Heart Sutra: Buddha's Mother: Perfect Wisdom

(Buddha's Wisdom) Who is PRAJNA PARAMITA? The mother behind the Heart Sutra

• The Buddha's [6] Mothers' Day (Prajna Paramita as 7th)

Perfection of Insight, Prajnaparamita (LACMA)

All hail the Goddess (Devi) Prajna Paramita (of Java), the Mother of the Perfection of Wisdom, the most tremendous, the most excellent of the Ten Perfections (paramitas) which the historical Buddha cultivated for aeons as the Bodhisatta (the "being bent on supreme enlightenment").

The Heart Sutra is the world's most popular Buddhist sutra. Sadly, from a young age, even I recognized something in its magical wording (Edward Conze translation). It had a small tract of it in English and Chinese, and I would approach Chinese friends to translate some of the incomprehensible parts -- one line in particular: "until we come to."

Sveta Sofia (Wisdom) of Bulgaria

What in the world? It turns out that was just Conze's way of saying "...". And other parts were explained to me as having been written in an archaic form of Old (liturgical) Chinese few people spoke, which they were very embarrassed to admit. The Berkeley Zen Center was even more forthcoming, suggesting it was just something to chant, not something one could hope to make sense of, like a Sanskrit seed-mantra. So they just chanted it, on the one hand, rote, mindlessly, thoughtlessly, with no investigation that it might actually mean something sensible. I, on the other hand, was tenacious, spending years making sense of it. And every year it made more and more sense.

The lost meaning has been recovered. 

My Theravada study of it revealed exactly what it was all about after a few years due to some key phrases that do not make sense on their own but make perfect sense as references to ancient Buddhist texts, such as lists of the BASES (ayatanas). The final crowning explanation came from Alan Watts* making sense of the strange wording, which might trip one up for years. I attribute this to a flexible way of translating any Sanskrit or Pali word, all of which have much wider valence, admitting to a range of translations, not one fixed English word to serve all situations.

• 

  A bodhisattva helping living beings

  The key secret is to realize that Śūnyatā ("Emptiness," void) is synonymous with the Pali suññatā ("impersonal" = anatta). Then everything else falls into place.
• This is because what the Heart Sutra (Prajñā-pāramitā-hṛdaya Discourse) is talking about are the Five Aggregates clung to as self, pointing out that every "heap" -- each one of the Five Aggregates -- is actually devoid of self. It is impersonal and is in that sense "empty." It has no "independent existence." What kind of existence does it have? It has a dependently-originated one. It is foolish to think there is nothing there at all as if all things were the void: There is no thing there, but there is something, some stuff, something is appearing. In the ultimate sense, "things" (dhammas, dharmas, phenomena) have an existence and so are called "things." The one thing that is not a thing is nirvana (the deathless, amata/amrita, the unconditioned element). Nirvana, being free of conditions, does not bear the (three universal) marks of "things." This "self" we cling to is just such a "thing," a conglomeration of other "things" (aggregates, groups, heaps), bearing the universal marks of being impermanent, unsatisfactory, and impersonal.

• 

  Avalokitesvara (in basalt)

  "Self" arises in this way, not as a real entity but an illusion brought about by the presence of the aggregates. When one grasps that all there has ever been are phenomenal aggregates -- impermanent, disappointing, and impersonal -- then the heart naturally lets go with no prompting and becomes free of all clinging and all further suffering.
• It is called the "Heart" (hṛdaya) Sutra not because of emotions or sweetness but because it comes as the culmination, the brief summary, the pith, the essence of 100,000 lines or verses of detailed explanation. It is the essence of perfected wisdom. It is the key to stream entry, that which when not grasped keeps us as ordinary worldling but when grasped causes a "change of lineage" (gotrabhu) to the noble ones. The Buddha himself said it. There are not enlightened disciples to be found in other traditions, at least not in the Buddhist sense of the term bodhi ("awakened," "enlightened," "liberated") because nowhere else is this Doctrine of No-Self ever taught, ever revealed, ever explained, although all popular religions seem to have an innate understanding that being egoless is far wiser than being full of ego. For example, in popular Christianity, in the eyes of God, what is the worst sin? Pride.

Beloved Kwan Yin (Guanyin)

Better than [the Goddess of Compassion] Kwan Yin (the feminine form of Avalokiteshvara)? More beloved than [the Cosmic Buddha of Light] Amitabha? No, probably not, but what is higher and more exalted than wisdom?

The Buddha himself noted how popular and beloved Ananda was, whereas the monastics did not seem to realize the kalyana-mitta (noble/enlightening friendship) potential of Ven. Sariputta, the male monastic he declared foremost in wisdom. One can easily imagine the same thing must have happened among the females with the Buddha highlighting the value of the great bhikkhuni Ven. Khema, the nun he declared foremost in wisdom.

Sariputta and MM become disciples

Now, one may ask, Why is Avalokiteśvara -- who is later transformed into the Goddess or Personification of Compassion (Kwan Yin/Guanyin) -- addressing Ven. Sariputra of all people in this most famous of all apocryphal "discourses"?

UCLA Prof. Robert E. Buswell Jr. (who ordained as a monk in Korean Zen then Sri Lankan Theravada before becoming a Western academic) explained the reason to us in class. Brahminical/Chinese Mahayana is holding up the monk disciple (shravaka) the Buddha declared "foremost in wisdom" as a scarecrow, stick figure, or punching bag to mock his supposed "wisdom," as if he were a mere intellect, a clueless egghead, a Brahmin nerd, a clueless dork compared to their god (deva, deity) Avalokita, whom they declare an "enlightenment being" (bodhi-sattva) and "great being" (maha-sattva, a Mahayana maha-sthamaprapta).

• How the Western world personified Wisdom (Sophia): The personification of wisdom
• But there has to be a "self," right? No, here are some examples of in what sense there is not-a-self: Egoless Led Zeppelin (JBLZE) in Hollywood?

How to make the Heart Sutra simpler?

Rewrite it in modern English so readers get it

Holding lotus, symbol of blossoming

Wow, this perfection of wisdom is cool! It's eye-opening!

Avi, awake and wanting to awaken others, was reviewing the wisdom that has gone beyond. He looked down from on high and saw just five heaps, saw that in and of themselves they are impersonal, NOT A SELF, empty.

Herein, Sali, form implies emptiness, and emptiness implies form. Emptiness is not different than form, and form is not different than emptiness. They are mutually dependent. Anything that is empty, impersonal, and not-self is form.

• 

  The Zen ensō (zero, circle)

  [Conze translates these famous line as: "Form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form; form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is emptiness, that is form; [whatever is form, that is emptiness;] the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses (cetana, volitions), and consciousness."
• What in the world does it mean? "Form" (Rūpa) and "Emptiness" (Pali Suññatā, Sanskrit Śūnyatā), Alan Watts explains in the video below, go together, are inseparable, are relational, one revealing the other, making no sense without the other. The instant one comes into being (arises), the other necessarily comes into being at the same time, for one cannot be without the other, just as opposite pairs depend on one another: being/nonbeing, birth/death, origin/cessation, yin/yang, figure/background. One would be meaningless without the other, for the other provides contrast and give it its definition.
• So it would, in fact, be more sensible (better for meaning) to translate this line as, "Form (shape, color) reveals (exactly is, is inseparable from, always goes with, is inseparably related to) emptiness..." or "Form (solidity, density, tangibility) is not (designated, defined, found) without emptiness (a hollow or void) because they co-arise mutually. "One (exhibits) brings out the fact of the other.]
• What is an Enso? (Lion’s Roar)

And the same is true of [of the other four heaps/aggregates] sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousnesses.

• 

  Sali is Ven. Sariputra in this scene.

  [Rather than a solid thing that can easily be grasped like form (Four Elements, maha-bhuta or dhatus, qualities of materiality of form-particles), the stream of consciousness is an impersonal PROCESS, not a static object.]

Herein [here within this Doctrine], Sali, all phenomena are impersonal. They bear the mark of being impersonal, empty: They are not produced and not stopped, not dirty and not clean, not missing something and not full.

So you see, Sali, in the impersonal, there is no form (no body composed of the Four Elements), nor sensations, nor perceptions, nor formations, nor consciousnesses.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva as "Avi"

There are no bases for these things [that are all dependently originated]: no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, nor the things that impinge on them: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, or objects of mind, nor the things these sense depend on for their sensitivity: no element (sensitive tissue) of sight, and so forth, until we come to: no element (sensitive tissue) at the heart of consciousness.

[Why? It is because, after all, all things are impersonal, empty, not a self, so a bunch of them together don't make a self either).]

Devi Prajnaparamita of Java

Likewise, really, there is no ignorance, so there is no end of ignorance [since it doesn't really exist except as an illusion), and so forth, until we come to: There is no aging and death, no end of aging and death. There is no disappointment, no coming into being, no extinction, and no path to the extinction of disappointment. There is no knowing, no attainment, and there is no non-attainment of this realization.

And so, Sali, because of one's not-attaining anything that a being-bent-on-enlightenment, perfecting this wisdom that has gone beyond, dwells free of discursive thoughts. In their absence, one is free of trembling. One has overcome all that can upset and so realized nirvana.

