The Heart Sutra

by Red Pine

  The Buddha’s sermon on the Four Truths has been called the First Turning of the Wheel, and the teaching of Prajnaparamita has been called the Second Turning of the Wheel. In the traditional formula of the First Truth, suffering is equated with the Five Skandhas, with which it is necessarily co-extensive. But since the Five Skandhas are empty of self-existence, suffering must also be empty of self-existence. But if suffering is empty of self-existence, then there is no self that suffers. Thus, in emptiness there is no suffering, no source of suffering, no relief from suffering, and no path leading to relief from suffering. This is the basis of Avalokiteshvara’s interpretation of the Four Truths.

  Hui-ching says, “After the Bhagavan attained Enlightenment, he turned the twelve-spoked Wheel of the Dharma [so-called because of the twelve links in the Chain of Dependent Origination] three times for the five mendicants at Deer Park. With the first turn he explained appearances: ‘Monks, this is suffering, this is its source, this is its relief, and this is the path.’ With the second turn he explained cultivation: ‘Monks, this is suffering, which you should know. This is its source, which you should cut off. This is its relief, which you should realize. And this is the path, which you should practice.’ And with the third turn he explained realization: ‘Monks, this is suffering, which I now know. This is its source, which I have cut off. This is its relief, which I have realized. And this is the path, which I have practiced.’ The Buddha taught the Four Truths to give his followers a place to rest. Now we hear that there is no suffering, source, relief, or path. Suffering does not arise, so how can it exist? Its source produces nothing, so how can it be cut off? Its relief relieves nothing, so what is there to realize? And the path has no form, so how can it be practiced? If there is someone who can practice, then there must be a path to practice. But there is no person and no path, for both individuals and dharmas are empty. To see this is to realize the truth of suchness. Once you shine the light of prajna, individuals and dharmas are both empty. But if the person does not exist, where can there be suffering? Thus, the first truth is not real, and the same is true of the other three.”

  Ching-chueh says, “Suffering and its source are fundamentally empty. Like tortoise fur, they do not exist. Relief and the path aren’t real. Like rabbit horns, they, too, do not exist. These Four Truths are basically empty. In emptiness there are no truths. This emptiness undoes the deluded views of shravakas concerning the truths of origination and annihilation.”

  Deva says, “For those sunk in worldly desires, there exists the agony of the source of suffering. For those aloof from the world, there exists the path of relief from suffering. Bodhisattvas are between these two. They don’t see any source of suffering to relinquish. And they don’t see any path of relief to seek. Their thoughts of grasping and letting go cease, and they forget about suffering and happiness.”

  Hui-chung says, “This elucidates the Four Truths. When the mind seeks something, it becomes attached, and this is the ‘truth.’ Diligently cultivating realization without pause is the truth of suffering. Poring over scriptures in search of subtle doctrines is the truth of the source. Putting an end to delusions and trying to reach nirvana is the truth of relief. Transcending passion and confusion and pondering the doctrines of the Buddha is the truth of the path. But now, let us consider the Four Noble Truths as medicine for the foregoing illnesses. The mind is already pure and numinous and doesn’t require cultivation or realization. This is the truth of suffering. Our nature contains all dharmas. What is there to seek? This is the truth of the source. Delusions don’t arise, because we are already in nirvana. This is the truth of relief. Nirvana is neither this nor that, and there is no mistaking right and wrong. This is the truth of the path. This is the physician’s explanation. If you understand there is no mind, how can there be Four Truths? Therefore it says, ‘no suffering, no source, no relief, no path.’”

  Te-ch’ing says, “Not only are there no skandhas, there are no powers of sensation. Not only are there no powers of sensation, there are no domains of sensation. Not only are there no domains of sensation, there are no varieties of consciousness. These powers and domains of sensation and varieties of consciousness, these are the dharmas of ordinary people. The true emptiness of prajna is free of these. Thus it says, ‘no’ to all of them. But not only do the dharmas of ordinary people not exist in emptiness, neither do the dharmas of sages. The Four Truths are the dharmas of shravakas. The Twelve Links of the Chain of Dependent Origination are the dharmas of pratyekas, with their operation comprising the truths of suffering and the source of suffering and their cessation comprising the truths of relief and the path. But the essence of prajna contains none of these. Not only do the dharmas of shravakas and pratyekas not exist, neither do the dharmas of bodhisattvas.”

