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The Heart Sutra recited by Marina Lighthouse

Posted on December 11, 2010January 6, 2011 by Ānandajoti

This is a beautiful recitation of a translation of the Heart Sūtra by Marina Lighthouse, along with some atmospheric black and white photographs from Borobudur and elsewhere.

The following is from the Wikipedia article on The Heart Sūtra:

Heart-SutraThe Heart Sūtra, it is generally thought, is likely to have been composed in the 1st century CE in Kushan Empire territory, by a Sarvastivadin or ex-Sarvastivadin monk. The earliest record of a copy of the sūtra is a 200-250CE Chinese version attributed to the Yuezhi monk Zhi Qian.

Zhi Qian’s version, if it ever existed, was lost before the time of Xuan-zang, who produced his own version in 649CE, which closely matches the one attributed to Kumārajīva. Xuan-zang’s version is the first record of the title “Heart Sūtra” (心經 xīnjīng) being used for the text.

The sūtra describes the experience of liberation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara, as a result of insight gained while engaged in deep meditation to awaken the faculty of prajñā (wisdom). The insight refers to the fundamental emptiness of all phenomena, the five aggregates of human existence (skandhas): form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), volitions (saṁskārā), perceptions (saṁjñā), and consciousness (vijñāna).


if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page

I have been unable to find out who made the following translation, which is used in the video:

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajñā Pāramitā
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming all suffering and distress.
form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form;
form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;
sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness are also like this.
all things are marked by emptiness – not born, not destroyed
not stained, not pure, without gain, without loss
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness;
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
no colors, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;
no realm of sight to no realm of thought;
no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,
to no old age and death, and also no ending of old age and death;
no suffering, also no source of suffering, no annihilation, no path;
no wisdom also no attainment.
Having nothing to attain bodhisattvas live Prajñā Pāramitā,
with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance thus no fear,
far beyond delusive thinking, they attain the plane Nirvāna.

All Buddhas past, present and future live Prajñā Pāramitā,
and thus attain perfect Awakened Enlightenment.
Therefore know that Prajñā Pāramitā is the great mantra, the wisdom mantra,
the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,
which completely removes all suffering.
This is truth not deception.
Therefore set forth the Prajñā Pāramitā mantra.
Set forth this mantra and say:

Gate Gate Paragate Parasaṁgate
Bodhi Svāhā!


The Sanskrit words mean something like…

Gone,
gone,
gone over,
gone fully over.
Awakened!
So be it!

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