Translation Notes
While I am deeply indebted to many for their previous translations of these
words, I am responsible for the translations as they appear here. May any benefits
or merit following there from be given to and shared among all beings, may any
weird karma that may be derived there from be added to my already ancient twisted
karmic debts.
Great Transcending Wisdom Heart Sutra
“Thus have I heard.”
There are two versions of this short sutra. The shorter of the two is the one
chanted in most Buddhist temples. The longer of the two has the introductory
paragraph that is virtually obligatory in all sutras and a usual concluding
paragraph of praise. The introductory paragraph of the longer version begins
with the words “Thus have I heard” and sets up the location of the
sutra and introduces the questioner and the question asked of the Buddha to
which the sutra is responding. Most scholars believe the Heart Sutra was first
written as a dharini, or mantra for recitation, not as a sutra and that the
introductory and concluding paragraphs were added later to elevate the status
of the work to that of sutra.
The location of the Heart Sutra was on Vulture Peak, which the Chinese translated
as “Sacred Eagle Peak,” in the kingdom state of Magadha Buddha stayed
at a cave on Vulture Peak and spoke to the assembly in open areas nearby. The
road to Vulture Peak was not wide or improved so that when King Bimbisara visited
Buddha even the king could go only so far in his chariot and then he would have
to walk. There were at one time two monuments along the road to indicate the
point where the king would dismount the chariot and another where he would leave
his retinue behind and approach the Buddha alone. Vulture Peak is one of the
primary sites of Buddhist pilgrimage along with Bodhgaya, the site of Buddha’s
enlightenment, and the Deer Park. Photos of Vulture Peak may be seen athttp://sped2work.tripod.com/vulturespeak.html
and elsewhere on the internet.
The Heart Sutra is the essential condensation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra found
in several much larger versions such as the Large Prajnaparamita Sutra in 18,000,
25,000, and 100,000 lines. In addition to being the location of the Prajnaparamita
Sutras, Vulture Peak was the site of the Amitâyur Dhyâna Sûtra
(Sutra on the Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life), the Larger Sukhavativyuha
Sutra (Larger Sutra of the Buddha of Infinite Life (Amitaya)), and the Lotus
of the True Dharma Sutra (Sadharmapundarika Sutra). Thus several schools of
Mahayana Buddhism including the T'ien-t'ai, Pure Land, Nicherin, and Ch’an/Zen
schools have great affinity with Vulture Peak. As described in the Mahaparinibbana
Sutta the last journey of Buddha leading to his predicted death begins with
Buddha teaching at Vulture Peak.
Of direct importance to the Ch’an/Zen tradition is that Vulture Peak is
where “the Great Silent Sutra” was delivered in which Buddha silently
held up a flower and onlyMaha-Kashyapa understood and smiled. This story is
told in Case #6 of the Gateless Barrier (Ch. Wu-wen kuan, J. Mumonkan) and elsewhere.
With this direct meeting of the minds, “like arrow points meeting in the
air” (see the Ts’an-T’ung-Ch’I, the Promise of Meeting
Unity), the first transmission from heart-mind to heart-mind is said to have
taken place in the legendary Ch’an/Zen lineages. The Buddha confirmed
Maha-Kashyapa as his Dharma heir saying, "I have the correct-orientation
eye of the treasury, the subtle mind of incomparable Nirvana, the true form
of the formless, not standing upon scriptures and letters. I now pass it on
to Maha-Kashyapa." Maha-Kashyapa thus became the first patriarch in the
lineages of Ch’an/Zen transmission.
In the Heart Sutra the questioner is Sariputra. At that time the Buddha was
absorbed in meditation, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was studying the Prajnaparamita,
and Sariputra had a question about the Prajnaparamita. Through the Buddha’s
power he knew Sariputra’s question and made it possible for Sariputra
to ask his question directly of Avalokiteshvara who had just then been deeply
considering the very answer. Sariputra’s question was “If the son
or daughter of a family wishes to perform the study in the deep Prajnaparamita,
how is he to be taught?” The shorter version begins at this point stating
the condition of Avalokiteshvara’s immersion in the Prajnaparamita and
the Bodhisattva’s response to Sariputra.
My translation sticks mainly to the shorter version but includes a few items
from the longer version. Out of homage to Buddha, and the true importance of
the status of sutra, I have included the introductory phase “Thus have
I heard,” which in my opinion should never be absent from a sutra even
if to save a few breaths or words in chanting. In other words, if it is called
the Heart Sutra and not the Heart Dharini then I feel the “Thus have I
heard” should be included regardless of any other consideration. I haven’t
reinserted the location information or the identification of questioner and
question, but because of its importance I have described it here, so that people
may have it in mind when they chant or consider the Heart Sutra.
