The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide To The Classic Of Mahayana Buddhism

• shunyata, emptiness, zeroness, boundlessness, hollowness, nonsubstantiality
  • no difference between eyes, ears, nose, and so on
  • the interdependent origination of all existing phenomena
  • the lack of self-identity and the lack of absolute separation in all things
  • nonduality - not a negation of both monism and dualism, a dynamic interaction of them
• When we transcend distinctions and boundaries, we become more compassionate
• freedom as in improvisation, not as in unconstrained randomness
• prajñā, wisdom beyond wisdom
• a person is a manifestation of their combined activity, a process
  • no self, only an unrecognised conscious self-model
• paramita as a dynamic state of arriving, practice being actualized
• stream more than path more than aggregate
• the Mahayana tradition views nirvana as not separate from samsara.

Gathered notes

• shunyata, which is commonly translated as “emptiness” and can be interpreted as “zeroness.”
• a person is a manifestation of their combined activity.
• Banging on a piano keyboard without practicing is one kind of freedom that doesn’t get us anywhere. By diligently practicing the piano, however, we come to play beautifully and improvise freely. That is the kind of freedom the Heart Sutra calls for.
• when we experience emptiness, we see no difference between eyes, ears, nose, and so on.
• It suggests that an experience of emptiness is that of nonduality. Nonduality sees no boundary or distinction among various aspects and values of things. This is why I suggest that we understand shunyata as boundlessness and use this term as a translation of shunyata.
• When we transcend distinctions and boundaries, we become more compassionate
• shunyata — an interrelated nonexistence of substantial individual entities.
• No such things as selves exist in the world. All that ever existed were conscious self-models that could not be recognized as models; the phenomenal self is not a thing but a process.
• Prajñā may be understood as “supreme wisdom,” “wisdom of enlightenment,” “gnosis,” “insight,” “intuitive knowledge,”
• the capacity of understanding that which goes beyond dualistic discerning — a transcendental and nondualistic wisdom.
• Joan and I translate prajñā as “wisdom beyond wisdom.”
• paramita as a dynamic state of arriving rather than a static state of having already arrived. The six paramitas may thus be interpreted as the six aspects of practice being actualized.
• pāramitā can be translated as “realizing,” which can be seen as understanding and actualizing things that are not pre-fixed and not waiting to be perfected.
• The English word “aggregate” is still too static to describe the state of our body and mind that changes constantly. I personally prefer “path” among the above definitions. Our translated term “stream,”
• Śūnya as an adjective can be interpreted as “zero-like.”
• It means “hollowness,” “loneliness,” “emptiness,” “nothingness,” “nonexistence,” “no self-existing entities,” “nonsubstantiality,” “illusory nature (of all things),” “nonreality,” or “zeroness.”
• The great early Mahayana philosopher Nagarjuna identifies śūnyatā with the interdependent origination of all existing phenomena.
• zeroness, asserting the lack of self-identity and the lack of absolute separation in all things.
• boundlessness is the nature of all things.
• “Not one, not two,” it is not a negation of both monistic and dualistic views but an expression of the dynamic interaction of the two perspectives.
• the illusion of attainment in meditation practice.
• the Mahayana tradition views nirvana as not separate from samsara.

Raw notes

From The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism.

