Heart Sutra, Readily Understood

Heart Sutra

Readily Understood

by J Robin E Harger

Copyright: J Robin E Harger, 2008

Wattpad Edition

Wattpad Edition, License Notes

This ebook may be given away to other people.

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Contents

Front Piece

Introduction

Avalokitesvara

Divisions of Awareness

Attainment

Short Glossary

Structure of Buddhism

Technical Terms

The Author:

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Introduction

It is often said that the Heart Sutra contains, in its very brief format, a full account of Buddhism. The Sutra, being so brief, can thus be thought of as a kind of manual that has been prepared for the use of “Graduate Students”. As such it is crammed full of technical terms which require expansion if the material is to be clearly understood by the lay-reader of the current age.

The Heart Sutra is a scripture that originates from the core of the Mahayana tradition as founded by The Buddha in his later teachings. As such it is grounded and places a particular emphasis on the inclusive world of sentient beings. It is thus somewhat different from the approach taken by the Hinayana branch which emphasizes individual attainment in the manner which The Buddha first taught after his own (meditative) realization. However, that said, the procedures suggested for fostering attainment, as a practical matter, are common to both approaches.

The third great branch of Buddhism is known as Vajrayana and this viewpoint is again somewhat different from the two preceding categories in its eventual emphasis in practice but again, the fundamental outlook expressed by the three categories of practice rests on the basic insight developed by The Buddha in the first instance.

The Heart sutra represents a lesson in the basic comprehension of being and the world delivered to one of The Buddha’s wisest disciples [Shariputra (Sanscrit) or Sharadwatibu (Tibetian)]. The lesson in insight is presented by The Buddha  of Compassion [called Avalokitesvara (Sanscrit) or Chenrezig (Tibetian)] a transcendent being. This entity or state of pure consciousness has the designation of “Bodhisattva” which means that he is in the final stages of attaining Buddhahood. A Bodhisattva is one who has vowed to help all sentient beings attain Nirvana, that is, Supreme or Ultimate Enlightenment, before he himself achieves it.

The expansion provided in this account is based on the fundamental technical terms associated with attainment that were in current use at the time the "Great Vehicle" was initiated. The Heart Sutra covers the deviation taken by the Buddha as he turns away from individual realization of the basic nature of the profound. In doing so he takes the extra step necessary to obtain the comprehension that transforms individual attainment into a specific as well as a collective responsibility for overall being-in-the-world. In this way the realization of the role played by and through attainment on the part of the individual (as the agent singly responsible for the state of the world) is expanded to include not only all of his own prior representations but expands to encompass all beings still entrapped in Samsara (the seemingly endless cycle of births and deaths). In this realization a deep sense of understanding concerning his own part in the play of the consciousness involved results in a sense of reasonability which immediately flowers into a profound expression of compassion which immediately flows forth directly into the world.