The Heart Sutra

by Red Pine

  Chen-k’o says, “The Five Skandhas are the Twelve Abodes of Sensation, and the Twelve Abodes of Sensation are the Eighteen Elements of Perception. The Buddha realized everyone’s capacities are different and adapted his teachings accordingly. For those deluded about the mind but not form, he taught the Five Skandhas. For those deluded about form but not the mind, he taught the Twelve Abodes of Sensation. And for those deluded about both mind and form, he taught the Eighteen Elements of Perception. Essentially, the skandhas, the abodes, and the elements do not go beyond form and mind.”

  Hui-ching says, “If our self is in the eyes, then it cannot be in the ears. And if there is a self present in each element, then a person would be a combination of eighteen selves. And if none of the elements has a self, then there would not be a self in their combination. And because there is none, we know the self is not a real entity.

  “Someone might ask, ‘The eye depends on the dust [domain] of shape, and the ear depends on the dust of sound, and so on, and the mind depends on the dust of thought. The first five roots and five kinds of dust can all be perceived. What about the dust of thought on which the mind depends? What is it like? The five senses [powers] are paired with the five kinds of dust of sensation and together give rise to five kinds of consciousness. Although the five roots can see and hear and feel, they cannot discriminate. They have to rely on the simultaneous discrimination of the conceptual consciousness. It is just such distinctions that make up the dust of thought.’”

  Chih-shen says, “If the Six Roots exist, then the Six Kinds of Dust on which they depend must be real. But if we find that the Six Roots are empty, then the Six Kinds of Dust on which they depend cannot be real. Thus it says ‘no shape, no sound, no smell, no taste, no feeling and no thought.’ For Hinayana followers, when causes come together, dharmas arise, and when causes separate, dharmas cease. Followers of the Mahayana look at this differently. When causes come together, dharmas do not arise, and when causes separate, dharmas do not cease. Thus, it says, ‘no element of perception, from eye to conceptual consciousness.’”

  17. NO CAUSAL LINK, FROM IGNORANCE TO OLD AGE AND DEATH: na avidya na avidya kshayo

  Having analyzed our experience in terms of skandhas, abodes, and elements, we now consider it as a sequence of causal connections. Of course, in the light of prajna, these causal connections dissolve, as do the skandhas, the abodes, and the elements. Still, this sequence, known as the Twelve Links (dvadashanga) of Dependent Origination (pratitya-samutpada), remains one of the most powerful teachings of the Buddha and is worth studying in detail.

  In Sanskrit, this line reads “no ignorance and no end of ignorance,” and the next line reads “up to no old age and death and no end of old age and death.” To avoid the awkwardness of the second line, I have amended both lines and at the same time returned to the traditional presentation of this sequence as it occurs in the sutras of the Samyukt Agama and elsewhere, where the Buddha deals first with the links in the Chain of Dependent Origination and then with putting an end to them. Here, only ignorance (avidya) and old age and death (jara-marana) are mentioned and the intervening links omitted for the sake of brevity. To clarify the subject matter, I have also added the phrase “causal link,” which does not occur in the Sanskrit.

  As to the origin of this formula, in the Samyukt Agama the Buddha says that this is simply the Dharma and neither his creation nor the creation of anyone else. On the night of his Enlightenment, Shakyamuni asked himself what is the source of suffering and answered that it is old age and death. He then asked what is the origin of old age and death and answered that it is birth (jati), and the origin of birth is existence (bhava), and the origin of existence is attachment (upadana), and the origin of attachment is thirst (trishna), and the origin of thirst is sensation (vedana), and the origin of sensation is contact (sparsha), and the origin of contact is the abodes (ayatana), and the origin of the abodes is name and form (nama-rupa), and the origin of name and form is consciousness (vijnana), and the origin of consciousness is memory (sanskara), and the origin of memory is ignorance.

