Heart Sutra Resources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea0is2d2gdY

MAKA HANNYA HARAMITA SHIN GYO

The Great Prajna-Paramita Heart Sutra

In Sino Japanese with a translation by Robert Aitken

KAN JI ZAI BO SA GYO- JIN HAN-NYA HA RA MI TA JI
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajna Paramita,

SHO- KEN GO ON KAI KU- DO IS-SAI KU YAKU.
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming anguish and distress.

SHA RI SHI SHIKI FU I KU- KU- FU I SHIKI
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form;

SHIKI SOKU ZE KU- KU- SOKU ZE SHIKI
form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;

JU SO- GYO- SHIKI YAKU BU NYO ZE
sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness are also like this.

SHA RI SHI ZE SHO HO- KU- SO- FU SHO- FU METSU
Sha-riputra, all things are essentially empty– not born, not destroyed;

FU KU FU JO- FU ZO- FU GEN
not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.

ZE KO KU- CHU- MU SHIKI MU JU SO- GYO- SHIKI
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness;

MU GEN-NI BI ZES-SHIN I
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,

MU SHIKI SHO- KO- MI SOKU HO-
no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;

MU GEN KAI NAI SHI MU I SHIKI KAI
no seeing and so on to no thinking;

MU MU MYO- YAKU MU MU MYO- JIN
no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,

NAI SHI MU RO- SHI YAKU MU RO- SHI JIN
and so on to no old age and death,
and also no ending of old age and death;

MU KU SHU METSU DO-Y
no anguish, cause of anguish, cessation, path;

MU CHI YAKU MU TOKU I MU SHO TOK’KO
no wisdom and no attainment. Since there is nothing to attain,

BO DAI SAT-TA E HAN-NYA HA RA MI TA KO
the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita,

SHIM-MU KEI GE MU KEI GE KO MU U KU FU
with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance and therefore no fear;

ON RI IS-SAI TEN DO- MU SO- KU GYO- NE HAN
far beyond delusive thinking, right here is Nirvana.

SAN ZE SHO BUTSU E HAN-NYA HA RA MI TA KO
All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by Prajna Paramita

TOKU A NOKU TA RA SAM-MYAKU SAM-BO DAI
attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

KO CHI HAN-NYA HA RA MI TA
Therefore know that Prajna Paramita

ZE DAI JIN SHU ZE DAI MYO- SHU
is the great sacred mantra, the great vivid mantra,

ZE MU JO- SHU ZE MU TO- TO- SHU
the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,

NO- JO IS-SAI KU SHIN JITSU FU KO
which completely removes all anguish.
This is truth not mere formality.

KO SETSU HAN-MYA HA RA MI TA SHU
Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,

SOKU SETSU SHU WATSU
set forth this mantra and proclaim:

GYA TEI GYA TEI HA RA GYA TEI HARA SO- GYA TEI
BO JI SOWA KA HAN-NYA SHIN GYO
Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi sva-ha-!

This morning I was visiting Marcus’ Journal, one of my favorite blogs, where he is exploring some themes in the great Buddhist text known as the Heart Sutra. Well worth a visit, if you have time. This text is much prized in Zen circles where it is chanted given just about any chance. I know it is the great north star of my practice, pointing toward that place we find when we leap beyond the distinctions of self and other.

What somehow I’d missed, or more likely, simply have forgotten, but glad to be reminded, was that back in March Marcus had created a list of resources for the Heart Sutra. It is a treasure trove. Among other things it includes a poem by David Breeden, who in addition to being a poet is also a Unitarian Universalist minister. And it even includes a list of brief Zen texts I posted here, which truthfully was a bit of a stretch for a list of Heart Sutra resources, but hopefully useful.

In the interest of giving this valuable reference the widest possible readership, I copy it here, along with an expression of my continuing gratitude for Marcus’ work in service of the Dharma…

Some Heart Sutra Translations: