Emptiness with a Heart of Compassion
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Dear friends around the world,
I have always been very attracted to Buddhism since young, although my parents forbade me to engage in it fully. I would always look for secret opportunities to do my sadhanas (daily prayers) and would be beaten severely if I were caught in the act. It was a very difficult period for me but if I were given a choice, I would happily and willingly go through all that again.
One of the core tenets of Buddhism is Emptiness. In modern times, the attainment of perfect and complete understanding of Emptiness is made more difficult by ever-present distractions such as the Internet, Facebook and modern conveniences. The culture of materialism, peer pressure, and constant advertising does not help at all either. Thus, in many ways, the concept and understanding of Emptiness has become much more crucial and relevant for the people of today.
In 2007 during a book club session at Kechara House, I gave a short teaching on Emptiness based on the book ‘Dragon Thunder’ by Diana Mukpo.
I also hope you enjoy this article on the Heart Sutra, perhaps the most famous teaching on Emptiness, and do leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Tsem Rinpoche
The Heart Sutra Will Change You Forever
By Karl Brunnholzl on Wednesday December 28th, 2016
Finding Wisdom in the Emptiness
“Penetrate the true meaning of the Heart Sutra, says Karl Brunnhölzl, and nothing will be the same again. The secret is making it personal.
There is no doubt that the Heart Sutra is the most frequently used and recited text in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition, which still flourishes in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, China, parts of India and Nepal, and, more recently, also in the Americas and Europe.
The Heart of Wisdom
Many people have said many different things about what the Heart Sutra is and what it is not, such as being the heart of wisdom, a statement of how things truly are, the key teaching of the Mahayana, a condensation of all the Prajnaparamita Sutras (the Buddha’s second turning of the wheel of dharma), or an explanation of emptiness in a nutshell. In order to understand the actual words of the Heart Sutra, it’s helpful to first explore its background within the Buddhist tradition as well as the meanings of “prajnaparamita” and “emptiness.”
Is the Heart Sutra the Heart of Wisdom?
When we read the Heart Sutra, it sounds nuts, but that is actually where the wisdom part comes in.
One thing we can safely say about the Heart Sutra is that it is completely crazy. If we read it, it does not make any sense. Well, maybe the beginning and end make sense, but everything in the middle sounds like a sophisticated form of nonsense, which can be said to be the basic feature of the Prajnaparamita Sutras in general. If we like the word “no,” we might like the sutra because that is the main word it uses—no this, no that, no everything. We could also say that it is a sutra about wisdom, but it is a sutra about crazy wisdom.
Everything is Taken Away
When we read it, it sounds nuts, but that is actually where the wisdom part comes in. What the Heart Sutra (like all Prajnaparamita Sutras) does is to cut through, deconstruct, and demolish all our usual conceptual frameworks, all our rigid ideas, all our belief systems, all our reference points, including any with regard to our spiritual path.
Demolishing our conceptual frameworks, including any with regard to our spiritual path.
It does so on a very fundamental level, not just in terms of thinking and concepts, but also in terms of our perception, how we see the world, how we hear, how we smell, taste, touch, how we regard and emotionally react to ourselves and others, and so on.
This sutra pulls the rug out from underneath our feet and does not leave anything intact that we can think of, nor even a lot of things that we cannot think of. This is called “crazy wisdom.” I guess I should give you a warning here that this sutra is hazardous to your samsaric sanity. What Sangharakshita says about the Diamond Sutra equally applies to all Prajnaparamita Sutras, including the Heart Sutra:
“…if we insist that the requirements of the logical mind be satisfied, we are missing the point. What the Diamond Sutra is actually delivering is not a systematic treatise, but a series of sledgehammer blows, attacking from this side and that, to try and break through our fundamental delusion. It is not going to make things easy for the logical mind by putting things in a logical form. This sutra is going to be confusing, irritating, annoying, and unsatisfying—and perhaps we cannot ask for it to be otherwise. If it were all set forth neatly and clearly, leaving no loose ends, we might be in danger of thinking we had grasped the Perfection of Wisdom.
