The Heart Sutra is probably the most famous of all the Buddhist Sutras. It is recited almost in every monastery, regardless of tradition, often several times a day. Many of the sutras include several pages explaining the Buddhas Dharma. The heart sutra is considered to be the best condensed text, having only two pages, which contains all the Buddhist basis. This is the main reason why it is so highly valued. While discussing about the heart sutra, it is worth paying attention to its atypical and diverse compared to other sutras. Most have a distinctive beginning, beginning with the words "I Heard," describing the place and people listening to the speech, and the ending that describes what kind of good the audience has received and what their reactions were. The heart sutra does not have this moment. It is widely acknowledged that the sutra of the heart was extracted from another, larger "Mahaprajnaparamita". Most sutras are considered as words spoken by the Buddha. This work is not clearly defined by the speaker. Different people talk about Buddha here, but they also attribute the same to the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara mentioned at the beginning of the work. Ultimately the atypicality of this sutra is still unexplained despite numerous studies. This sutra can be considered in many aspects. You can talk here about skandhas, the middle way, no dualisty and many, many other buddhist issues. Today I would like to focus on the Prajna Paramita- wisdom in the Buddhist sense. At the outset, it is talking about how the Bodhisattva explores the Prajna Paramita. One should consider the other paramitas: generosity, discipline, patience, effort, concentration, and prajna or wisdom. Finally, the practice of first 5 paramitas leads to the development of the last: wisdom. Wisdom should not be understood here as an intellectual understanding of something but as an inner intuitive understanding, an action through enlightenment. The sutra emphasizes the attainment of that wisdom. It is very easy to read the text and to understand its meaning intellectually but it is not the same as the prajnia we are talking about here. The whole sutra is a wonderful description of samadhi, but concentration and meditation are not only found in Buddhism. Buddhism has something else to complement your concentration and must necessarily go hand in hand with it. Meditation alone makes our minds become flexible but one more step is needed. Developing wisdom. Next sutra mentions a lot about how everything was originally empty. This is another very important point. Even these words of sutra originally have no meaning. This is just a tip. There is nothing not sacred or sacred. But to be free from attachment to words, words are necessary here. There is no thing that would not be ultimately empty. Buddhist practice is also no exception! But why people become monks ?! They often think that they will attain enlightenment. Originally everything is empty so you can not attain enlightenment only by becoming a monk. It's stupid. Western Buddhists often suffer from "Dharma disease". So much time is devoted to Buddhism. They celebrate him and consider it gorgeous but does it actually always coincide with their everyday life? Is attachment to everyday things not transformed into other attachments to Buddhism? "My wife still wants something from me, I can not devote myself to practice alone! Arrrgh!” If so, I dare say that Buddhism is not worth anything. Then we detached from the wisdom which is actually available at any time. It is extremely simple and does not require large studies. That is why the heart sutra puts it succinctly. The heart sutra says "There is nothing to achieve". All we can achieve is the prajna. Prajna itself is an enlightenment. This is not unusual. How often do we have this misleading idea? We study texts considering this to be the highest priority and we chase away what may be really important around us. We pass out with real life! „Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha” The final Matra translates most simply as "go, go, go to the other side." Many people just look here again: "Achieve enlightenment." Right, but however, we overlook the important thing... I think it may well show the "action". One great Zen master once said, "There are no enlightened people. There are only enlightened actions." ven. JongMae Kunsunim gave me the name "ChiHeng" during the 5 precept Cremony. When I asked him to translate this name, he said it was hard to translate in one word but it was a kind of "enlightened action". Later, he said a lot of what is enlightened action. Finally, he said: "If you want to summarize briefly, it means as much as simply: ‘Move your ass!’ ". The sutra of the heart, on the one hand, summarizes all the Buddhist teachings in such a short form, but it is a great proof that intellectual understanding is not enough. You need another step and even those 2 pages of sutras are too much words. "If you opened your mouth, you have already made a mistake," says the Zen saying(phrase). In such a short sutra, so much has been said! We fall into an intellectual trap. We need to get rid of it now and start working on it. If you are still thinking of deciphering how great the teaching is in this sutras, how valuable their teaching is, what I want to convey in this commentary on the sutra you are reading now, please put it all aside. Work! What should you do now? At this point? It will not help you either with this long or short sutra, continuous sitting in meditation or the monk's way. It's just aiding in the path but how often do they become an end in themselves? In the end, let's not go into another extreme thinking that formal practice is useless! "Enlightened action by Prajna" is only good reason to practice or become a monk. Just give "yourself" more for other people. -ChiHeng Michał Kowalczyk Sources: Heart sutra comments by Seung Sahn Kunsunim Heart sutra comments by ven. Chan master Sheng Jen Heart sutra: Chinese apocryphic text? – Jan Nattier
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January 2023
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