yet a Zen teacher once said, "Not knowing is most intimate".


The heart sutra follows "no wisdom and no gain" with "no gain and thus the bodhisattva lives prajna paramita". You might say that this is where the sutra turns the corner. After telling us what not to cling to, it now tells us why. We don't need to gain perfect wisdom because it's the very fabric of our lives. Our practice is more about losing than gaining. It's about recognizing and letting go of our attachments and waking up from the self-centered dream. This is not an easy task and it requires our attention and commitment yet, it is well worth the effort since it not only serves us, but all beings.


Now we come to, "With no hindrance in the mind, no hindrance, therefore no fear". So, what hinders us and what are we hindered from? We usually use words like attachment, but we are hindered and weighted down by our clinging to what we want and don't want. What we believe should and shouldn't be. Nothing wrong with having an opinion. It's when our opinions have us that we run into trouble. When we are unaware of our beliefs and biases. Then, we react from our desires and aversions. What we are hindered from is seeing our life clearly and responding skillfully. We will look at fear next time.


The Heart Sutra says that without hindrance there is no fear. If we have no attachments, if we don't cling to anything, we have nothing to fear. Sounds good. The difficulty is that we identify as our attachments. We cling to our sense and image of who we believe we are. This is, in fact, what the self is. Letting go of this can itself be a frightening prospect. But, we don't need to lose our sense of self. We just need to see it for what it is. Seeing without grasping, experiencing without clinging, is the fundamental message of this sutra.


The Heart Sutra now tells us that "Far beyond deluded thoughts, this is nirvana". The awakened mind doesn't try to eliminate thoughts, deluded or otherwise. We just need to move beyond them. Seeing them for what they are, allowing them to be what they are and letting go of them. When we say thoughts, this includes our firmly held beliefs and attachments which are fertile ground for what the sutra calls deluded thoughts. If there is a purpose to practice, it certainly isn't to change who we are. It's to appreciate and be who we are. This is nirvana.


Now we are told that, "All past, present, and future Buddhas live prajna paramita". This is just a way of telling us that, if we want to live an awakened life, we can follow the road map that this sutra sets out for us. The route on that map is simple and straight forward. But, it's not easy. There are hills and valleys, ups and downs. There can be detours and sometimes the path isn't clearly marked. We can become discouraged and even lose our way at times. But, it's the journey we are all on. It's the journey of our life.


The Heart Sutra says that by living prajna paramita, we "therefore attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, which translates as "unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment". We all want some of that, don't we. But, as this sutra has already explained, it's none other than the life we are living right now. Except, that we don't believe it. We cling to our beliefs about lose and gain, complete and incomplete, perfect and imperfect. This teaching simply tells us to see what is, appreciate what is and respond to what is. Nothing can surpass that.


Therefore know, prajna paramita is the great mantra, the vivid mantra, The best mantra, the unsurpassable mantra. This appears to be the marketing section of the sutra. It certainly has endured for a long time and is used by Buddhist around the world, so we can forgive the sales pitch. We are encouraged to hear what we are reciting at service rather than just repeat it without considering its message. Be mindful of this sutra's teaching every time you say it. It goes to the heart of our practice and what our life is truly all about.


The Heart Sutra says that, "It completely clears all pain - this is the truth, not a lie". What is true and what is a lie is for each of us to discover for ourselves. We do this through our experience and through our practice. Clearing all pain is another matter. Notice that it doesn't say ends all pain. Our practice is to see clearly and experience directly our whole life, pain and pleasure, confusion and wisdom, fear and joy. Until we are willing to do this, we are living a partial life. One that is incomplete and limited by avoidance and attachment. This sutra tells us that we are whole beings that are entitled to a whole life. It's up to us to realize this.


We come to the final section of the Heart Sutra where we are told to "Set forth the Prajna Paramita Mantra". We recite it every Sunday, so I guess that counts as setting it forth. What most important, however, is not how often we say it, but how we appreciate what it's telling us. That's what I've tried to communicate these past few weeks. It isn't just some liturgy that we recite to the beat of the makugyo. It's the essence of the teaching of all Zen teachers, past and present. Tomorrow we will finish up the Heart Sutra with the last lines which are in Sanskrit.


The Heart Sutra ends with,
Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate!
Bodhi svaha!
This can be translated as "Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to the other shore, the awakened way, so be it".
The Buddha sometimes referred to his teaching as a vehicle that can get us across the river of attachment and delusion to an awakened life. Everyone has access to this vehicle. It's up to us to use it.
I'll conclude these talks on the Heart Sutra with the story of the monk who came to a river and saw his teacher on the other side. He called out, "How do I get to the other shore?" The teacher replied, "You are on the other shore".