—Sangharakshita, Wisdom Beyond Words
A young Sangharakshita
A Manual for Contemplation
Another way to look at the Heart Sutra is that it represents a very condensed contemplation manual. It is not just something to be read or recited, but the intention is to contemplate its meaning in as detailed a way as possible. Since it is the Heart Sutra, it conveys the heart essence of what is called prajnaparamita, the “perfection of wisdom or insight.” In itself, it does not fuss around, or give us all the details.
It is more like a brief memo for contemplating all the elements of our psychophysical existence from the point of view of what we are now, what we become as we progress on the Buddhist path, and what we attain (or do not attain) at the end of that path. If we want to read all the details, we have to go to the longer Prajnaparamita Sutras, which make up about twenty-one thousand pages in the Tibetan Buddhist canon—twenty-one thousand pages of “no.” The longest sutra alone, in one hundred thousand lines, consists of twelve large books.
The Prajnaparamita Sutras
The Heart Sutra is on the lower end, so to speak, and the shortest sutra consists of just one letter, which is my personal favorite. It starts with the usual introduction, “Once the Buddha was dwelling in Rajagriha at Vulture Flock Mountain” and so on, and then he said, “A.” It ends with all the gods and so on rejoicing, and that’s it. It is said that there are people who actually realize the meaning of the Prajnaparamita Sutras through just hearing or reading “A.”
A Big Koan
Besides being a meditation manual, we could also say that the Heart Sutra is like a big koan. But it is not just one koan, it is like those Russian dolls: there is one big doll on the outside and then there is a smaller one inside that first one, and there are many more smaller ones in each following one. Likewise, all the “nos” in the big koan of the sutra are little koans. Every little phrase with a “no” is a different koan in terms of what the “no” relates to, such as “no eye,” “no ear,” and so on.
The Heart Sutra is like a big koan
It is an invitation to contemplate what that means. “No eye,” “no ear” sounds very simple and very straightforward, but if we go into the details, it is not that straightforward at all. In other words, all those different “no” phrases give us different angles or facets of the main theme of the sutra, which is emptiness. Emptiness means that things do not exist as they seem, but are like illusions and like dreams.
They do not have a nature or a findable core of their own. Each one of those phrases makes us look at that very same message. The message or the looking are not really different, but we look at it in relation to different things. What does it mean that the eye is empty? What does it mean that visible form is empty? What does it mean that even wisdom, buddhahood, and nirvana are empty?
What does it mean that the eye is empty?
Forget Everything
From an ordinary Buddhist point of view, we could even say that the Heart Sutra is not only crazy, but it is iconoclastic or even heretical. Many people have complained about the Prajnaparamita Sutras because they also trash all the hallmarks of Buddhism itself, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Buddhist path, and nirvana. These sutras not only say that our ordinary thoughts, emotions, and perceptions are invalid and that they do not really exist as they seem to, but that the same goes for all the concepts and frameworks of philosophical schools—non- Buddhist schools, Buddhist schools, and even the Mahayana, the tradition to which the Prajnaparamita Sutras belong.
Is there any other spiritual tradition that says, “Everything that we teach, just forget about it”? It is somewhat similar to the boss of Microsoft recently having publicly recommended that PC users should not buy Windows Vista any more, but instead go straight from Windows XP to Windows 7. Basically, he was advertising against his own product. The Heart Sutra is similar to that, except that it tells us only what not to buy, but not what to buy instead.
Is there any other spiritual tradition that says, “Everything that we teach, just forget about it”?
No, No, No
In brief, if we have never seen the Heart Sutra and we read it, it sounds crazy because it just keeps saying “no, no, no.” If we are trained in Buddhism, it also sounds crazy (maybe even more so) because it negates everything that we have learned and try to cultivate.
How does our mind feel when we are not grasping at anything, when we are not trying to entertain ourselves, and when our mind is not going outside (or not going anywhere at all), when there is no place left to go?
The Heart Sutra and the other Prajnaparamita Sutras talk about a lot of things, but their most fundamental theme is the basic groundlessness of our experience. They say that no matter what we do, no matter what we say, and no matter what we feel, we need not believe any of it. There is nothing whatsoever to hold on to, and even that is not sure. So these sutras pull the rug out from under us all the time and take away all our favorite toys.
In time we see everything is an illusion
Finding New Mental Toys
Usually when someone takes away one of our mental toys we just find new toys. That is one of the reasons why many of the Prajnaparamita Sutras are so long—they list all the toys we can think of and even more, but our mind still keeps grasping at new ones. The basic point is to get to a place where we actually stop searching for and grasping at the next toy.
“Then we need to see how that state of mind feels. How does our mind feel when we are not grasping at anything, when we are not trying to entertain ourselves, and when our mind is not going outside (or not going anywhere at all), when there is no place left to go?
Usually we think that if a given phenomenon is not something, it must be nothing, and if it is not nothing, it must be something. But emptiness is just a word for pointing out the fact that no matter what we say or think about something, it does not really correctly characterize that something because our dualistic mind just gets stuck in one extreme or the other. Thus, we could say that emptiness is like thinking outside of the box, that is, the box of black-and-white thinking or dualistic thinking.
Dualistic thinking
As long as we stay within the ballpark of dualistic thinking, there is always existence, nonexistence, permanence, extinction, good, and bad. Within that frame of reference, we will never get beyond it, no matter if we are religious, a scientist, a Buddhist, an agnostic, or whatever. Emptiness tells us that we have to step out of that ballpark altogether. Emptiness points to the most radical transformation of our entire outlook with regard to ourselves and the world. Emptiness not only means the end of the world as we know it, but that this world never really existed in the first place.
Without developing a soft heart and compassion, which like water softens our mental rigidity, there is a danger that the teachings on emptiness can make our hearts even harder.
Emptiness tells us that we have to step out of that ballpark altogether.
The Epitome of Compassion
Why is it called the “Heart Sutra”? It has that name because it teaches the heart of the Mahayana, primarily in terms of the view. However, the basic motivation of the Mahayana is also implicitly contained in this sutra in the form of Avalokiteshvara, the great bodhisattva who is the embodiment of the loving-kindness and compassion of all buddhas. It is actually the only Prajnaparamita Sutra in which Avalokiteshvara appears at all, and in it he is even the main speaker. Thus, the Heart Sutra teaches emptiness through the epitome of compassion.
It is often said that, in a sense, emptiness is the heart of the Mahayana, but the heart of emptiness is compassion. The scriptures even use the phrase “emptiness with a heart of compassion.” It is crucial to never forget that. The main reason for Avalokitesvara’s presence here is to symbolize the aspect of compassion and to emphasize that we should not miss out on it. If we just read all the “nos” and then get hooked on the “no path” of “no self” and “no attainment,” it gets a little dreary or depressing and we may wonder, “Why are we doing this?” or “Why are we not doing this?” In fact, the heart essence of the Prajnaparamita teachings and the Mahayana is the union of emptiness and compassion.
The epitome of compassion
Reading with a Soft Heart
If we look at the larger Prajnaparamita Sutras, we see that they teach both aspects extensively. In addition to teaching about emptiness, they also speak about the path in great detail, such as how to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion, how to do certain meditations, and how to progress through the paths. They do not always say “no,” but also sometimes present things in a more positive light. Even the Heart Sutra, toward the end, comes up with a few phrases without “no.”
Without developing a soft heart and compassion, which like water softens our mental rigidity, there is a danger that the teachings on emptiness can make our hearts even harder. If we think we understand emptiness, but our compassion does not increase, or even lessens, we are on the wrong track. Therefore, for those of us who are Buddhists, it is good and necessary to give rise to compassion and bodhichitta before we study, recite, and contemplate this sutra. All others may connect with any spot of compassion that they can find in their hearts.
Finding a soft heart before we read the sutras
Let Go and Relax
In yet another way, we could say that the Heart Sutra is an invitation to just let go and relax. We can replace all the words in this sutra that go with “no,” such as “no eye,” “no ear,” with all our problems, such as “no depression,” “no fear,” “no unemployment,” “no war,” and so on. That might sound simplistic, but if we do that and actually make it into a contemplation on what all those things such as depression, fear, war, and economic crisis actually are, it can become very powerful, maybe even more powerful than the original words in the sutra.