  According to the Buddha, ignorance means to mistake the true for the false and the false for the true. Thus, ignorance includes not only the absence of knowledge but also the presence of delusion. In his standard explanation of these terms in the Samyukt Agama, the Buddha said ignorance consists in being ignorant of cause and effect and ignorant of the way things are; memory consists in our habitual patterns of speech, action, and thought; consciousness consists in the six forms of sensory consciousness; name consists in the four formless skandhas and form in the skandha of form; the abodes consist in the six senses; contact consists in the six kinds of sensory contact; sensation consists in what is pleasurable, painful, and neutral; thirst consists in thirst for the Realm of Desire, thirst for the Realm of Form, and thirst for the Formless Realm; attachment consists in attachment to desires, attachment to views, attachment to rules, and attachment to a self; existence consists in existence in the Realm of Desire, existence in the Realm of Form, and existence in the Formless Realm; birth consists in obtaining a body; and old age and death consist in losing a body (cf. Samyukt Agama: 298).

  Later Buddhist commentators, such as Buddhaghosha, interpreted the first two links of ignorance and memory as representing causes from a past existence, the last two links of birth and old age and death as representing effects for a future existence, and the intervening eight links as representing effects experienced in the present (consciousness through sensation) or causes produced in the present (desire, attachment, and existence). While such a formulation is useful in clarifying the relationship among these links, in the hands of some commentators it has reintroduced the concept of a “soul” through the back door of rebirth. Hence, readers will want to consider such a conception in the light of its usefulness in their own practice before employing it.

  The essential point is to realize that this sequence goes round and round, forward and backward, and accounts for any particular experience we might focus on without recourse to a self. Thus, it plants the seed of our liberation. We know that whatever link we might identify with at any moment has been produced by the previous link and will in turn give rise to the succeeding link without help from a self of any kind. If we can break but one link in this chain, it comes to an end. But if the links of this chain do not include a self, then it is already broken. Thus, how can there be suffering, if there is no one who suffers? By meditating upon this, we can liberate ourselves from our selves and put an end to this chain of causation once and for all, which is what the Buddha did. This is also what Avalokiteshvara now does, as he shines the light of Prajnaparamita on these links and finds that they do not exist in the first place. Thus, there is no need to put an end to what does not exist.

  Hui-chung says, “Deluded people cling to the existence of the Five Skandhas and the Eighteen Elements and obstruct their own nature and don’t see its light. This is what is meant by ‘ignorance. ’ Once they discover the nature of their own mind, the roots and dust of sensation turn out to be empty at heart, and conceptual consciousness ceases to function. How could there be any obstruction? Therefore it says ‘no ignorance.’”

  Buddhadasa says, “Being here now is Dependent Origination of the middle way of ultimate truth. . . . In the Suttas, it is said that the highest right view, the supramundane right view, is the view that is neither eternalism nor annihilationism, which can be had by the power of understanding Dependent Origination. Dependent Origination is in the middle between the ideas of having a self and the total lack of self. It has its own principle: ‘Because there is this, there is that; because this is not, that is not’” (Paticcasamuppada: Practical Dependent Origination, pp. 7-9).

  18. AND NO END OF CAUSAL LINK, FROM IGNORANCE TO OLD AGE AND DEATH: yavan na jaramaranan na jaramarana kshayo

  Having told Shariputra that in the light of Prajnaparamita the links of this chain do not exist, Avalokiteshvara now tells him that in the same light, th
eir non-existence also does not exist. There cannot be an end of causation, if there is no causation in the first place.

  As with the previous line, I have amended my translation to agree with the traditional presentation of the Chain of Dependent Origination, which goes as follows: After reflecting on the truth of Dependent Origination, Shakyamuni realized that suffering would cease if old age and death would cease, and old age and death would cease if birth would cease, and birth would cease if existence would cease, and existence would cease if attachment would cease, and attachment would cease if thirst would cease, and thirst would cease if sensation would cease, and sensation would cease if contact would cease, and contact would cease if the abodes would cease, and the abodes would cease if name and form would cease, and name and form would cease if consciousness would cease, and consciousness would cease if memory would cease, and memory would cease if ignorance would cease. And realizing that in this chain of endless transient events there is no self, Shakyamuni broke its links forever and realized Enlightenment.

