Heart Sutra

Audience

The Heart Sutra was delivered by the Buddha as part of the teachings associated with the extraordinary event known as the Second Turning of the Wheel. Only very advanced individuals could access the plane upon which it was delivered. At the initial time of its delivery, no human being had this capacity. Sometime around 100 BCE, ideas associated with the emerging Mahayana movement began to appear. Versions of the Perfection of Wisdom are considered the earliest expression of these ideas. Scholars associate these texts with the ancient Indian Buddhist monastery known as Mahasanghika, a place associated with the first spreading of Mahayana ideas. As such, the initial audience for the Perfection of Wisdom ideas was the monastic community. The Heart Sutra summarizes ideas associated with this movement. Significantly, the important Chinese monk-scholar and translator Xuanzang visited this monastery in the seventh century.

The Heart Sutra’s succinct expression of Mahayana Buddhist ideas continues to captivate Buddhist and non-Buddhists throughout the world. Devotees repeat it for inspiration, monastics chant it as part of daily rituals, and scholars still puzzle over how to interpret it with precision.