Usually we are not that interested in, for example, our ears and whether they really exist or not, so with regard to contemplating what emptiness means, one of the basic principles of the Prajnaparamita Sutras is to make the examination as personal as possible. It is not about reciting some stereotypical formula or the Heart Sutra without ever getting to the core of our own clinging to real existence with regard to those phenomena to which we obviously do cling, or our own egoclinging.
The Heart Sutra inspires personal examination
For example, the Heart Sutra does not say “no self,” “no home,” “no partner,” “no job,” “no money,” which are the things we usually care about. Therefore, in order to make it more relevant to our life, we have to fill those in. The Heart Sutra gives us a basic template of how to contemplate emptiness, but the larger Prajnaparamita Sutras fill in a lot of stuff, not only saying “no eye,” “no ear,” and so on. They go through endless lists of all kinds of phenomena, so we are welcome to come up with our own personal lists of phenomena that map out our personal universe and then apply the approach of the Heart Sutra to those lists.
The Heart Attack Sutra
There are accounts in several of the larger Prajnaparamita Sutras about people being present in the audience who had already attained certain advanced levels of spiritual development or insight that liberated them from samsaric existence and suffering. These people, who are called “arhats” in Buddhism, were listening to the Buddha speaking about emptiness and then had different reactions. Some thought, “This is crazy, let’s go” and left. Others stayed, but some of them had heart attacks, vomited blood, and died.
The Buddha’s teaching went straight to the heart
It seems they didn’t leave in time. These arhats were so shocked by what they were hearing that they died on the spot. That’s why somebody suggested to me that we could call the Heart Sutra the Heart Attack Sutra. Another meaning of that could be that this sutra goes right for the heart of the matter, while mercilessly attacking all ego trips that prevent us from waking up to our true heart. In any case, so far nobody has had a heart attack here, which is good news. But the bad news is that probably nobody understood it either.
From “The Heart Attack Sutra, by Karl Brunnhölzl, published by Snow Lion, 2012.
Feature Image: Unknown Artist.
Source: http://upliftconnect.com/heart-sutra-will-change-you/
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The Heart Sutra teaches emptiness through the epitome of compassion. It is often said that, the heart of emptiness is compassion. It’s an attribute by which we sees the suffering of another and experiences true empathy for them. This empathy, in turn, leads the person to reach out and share in the person’s suffering. By helping them to endure whatever they are going through regardless of race and religion. Our prime purpose in this life is to help and benefit others. Well if we can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. Treat others as we would like others to treat us. Always wish upon others and showing kindness to those who are feeling sad or upset to help them feel better. Lend a shoulder to them to lean on. Emptiness can be explored through meditation and contemplation. By observing the impermanence and interdependence of all things, we can gradually come to understand the true nature of reality. We have to understand the actual words of the Heart Sutra and its meaning within the Buddhist tradition as well as the meanings of emptiness. Will revisit this blog to read, learn more .
Thank you Rinpoche for this profound teachings.
The Heart Sutra is the most widely known sutra of the Mahayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. We may try changing who we are in an attempt to fit in and even if we achieve a new feeling of belonging, the emptiness remains. Emptiness is an important door to liberation in life. The Heart Sutra is a very condensed contemplation manual. Will read it over and again to understand better . I still have a long way to go trying to absorb what ever I could. We have to develop a soft heart and compassion, firstly before we read the sutras. At the heart of emptiness is compassion….quoted.
Thank you Rinpoche for this great teachings.
A very short piece of article about the Heart Sutra.
I feel this is a teaching that challenges our unenlightened dualistic thinking, hence we are not challenging views that are one or two days old thoughts that have been with since the beginning of time. Hence like the article says it is a Heart Attack Sutra, it shakes and challenges all the concepts we have held dearly for countless existences. So that could be a very disconcerting experience.
What I got from this article is that studying wisdom teachings like emptiness, should not make us to be intellectual only and be devoid of compassion for others. It should not harden our hearts and mind, in fact it should make us even have compassion for others who are in the same predicament like us who are still swimming in samsara, in a sea of dualism.
This is good, I feel the article helps you to see, the no’s in the Heart Sutra are indicating that reality is not what you think it is, and but is does not focus on saying what is. From the Lamrim, we do learn that all things, phenomena and us arises from causes and conditions, nothing arises independently like a self arising thing.