  In one of the sutras that make up the Samyukt Agama, Rahula asks his father for instruction. Knowing his son was not yet ready for the highest teaching, Shakyamuni taught him to meditate on the Five Skandhas. Afterward, Rahula returned and asked again for instruction. Knowing he was still not ready, the Buddha taught him to meditate on the Elements of Perception. Afterward, Rahula returned and asked again. Knowing he was still not ready, the Buddha taught him to meditate on the Chain of Dependent Origination. But this time he told him also to meditate on the meaning of the skandhas, the elements, and dependent origination. Retiring to a quiet place, Rahula did as he was instructed and realized that they all led to nirvana. When he returned and reported this to his father, the Buddha knew he was ready and taught him the doctrine of universal impermanence: The eyes, shape, visual consciousness, and visual contact are all impermanent. Retiring to meditate on this, Rahula realized the nature of all dharmas and attained the liberation of an arhan (Samyukt Agama: 200)

  Hui-chung says, “If the dust and domains of sensation exist, they can end. But because they don’t really exist, what is there that ends? ‘End’ means ‘death.’ If the twelve links of causation arise, then life and death can end. But because causation does not arise, there is no end of life and death.”

  Fa-tsang says, “Because its nature is empty, we say there is no ignorance. But because of true emptiness, there is nothing that can end.”

  Deva says, “The deluded mind grasps appearances and clings to them without let up. This is called ‘ignorance.’ To understand its source is to bring it to an end. Although there is the end and the not yet ended and the change of appearance from grasping to letting go, in the ultimate body of reality there is no change. Thus it says ‘there is no ignorance nor is there an end of ignorance. ’”

  Ming-k’uang says, “According to the principles of the Four Teachings, there are four kinds of Dependent Origination. Dependent Origination involving birth and death is the Hinayana Teaching for shravakas of inferior capacity. Dependent Origination involving no birth or death is the Common Teaching for pratyeka buddhas of medium capacity. Dependent Origination involving the infinite is the Special Teaching for bodhisattvas of superior capacity. And Dependent Origination involving the unconditioned is the Complete Teaching for bodhisattvas of the highest capacity.”

  Hui-ching says, “Because bodhisattvas possess great wisdom in which the mind and the world both vanish, they do not share the common view of truth and thus harbor no ignorance. And because they possess great compassion by means of which they teach other beings, they do not enter nirvana and thus do not put an end to ignorance.”

  19. NO SUFFERING, NO SOURCE, NO RELIEF, NO PATH: na duhkha samudaya nirodha marga

  As he nears the end of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma, Avalokiteshvara comes to the Four Truths. Just as the previous line summarizes the basis of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, this line repeats the subject of his first sermon. His audience on that occasion included the five ascetics: Ashvajit, Vashpa, Mahanaman, Bhadrika, and Kaundinya. All of these men were related to Shakyamuni. Kaundinya, for example, was his maternal uncle, and Ashvajit was his cousin. All five had been ordered by King Suddhodana to accompany his headstrong son on his spiritual quest. But six years later, when Shakyamuni decided not to continue his austerities but to seek a middle path between austerity and indulgence, they left him in disgust at the shore of the Nairanjana River below the caves they had shared at Pragbodhi. While the five ascetics proceeded to Varanasi, Shakyamuni waded across the river to Bodh Gaya, sat down beneath an ashvattha tree (Ficus religiosa, the Indian fig), and resolved not to rise again until he could put an end to suffering, which he did over the next several days to the benefit of all beings. Not long after his Enlightenment, the Buddha caught up with his former companions just outside Varanasi at a place called Deer Park and proclaimed to them the Four Truths.

