The Heart Sutra

Professional audiobook English rendition of The Heart Sutra; translation by Red Pine with narration by Ken Damico. The Heart Sutra (Sanskrit: Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya) is part of the Perfection of Wisdom (Sanskrit: Prajñāpāramitā) collection of sutras. In 3 short minutes, Avalokitesvara recounts his experience of Śūnyatā (emptiness) for the benefit of the disciple Shariputra... who symbolically represents all of us who are on the path of freedom.

Transcript

The Heart Sutra Translation by Red Pine Narrated by Ken D'Amico The noble Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,

While practicing the deep practice of Prajnaparamita,

Looked upon the five skandhas,

And seeing they were empty of self-existence,

Said,

Here,

Shāriputra,

Form is emptiness,

Emptiness is form,

Emptiness is not separate from form,

Form is not separate from emptiness,

Whatever is form is emptiness,

Whatever is emptiness is form.

The same holds for sensation and perception,

Memory and consciousness.

Here,

Shāriputra,

All dharmas are defined by emptiness,

Not birth or destruction,

Purity or defilement,

Completeness or deficiency.

Therefore,

Shāriputra,

In emptiness there is no form,

No sensation,

No perception,

No memory,

And no consciousness,

No eye,

No ear,

No nose,

No tongue,

No body,

And no mind.

No shape,

No sound,

No smell,

No taste,

No feeling,

And no thought.

No element of perception from eye to conceptual consciousness.

No causal link from ignorance to old age and death.

And no end of causal link from ignorance to old age and death.

No suffering,

No source,

No relief,

No path,

No knowledge,

No attainment,

And no non-attainment.

Therefore,

Shāriputra,

Without attainment,

Bodhisattvas take refuge in prajnaparamita and live without walls of the mind.

Without walls of the mind,

And thus without fears,

They see through delusions and finally nirvana.

All buddhas past,

Present and future also take refuge in prajnaparamita and realize unexcelled,

Perfect enlightenment.

You should therefore know the great mantra of prajnaparamita,

The mantra of great magic,

The unexcelled mantra,

The mantra equal to the unequaled,

Which heals all suffering and is true,

Not false.

The mantra in prajnaparamita spoken thus,

Gāte,

Gāte,

Parāgāte,

Paraśaṅgāte,

Bodhi Svaha.

Thus ends the Heart Sutra.

Reviews

🙏🏼

Simple and short ways of learning are helpful to me. Thank you

Gassho

Clear, well spoken, simple. Just like it should be. Thank you.

I love the heart sutra!

Such simplicity

Great reading of a great sutra.