“Emptiness” has been the central teaching of Buddhism but not many religious masters are able to explain the true meaning. In the past, I always have this question in my mind, why “emptiness” make our hearts even harder on one hand but the other, we need to be kind and compassion to others in all the buddhism teaching. Thank you very much for this article, at least I know now that we need to have Wisdom and Compassion to attain/achieve emptiness. I may not have the merit and wisdom to understand emptiness for now, but this article give me a new view. Thank you very much Rinpoche _/\_
Heart sutra is one of the profound teaching in Buddhism. Is good for us understand it content and practice. The essence of the heart sutra is describe how phenomenon existence we proceed are not real existence of their own and we are label on it.Eventually lead to Emptiness. Realising emptiness will lead us enter enlighten path and free us from samsara. Recite heart sutra daily will help us cleaning our unstable mind, depression to see the truth nature of samsara which cause us suffering.
It is not easy for me to understand the heart sutra at least in this life about emptiness just like what it says in the article, people like “arhats” in Buddhism, who were listening to the Buddha speaking about emptiness, left, stayed, but some of them had heart attacks, vomited blood, and died. We need to believe that whatever we see, we know and we touch is not real, all wrong, it doesn’t exist actually, it is something else. For now we need to keep our mind open in order to accept the new concepts that we think it’s crazy of the existence. One day i may wake up and realise what is behind all these “no” after achieving the true compassion, when we have “No I” anymore. When I achieved “No I”, that also means everything is “gone”. Our sufferings, happiness, greed, jealousy, ego etc etc are gone, disappeared, my mind filled with a totally new wisdom, just like I have left the world or samsara and gone into some where else outside the 6 realms. For now i can only imagine with my open mind. To understand emptiness is a long journey of training and mind transformation process lead by an attained Guru.
The Heart Sutra is beautiful to recite but is very difficult to understand as it leads us to enightenment. At the heart of emptiness is compassion. It is said in the article that if we as Buddhist want to study the heart sutra, we should give rise to our compassion and bodhicitta. before we study and contemplate this sutra.
Our thinking does change when we apply the Heart Sutra as Rinpoche explained in the video, Based on the book, Chögyam Trungpa applied “crazy wisdom”, and did what is usually not accepted but the results and the control he had of himself in all situations showed that he is a bodhisattva.
It mentioned at the last part, “These arhats were so shocked by what they were hearing that they died on the spot.”
Even to the Arhats who has achieved their level of realization and yet, they still could not take it for the meaning of Heart Sutra, more over to human like us. How can we understand fully the meaning of Heart Sutra and emptiness?
In this world, nothing exist by itself, everything we see, it is because we need it, so we created it and give it a name. e.g. Table, it is not necessary to be square or round, it can be any shape or size or even different name, form is empty, empty is form, whatever we created 500 years ago may not be the same anymore or does not exist anymore. Nothing stays permanent.
Although “emptiness”“ is a central teaching of Buddhism, but its true meaning is often misunderstood. People often think that “emptiness” is empty, and sometimes it is empty that there is nothing, such as empty cups, there is no tea。Sometime this misunderstanding will lead to negative stage that people think everything is empty so do not need to work hard or do anything.
These misunderstandings are understandable, because it is very difficult to understand, to express or describe it. To me, only person with true wisdom can see the true meaning of emptiness. But this doesn’t mean we do not need to learn anymore, we still need to learn and practice Dharma to gain merits and to increase our wisdom to understand emptiness.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article with us. As a newbie to dharma it has enlightened me and opened my mind to so many things that I was oblivious to in the past. What we see is not necessary what it perceives to be. We may possess material wealth but in actual fact we are empty inside if we do not find our inner peace. I have never recited the Heart Sutra and do not know how but I will definitely do so from now onwards. So blessed to be connected with you.
