Heart Sutra Teaching

prajna paramitaThe Heart Sutra is chanted around the world by many Buddhist practitioners, and is the heart essence of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings.

Prajna means supreme wisdom, our true nature. Paramita means beyond or the other shore beyond extremes. Hyrdaya means heart of distilled teachings meaning essence of view, supreme wisdom recognizing the great emptiness.

As such it reveals the dream like nature of appearances arising from mind and points the way to the transformation of suffering experienced through believing that an ‘I’ independently exists thus creating an understanding of emotions and thoughts as a cloak covering the seed of awakened mind and inseparable from wisdom.

 

We dream ourselves
​into existence
through the layering of concepts
giving rise to karma

 

We dream ourselves into existence through the layering of concepts giving rise to karma, an understanding experienced through Cherokee and Mayan culture that our thoughts are interdependent and that all beings are relatives in the dance of life. In a sense the notion of a Holographic universe echoes teachings of the Prajna Paramita Sutra through exploration of projections arising from space and not separate from space. Karma is the result of choices we make while ignorant of causes arising from beliefs projected like a dream of moon light upon a lake.

Thought words and deed become our character, action and volition, a process including both good and bad energy experienced as skandas (Five constituents of sentient beings matter or body, sensations or feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness) that are ultimately empty. We create joy or misery according to the generation of thoughts and deeds.

 

All beings wish to avoid suffering
and such suffering arises
through not recognizing
the interdependent
dance of relationships.

 

The Heart Sutra clearly reveals multi dimensions of consciousness as projections arising from feelings, emotions, perceptions, and consciousness and belief in self as separate and suffering generated by protection of identity. All beings wish to avoid suffering and such suffering arises through not recognizing the interdependent dance of relationships.
When first reading the Heart Sutra I recalled sitting with my elders and observing that they appeared in many dimensions, past, present and future and each was like myriad appearances within one luminous field.

The Prajna Paramita Sutra makes clear the dreamer and the dream are one.

Yours in the Dharma,
Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo