The Heart Sutra

[fletcher]

This video has been around for a while, but I think it's worth posting for those who haven't seen it yet.
Pop Heart Sutra - Hatsune Miku「English Sub」 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivYC5lNFv_g#ws)

[Rael]

The video is entertaining and gives one an introduction to a very important sutra all Japanese Buddhist except followers of the Pure Land and Nichiren sects,generally recite the Heart Wisdom Sutra. This short sutra expresses in its simplest form the basic Buddhist concept 'All is void.'

[Hippiedad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26pJkYhHGek

I'm interested in becoming a student of the Heart Sutra. Are there any sites, books, media that you could recommend?

[Keith A]

Hello Hipppiedad,

The Heart Sutra, along with the Diamond Sutra are the main text for Zen students, so most Zen - oriented sites will have some info on it. I highly recommend Red Pine's translation of the Heart Sutra. It is a small but really excellent book. Red Pine is not just a scholar but also a practitioner who has really walked the walk.

Good luck and thanks for practicing,
Keith

[Aloka]

Welcome Hippiedad, here's a translation of the Heart Sutra

http://www.unfetteredmind.org/translations/heart.php

There's also a book "Essence of the Heart Sutra" by HH Dalai Lama

Kind regards,

Aloka-D

[Lazy Eye]

Hi Hippiedad,

Adding to the suggestions above, I'd recommend The Heart of Understanding (http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Understanding-Commentaries-Prajnaparamita-Sutra/dp/1888375922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311645618&sr=8-1) by Thich Nhat Hanh.

As a starting point, it's probably good to familiarize yourself with the Mahayana understanding of sunyata (emptiness), since this basically the point of the sutra. Some background on the Madhyamaka (the Mahayana school which developed this teaching) could be helpful too. It's a beautiful sutra but without some knowledge of the context, its intent may not be clear.

[Keith A]

I forgot had a link to this. (http://www.openbuddha.com/2011/07/04/the-heart-sutra-commentary-by-zen-master-seung-sahn/) It is a commentary on the Heart Sutra by ZM Seung Sahn. Here is the beginning:


The Heart Sutra has only two hundred seventy Chinese characters, yet it contains all of Mahayana Buddhism’s teaching. Inside this sutra is the essence of the Diamond Sutra, the Avatamsaka-sutra, and the Lotus Sutra. It contains the meaning of all the eighty-four thousand sutras. It is chanted in every Mahayana and Zen temple in the world. In Korean temples and in our Zen centers in the West, the Heart Sutra is chanted at least twice every day, in the morning and at night, and during retreats it is chanted more. Sometimes if you find that your mind is not clear, and meditation does not help so much, you must read this sutra. Then your mind will become clear.

Maha means big, great. Prajna means wisdom, and paramita means “going beyond,” or perfecting. Hridya means heart. And the Chinese characters for Heart
Sutra are shim gyong, or “mind road.” So this sutra is the “great path for the perfection of wisdom.”