With folded palms,
Esther
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article and the video. Heart Sutra is a very beautiful sutra, but it is very “technical”. It requires many practices in order to realize emptiness. We recite Heart Sutra every Wednesday before Menlha Puja, it seems I understand the surface, but don’t understand the meaning behind it. After watching Rinpoche’s video, I want to find the book “Crazy Wisdom”. It sounds interesting to read after Rinpoche’s explanation. May we have the wisdom and compassion enough to realize emptiness one day 🙂 Thank you Rinpoche _/\_
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article about Emptiness. This is not an easy topic to grasp. It takes time and a lot of contemplation to have realisations on the true meaning of Emptiness. Some people can accept that everything that exists is empty in existence and some people cannot accept that fact. For me, I have been reciting the Heart Sutra many times and I find that every time I read it I will try to understand what it meant. I can understand the overall Heart Sutra but in a deeper understanding, it can only be done through meditating on Emptiness.
With folded palms,
Vivian
To understand the meaning of Emptiness is one thing. To realise it is another. If I could realise it by now I guess I would have attainments. It is so profound and mind boggling just to read of it and to try to understand it. This is one of the most sought after ingredients that meditational practitioners and great spiritual masters seek. Even just to fully comprehend what ‘dharma work’ is would make our head explode. This was said to about 60 of us when we had the great merit to receive a teaching from the current incarnation of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche some ten years ago in Nepal.
Exactly!
“To understand the meaning of Emptiness is one thing. To realise it is another”. Personally, I would like to add on, to apply and practice is another subject. Some of us who have been rolling in Dharma may able to understand the superficial meaning of Emptiness, for me, it indicates that there no reason for us to grab on our various “attachments” in life due to nothing is permanent and they are all a “Big NO”.
We might able to relate, but are we even at the stage of practicing it? At least, to cut down some attachments within ourselves that have been make us rot more further in the world of samsara.
Enlightenment is extremely difficult, dharma is complicated, but they are not impossible. If they are impossible, there will bàe no Buddhas and all of us should stop from learning Dharma and go back to our old rotting road to the endless samsara.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this very interesting article and it is not easy to find these articles. It triggers us to think more and deeper into phenomena of nature of samsara. My grasp in this whole article is “in the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter anymore as all are impermanent and basically whatever we are grasping/holding onto will be gone in one day, we ourselves will also die and won’t be able to hold onto it anymore. We might as well grasp on activities that helps us with our spiritual practice and rebirth better. _/|\_ justin
Emptiness?
A single word crossover my mind for many years, what is that all about? Why things that existed in samsara lead to Emptiness?
At my level of understanding ( Emptiness ) are : Things happened in samsara are impermanent, we hold things in wrong projections, in wrong perceptions. ( That’s my thought of Emptiness )
Emptiness definitely extraordinary profound teaching to be realised. In my opinion this is because there is no worldly knowledge, science or philosophy that can lead to the attainment of this state. It’s beyond the worldly understanding.
As I read from my limitation of understanding of the Heart Sutra, it doesn’t mean that nothing exist but it mean that things do not exist the way as we projected or in our own projection. We suffered because of our grasping mind that we thought everything are fixed, real and capable possessed by ego. Nothing is permanent but there are interrelated with compassion, kindness and love.
I like listening to Heart Sutra mantra. I received advice that Heart Sutra have the healing power for heart problems but in fact, I think should be mind transformation as well.
I experienced purification (I guess) at certain times while listening to this mantra together with my meditation. After reading this article, oh my…emptiness. I think I received some imprint from this mantra(LOL). Anyway, Heart Sutra really safe and heal me spiritually and mentally.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article and it encourages me so much to continue my practice on meditation together with this beautiful mantra.
This post is indeed an interesting one! How to know No!
Just reading the post was easy but to even grasp nor understand is something entirely different. At the moment, I don’t think my wisdom can comprehend something so deep and realise. I guess thats why it is called “crazy wisdom.”
“Therefore, for those of us who are Buddhists, it is good and necessary to give rise to compassion and bodhichitta before we study, recite, and contemplate this sutra.”
At least we know the most important is to always practice loving kindness and positive thinking. To be mindful of our surroundings so that it becomes a ‘habit’ for the long run.
The last part of the post “In any case, so far nobody has had a heart attack here, which is good news. But the bad news is that probably nobody understood it either.” The ‘bad news’ is so true. Emptiness is such a ‘complicated’ teaching that it has become rarer for people to die of heart attacks while understanding it.