“saw the essential emptiness of the five branches of being”
The term skandha is usually translated as “aggregate,” “collection,”
“heap,” or “component.” It means “shoulder,”
“trunk” or “stem” of a tree, “esp. that part of
the stem where the branches begin,” “large branch or bough,”
a “part,” “division,” “chapter,” or “section,”
and other related meanings. The term “aggregate” has been used usually
to emphasize the philosophical sense of infinite progression of logical subdivisions
in the analysis of emptiness. However, the terms shoulder, trunk, or branch
are closer to the image that is originally evoked in the term skandha. Shoulder
would be good to emphasize the connection of the branch with the trunk as well
as to imagine all the variety that creates the shoulder such as bone, sinew,
muscle, blood vessels, skin, etc. But to say the “five shoulders”
would be awkward in English. Trunk emphasizes the pillar aspect of holding up
the branches but leaves out the all important branching aspect. To say “five
trunks” or “five pillars” creates an image of five separateskandhas,
not one unified thusness branching into five. “Branches” is my preferred
translation because it includes the core image of the tree and that all branches
are connected through the trunk as well as alluding to the limbs of the body.
It also has the connotation that they flow both ways as in branches of a river
and branches of a tree. It also resonates with the lines in the Ta’an-T’ung-Ch’I
(J. Sandokai) “the branching streams are flowing darkness” and “Trunk
and branches have the same source.” Also, branches corresponds well with
the uses of branches in English, as in the branches of knowledge taught in universities,
as the five skandhas are the five faculties of mind.
“Form is emptiness; emptiness itself is form,”
I have also reinserted the two extra lines from the longer version, “Form
is emptiness; emptiness itself is form,” regarding the unity of emptiness-form
which are left out of most of the shorter versions. The longer version has the
full six sided rendition of the three views of form and emptiness: (1) Form
is emptiness; (2) emptiness itself is form; (3) form is not other than emptiness;
(4) emptiness is not other than form; (5) what is form, that is emptiness; and
(6) what is emptiness, that is form. I don’t know why the shorter version
removed the first and most basic pair of the three pairs from the list, but
to me it should be included.
“thus so for feelings, perceptions, complexes, comprehension.”
When referring to the five skandhas, (rUpa, vedanA, saMjJa, saMskAra, and vijJAna)
the fourth branch “samskara,” is the most difficult to translate.
I have seen it variously translated as “discrimination,” “mental
formations,” “imagination,” “volition,” “action
formations,” “conception,” etc. I have translated it as “complexes”
because that is to me the most simple and generic term coming from a psychological
perspective rather than a philosophical one, which is essentially the perspective
presented by the system of the skandhas. The term complexes includes all of
the terms stated above used in the various translations. The complexes (fourth
skandha) are the organizational structures and functions of consciousness that
coordinate and correlate the first three branches resulting in concepts, imagination,
the sense of volition, and all the other mental and emotional formations that
make comprehension (fifth skandha) possible. Even the mental model or pattern
of “ego” in self-identity which we use to create our sense of volition
is itself a complex, the ego complex, and is the coordinating complex that is
the nexus of the entire system of subject-object relationships which we call
self and other at the level of comprehension. Seeing the ego-self as essentially
empty -- because it is the core complex-nexus of consciousness and not an entity
of separate existence -- was the great psychological and existential discovery
of Sakyamuni Buddha.
I’m now translating vijJAna, as used in the system of the five skandhas,
as “comprehension” rather than the more usual “consciousness.”
The definition of vijJAnaincludes understanding, comprehending, recognizing,
intelligence, knowledge, the act of distinguishing or discerning, science, doctrine,
etc.. Etymologically, vi is related to the number two and implies duality or
separation and jJAna means knowledge, so vijJAna connotes the knowledge that
comes from separation, i.e., analysis, or holding something as an object in
the subject-object relationship. To me, making “consciousness” the
label for one of the five branches creates confusion and obscures the fact that
consciousness is the essence of all the branches not just one of them. In one
sense consciousness is the trunk of the mind that the five branches are commonly
connected to as indivisible branches, with the above ground portion of the trunk
being conscious consciousness and the underground roots the unconscious consciousness.
Forms, feelings, perceptions, and complexes all to one extent or another become
conscious rising to the surface of the cauldron and then subside again into
unconsciousness, the same is true of the fifth branch, comprehension. Comprehension
is the fifth branch function that holds (L. prehendere) the other four branches
in the mind in such a way that consciousness can become self-conscious, thus
it is easily, though mistakenly, equated with consciousness itself. With comprehension
our consciousness is fully functioning, but without comprehension we may still
be conscious though in a less comprehensive manner, such as in the lowest state
of consciousness of a persistent vegetative state in which only the most basic
reflexes of form and primitive feeling are present without more developed feelings,
perceptions, complexes, or comprehension.