  20. NO KNOWLEDGE, NO ATTAINMENT AND NO NON-ATTAINMENT: na jnanan na praptir na-apraptih

  If, as Avalokiteshvara tells Shariputra, dharmas are not fraught with suffering, then the origin of suffering does not exist, and the cessation of suffering is not possible, and there is no path leading to the cessation of suffering. If this is true, it would have left the Sarvastivadins without any truths worth knowing. But for the Sarvastivadins, the acquisition of knowledge was the sine qua non of spiritual practice. In my introduction, I mentioned that one of their earliest and most important texts was Katyayaniputra’s Abhidharma Jnanaprasthana (The Source of Knowledge through the Study of Dharmas). The Sarvastivadins constructed their entire edifice of practice around a knowledge of the Four Truths and considered them the highest expression of truth. However, they also realized that the traditional formulation of the Four Truths, whereby desire was seen as the origin of suffering, was only valid in the Realm of Desire and that knowledge based on these truths was not complete.

  In passing beyond the Realm of Desire and advancing through the Realms of Form and Formlessness, they realized a different kind of knowledge was needed. Although beings in these higher realms were still subject to suffering, their suffering was not caused by desire. Thus, a second formulation of the Four Truths was made whereby the origin of suffering was said to be delusion or ignorance rather than desire. Thus, the Sarvastivadins sought eight kinds of knowledge: the Four Truths as they apply to the Realm of Desire and the Four Truths as they apply to the Realms of Form and Formlessness.

  In addition, the Sarvastivadins added a ninth and a tenth kind of knowledge for those who successfully cultivated the first eight. These included the knowledge of no more views and the knowledge of no further rebirth. These last two kinds of knowledge were synonymous with nirvana and represented the final goal of the arhan, the hero of the shravaka path. But all ten kinds of knowledge dissolve in the light of the Prajnaparamita, for if there is no suffering, there can be no liberation from suffering. Thus, there is no knowledge of the Four Truths. And if there is no knowledge, there cannot be any attainment ( prapti ) or non-attainment (aprapti).

  According to the Sarvastivadins, however we might characterize our experience, at any given moment it includes one of these two dharmas of attainment or non-attainment. Sometimes we try to possess something, and sometimes we try not to possess something. For example, when we express our greed, the dharma of attainment is present. And when we express our renunciation of greed, the dharma of non-attainment is present. But even though non-attainment is conducive to higher states of realization, it is still seen as a dharma that also needs to be “nonattained.” The Sarvastivadin explanation of how this comes about is not at all clear and seems a little like trying to free oneself from flypaper. But the important point here is that the Sarvastivadins relied on these twin dharmas of attainment and non-attainment to explain how dharmas could exist in the three periods of time, and thus how time could exist. Once we have attained or non-attained something, such attainment or non-attainment exists both as a seed in the past and as a fruit in the future. Thus, attainment and non-attainment are what make the present, the past, and the future entities of the mind possible. Without
attainment or non-attainment there cannot be any dharmas.

  Having saved these for last, Avalokiteshvara does not flinch but denies them both. Neither attainment nor non-attainment exists in emptiness. Not only do knowledge and the truths on which knowledge is based disappear, our attainment or non-attainment of any such knowledge or state of mind also disappears. And because they disappear, so does time. The past, the present, the future—all are fictions, sometimes useful sometimes not, but still fictions. And thus the entire matrix of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma collapses. This concludes Avalokiteshvara’s reinterpretation of this matrix in the light of the Prajnaparamita.