The following points of this profound teaching impress me deeply:
1) Heart Sutra, the heart of wisdom, is a statement of how things truly are – an explanation of emptiness in a nutshell.
2)The Heart Sutra cuts through, deconstructs, demolishes all our usual conceptual frameworks, all our rigid ideas, all our belief systems, all our reference points, including any with regard to our spiritual path.
3)It doesn’t follow a logical mind’s thinking pattern.
4)No this and No that give us different angles or facets of the main theme of the sutra, which is emptiness. Emptiness means that things do not exist as they seem, but are like illusions and like dreams. They do not have a nature or a findable core of their own.
5)If we are trained in Buddhism, it negates everything that we have learned and try to cultivate.
6)The most fundamental theme is the basic groundlessness of our experience. There is nothing to hold on to.
7)Yet even as it is given new parameters, the mind still wants to hold on to them.
8)Usually we think that if a given phenomenon is not something, it must be nothing, and if it is not nothing, it must be something. This is how our dualistic mind works – getting stuck in one extreme or another.
8)Usually we think that if a given phenomenon is not something, it must be nothing, and if it is not nothing, it must be something. This is how our dualistic mind works – getting stuck in one extreme or another.
9)Thinking ouf of the box- We could say that emptiness is like thinking outside of the box, that is, the box of black-and-white thinking or dualistic thinking.
10)If we stay with our dualistic mind and thinking, there is always existence, nonexistence, permanence, extinction, good, and bad. Within that frame of reference, we will never get beyond it, no matter if we are religious, a scientist, a Buddhist, an agnostic, or whatever.
11)Emptiness tells us we have to step out of this plane of dualistic thinking altogether. Our entire outlook with regard to ourselves and the world has to be radically transformed. Without developing a soft heart and compassion, there is a danger that the teachings of emptiness can make our hearts even harder.
12)The heart of emptiness is compassion. It is necessary to give rise to compassion and bodhichitta before we study, recite, and contemplate this sutra.
13) But we must get at the core of our own clinging to real existence with regard to those phenomena to which we obviously do cling – home, money, relationships, name, for instance, and then apply the approach of Heart Sutra to those lists.
Thank you Rinpoche for posting this very fascinating article and video. Emptiness seems like an impossible concept to grasp, but reading this, it starts one thinking about how one can achieve the realisation of Emptiness. I am grateful to Karl Brunnhölzl, for emphasising the importance of cultivating compassion and Bodhicitta first before we embark on this journey of trying to realise emptiness, otherwise we may fall off the path. But on a superficial level for now, at least it gives us something to think about how our suffering arises and to be aware of some of the “no’s” in our life.
Ocean pollution, is the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural waste and chemical particles into the ocean. Since oceans provide home to animals and plants, it is responsibility of every citizen to play his or her part in making these oceans clean so that all tge species can thrive for long period of time. We as Human is really destroying the earth, we have to see what we are using for our household all the waste will go to ocean eventually.. if we want our earth to be cleane we must stop using plastic products and anything toxic chemicals .. thank you Rinpoche for a awareness article, hope people will understand the importance of it before too late
Emptiness for me at this point revolves mainly on the subject of perception by the mind. It is somewhat a tough realisation that I cannot rely on my perceptions, as they are often tainted and filled up with a lot of “I” in them. The “I”s have been filling up since time immemorial and certainly hard to accept that they are the very essence of my sufferings.
In contemplating Emptiness I have to realise nothing has an inherent existence. Because I place emphasis on the “I”, i will feel it is real. Ultimately I suffer because I grasp after things thinking they are fixed, substantial, real and capable of being possessed by ego. All the anger, attachments that I have has no inherent existence if I learn to apply the teachings of Emptiness. If I allow the anger or attachment to flow through as a series of events and not react to it, the anger or attachment is empty of anything to identify with. This is the practice that the mind needs to do constantly with every phenomena that flows through our lives.
To master the emptiness mode of perception requires firm training in virtue, concentration, and discernment. Without this training, the mind stays in the mode that keeps creating stories and worldviews. The element of Compassion is another very crucial ingredient to have in order to master Emptiness. Without which we will fall into the trap Nothingness and hence create more harm then benefit to others.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the video teaching and the write up by Karl Bruunholzi. May we be able to create the causes for Rinpoche to extend the teaching of Emptiness to help us rid our delusions and ego in order for us to be suitable vessels to bring benefit to many sentient beings . With folded hands .