“Everything has these aspects of emptiness”
I haven’t translated the words Buddha, bodhisattva, and mantra because
they have been in the English language dictionaries for over 50 years. Though
dharma is also in the English dictionaries its definition is not as nuanced
as it should be, generally referring to what I call the capitalized meaning
of Dharma as teaching, law, or cosmic principle. The lower case meaning of dharmas
as a generic word for “things,” i.e., any recognizable pattern of
events, circumstances, ideas, deeds, etc., is not usually recognized in English,
and that is how it is used here in the phrase “all things have”
or “everything has” the characteristics of emptiness. By saying
“all dharmas have the characteristics of emptiness” one might mistakenly
convey the wrong impression to English readers that only the teachings are empty
and not that everything that is identifiable as a “thing” is emptiness.
People forget that “thing” is not just a word for a material entity,
but for basic pattern recognition itself, ranging from being a matter for concern
(“I have many things to do”), to a bit of news (“I couldn’t
get a thing out of him”), to an individual or the assembly of persons,
to the essence (“the thing in itself”). This last sense of essence,
or the intimacy of things, is where the small “d” dharma as thing
becomes the Dharma, the Great Pattern of no pattern that transcends (paramita)
all patterns. It is sometimes rewarding to translate dharma as pattern. “All
patterns have the characteristics of emptiness” would also be a suitable
translation of this phrase, but I like “things” because it goes
directly to challenge the materialist view of things as substance or entity.
“to dwell serenely without attention resistances”
I translate “acittAvaraNah” (J. mu-kei-ge) as “without attention
resistance(s).” It is a combination word of “a,” the negative,
“citta” and “AvaraNa.” I have seen it variously translated
as without “mental hindrances,” “thought coverings,”
“mental impediments,” “thought obstructions,” “mind
obstruction,” “delusive hindrance,” “hindrance in the
heart,” “obscuration of mind,” etc. The Sanskrit “citta”
can mean “attending,” “thinking,” “reflecting,”
“imagining,” “thought,” “intention,” “aim,”
“wish,” “the heart,” or “mind.” I use the
term attention, rather than the more commonly used “mind” or “mental”
for citta, because I want to focus directly on the psychological dynamics without
the entity aspect associated with the noun “mind.” An equally suitable
alternative to “attention” would be the word “aware(ness),”
as both terms inherently imply being awake, as bodhicitta is the attention or
awareness of awakening. The word attention has the direct connotation of the
essence or presence of mind and currently has wide use in English as in the
phrase “attention deficit disorder.” Essentially, Buddhism can be
said to be medicine for the basic dysfunctions of human attention. Here’s
a well known Zen story.
A layman asked 15th-century Zen Master Ikkyu to write something expressing highest
wisdom. Without hesitation the master brushed one word: "Attention."
The layman, disappointed, asked if that was all, could he say more. In response,
Ikkyu wrote "Attention. Attention." The layman still felt disappointed
and frustrated and complained that he didn’t see much wisdom in what was
written. The master responded by writing, "Attention. Attention, Attention."
The layman, now quite irritated, asked what "Attention" was supposed
to mean. Ikkyu replied, "Attention means attention."
The term “AvaraNa” can mean “covering,” “hiding,”
or “concealing,” or the noun of the act of covering, concealing,
or hiding; “shutting” or “enclosing”; an “obstruction”
or “interruption”; “a covering,” “garment,”
or “cloth”; “anything that protects,” or an “outer
bar” or fence”; a “wall”; a “shield”; a
“bolt” or “lock”; and in philosophical usage a “mental
blindness.” The term AvaraNazakti means the power (zakti) of illusion
as in that which veils the real nature of things. I use resistance rather than
obstruction or hindrance, or the more poetic “wall,” in order to
avoid objectifying the obstructions and to directly point to the psychological
element of the term. It is our own resistance to attending to or reflecting
reality as it is that is indicated. Resistance in English also includes opposition
and in this case it is referring to the internal oppositions created by our
own dualistic thinking. CittAvaraNa points directly to the functionality of
the hindrance and obscuration that results from our mind’s objectifying
process, but that process is not an external obstruction, it is our most intimate
obstruction, the oppositions created by the unexamined polarities of consciousness.
The mind’s attention (citta) is resisted, impeded, obstructed, opposed,
hindered, or obscured (AvaraNa) by its own objectification process. Insight
into (vipassana) and stopping (samatha) the resistances in our own attention/awareness
caused by the objectifying process of mind is the core of Buddhist meditation
and what Buddha meant when he said, “I see you, Oh house-builder! The
rafters are broken, the ridge-beam is shattered.” With awakening, no more
does objectification build the house of suffering and fear in the same way;
thus one dwells without mental resistances.
“Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightened, amen.”
I translate svaha as “amen” because svaha is a sacred way to say
“so be it,” “hail!”, “hail to!”, or “may
a blessing rest on”; all of which are included in the meaning of amen.