https://www.learnreligions.com/life-is-suffering-what-does-that-mean-450094
https://www.learnreligions.com/skandha-definition-449692
https://www.learnreligions.com/anatman-anatta-449669
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Thursday, March 27, 2025
The Essence of the Heart Sutra
https://www.learnreligions.com/the-heart-sutra-450023
The Essence of the Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra (in Sanskrit, Prajnaparamita Hrdaya), possibly the best known text of Mahayana Buddhism, is said to be the pure distillation of wisdom (prajna). The Heart Sutra is also among the shortest of sutras. An English translation can easily be printed on one side of a piece of paper.
The teachings of the Heart Sutra are deep and subtle, and we do not pretend to completely understand them. This article is a mere introduction to the sutra for the completely baffled.
Origins of the Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra is part of the much larger Prajnaparamita (perfection of wisdom) Sutra, which is a collection of about 40 sutras composed between 100 BCE and 500 CE. The precise origin of the Heart Sutra is unknown. According to the translator Red Pine, the earliest record of the sutra is a Chinese translation from Sanskrit by the monk Chih-ch'ien made between 200 and 250 CE.
In the 8th century, another translation emerged that added an introduction and conclusion. This longer version was adopted by Tibetan Buddhism. In Zen and other Mahayana schools that originated in China, the shorter version is more common.
The Perfection of Wisdom
As with most Buddhist scriptures, simply "believing in" what the Heart Sutra says is not its point. It is important also to appreciate that the sutra cannot be grasped by intellect alone. Although analysis is helpful, people also keep the words in their hearts so that understanding unfolds through practice.
In this sutra, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is speaking to Shariputra, who was an important disciple of the historical Buddha. The early lines of the sutra discuss the five skandhas -- form, sensation, conception, discrimination, and consciousness. The bodhisattva has seen that the skandhas are empty and thus has been freed from suffering. The bodhisattva speaks:
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness; emptiness no other than form. Form is exactly emptiness; emptiness exactly form. Sensation, conception, discrimination, and consciousness are also like this.
What Is Emptiness?
Emptiness (in Sanskrit, shunyata) is a foundational doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism. It is also possibly the most misunderstood doctrine in all of Buddhism. Too often, people assume it means that nothing exists. But this is not the case.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama said, "The existence of things and events is not in dispute; it is the manner in which they exist that must be clarified." Put another way, things and events have no intrinsic existence and no individual identity except in our thoughts.
The Dalai Lama also teaches that "existence can only be understood in terms of dependent origination." Dependent origination is a teaching that no being or thing exists independently of other beings or things.
In the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha taught that our distresses ultimately spring from thinking ourselves to be independently existing beings with an intrinsic "self." Thoroughly perceiving that this intrinsic self is a delusion liberates us from suffering.
All Phenomena Are Empty
The Heart Sutra continues, with Avalokiteshvara explaining that all phenomena are expressions of emptiness or empty of inherent characteristics. Because phenomena are empty of inherent characteristics, they are neither born nor destroyed; neither pure nor defiled; neither coming nor going.
Avalokiteshvara then begins a recitation of negations -- "no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, thing," etc. These are the six sense organs and their corresponding objects from the doctrine of the skandhas.
What is the bodhisattva saying here? Red Pine writes that because all phenomena exist interdependently with other phenomena, all distinctions we make are arbitrary.
"There is no point at which the eyes begin or end, either in time or in space or conceptually. The eye bone is connected to the face bone, and the face bone is connected to the head bone, and the head bone is connected to the neck bone, and so it goes down to the toe bone, the floor bone, the earth bone, the worm bone, the dreaming butterfly bone. Thus, what we call our eyes are so many bubbles in a sea of foam."
The Two Truths
Another doctrine associated with the Heart Sutra is that of the Two Truths. Existence can be understood as both ultimate and conventional (or, absolute and relative). Conventional truth is how we usually see the world, a place full of diverse and distinctive things and beings. The ultimate truth is that there are no distinctive things or beings.
The important point to remember with the two truths is that they are two truths, not one truth and one lie. Thus, there are eyes. Thus, there are no eyes. People sometimes fall into the habit of thinking that the conventional truth is "false," but that's not correct.
