Heart Sutra

[Guest guest]

Dear Bobby,

 

You wrote:

> I have never read the Heart Sutra.

> I am sure your knowledge of it

> would be appreciated by everyone.

 

Let's start with offering some traditional translations from the Sanskrit:

http://www.buddhanet.net/heartstr.htm

 

http://www.io.com/~snewton/zen/sanskrit.html

 

A translation from a Tibetan version is at:

http://www.silcom.com/~eclarson/heartsutra/hs-english.html

 

A verbatim translation from Tibetan is also to be seen and heard at that

site:

http://www.silcom.com/~eclarson/heartsutra/hs-ra/hs10.html

 

I have started my own translation from the core of the text, as I hold that

the original was short and to the point. Various recitation practices and

methods of learning by rote in order to remember by heart, have made this

sutra to be longer and repetitive. This made it lose its clarity and

succinctness. Translations needs to be done from 'putting your self as much

as possible into the slippers of the original wise man'. One has to be fully

cognizant - try at least - of the worldview that the sage lived and spoke

from.

 

Still, even a not so perfect translation, even a translation that provides

opposite meanings than the original Sanskrit intended can lead to great

insights... it happened to me... and millions of others...

 

Love, Wim

 

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[Guest guest]

, Wim Borsboom <wim@a...> wrote:

>I hold that the original was short and to the point....

 

 

Form is empty.

Emptiness is form.

 

The activity of form is not

other than emptiness,

nor is the action of emptiness

other than form.

 

It's the same with feeling,

cognition,

conception, and

consciousness.

 

Dear One, in this way

all dharmas are empty,

without any qualification,

not existing,

not ceasing,

without bondage or

liberation from bondage,

undiminished,

limitless.

 

Dear One, in this way,

in emptiness

there is no form,

no feeling,

no cognition,

no conception,

no consciousness.

 

There is

no eye,

no ear,

no nose,

no tongue,

no body,

no mind,

no shape,

no sound,

no color,

no flavor,

no feeling,

no space.

 

There is no

center of vision,

no center of mind,

no center to reference

interpretation of perception.

 

No ignorance,

no end of ignorance,

no aging and death,

no end of aging and death.

 

It's the same for

suffering,

misery

sin,

nirvana.

 

There is

no path,

no wisdom,

no enlightenment,

no non-enlightenment.

 

Dear One, in this way

all buddhas --

realizing nothing,

anchored in the Heart --

are clear,

fearless.

 

They are not

the one confused,

they are not

the one suffering.

 

They are Free.

 

There's a saying:

 

"Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha."

 

This is how

the Compassionate One --

Beloved --

whispers from the Heart.

[Guest guest]

Dear Dear Robert,

What a gift to send Han Shan and his commentary along with the Heart Sutra.

Even tho it may seem long in an email forum, I hope many will take the time to read him.

His commentaries on the Heart and on the Diamond Sutra were translated for the now

classic Rider series, 3 volumes of Chan and Zen Teaching that appeared in the 60's.

One of the first things my husband and I read together aloud when he retired a few years ago.

So many times I could barely speak his words as I was so moved by them. I would have to stop

for long moments before able to speak what I had seen to read and then

we wept together at

hearing them aloud. ... Han Shan was so present with us.

Later, I found a short biography of his life written by Han Shan

himself, year by year. He worked tirelessly

to restore both the teachings and the monastery buildings throughout

China in a time of neglect. The accounts

of his travels year by year, mostly on straw sandals are written so

straightforwardly, like his clear

commentaries. This biography is now available on the web, along with

some few maxims. It begins here:

http://www.hsuyun.org/Dharma/zbohy/Literature/HanShan/hanshan-acknowledgments.html

Gloria

[Guest guest]

, "Gloria Lee" <glee@c...> wrote:

>So many times I could barely speak his words as I was so moved by

them. I would have to stop for long moments before able to speak what

I had seen to read and then we wept together at hearing them

aloud. ... Han Shan was so present with us.

 

 

)))) Dear Gloria,

 

Yes!

 

As i sat with my Beloved yesterday, i attempted to read some of the

Han Shan to her, and could not get through a phrase or sentence

without just bursting out in tears, just as i do now, at the memory

of that silent night, that purity!

 

LoveAlways,

 

b

[Guest guest]

Dearest Robert and Mazie,

>>>This is how

the Compassionate One --

Beloved --

whispers from the Heart. <<<

 

And having heard these whispers, returning grace and gratitude from same...

 

Wim

 

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[Guest guest]

, Wim Borsboom <wim@a...> wrote:

>> And having heard these whispers, returning grace and gratitude

from same...

 

 

When we are softened and opened enough to

accept things as they actually are, to

accept ourselves as we actually are,

then the old conflict, the wanting

it all to be something other than

it is, subsides.

 

There is great mercy here.

 

One allows the anxious animals to

climb up on the bed and

cuddle next to us,

all creatures in the

embrace of the

eternal night.

 

Vastness pumps itself

through every bloodstream,

circling an oasis named

the heart.

 

The heart is the Abode of Bliss,

it has no boundary of flesh,

thought, feeling.

 

This bloodstream originates

in the same source as

anxious animals,

lovers, sense of

self.

 

The energy required to resist

in opposition is the same energy

that powers the machine of

clinging.

 

We left the rusting machines

by the river bank with our clothes, and

now we float the currents on our bellies,

dazzled by the glinting streambed stones

passing swiftly beneath us.

 

 

LoveAlways,

 

Mazie & b

[Guest guest]

(Since heart is a topic... Glo)

 

XAN

from Million Paths

 

More about the HeartFor me any place and time is good for

meditation.Grace has so overwhelmed me that I ride the crest of the

wind and travel to the nth place.But where is the nth place in our

wide world?That is right in our Heart.If we simply withdraw our

attention from the external world and turn to the Heartwe shall find

ourselves diving deep into the river of peace and bliss.-- Bhakta

Bhagwat, In Search of Self```````````The timeless is in the now.It

is in the heart centre.The head belongs to time.You can never

experience the timeless in the head.The heart is the timeless.It is

only at this point that there is presence.--Jean Klein, Transmission

of the Flame```````````Let your love flow outward through the

universe,To its height, its depth, its broad extent,A limitless love,

without hatred or enmity.Then as you stand or walk,Sit or lie down,As

long as you are awake,Strive for this with a one-pointed love;Your

life will bring heaven to earth.from Sutta NipataBuddha's Discourse

on Good Will```````````The heart has always been representedas the

source of human kindness,the wellspring of warmth and tender care.It

is the cup that holdsthe nectar of compassion.The heart is alsothe

most sacred place of worshipfrom which devotion flows like honey.All

virtues make their homein the infinite spaceshining in the depths of

the heart.-Gurumayi```````````The heart should be meditated upon as

the resting-place.For all beings find rest in the heart.The heart is

God.-Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad```````````"The True Sanctuary is

nowhere butwithin one's very own heart,"said Bodhidharma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~