The Japanese name for the origin sutra is Hannya
kyo,and hannya is transliteration of the Indian words "prajna"
or "panna".
The word means "wisdom," meaning the ability to know truth. It is
distinguished from wisdom in the ordinary sense.
The Wisdom Sutra is not actually a single title, but is the collective name
for a group of sutras which teach that enlightenment is attained via the perfection
of wisdom.
They include the 600-fascicle Dai-hannnya kyo, Daibon hannya kyo , and the Shobon
hannnya kyo.
The Essence of Prajna-paramita Sutra, Hannya shingyo, which distills the essence
of The Great Wisdom Sutra in a mere 260-odd charactors, is probaboly the most
popular.
(How to chant the sutra is up to the Soto Zen sect.)
The Bodhisattva of true Freedom and Compassion, through the profound practice
of the Great Wisdom, understands that the body and the five aggregates (sensation,
perception, thought, activity, conscience) are but Void, Ku,
and through this understanding, he helps those who suffer. O Sariputra, phenomena
are not different from the Void, and the Void is not different from the phenomena.
Phenomena become Void
and the Void becomes the phenomena. (Form is Void and Void is Form), and the
five aggregates are themselves phenomena. O Sariputra, every existence has this
characteristic of the Void.
There is no birth(beginning) , no death(ending) , no purity, no stain, no increase
and no decrease. For this reason, in the Void, there is no form,
no aggregate, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no conscience; there
are no colors, no sounds, no smells, no taste, no touch, no object of thought;
no knowledge, no ignorance, no illusion of decline and death;
no origin of pain, no cessation of pain; no wisdom, no profit, no non-profit
For the Bodhisattva, due to this Wisdom which leads further,
exist no fear, no apprehension. All illusion, every attachment are removed and
he can seize the ultimate end of life, the Nirvana. Every Buddha of the past,
present and future,
through this incomparable and unsurpassable mantra which allows to find the
authentic reality,
the Void, can attain the understanding of this Supreme Wisdom
which frees from every suffering.
Here is this mantra:
"Go, go, go together further than beyond on the shore of the satori."
Hannya shingyo.
Special thanks to Mr.Proulx.
|
MAKAHANNYA HARAMITTA SHINGYO |
| Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, doing deep prajna paramita, Clearly saw the emptiness of all the five conditions, Thus completely relieving misfortune and pain. O Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form; Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form. Sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness, are likewise like this. O Shariputra, all dharmas are forms of emptiness, not born, not destroyed; Not stained, not pure, without loss, without gain; So in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomenon; No realm of sight....... no realm of consciousness; No ignorance and no end to ignorance No old age and death, and no end to old age and death; No suffering, no cause of suffering, no extinguishing, no path; No wisdom and no gain. No gain and thus The bodhisattva lives prajna paramita * With no hindrance in the mind. No hindrance, therefore no fear, Far beyond deluded thoughts, this is nirvana. All past, present, and future Buddhas live praina paramita, And * therefore attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore know, prajna paramita is the The great mantra, the vivid mantra, The best mantra, the unsurpassable mantra, It completely clears all pain - this is the truth, not a lie. So set forth the Prajna Paramita Mantra, Set forth this mantra and say: Gate! Gate! * Paragate! Parasamgate! * Bodhi svaha! Prajna Pamita Sutra. The source of those illustlations and explanations are by Soto-shumucho's |
