The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra

When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the five skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness: emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation and consciousness.

Shariputra, all dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure and they neither increase nor diminish.

Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation or consciousness, no eyes, no ears, nose, tongue, body or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch or dharmas, no field of the eyes, up to and including no filed of mind-consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, no way and no understanding and no attaining. Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on Prajna Paramita, is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana!

All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Annutarasamyaksambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore, know that Prajna Paramita is a great spiritual mantra, a great bright mantra, a supreme mantra, an unequalled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this:

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha!

MAHA PRAJNA PARAMITA (3 times)


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English translation by:
Buddhist Text Translation Society,
Dharma Realm Buddhist University, U.S.A

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PRAJNA means wisdom, and PARAMITA means to the other shore. The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara cultivates profound Prajna.

The beneficial function of the PRAJNA PARAMITA HEART SUTRA is the eradication of your attachments. In order to cultivate, he (the bodhisattva) relies on the profound wisdom of the Prajna Paramita Dharma. What is obtained through cultivation is the unimpeded mind. We cannot be at ease because we have impediments. If you have no impediments you can be at ease…. That is the kind of power this Sutra has.

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
Commentary to the Prajna Paramita
Heart Sutra.