• KAZUAKI TANAHASHI, a Japanese-trained calligrapher, is the pioneer of the genre of ‘one stroke painting’ as well as the creator of multicolor enso (Zen circles).
• Meditating with a group of people, even strangers, and chanting in one voice feels like a kind of communion — a sacred act that penetrates mundane life. With it, we become part of a centuries-old tradition.
• Meditation calms one’s mind and helps one to see beyond immediate problems or desires.
• shunyata, which is commonly translated as “emptiness” and can be interpreted as “zeroness.”
• Although the five streams work as an inseparable entity, it is useful in meditation to see them as streams of five distinct elements
• During this time, our entire being is occupied by a single overpowering physical or emotional sensation.
• We temporarily lose sight of our existence as an entity composed of the dynamic activities of the five streams.
• a person is a manifestation of their combined activity.
• the ultimate reality both encompasses and is free of change in all manifestations.
• We are in the midst of changeable and unchangeable karma in each moment. We are bound by cause and effect, but at the same time we are partly free of cause and effect.
• If we fully follow rules and ethics, we no longer need to think or worry about them. Thus, we are completely free from rules and ethics.
• Banging on a piano keyboard without practicing is one kind of freedom that doesn’t get us anywhere. By diligently practicing the piano, however, we come to play beautifully and improvise freely. That is the kind of freedom the Heart Sutra calls for.
• when we experience emptiness, we see no difference between eyes, ears, nose, and so on.
• It suggests that an experience of emptiness is that of nonduality. Nonduality sees no boundary or distinction among various aspects and values of things. This is why I suggest that we understand shunyata as boundlessness and use this term as a translation of shunyata.
• This wholeness is the intersection of one and zero.
• When we transcend distinctions and boundaries, we become more compassionate
• You may regard a mantra as a preset prayer in which the literal meaning is unknown or insignificant.
• Instead of making us think, the sounds help us to just be, in a way that includes reverence.
• shunyata — an interrelated nonexistence of substantial individual entities.
• In a way, it serves as a long version of a dharani, or mantra, which helps people to gather their minds away from the intellect. In some cases, for that reason, the meanings of words in the text are intentionally not explained.
• No such things as selves exist in the world. All that ever existed were conscious self-models that could not be recognized as models; the phenomenal self is not a thing but a process.
• In ideography, there are many homonyms — ideographs that have the same sounds.
• Prajñā may be understood as “supreme wisdom,” “wisdom of enlightenment,” “gnosis,” “insight,” “intuitive knowledge,” or “salvific wisdom.” It is regarded as the original pure mind or as the capacity of understanding that which goes beyond dualistic discerning — a transcendental and nondualistic wisdom.
• Joan and I translate prajñā as “wisdom beyond wisdom.” The word prajñā is comprehensively explained in the Heart Sutra, but for now we could call it a profound experience of freedom in meditation, where body, heart, and mind; self and other; life and death; transiency and timelessness, are not distinctly divided.
• 1. A compound of pāram (to the other shore) and ita (having arrived). 2. A compound of pārami, meaning “having arrived,” plus tā, which makes a state of “having completely arrived.”
• I invite you to consider paramita as a dynamic state of arriving rather than a static state of having already arrived. The six paramitas may thus be interpreted as the six aspects of practice being actualized.
• Thus, pāramitā can be translated as “realizing,” which can be seen as understanding and actualizing things that are not pre-fixed and not waiting to be perfected.
• The primary meanings of the neuter noun sūtra are “thread,” “string,” “line,” “cord,” and “wire.” It evolved to mean “the thread that runs through or holds everything.” It also means a “manual of teaching,” and “scripture.”
• Avalokitaśvara means “one who perceives voices of delight in the world.”
• the translated name can mean “One who causes (sentient beings) to observe the voice”
• This name is often simplified as Guanyin
• It may be possible to say that Kumarajiva’s translation of the name emphasizes the compassion of the bodhisattva, while Xuanzang’s emphasizes the freedom and wisdom of the bodhisattva.
• Suttanipata, a sutra regarded as containing some of the earliest Buddhist teachings.
• The English word “aggregate” is still too static to describe the state of our body and mind that changes constantly. I personally prefer “path” among the above definitions. Our translated term “stream,” which is even more dynamic than “path,” comes from this understanding.
• Śūnya as an adjective can be interpreted as “zero-like.”
• It means “hollowness,” “loneliness,” “emptiness,” “nothingness,” “nonexistence,” “no self-existing entities,” “nonsubstantiality,” “illusory nature (of all things),” “nonreality,” or “zeroness.” Its Pali counterpart is suññyatā. The great early Mahayana philosopher Nagarjuna identifies śūnyatā with the interdependent origination of all existing phenomena.
• The doctrine of zeroness, asserting the lack of self-identity and the lack of absolute separation in all things, became the central teaching of Mahayana Buddhism.
• Avalokiteshvara practiced and saw the emerging zeroness of the self nature.
• Just as zeroness is not only negative, kong is not only void but is broad and spacious. In fact, all things, including the earth, are in the sky. Joan and I translate this word as “without boundary,” or “boundlessness.”
• “Form (is) zeroness. Zeroness’s characteristic is form.”
• “It is not the case that rūpa (is) different from śūnyatā. It is not the case that śūnyatā (is) different from rūpa.”
• “Rūpa is not different from śūnyatā; Śūnyatā is not different from rūpa.”
• “Whatever is rūpa, that is śūnyatā. Whatever is śūnyatā, that is rūpa.”
• Joan and I translated this term as “discernment” rather than “consciousness.”
• all things have the character of emptiness, boundlessness is the nature of all things.
• they have no beginning, no end, they are faultless and not faultless, they are not imperfect and not perfect.
• It neither arises nor perishes, neither stains nor purifies, neither increases nor decreases.
• When it is said in Buddhism, “Not one, not two,” it is not a negation of both monistic and dualistic views but an expression of the dynamic interaction of the two perspectives.
• “Boundlessness is not limited by form, nor by feelings, perceptions, inclinations, or discernment.”
• EC: No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind: ETH: It is free of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind; free of sensory realms, including the realm of the mind.
• It is free of ignorance and the end of ignorance.
• there is no suffering, no accumulation, no annihilation, no path;
• It is free of suffering, arising, cessation, and path,
• the second Noble Truth: Clinging is the cause of suffering.
• mārga . It means “search,” “tracing out,” “hunting,” “way,” “passage,” “channel,” “means,” “method,” “direction,” or “proper course.”
• From the Mahayana viewpoint of shunyata, or nondualistic interconnectedness, the Heart Sutra presents a condensed map of the entire Buddhist teaching that leads toward nirvana. An experience of enlightenment, nirvana is taught as an ultimate state of peace and freedom from attachment, suffering, and reincarnation.
• SERENITY AND AWAKENING Next, the Heart Sutra discusses the illusion of attainment in meditation practice.
• This line in Chinese can be interpreted as: “Because nothing is attained” or “Because there is nothing to be attained.”
• EC: and in the end he attains to Nirvana ETH: those who lead all to liberation embody profound serenity
• the Mahayana tradition views nirvana as not separate from samsara.
• Prayer for healing is a common human need, found in all religions.

Added 2024-12-15, last updated 2025-01-06.