Calligraphy: Heart Sutra

Chinese text of the Heart Sūtra
by Yuan Dynasty artist and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322 CE).

ma-ka-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-shin-gyou
The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra

kan-ji-zai-bo-satsu-gyou-jin-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-ji
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva while practicing deep Prajna Paramita

shou-ken-go-on-kai-kuu-do-is-sai-ku-yaku
Perceived all five skandhas were empty and was saved from suffering and distress

sha-ri-shi-shiki-fu-i-kuu
Shariputra, form is no different from emptiness

kuu-fu-i-shiki
Emptiness is no different from form

shiki-soku-ze-kuu
That which is form is emptiness

kuu-soku-ze-shiki
That which is emptiness is form

juu-sou-gyou-shiki-yaku-bu-nyo-ze
Feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness, the same is true of these

sha-ri-shi-ze-sho-hou-kuu-sou
Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness

fu-shou-fu-metsu
(They) do not appear or disappear

fu-ku-fu-jou
are not tainted or pure

fu-zou-fu-gen
do not increase or decrease

ze-ko-kuu-chuu-mu-shiki
Therefore in emptiness no form,

mu-juu-sou-gyou-shiki
no feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness

mu-gen-ni-bi-zes-shin-i
no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind

mu-shiki-shou-kou-mi-soku-hou
no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of mind

mu-gen-kai-nai-shi-mu-i-shiki-kai
no realm of eyes and so forth until no realm of mind consciousness

mu-mu-myou-yaku-mu-mu-myou-jin
no ignorance and also no extinction of ignorance

nai-shi-mu-rou-shi-yaku-mu-rou-shi-jin
and so forth until no old age and death and no extinction of old age and death

mu-ku-shuu-metsu-dou
no suffering, origination, stopping, path

mu-chi-yaku-mu-toku
no cognition also no attainment

i-mu-sho-tok-ko
with nothing to attain

bo-dai-sat-ta-e-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-ko
the Bodhisattva depends upon Prajna Paramita

shin-mu-ke-ge
and (his) mind is no hindrance

mu-ke-ge-ko-mu-u-ku-fu
without any hindrance no fear exists

on-ri-is-sai-ten-dou-mu-sou
far apart from every inverted view

ku-kyou-ne-han
(he) dwells in Nirvana

san-ze-shou-butsu
All Buddhas in the Three Worlds

e-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-ko
depend on Prajna Paramita

toku-a-noku-ta-ra-san-myaku-san-bo-dai
and attain complete unsurpassed enlightenment

ko-chi-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta
Therefore know the Prajna Paramita

ze-dai-jin-shu
is the great transcendent mantra

ze-dai-myou-shu
is the great bright mantra

ze-mu-jou-shu
is the utmost mantra

ze-mu-tou-dou-shu
is the supreme mantra

nou-jo-is-sai-ku-shin-jitsu-fu-ko
which is able to relieve all suffering and is true, not false

ko-setsu-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-shu
so proclaim the Prajna Paramita mantra

soku-setsu-shu-watsu
proclaim the mantra that says

gya-te-gya-te-ha-ra-gya-te
gone,gone, gone beyond

ha-ra-sou-gya-te-bo-ji-so-wa-ka
gone all the way beyond, Bodhi Svaha!

han-nya-shin-gyou
heart sutra

above Heart Sutra Mantra  thanks to Brad Warner, author of Hardcore Zen

"The English translation I've used is based upon the ones by Kobun Chino and Gudo Nishijima with a bit of my own re-interpretation thrown in. I tried to follow the Chinese grammar in the English translation so that it would be easier to match the Chinese directly to the English. Since word order in Chinese and English is fairly close, this doesn't create too many problems, though there are a couple awkward spots.

I claim no ownership or copyright of any kind on this material. So feel free to use it in any way you please without asking permission from me. Copy it. Distribute it. Re-write it as a pornographic limerick if you want."

Heart Sutra wiki page

an excerpt from the above wiki page:
"The current Dalai Lama explains the mantra in Discourse On The Heart Sutra both as an instruction for practice and as a device for measuring one's own level of spiritual attainment, and translates it as "go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment"."

from Discourse On The Heart Sutra:
"If you gain some experience out of deeper understanding and familiarisation of the concept of emptiness, concept of inter-dependency, certainly our view, our attitude is widened. As a result in daily life when we come across some problems, because our attitude is widened we always look at the holistic picture. So as a result disturbances in our emotional level will be much less. Otherwise our mind is too much, sort of narrow, and then a small factor can disturb your mind…All the afflicted emotions essentially can be seperated from mind. All the afflictive emotions come from ignorance. The ignorance which wrongly perceived, wrongly grasped the reality - that is the main ignorance...Every sentient being has the potential to be a Buddha…every mind, every sentient being, the ultimate nature of mind is pure."