Heart Sutra

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Heart Sutra is spoken by Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion, to the arhat Shariputra. Shariputra was an early follower of the Buddha who attained the status of arhat, which, according to non-Mahayana tradition, is a fully human person who has reached a state of enlightenment that is nearly equal to that of a buddha. Early Buddhist scriptures describe him as a well-educated, philosophically inclined individual who was a bit older than the Buddha and died before him. Shariputra is associated with the compilation ofthe Abhidharma.

Despite the brevity of the Heart Sutra, Buddhist teachers and scholars continue to puzzle over the many ways it can be interpreted, used, and understood. Readers should bear in mind that even the way in which the Heart Sutra has been translated into English is a form of interpretation. The outline given here provides a basic overview of its structure and the ideas that it presents.

The title of the Heart Sutra can be interpreted in more than one way; in fact, the earliest versions do not refer to it as a sutra at all. Recall that it was not until Xuanzang’s Chinese translation that the Heart Sutra was first considered a sutra rather than simply a set of powerful words for chanting. One way to read the title is as an announcement that the text will provide the essence, or heart, of what is elaborated in much longer versions of the Prajnaparamita. On the other hand, presented simply as the “Heart Sutra,” it conveys a sense that what is offered here is intended for the heart. The Heart Sutra does both. It provides guidance for removing wrong ideas from the heart and a concise summary of the wisdom of the Prajnaparamita.

The opening line of the Heart Sutra tells us that the implied speaker is the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. In later Buddhist traditions, Avalokiteshvara is understood to be a manifestation of the Buddha. It is according to this perspective that later Mahayana traditions consider the Heart Sutra to be the word of the Buddha, which was spoken by the Buddha in his manifestation as Avalokiteshvara. The presence of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is unusual. Avalokiteshvara does not appear in any of the other Perfection of Wisdom scriptures but was a very popular deity in early Chinese Buddhism. Mention of Avalokiteshvara is one thing scholars point to in support of the theory that the Heart Sutra was written first in Chinese and then back-translated into Sanskrit.

This first line also gives us a clue that the venue is extraordinary. We are told that the event takes place just after Avalokiteshvara was meditating on the wisdom of Prajnaparamita. In Buddhism, when a particularly skilled person enters into a deep state of meditation, that person has access to states that are not normally accessible to average people. This understanding is used by Mahayana adherents to support their beliefs that the Heart Sutra was delivered during the lifetime of the Buddha. According to this view, it was not heard by living humans at the time because no one on earth had the capacity to hear what was said or possessed the meditative skills to reach the plane where it could be heard.

In addition, the opening sentence of the Heart Sutra summarizes the process that allowed Avalokiteshvara to reach the high level from which he was able to convey the wisdom he was about to deliver. Avalokiteshvara was meditating on the Prajnaparamita. This is important because the Prajnaparamita is understood as both the embodiment of Perfect Wisdom and as a reference to the text itself. This sort of self-referential statement is a characteristic of many Mahayana texts and sets them apart from earlier Buddhist literature. Such an assertion also alerts us to the incredible potency of the text. Stating that the text is an embodiment of Perfect Wisdom is a way of affirming that it should be revered as a relic of the Buddha. Relics of the Buddha evoke the presence of the Buddha. If the Heart Sutra is understood as itself a relic of the Buddha, then it has the capacity to evoke the presence of the Buddha. Understanding how it is that the Heart Sutra can be a relic of the Buddha points to an important transformation in the history of Buddhist philosophy that was ushered in with Mahayana thinking.

The second paragraph introduces Shariputra. It appears that Avalokiteshvara is telling Shariputra about the power of the Heart Sutra. The presence of Shariputra is unusual, as most Perfection of Wisdom texts are delivered in response to a different arhat by the name of Subhuti. This may be another clue that the Heart Sutra was not originally written in India.

In the third paragraph, Avalokiteshvara explains to Shariputra that the five skandhas are “empty.” This is the central statement of the Heart Sutra. The text here concisely summarizes the Mahayana concept of emptiness. Because this concept is presented in a series of negations, it is all too easy to understand emptiness as being nihilistic. The challenge is to realize that truly understanding emptiness calls for service to others and is anything but a retreat into nihilism.

In the fourth paragraph, we learn more about the powerful insights that are available to anyone who follows the bodhisattva path and relies on the wisdom contained in the Prajnaparamita. Nirvana is state of being that entails peace and calm beyond the normal range of human experience. This state is reserved for those liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth, called samsara. The precise nature of nirvana is understood differently in various Buddhist philosophic systems. Early Buddhist philosophy gives the impression that nirvana is a faraway place. The suggestion here is that nirvana is closer than we expect and that once we are able to attain the crystal-clear mental state promised by the Perfection of Wisdom, we will have access to it.

“Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi” is a Sanskrit phrase that can be translated as “Perfect Enlightenment that cannot be surpassed by wisdom of any other kind.” A buddha is someone who realizes the fullest meaning of emptiness, and this entails the ability to understand the ultimate nature of things. The Buddhas of the three periods are Buddhas of the past, the present, and the future. Early Indian Buddhism recognizes only the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. By contrast, Mahayana Buddhism recognizes many Buddhas who came before and will come after Shakyamuni.

Early Buddhist philosophy equates reaching enlightenment with liberation from the cycle of existence. Later Buddhist philosophy developed ideas concerning various levels of enlightenment. Avalokiteshvara tells Shariputra that the Prajnaparamita provides a method for reaching the highest possibly enlightenment. The suggestion is that Mahayana teachings offers the potential to reach a higher level of enlightenment than is possible by following the teachings of earlier Buddhist scriptures.

At the end of paragraph 4, we are told that the entire Prajnaparamita has the potency of a mantra. Because the Heart Sutra summarizes the Prajnaparamita, it also has the potency of a mantra. There is a long tradition associated with chanting the Heart Sutra as a means to assure a variety of good outcomes. This understanding is behind the daily practice of chanting the Heart Sutra carried out in Buddhist monasteries around the world. Indeed, it was not for several centuries that the word sutra was added to the title of the Heart Sutra, allowing it to be appreciated as the oral teachings of the Buddha.

In the Mahayana tradition, there is some debate over how to classify the Heart Sutra within the Buddhist canon. As noted, in the Tibetan Buddhist canon, a copy of the Heart Sutra appears in two different sections of the Kanjur—the collection of scriptures that are understood to be the words of the Buddha. One section of the Kanjur holds all the accepted versions of the Perfection of Wisdom texts that have been translated into Tibetan. As expected, the Heart Sutra is among these texts. However, a version of the Heart Sutra is included in the tantra section of the Kanjur as well. Compilers included the Heart Sutra in the tantra section because they recognized the text as having the potency of a mantra.

The text ends with the mantra of the Heart Sutra. This mantra is usually not translated. The grammar of the original Sanskrit does not convey a clear meaning. Also, as is typical of mantras, the actual sound of the original Sanskrit words is understood to have considerable potency: Translating the words into any other language would lessen that potency. When this final set of words is translated, commentators have various opinions about how to interpret them. A common translation in English is “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond; enlightenment; hail.” Some commentators understand the reference in the Heart Sutra to the “Great Spiritual Mantra” as referring to the Prajnaparamita itself and not just to the set of words in Sanskrit. In this interpretation, the Prajnaparamita is seen as pointing to something beyond the grasp of normal human intellect. Nevertheless, the human intellect is still considered useful and necessary. For some observers, then, the final set of words can be understood as an exhortation to use one’s intellect but to keep going—and go beyond intellectual understanding in order to reach ultimate enlightenment.