  As with the previous analytical categories, the Four Truths address the same basic issue: the nature of our experience. The Five Skandhas explained it in terms of aspects or bodies, the Twelve Abodes explained it in terms of locations, the Eighteen Elements of Perception explained it in terms of components, and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination explained it in terms of causal connections. It was this last insight that formed the basis of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Hence, it was only natural that he made this the subject of his first sermon. But instead of explaining the entire sequence of Dependent Origination, the Buddha taught his former colleagues a briefer version, and one that included a course of practice as well.

  The Buddha began at the same point where he began when he discovered the Chain of Dependent Origination; he began with suffering. But instead of tracing suffering through a chain of causal connections, from old age and death back to ignorance, he focused on one cause in particular, that of thirst (trishna), thirst for the existence or non-existence of some object or state to which we become attached. Because all objects and states are subject to change, our thirst and its consequent attachment result in suffering. Thus, the Buddha’s First Truth was the truth of suffering (duhkha), and the Second Truth was the origination (samudaya) of suffering. After announcing these two truths, the Buddha then proclaimed the Third Truth, which was the cessation (nirodha) of suffering. If thirst results in attachment and attachment results in suffering, then putting an end to thirst and attachment must result in an end of suffering. The Fourth Truth was the path (marga) that led to the end of suffering.

  In ancient India, doctors used the same formulation in their profession: the determination of disease, the determination of its source, the determination of relief, and the application of a remedy. While this is roughly the same as Shakyamuni’s Four Truths, the Buddha applied this perspective to a much broader range of experience, to dis-ease, and not simply disease. Thus, Shakyamuni was called the Great Physician.

  Many Buddhist masters have said that the Buddha’s teaching consists in nothing more than this: suffering and the cessation of suffering. The Buddha often said as much himself. In the Testament Sutra, the Buddha says, “The moon can turn hot, and the sun can turn cold, but the Four Truths are not subject to change.”

  Whether we consider our experience in psychological or physical terms, whether as nama or as rupa, whether as skandhas, abodes of sensation, elements of perception, or a chain of causation, every experience of which we are aware is transient and fraught with suffering. And every experience is fraught with suffering because we do not see things as they really are, as no things. All we see are what we love and hate and have deceived ourselves into believing exists or does not exist. In response to this, the Buddha asks us to see things as they really are. He does not ask us to cling to optimistic views of eternity or pessimistic views of annihilation but simply to examine our experience. This is the First Truth. It should be noted that “truth” here is a translation of satya, which also means “reality.” This is the first statement concerning the way things are. Because we
are attached to what is impermanent, every experience is doomed to result in suffering. Since attachments are the result of desire, which is the Second Truth, if we can put an end to desire, we can put an end to attachments and thus suffering. This is the Third Truth. Buddhist cultivation, therefore, focuses on our desire for things that do not exist, but which we think exist. The cultivation that leads to seeing things as they really are and thus puts an end to suffering is summarized by the Fourth Truth, which is usually defined as the Eightfold Path: Right Views, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. As we cultivate this path and turn our thoughts, words, and deeds from what is wrong (mithya) to what is right (samyak), this becomes the Eightfold Noble (arya) Path, and the Four Truths become the Four Noble Truths. By “right” is meant the Middle Way between extremes.

  The Heart Sutra has been interpreted by some as a summary of the Four Truths as understood in the light of Prajnaparamita. Of course, any Buddhist text can be understood in one way or another as being about the Four Truths. But this interpretation goes further and claims that the Heart Sutra is structured around the Four Truths. Support for this interpretation can be found in Edward Conze’s “The Prajna-paramita-hridaya Sutra” in Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies (pp. 157-165), where he cites relevant portions of the Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-five Thousand Lines and the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines. This interpretation goes back to Haribhadra (c. 800) and before him to Maitreya (c. 350). But it is both artificial and unnecessary. Just because we can put a bird in a cage does not mean it belongs in a cage.