Sophia (Library of Celsus)

All those who appear as supremely awakened teachers the three periods of time -- past, present, and future -- fully awake to this utmost realization, right and perfect awakening because they have perfected the wisdom that has gone beyond.

So, Sali, everyone should know this perfection of wisdom as a kind of mantra, the mantra of great knowing, the utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra, the allayer of all disappointment and ill. It's true; I mean, what could really go wrong except that it be an illusion?

By perfecting the wisdom that has gone beyond, this mantra becomes clear, and it runs like this:

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!

("Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, oh what an awakening, it's true!")

This is indeed the pith of perfect wisdom.

Self, in the ultimate analysis, does not exist

(Khenpo Sodargye's Teachings) If there is no self, who reincarnates? | National Taiwan U Q&A

*Alan Watts: "Form is emptiness, AND emptiness is form." Why?

(Alan Watts, Zen Reconsidered, Part 2) Alan Watts explains shunyata at Minute 32:34

We were happy just to CHANT it

Reciting Heart Sutra for Wisdom, Compassion, Purification; Om Gate Mantra (Buddha Weekly)

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Is enlightenment possible for everyone?

 

Icon of Holy Wisdom (Vologda)

(Dalai Lama) Can everyone be enlightened? Moksha ("liberation," vimutti, "freedom" from samsara and suffering, "deliverance," salvation) is of two kinds, two levels, a happy life here and now [with possibly a heavenly rebirth for moral behavior hereafter] or attaining liberating-insight and final emancipation here and now in this very life through moral behavior, stillness (samadhi, settled calm, concentration), and vipassana (comprehending and cultivating Dependent Origination sufficient in theory and complete in practice).

• The Heart Sutra: Insights from Gautama Buddha's Teachings (Beetle Book Shop)
• Buddha's Wisdom (video); Dalai Lama (Q&A); Khenpo Sodargye (Q&A); Alan Watts (Zen Reconsidered, Pt. 2); Dhr. Seven (text), CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Death Sutra; 'The Seventh Seal' (film)

 

Buddhists invented chess? (Rules)

The Seventh Seal (Swedish Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman.

 

Set in Sweden [3, 4] during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of chess he plays with [Mara] the personification of Death (Bengt Ekerot), who has come to take his life.

• Buddhism in Sweden
• Origins of chess (chess.com)
• The origin of chess (Silk Road Foundation)
• All the European names of the game of chess have roots in the Persian language. French Echec and English “Checkmate” originated thanks to their Persian roots. At the same time, Buddhist pilgrims are known to have carried it towards the East. Where several versions of the games (inscribed discs placed on the intersection of the lines of the board rather than within the squares)... Where did chess come from? | CHESS KLUB

The Seventh Seal, 1957

Bergman developed the film from his own play Wood Painting. The title refers to a passage from the Bible's Book of Revelation, used both at the very start of the film and again towards the end, beginning with the words "And when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" [5].

 

Here, the motif of silence refers to the "silence of God," which is a major theme of the film [6, 7]. The Seventh Seal is considered a classic in the history of cinema, as well as one of the greatest films of all time.

It established Bergman as a director, containing scenes which have become iconic through homages, critical analyses, and parodies. More

Death comes rolling at us. Are we ready?

The Simile of the Mountain, Pabbatūpama Sutta (SN 3.2)

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in Sāvatthī.

King Pasenadi of Kosala came and respectfully sat to one side. The Buddha said to him, “Great King, where are you coming from in the middle of the day?”

“Venerable sir, there are anointed warrior caste kings who are infatuated with authority and obsessed with craving for sensual delights. They have attained stability in the country, conquering and occupying a vast territory. Today I have been busy fulfilling the duties of such a king.”

“What do you think, Great King? Suppose a trustworthy and dependable man were to come from the east. He would approach and say, ‘Please, Great King, know this: I come from the east. There I saw a huge mountain that reached the clouds. And it was coming this way, crushing all creatures in its path. Therefore, Great King, do as you see fit!’

• This extraordinary threat looms also in an Upanishadic passage: “Even if both the mountain ranges, the southern and the northern, were to rush at him determined to level him, they would not succeed in leveling him” (Kauṣītaki Upanishad 2.13, translation by Olivelle).

“Then suppose another trustworthy and dependable man were to come from the west… a third from the north… and a fourth from the south, approaching to say, ‘Great King, know this. I come from [that direction]. There I saw a huge mountain that reached the clouds. And it was coming this way, crushing all creatures in its path. Therefore, Great King, do as you see fit!’

“Should such a dire threat arise—with so grim a loss of human life when human rebirth is so preciously rare—what would you do?”

“Venerable sir, what could I do but practice the Dhamma (Buddha's Teachings), practice morality, doing skillful and profitable kamma (deeds, actions)?”

