Hridaya Sutra
(Heart Sutra)
The great Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, in the deep course of wisdom beyond wisdom, seeing that the five aggregates are also empty of inherent nature, overcame all suffering and distress.
Shariputra, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Form is not other than emptiness. Emptiness is not other than form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.
All phenomena are marked with emptiness. They are neither produced nor destroyed, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no feelings, no perceptions, no formations, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of eye, no realm of mind-consciousness, nor anything in between. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, no old-age-and-death, no extinction of old-age-and-death, nor any of the twelve links.
Likewise there is no suffering, no origination, no cessation, and no path; no understanding, no attainment, and no non-attainment.
With nothing to attain the bodhisattva relies on wisdom beyond wisdom and the mind is no hindrance. Without any hindrance, there is no fear. Passing beyond every upside-down view, the bodhisattva abides in Nirvana.
All Buddhas in the past, present and future, relying on wisdom beyond wisdom, realize unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.
Therefore this is the mantra of wisdom beyond wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the mantra that is unsurpassed, the mantra that is equal to the unequalled, the mantra that pacifies all suffering. Free from deception, it is the simple truth:
GATÉ GATÉ PARAGATÉ PARASAMGATÉ BODHI SVAHA
the five aggregates or human attributes (skandhas) = form, feeling, perception (cognition), impulse (volition) and consciousness
prajñápáramitá = the perfection of wisdom
śunyatá (Sanskrit शून्यता) = emptiness
Hi Kitty,
Great post!
Because of your post I got interested and decided to look further into what the 5 aggregates actually meant
I found an incredibly interesting dharma talk on the subject that you may be interested in hearing some time :)
http://www.bswa.org/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=4&lid=129
One of the interesting things about the talk was the idea that through meditation you actually see the various aggregate parts disappear. (when passing through the various stages of jhana)
Posted by: AlwaysDare | Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 03:03 AM