THE BHAGAVATI HEART OF THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM SUTRA
Thus did I hear. At one time the Bhagavan was abiding at Vulture Peak in Rajagrha with a great assembly of monks and a great assembly of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Bhagavan entered into a samadhi on the categories of phenomena called “perception of the profound.” Also at that time, the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara beheld the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and saw that those five aggregates also are empty of intrinsic existence.
Then by the power of the Buddha, the venerable Sariputra said this to the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara, “How should a son of good lineage who wishes to practice the profound perfection of wisdom train?” He said that and the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara said this to the venerable Sariputra, “Sariputra, a son of good lineage or a daughter of good lineage who wishes to practice the profound perfection of wisdom should perceive things in this way:
form is empty; emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, conditioning factors, and consciousnesses are empty. Therefore, Sariputra, all phenomena are empty, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not stainless, undiminished, unfilled.
Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no conditioning factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch, no phenomenon, no eye constituent up to and including no mental consciousness constituent, no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, no aging and death up to and including no extinction of aging and death. In the same way, no suffering, origin, cessation, path, no wisdom, no attainment, no non-attainment. Therefore, Sariputra, because bodhisattvas have no attainment, they rely on and abide in the perfection of wisdom; because their minds are without obstruction, they have no fear. They pass completely beyond error and go to the fulfillment of nirvana. All the buddhas who abide in the three times have fully awakened into unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment in dependence on the perfection of wisdom. Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom is the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that completely pacifies all suffering. Because it is not false, it should be known to be true. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is stated thus:
TADYATHA OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA
Sariputra, a bodhisattva mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom in that way.” Then the Bhagavan rose from samadhi and said, “Well done,” to the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara. “Well done, well done, child of good lineage, it is like that. It is like that; the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom is just as you have taught it. Even the tathagatas admire it.”
The Bhagavan having so spoken, the venerable Sariputra, the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara, and all those surrounding, and the entire world, the gods, humans, demigods, and gandharvas, admired and praised the speech of the Bhagavan.