No Attainment
Avalokiteshvara goes on to say there is no path, no wisdom, and no attainment. Referring to the Three Marks of Existence, Red Pine writes, "The liberation of all beings revolves around the liberation of the bodhisattva from the concept of being." Because no individual being comes into existence, neither does a being cease to exist.
Because there is no cessation, there is no impermanence, and because there is no impermanence, there is no suffering. Because there is no suffering, there is no path to liberation from suffering, no wisdom, and no attainment of wisdom. Thoroughly perceiving this is "supreme perfect enlightenment," the bodhisattva tells us.
Conclusion
The last words in the shorter version of the sutra are "Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha!" The basic translation, as I understand it, is "gone (or ferried) with everyone to the other shore right now!"
Thorough understanding of the sutra requires working face-to-face with a real dharma teacher. However, if you want to read more about the sutra, these two books are particularly helpful:
Red Pine, (Counterpoint Press, 2004). An insightful line-by-line discussion.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, (Wisdom Publications, 2005). Compiled from heart wisdom talks given by His Holiness.
The Prajnaparamita Sutras
The wisdom literature of Mahayana Buddhism
The Prajnaparamita Sutras are among the oldest of the Mahayana Sutras and are the foundation of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. These venerable texts are found in both the Chinese Canon and Tibetan Canon of Buddhist scriptures.
Prajnaparamita means "perfection of wisdom," and the sutras counted as Prajnaparamita Sutras present the perfection of wisdom as the realization or direct experience of sunyata (emptiness).
The several sutras of the Prajnaparamita Sutras vary from very long to very short and are often named according to the number of lines it takes to write them. So, one is the Perfection of Wisdom in 25,000 Lines. Another is the Perfection of Wisdom in 20,000 Lines, and then 8,000 lines, and so on. The longest is the Satasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, composed of 100,000 lines. The most well known of the wisdom sutras are the Diamond Sutra (also called "The Perfection of Wisdom in 300 Lines" and the Heart Sutra.
Origin of the Prajnaparamita Sutras
Mahayana Buddhist legend says that the Prajnaparamita Sutras were dictated by the historical Buddha to various disciples. But because the world was not ready for them, they were hidden until Nagarjuna (ca. 2nd century) discovered them in an underwater cave guarded by nagas. The "discovery" of the Prajnaparamita Sutras is considered the second of the Three Turnings of the Dharama Wheel.
However, scholars believe the oldest of the Prajnaparamita Sutras were written about 100 BCE, and some may date to as late as the 5th century CE. For the most part, the oldest surviving versions of these texts are Chinese translations that date from the early first millennium CE.
It is often taught within Buddhism that the longer Prajnaparamita sutras are the older ones, and the much briefer Diamond and Heart sutras were distilled from the longer texts. For some time historical scholars partly supported a "distillation" view, although recently this view has been challenged.
The Perfection of Wisdom
It has been thought the oldest of the wisdom sutras is the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, also called The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines. A partial manuscript of the Astasahasrika was discovered that was radiocarbon dated to 75 CE, which speaks to its antiquity. And it was thought the Heart and Diamond sutras were composed between 300 and 500 CE, although more recent scholarship places the composition of the Heart and Diamond in the 2nd century CE. These dates are mostly based on the dates of translations and when citations of these sutras appeared in Buddhist scholarship.
However, there is another school of thought that the Diamond Sutra is older than the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra. This is based on an analysis of contents of the two sutras. The Diamond seems to reflect an oral recitation tradition and describes the disciple Subhuti receiving teachings from the Buddha. Subhuti is the teacher in the Astasahasrika, however, and the text reflects a written, more literary tradition. Plus, some doctrines appear to be more developed in the Astasahasrika.
Unknown Authors
Bottom line, it's not settled exactly when these sutras were written, and the authors themselves are unknown. And while it was assumed for a long time they originally were written in India, more recent scholarship suggests that some of them may have originated in Gandhara. There is evidence an early school of Buddhism called Mahasanghika, a forerunner of Mahayana, possessed early versions of some of these sutras and may have developed them. But others may have originated with the Sthaviravadin school, a forerunner of today's Theravada Buddhism.
