INTRODUCTION
The Heart Sutra is the shortest sutra in the Mahayana Buddhist collection of
writings known as
Prajnaparamita. There are about forty of these sutras still extant in the
Sanskrit language in approximately
six hundred volumes. The Prajnaparamita Sutra are all intimately related to each
other because of the
similarity of emphasis they put on the realization of awakening through the
blossoming of prajna (supreme,
unequaled wisdom), and how this process is essential to the activities of the
bodhisattva idealism revealed
and explained in Mahayana Buddhism.
The Prajnaparamita texts belong to the genre of Buddhist writings called
Vaipulya, scriptures originally
written down in the Sanskrit language. But over time many of them have been
preserved only in Tibetan or
Chinese translations. These sutras were the first Mahayana scriptures to have
become widely available in
India. The records of their emergence date to around 100 B.C.E., about four
hundred years after the
Buddha’s passing. The Prajnaparamita Sutras are the most extensive and voluminous of
all the Mahayana
Sutras and are somewhat similar in structure to the earlier Pali Suttas in their
method of teaching and in the
treatment of subject matter.
Some of the most reliable scholars of Buddhism posit that unknown Buddhists
groups composed the
Mahayana Sutras directly from records of the teachings of the Buddha. The old
legends tell us that these
texts were wisely hidden away by mysterious beings called nagas until humankind
could achieve a higher
ethics and morality suitable to receive such knowledge in an appropriate
fashion. The Mahayana writings
were then first introduced and confined to India by a monk named Nagarjuna. The
Buddha had previously
said that such a one would be born in the southern part of India about four
hundred years later on, and that
he would bear the name of the dragon. In Sanskrit the word for a “dragon in human form” is naga.
Nagarjuna had given a discourse at the Nalanda Monastery and was there told by
nagas that they had kept
vital sutras safe in their undersea city, and that these would be available for
him to study. And study them
he did – for about fifty years – and then he took them and made them public in India. Later on Nagarjuna
wrote many commentaries on subjects of the Mahayana, the most highly regarded
being his
Mulamadhyamakakarika, or “Root Verses of the Middle Way”, an abstract exposition on the premier
Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. This became a core text of the later Madhyamaka
School that Nagarjuna
founded. Nagarjuna is said to have also discovered other texts . . . .
CHAPTER 4 THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWER
Then, by the power of the Buddha, the Venerable Sariputra said this to the
Bodhisattva, the Mahasattva
Avalokitesvara, “How should those of good lineage train who wish to practice the Profound
Perfection of
Wisdom?”
This is a question, a question of great import. It concerns the way of training,
and then practice, both of
which are based on a development and intensification of understanding of
emptiness.
Then, by the power of the Buddha . . . .
What might this strange power be? This power is an empowerment projected by the
Buddha so that the
teaching may be received and understood by others correctly. Buddhas have
various psychic and other
powers (siddhis) and when they exert them in a certain way those who are nearby
are enabled to sense
and perceive things that are usually beyond the range of normal senses. When the
psychic power is
withdrawn, the extended range of sense or understanding diminishes again, but
there is a residue of
impressions that remain, and the understanding eventually becomes replete and
matures into fullness.
. . .the Venerable Sariputra . . . .
When someone has accomplished a stage of the path, or exhibits other reasons to
be venerated,
respected, or esteemed for noble deeds, that person is sometimes given the title
Venerable. Sariputra was
qualified in many ways to be so regarded.
. . . said this to the Bodhisattva, the Mahasattva Avalokitesvara . . . .
Since both Sariputra and Avalokitesvara were recipients of the Buddha’s extended psychic powers, the
conversation that is about to begin in depth was, perhaps, spoken for those also
nearby who may not have
developed such a high level of openness and receptivity as the two named
protagonists. Also there was a
need to transmute the ideas of this Perfection of Wisdom into words for the
benefit of future travelers of the
Mahayana Path.
“How should those of good lineage train . . . .”
Good lineage is a line of descent of practitioners who have been practicing the
Buddhadharma in the right
way, the skillful way as opposed to unskillful ways, or of other traditions
outside of the Buddhadharma.
Those who adhere to the Way are considered family, and as there are no bad
lineages in Buddhism, this
good lineage includes all monks, bodhisattvas, buddhas and the lay order who
conscientiously regard the
Buddhadharma. All Buddhist lineages are good lineages when they have conducted
themselves rightly, and
in this present time both the Theravada and the Mahayana lineages are good
lineages. All skillful sanghas
(Buddhist communities and organization) are good lineage. Good lineage usually
denotes those who have
taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and strive to keep true
to the precepts.
“. . .train . . . .”
Here is the first mention of training in the Heart Sutra, and the word train is
used in this Sutra once more,
just after the mantra. Train is equivalent with the right way to view things, or
the correct view, as mentioned
in the next sentence of the Sutra where the answer to this present question
begins. In this commentary,
training is equated with thoughtful reflection, the subject of Chapter Eight.
“. . .who wish to practice the Profound Perfection of Wisdom?” . . . . . . .