The Heart Sutra is recited every time we do our weekly Menhla pujas. As the writer rightly pointed out, so far none of us has had a heart attack like the Arhats had during Buddha’s time. But that was not because any of us already realised the Heart Sutra (in essence, emptiness). More likely, nobody understood it. That’s the state of our realisation as compared to the students of Buddha’s time.
Our dualistic thoughts are wired to perceive either right or wrong, yes or no, good or bad, you or I. It is hard to process that it could be neither or both and anything in between.
The danger of this partial or lack of understanding is that one might equate emptiness with nothingness. Since nothing exists, you don’t exist so I can kill you after all you are thin air. The other extreme is that all phenomena exists and are solid and we grasp at it. However phenomena do exist, but only due to causes and conditions. Take away the causes and conditions, phenomena do not exist i.e. they are interdependent, from what I interpret from the Lamrim.
Before emptiness can be realised, the mental veils need to be removed first through development of mental quiescence and wisdom. But without the bodhicitta component, it stops there and one cannot achieve enlightenment.
We are so fortunate to have been introduced by our Guru H.E. Tsem Rinpoche to Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching which is in essence incorporation of Nagarjuna’s Middle Way (not either extreme), and Dorje Shugden arose to protect these teachings. May these teachings be preserved for all time and may all sentient beings have the opportune conditions to encounter them.
In Heart Sutra, we are striving to realise the profound meaning on emptiness. There are many ‘Nos’ in the sutra whereby urging us trying to examine each things or phenomenon in details. There’s “nothing in everything” and all is based on our perceptions and yet there’s something, that arise from our contaminated perceptions. Due to this faulty perceptions, we learn to see the truth in it and that’s the beauty of it, if I may say so. Everything that we perceived is non inherently existing. Even the object “a chair” can be made up from different materials and parts to be called as chair.
But then there’s a dangerous part in this. Why? ‘There’s no right or wrong’, even this cache might be dangerous if we acted as if nothing matters. It’s like saying that no matter what we do, no matter what we say, and no matter how we feel, we need not believe any of it and this might resulting inaction and excuses not to care. This explained why compassion is very necessary at this point. This is also the very reason why those self-Liberation seekers must traverse the path of Bodhisattva in order to be fully liberated. May I soon realise the teaching on “Emptiness”.
Thank you Rinpoche for this article. Now only I realised why Buddha Avalokisthesvara was being requested for this teaching. _/\_
Just as the heart is the central organ in the human body, it is said that, therefore, the Heart Sutra is the central in the body of the Buddha’s Teachings. As taught by the enlightened one, this Sutra is the essence of all the vast wisdom teachings of the Buddha. Wisdom, or seeing reality, is always the ultimate protection for everyone. The one who really can see reality knows no attachment and no aversion, that there is nothing to lose and nothing to gain; therefore, there can be no fear of anything! As read in one book written by some great Indian masters, it is said, for one short moment, the brillance of the Buddha’s profound wisdom may flash lightning-like through one’s mind, a short inspiration which leaves one with a sense of profound security and trust in the Buddha’s message! May we pray that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, through the power of their blessings, let us have the favourable conditions to contemplate and understand the profound meaning and wisdom of this precious Heart Sutra. Om Mani Padme Hung.
I can see the dangers of trying to comprehend the wisdom of emptiness or Shunyata without having compassion at heart. One could easily fall into the “no need” mode.
For example, upon seeing an animal in pain, instead of having compassion and empathy for the animal and helping it in the best way we can, if we can, we could fall into the trap of resigning to believe that there is nothing we can do to help it, or that its suffering would be just temporary before it dies and becomes nothing. This is of course a wrong view of “no”. Without compassion, this could easily happen.
When this happens, we would be solidifying our wrong views and not create the causes for our liberation. We would be walking a dangerous path away from realizing the wisdom of emptiness and getting trapped in a stronger and stronger spin cycle of rebirth and suffering.
Thank you Rinpoche for the commentary. _/:\__/:\__/:\_