Barring some invaluable archaeological discovery, the precise origins of the Prajnaparamita Sutras may never be known.
Significance of the Prajnaparamita Sutras
Nagarjuna, who is the founder of a school of philosophy called Madhyamika is clearly developed from the Prajnaparamita Sutras and might be understood as the Buddha's doctrine of anatta or anatman, "no self," taken to an unavoidable conclusion.
In brief: all phenomena and beings are empty of self-nature and inter-exist, they are neither one nor many, neither individual nor indistinguishable. Because phenomena are empty of inherent characteristics, they are neither born nor destroyed; neither pure nor defiled; neither coming nor going. Because of all beings inter-exist, we are not truly separate from each other. Truly realizing this is enlightenment and liberation from suffering.
Today the Prajnaparamita Sutras remain a visible part of Zen, much of Tibetan Buddhism, and other Mahayana schools.
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Five Skandha
The First Skandha: Form (Rupa)
Rupa is form or matter; something material that can be sensed, touched, or seen. In early Buddhist literature, rupa includes the Four Great Elements (solidity, fluidity, heat, and motion) and their derivatives. These derivatives are the first five faculties listed above (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) and the first five corresponding objects (visible form, sound, odor, taste, tangible things).
Another way to understand rupa is to think of it as something that resists the probing of the senses. For example, an object has a form if it blocks your vision -- you can't see what's on the other side of it -- or if it blocks your hand from occupying its space.
The Second Skandha: Sensation (Vedana)
Vedana is a physical or mental sensation that we experience through contact of the six faculties with the external world. In other words, it is the sensation experienced through the contact of eye with visible form, the ear with sound, nose with odor, tongue with taste, body with tangible things, mind (manas) with ideas or thoughts.
It is particularly important to understand that manas -- mind or intellect -- is a sense organ or faculty, just like an eye or an ear. We tend to think that mind is something like a spirit or soul, but that concept is very out of place in Buddhism.
Because vedana is the experience of pleasure or pain, it conditions craving, either to acquire something pleasurable or avoid something painful.
The Third Skandha: Perception (Samjna, or in Pali, Sanna)
Samjna is the faculty that recognizes. Most of what we call thinking fits into the aggregate of samjna.
The word "samjna" means "knowledge that puts together." It is the capacity to conceptualize and recognize things by associating them with other things. For example, we recognize shoes as shoes because we associate them with our previous experience with shoes.
When we see something for the first time, we invariably flip through our mental index cards to find categories we can associate with the new object. It's a "some kind of tool with a red handle," for example, putting the new thing in the categories "tool" and "red."
Or, we might associate an object with its context. We recognize an apparatus as an exercise machine because we see it at the gym.
The Fourth Skandha: Mental Formation (Samskara, or in Pali, Sankhara)
All volitional actions, good and bad, are included in the aggregate of mental formations, or samskara. How are actions "mental" formations?
Remember the first lines of the Dhammapada (Acharya Buddharakkhita translation):
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.
The aggregate of mental formations is associated with karma because volitional acts create karma. Samskara also contains latent karma that conditions our attitudes and predilections. Biases and prejudices belong to this skandha, as do interests and attractions.
The Fifth Skandha: Consciousness (Vijnana, or in Pali, Vinnana)
Vijnana is a reaction that has one of the six faculties as its basis and one of the six corresponding phenomena as its object.
For example, aural consciousness -- hearing -- has the ear as its basis and a sound as its object. Mental consciousness has the mind (manas) as its basis and an idea or thought as its object.
It is important to understand that this awareness or consciousness depends on the other skandhas and does not exist independently from them. It is awareness but not a recognition, as recognition is a function of the third skandha. This awareness is not a sensation, which is the second skandha.
For most of us, this is a different way to think about "consciousness."
Why Is This Important?
The Buddha wove his explanation of the skandhas into many of his teachings. The most important point he made is that the skandhas are not "you." They are temporary, conditioned phenomena. They are empty of a soul or permanent essence of self.
In several sermons recorded in the Sutta-pitaka, the Buddha taught that clinging to these aggregates as "me" is an illusion. When we realize these aggregates are just temporary phenomena and not-me, we are on the path to enlightenment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)