  It should be noted that some Sanskrit texts omit na-apraptih (no non-attainment). This omission is reflected in some Chinese translations as well. However, to the extent that this section of the sutra is seen as a rebuttal of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma, its omission leaves their conception of time intact. And it was their conception of time that distinguished the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma from those of all other sects. In the absence of no non-attainment, attainment becomes little more than an adjunct of knowledge. However, with both attainment and non-attainment denied, Avalokiteshvara prepares us for the bodhisattva, who relies on what is beyond knowledge, beyond attainment, and beyond non-attainment, namely, the Prajnaparamita.

  Conze says, “By adding ‘no knowledge,’ somebody may have wanted to make clear that in the dialectical logic of the Prajnaparamita a double negation does not make an affirmation. The misconception might arise that ‘the extinction of ignorance’ might be equivalent to a positive entity, named knowledge. The addition of ‘no knowledge’ would guard against that misconception” (Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies, pp. 155-156).

  Yin-shun says, “There is no truth outside of knowledge, and there is no knowledge outside of truth.”

  Deva says, “What can see is knowledge. What is seen is attainment. Because suffering and happiness are forgotten, the mind that knows does not arise. This is called attaining what is not attained. This is complete attainment. It is not the same as mundane attainment. To counter the idea that bodhisattvas attain anything, it says ‘no knowledge and no attainment.’”

  Fa-tsang says, “Not only are none of the previous dharmas found in emptiness, the one who knows the knowledge of emptiness cannot be found either. Thus it says, ‘no knowledge.’ At the same time, neither can this knowledge of emptiness that one knows be found. Thus it says, ‘no attainment.’”

  Hui-chung says, “Examining dharmas and understanding there is nothing to find is what we call knowledge. But since dharmas are already empty, what need is there to examine them? Thus, it says there is ‘no knowledge.’ And because our own nature is pure and numinous and actually devoid of any dharma that can be grasped, it also says there is ‘no attainment.’”

  Chen-k’o says, “Once the Five Skandhas are seen as empty, the light of the mind shines alone. When all the clouds are gone, the full moon fills the sky. Thus, birth and destruction, purity and defilement, completeness and deficiency are all snowflakes on a red-hot stove. Once you realize true emptiness, how could the Five Skandhas alone be empty? The Twelve Abodes of Sensation, the Eighteen Elements of Perception, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and the Four Noble Truths are all tortoise fur and rabbit horns. Ice doesn’t melt by itself. It disappears when the sun comes out. Dharmas such as the Five Skandhas and Eighteen Elements of Perception and Twelve Links of Dependent Origination are like ice, and the illumination of prajna is like the sun. Once ice changes form, is it any different from a ‘straw dog’? [cf. Lao-tzu’s Taoteching: 5, where straw dogs, like Christmas trees, occupy a place of honor, but after the ceremony is over, they are thrown out with the trash]. Thus, it says ‘no knowledge and no attainment.’”

  Ching-mai says, “The foregoing has been for breaking through the attachments that arise from maintaining the reality of the skandhas and other categories, which emptiness was used to get rid of. Now, lest people think of emptiness as a state they finally attain, this too is eliminated. For emptiness is not a state that can be attained. It is like the hail that destroys crops. After the crops are flattened, the hail melts. If this was not the case, if people gave up existence only to grasp non-existence, it would be like trying to get off a mountain peak by jumping into a gorge. Disaster would be unavoidable.”

  Part Three

  The Bodhisattva Path

  21. THEREFORE, SHARIPUTRA, WITHOUT ATTAINMENT: tasmac shariputra apraptitvad

  IN CONTRAST to the previous nine lines, which outline the shravaka path of early Buddhism only to reenvision it according to the Prajnaparamita, this and the following four lines summarize the career of the bodhisattva. Conze has suggested that these lines deal exclusively with the final stages of the bodhisattva path, which is more or less true, though they do begin at the beginning before they jump to the end. Descriptions of the bodhisattva path vary with the text, but among the landmarks near the end are the realization of the birthless nature of all dharmas, the absence of fear, and the decision not to enter nirvana.

