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Heart Sutra (cho ver.)(2020 mix.) × Ikkyu-ji Temple,Kyoto,Japan - Japanese Zen Music

 

 

Heart Sutra: Therapeutic Commentary ~ Dharmavidya

Hanya Shin Gyo: The Heart Sutra

in old Japanese with English translation

Kanjizai Bosatsu
gyo jin hanya haramita
ji sho ken go un kai ku
do issai ku yaku

Quan Shi Yin Bodhisattva
practises deeply "prajna paramita",
sees the five skandhas completely empty
goes across all affliction.

Sharishi
shiki fu i ku
ku fu i shiki
shiki soku ze ku
ku soku ze shiki
ju so gyo shiki
yaku bu nyo ze

Oh Shariputra,  
Rupa [and] shunyata [are] not separate,
shunyata [is] not apart from rupa.
Rupa is shunyata,
shunyata is rupa.
vedana, samjna, samskara, vijnana:
are also just the same.
Sharishi    
ze sho ho ku so
fu sho fu metsu
fu ku fu jo
fu zo fu gen

Shariputra,
this empty character in all dharmas
is not born and does not die,
is not defiled and is not purified,
is not gained and is not lost.


Ze ko ku chu
mu shiki mu ju so gyo shiki
mu gen ni bi zets shin ni
mu shiki sho ko mi soku ho
mu gen kai nai shi mu i shiki kai

Therefore, in the middle of emptiness,
no rupa, no vedana, samjna, samskara, vijnana:
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind senses
no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, or mind objects
no eye-world and so on to no mind-world.

Mu mu myo
yaku mu mu myo jin
nai shi
mu ro shi yaku mu ro shi jin
mu ku shu metsu do
mu chi yaku mu toku

Radiance is not lacking,
so no darkness to destroy,
and so on to
no old age and death and no need to destroy them.
No dukkha, no samudaya, no nirodha, no marga,
no wisdom and no attainment.

I mu sho tokku bodaisatta e
hannya haramita
ko shin mu ke ge
mu ke ge ko mu u ku fu
on ri issai tendo mu so
ku gyo nehan


Having nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on the prajna paramita,
so mind is no obstacle,
as mind is no obstacle there is no fear;
going across all troublesome states
just practise nirvana.
San ze sho butsu
e hannya haramita
ko toku a noku ta ra
sanmyaku sambodai

Buddhas, past, present and future,
depend on prajna paramita other shore wisdom,
thus arrive at supreme, perfect, enlightenment,
samyak-sambodhi.
Ko chi hannya haramita
ze dai shin shu
ze dai myo shu
ze mu jo shu
ze mu to do shu
no jo issai ku
shin jitsu fu ko


Thus know other shore wisdom
The great inexplicable mantra
The great radiant mantra
The unexcelled mantra
Incomparable mantra
able to cut through every affliction.
It is true. It is not false.
Ko setsu hannya haramita shu
Soku setsu shu watsu
gyate gyate hara gyate
hara so gyate bodhi sowaka

So, proclaim the prajna paramita mantra
That is proclaimed and proclaimed like this:
Going, going, going beyond,
going completely beyond, awaken! Svaha!



COMMENTARY

This is a commentary on the sutra with the therapist in mind. We are looking at this teaching as a basis for helping those in need, not simply for our own personal practice. For clarity I have adopted the convention of referring to the therapist as “she” and the client as “he” but all the principles set out here apply in exactly the same manner whatever the sex of the therapist or client.


Kanjizai Bosatsu
Gyo jin hanya haramita
ji sho ken go un kai ku
do issai ku yaku

Quan Shi Yin Bodhisattva

This sutra starts with the name of the bodhisattva of love and compassion. This is, therefore, a text about the nature of love and compassion. The name Quan Shi Yin literally means one who hears the cries that come down through the generations. This kind of love, therefore, is full of sympathy for the pain and woe that people have inherited from their own past lives, from their ancestors, and from the culture they have been born into. The term bodhisattva means one who has the courage or spirit to live up to a great vision. Dhi means vision and the syllable bo means to be awake to that vision. Sattva refers to being or spirit. The bodhisattva lives in the spirit of awakening to a perception that goes beyond the ordinary. Compassion and wisdom need each other. Wisdom is not real wisdom unless it acts as compassion and compassion is not effective compassion unless it is wise. Quan Shi Yin is a kind of patron saint of therapists because her mission is to ease the spiritual pain of beings by bringing them to a place of greater wisdom.