“I say, Great King, I announce: Old age and death are advancing upon you. Since old age and death are advancing upon you, what shall you do?”

“Venerable sir, what can I do but practice the Dhamma, practice morality, doing skillful and profitable kamma?

“Venerable sir, there are anointed warrior kings who are infatuated with authority and obsessed with craving for sensual delights. They have attained stability in the country, conquering and occupying a vast territory. Such kings engage in battles with elephants, cavalries, chariots, or infantries. But there is no place, no domain for such battles when old age and death are advancing.

“In this royal court there are ministers of wise counsel who are capable of dividing an approaching enemy by wise counsel. But there is no place, no domain for such diplomatic battles when old age and death are advancing.

“In this royal court there is abundant gold, both minted and unminted, stored above and below ground. Using this wealth we can bribe an approaching enemy.

• Bhūmigata is explained as “underground” at Bu Pj 2:4.2.1 (there bhūmaṭṭha). | Vehāsaṭṭha is explained as “above ground” at Bu Pj 2:4.5.1. | Upalāpetuṁ (“bribe”) is a means by which Vassakāra suggests the Vajjis can be overcome (DN 16:1.5.8, AN 7.22:12.3).

“But there is no place, no domain for such monetary battles when old age and death are advancing.

“When old age and death are advancing, what can I do but practice the Teachings, practice morality, doing skillful and profitable deeds?”

“That is true, Great King, so true! When old age and death are advancing, what can one do but practice Dhamma, practice morality, doing skillful and profitable karma?”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Awakened One, the Teacher, summarized in verse:

“Suppose there were vast mountains

of solid rock pressed against the sky

drawing in from all sides

crushing the four quarters.

So, too, old age and death

advance upon all living beings—

warriors, priests, peasants,

menials, corpse-workers, and scavengers.

They spare no one.

They crush all under them.

There is nowhere for an elephant to take a stand,

neither chariot nor infantry.

Mountains cannot be defeated

by diplomatic battles or wealth.

That is why an astute person,

seeing what is good for oneself,

being wise, would place confidence (faith)

in the Awakened One, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha.

Whoever lives by the Teaching

[skillful in actions of] body, speech, and mind,

is praised in this life

and departs to rejoice in heaven(s).”

• Ingmar Bergman; SN 3.25: Pabbatūpama Sutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), suttacentral.net, edited by Kalyani, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Saint Death" (Mexico) and Mara

A man carries a statue of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, during a protest by the folk saint's followers against the destruction of their shrines in Mexico City, 4/5/09. Mexico's government is targeting the folk saint, destroying Santa Muerte shrines in its all-out war on the cartels, saying the unofficial religion is usually a sign of something more sinister: Crime, drugs, even brutal killings (AP/Rodrigo Abd).

Kirsten Johnson (AP)

MEXICO CITY – About 200 worshippers marched today to protest the government's destruction of "Death Saint" shrines, saying Mexico's fight against drug cartels has veered into religious persecution.

"We are believers, not criminals!" the protesters chanted as they marched from a gritty Mexico City neighborhood to the Metropolitan Cathedral downtown.

At shrines, chapels, and small churches across the country, tens of thousands of people worship the Death Saint, which is often depicted as a robe-covered skeleton resembling the Grim Reaper. More>>

Mara

Buddhism recognizes a similar figure in Mara, who has taken on a literal (Mara Devaputra) and numerous metaphorical designations. Mara is the personification of death. It/he is also recognized as "the tempter" and "the evil one" (Namuci) -- a figure the Bodhisattva (Siddhartha pre-enlightenment) and the Buddha (Siddhartha post-enlightenment) frequently converses with.

In this sense, Mara is like the biblical devil tempting and attempting to dissuade the Buddha from setting forth his dispensation. Mara is also "Cupid," the Greek god of lust. In this latter sense, Mara is known as a devaputra (literally, son-of-god, which simply means reborn as a deva or "shining one" in a lower heavenly realm). It is not the same figure. Both exist simultaneously, one engaged in many misdeeds on earth, the other deluded in a celestial world as the "lord of sensuality" over the Kama Loka, the worlds based on sense desire in Buddhist cosmology.

Other more fanciful interpretations of Mara are strictly metaphors for hindrances, defilements, falling away from the goal of nirvana. In this, the most widespread sense of the term, Mara has three daughters (Craving, Aversion, and Passion) and ten armies. These figure largely in discussions of the practice of meditation. Attempts at mental self-purification sometimes engender a great deal of resistance, just as the Buddha faced and overcame under the Bodhi tree.

• Summary of Mara's exploits (Cindy Mettika Hoffman)
• Western similarities (Monsalvat)