  Thus, while the shravaka path ends with no rebirth, the bodhisattva path ends with no birth, with the realization that nothing comes into existence in the first place. And because nothing arises, nothing ceases. And because nothing ceases, nothing is impermanent. And because nothing is impermanent, suffering cannot occur. And because suffering cannot occur, all beings are freed from suffering. And because all beings are freed from suffering, bodhisattvas fulfill their vow to liberate all beings. And because bodhisattvas fulfill their vow to liberate all beings, they themselves are liberated from liberating all beings. In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha presents the bodhisattva’s vow in this manner: “In whatever conceivable realm of being one might conceive of beings, in the realm of complete nirvana I shall liberate them all. And though I thus liberate countless beings, not a single being is liberated” (3). Thus, the liberation of all beings revolves around the liberation of the bodhisattva from the concept of being. Only when bodhisattvas find no beings to liberate are they ready to complete the bodhisattva’s path to buddhahood. But even at the end of the path, the problems of knowledge and attainment (as well as non-attainment) arise, just as they do on the shravaka path.

  In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha asks Subhuti, “What do you think? Did the Tathagata realize any such dharma as unexcelled, perfect enlightenment?” Subhuti answers, “No, Bhagavan.” And the Buddha concludes, “So it is. The slightest dharma is neither obtained nor found therein” (22). Not only are no beings liberated, no buddhahood is attained. Lao-tzu expresses a similar sentiment in his Taoteching: “Those who seek learning gain every day / those who seek the Way lose every day” (48).

  22. BODHISATTVAS TAKE REFUGE IN PRAJNAPARAMITA: bodhisattvo prajnaparamitam ashritya

  As noted earlier, the Heart Sutra is organized according to the sequence of categories in the Sarvastivadins’ Samyukt Agama. This sutra now comes to that book’s final category: the paragons of attainment. Or is it non-attainment? For bodhisattvas it is neither, for they have finally reached the point where neither attainment nor non-attainment has any meaning. Having transcended attainment (and non-attainment), they are now ready to begin the final stages of the bodhisattva path.

  Bodhisattvas can be male or female, celibate or married. As long as they work toward enlightenment (bodhi) for themselves and liberation (nirvana) for others, they follow the bodhisattva path and are worthy of being called bodhisattvas. On the one hand, bodhisattvas include lay Buddhists whose practices are usually centered on acts of piety and devotion, and on the other, they include monks and nuns whose practices of austerity and meditation are beyond the reach of most mortals. While this would seem to represent a more egalitarian view of spiritual practice, it also represents a more demanding one (cf. Jan Nattier’s translation and exposition of the Ugra Paripriccha Sutra in A Few Good Men). But however demanding such a path might be for some, the only qualification to walk it is the twofold vow to attain enlightenment and
to liberate all beings. Of course, no one would or could make such a vow if they did not practice the Prajnaparamita. For without the Prajnaparamita, the vow is simply too overwhelming to attempt, much less fulfill. But once it is seen in the light of the Prajnaparamita, this vow is open to all, regardless of their capability or preferred form of practice. This is because the limiting categories of time and space disappear. Though it takes countless aeons to liberate all beings, the bodhisattva asks, “What aeons? What beings? What liberation?” Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva at the end of the bodhisattva path, someone for whom time and space have disappeared. But he begins his summary of the path at the beginning, with taking refuge, which is the first step. Normally, Buddhists take refuge in the Three Treasures: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, the teacher, the teaching, and the community of those taught. This is all that is urged of anyone who travels the Buddhist path. Taking refuge in the Buddha, we learn to transform anger into compassion; taking refuge in the Dharma, we learn to transform delusion into wisdom; and taking refuge in the Sangha, we learn to transform desire into generosity. Because anger and desire arise from delusion, the most important of the Three Treasures is the Dharma and thus the cultivation of wisdom. Buddhas come and go, as do communities of fellow practitioners. But the Dharma is not subject to the limitations of space, time, or conception. Thus, bodhisattvas begin by taking refuge in Prajnaparamita, the wisdom that is the mother of all buddhas, and which is another name for the dharma-kaya, the embodiment of the Dharma.