The Heart of the Perfection of Prajñā

A translation from the original Chinese of the 般若波羅蜜多心經 (Sanskrit: Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya)

Note

This translation of the Heart Sutra is based on Dh. Jayarava’s research into the text, and reflects the interpretations that are supported by his work. For more on Jayarava’s work, please see here. My translation given below is a literary translation designed to be used for contemplation and to be suitable for reading aloud as part of Buddhist ritual or liturgy in English. Jayarava’s own translations of the text (of both the Sanskrit version and the Chinese version) are more academic in nature, and are more suitable for those who wish to study the meaning of the text in more depth. Jayarava’s translations are available here.

The Heart of the Perfection of Prajñā

Plunged in the practice of the profound perfection of prajñā, the Bodhisattva Guanyin carefully considered the elements of her experience. When she saw that they weren’t there, she transcended all her troubles and saved herself from suffering.

What she saw in this state where she had surpassed the senses was that the way things appear is not something different from them not being there. The fact that things are not there is not something different from the way they appear. The way things appear is simply them not being there. Things not being there is simply the way they appear.

It’s the same with the other elements of experience – the way things feel pleasant or unpleasant, the perceptions we form of things, the habit-structures of our mind, and consciousness itself.

In this state of not-there, it’s all like this, none of it is there. There’s nothing that comes into existence or ceases to exist, nothing pure or impure, nothing that gets bigger or smaller.

In this state that you get to by not holding on to any sense experiences, nothing appears. There’s no feeling of pleasant or unpleasant, no perceptions of things, no habit-structures, and no consciousness.

There are no sense organs, sense objects, or sense consciousnesses. There are no links of dependent arising – from ignorance all the way to old age and death – and no ceasing of these links either. There are no truths of the Noble Ones, no wisdom, no getting anywhere at all.

In the hearts of the bodhisattvas, there’s nothing that gets in the way of this, and so they’re not afraid of anything. They leave behind all their distorted, dream-like ways of seeing things, and wake up.

All the buddhas, the ones who are really and truly Awake, wake up by basing themselves on this perfection of prajñā. This is why you need to get to grips with the perfection of prajñā. The words of the perfection of prajñā are profound and powerful words. They are great and glorious words. There’s nothing more important than these words. There’s nothing that can compare to these words. These words of truth will still your suffering. So speak the words of the perfection of prajñā: