THE HEART OF
PRAJNA PARAMITA SUTRA
¡¡
¡¡¡¡When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara 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, 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 field 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, and 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 Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
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:
Gat¨¦ Gat¨¦ Paragat¨¦ Parasamgat¨¦
Bodhi Svaha!