Heart Attack Sutra

“The Heart Sutra is completely crazy… that is where the wisdom comes in. What the Heart Sutra does is cut through, deconstruct, and demolish all our usual conceptual frameworks, all our rigid ideas, all our belief systems, all our reference points, including any with regard to our spiritual path. It does so on a very fundamental level, not just in terms of thinking and concepts, but also in terms of our perception, how we see the world, how we hear, how we smell, taste, touch, how we regard and emotionally react to ourselves and others, and so on… I should give you a warning… this sutra is hazardous to your samsaric sanity…

Another way to look at the Heart Sutra is as a very condensed contemplation manual… the intention is to contemplate its meaning in as detailed a way as possible… the Heart Sutra is like a big koan… Every little phrase with a “no” is a different koan in terms of what the “no” relates to, such as “no eye,” “no ear,” and so on… Emptiness means that things do not exist as they seem, but are like illusions and like dreams. They do not have a nature or a findable core of their own… What does it mean that the eye is empty? What does it mean that visible form is empty? What does it mean that even wisdom, buddhahood, and nirvana are empty? Is there any other spiritual tradition that says, “Everything that we teach, just forget about it”?

The Heart Sutra’s fundamental theme is the basic groundlessness of our experience. It says that no matter what we do, no matter what we say, and no matter what we feel, we need not believe any of it. There is nothing whatsoever to hold on to, and even that is not sure. So these sutras pull the rug out from under us all the time and take away all our favorite toys…

Emptiness is like thinking outside of the box, that is, the box of black-and-white thinking or dualistic thinking. As long as we stay within the ballpark of dualistic thinking, there is always existence, nonexistence, permanence, extinction, good, and bad. Within that frame of reference, we will never get beyond it, no matter if we are religious, a scientist, a Buddhist, an agnostic, or whatever.

Emptiness tells us that we have to step out of that ballpark altogether. Emptiness points to the most radical transformation of our entire outlook with regard to ourselves and the world. Emptiness not only means the end of the world as we know it, but that this world never really existed in the first place…

Without developing a soft heart and compassion, which like water softens our mental rigidity, there is a danger that the teachings on emptiness can make our hearts even harder. If we think we understand emptiness, but our compassion does not increase, or even lessens, we are on the wrong track. We could say that the Heart Sutra is an invitation to just let go and relax. We can replace all the words in this sutra that go with “no,” such as “no eye,” “no ear,” with all our problems, such as “no depression,” “no fear,” “no unemployment,” “no war,” and so on. That might sound simplistic, but if we do that and actually make it into a contemplation on what all those things such as depression, fear, war, and economic crisis actually are, it can become very powerful, maybe even more powerful than the original words in the sutra…

The Heart Sutra does not say “no self,” “no home,” “no partner,” “no job,” “no money,” which are the things we usually care about. Therefore, in order to make it more relevant to our life, we have to fill those in…

There are accounts about people being present in the audience who had already attained certain advanced levels of spiritual development or insight that liberated them from samsaric existence and suffering. These people, who are called “arhats” in Buddhism, were listening to the Buddha speaking about emptiness and then had different reactions. Some thought, “This is crazy, let’s go” and left. Others stayed, but some of them were so shocked by what they were hearing that they died on the spot…

This sutra goes to the heart of the matter, mercilessly attacking all ego trips that prevent us from waking up to our true heart…”

~ Karl Brunnhölzl, The Heart Attack Sutra

The Bodhisattva of Compassion, When he meditated deeply,
Saw the emptiness of all five skandhas
And sundered the bonds that caused him suffering.
Here then, Form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other than form.
Form is only emptiness, Emptiness only form.
Feeling, thought, and choice, Consciousness itself,
Are the same as this.
All things are by nature void They are not born or destroyed
Nor are they stained or pure
Nor do they wax or wane So, in emptiness, no form,
No feeling, thought, or choice, Nor is there consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
No colour, sound, smell, taste, touch,
Or what the mind takes hold of, Nor even act of sensing.
No ignorance or end of it, Nor all that comes of ignorance;
No withering, no death, No end of them.
Nor is there pain, or cause of pain,
Or cease in pain, or noble path To lead from pain;
Not even wisdom to attain! Attainment too is emptiness.
So know that the Bodhisattva Holding to nothing whatever,
But dwelling in Prajna wisdom, Is freed of delusive hindrance,
Rid of the fear bred by it, And reaches clearest Nirvana.
All Buddhas of past and present, Buddhas of future time,
Using this Prajna wisdom, Come to full and perfect vision.
Hear then the great dharani, The radiant peerless mantra,
The Prajnaparamita Whose words allay all pain;
Hear and believe its truth!
Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha
Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha
Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha

Images ~ Renowned contemporary calligrapher Wang Dongling writes the Heart Sutra, one of the most important Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. He uses his own calligraphic technique known as “chaos scripture (luanshu)”—a style that sees characters and entire column of texts interweave with each other.