Therefore know that this wisdom beyond wisdom is the greatest Dharani, the brightest Dharani, the highest Dharani, the peerless Dharani. It completely ends all suffering. Know this as truth and do not doubt. So set forth this profound wisdom Dharani. Set forth this Dharani and declare: Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, attained the other shore, to beyond the other shore, having never left.
A Dharani is a chant, a brief scripture with particular power and elegance. It is often a core teaching that, according to Kennett-roshi, can “encourage a religious attitude of mind, such as compassion, gratitude, or faith” (see Zen is Eternal Life, Kennett-roshi, 1999, p.308).
The Heart Sutra itself is a Dharani that teaches us how to live in a way that allows us to transcend suffering by asking us to look deeply into our true nature, seeing the deep interdependence of all things, and the impermanent nature of the universe. When we live in this way, there can be no suffering.
It is interesting that the sutra asks us not to doubt, when the Buddha himself asks to doubt everything. The point here is not the words, my friends. Scripture is just ink on paper. It is essentially meaningless. Life is our practice and our practice is our teacher. The point is to discover its truth ourselves in our daily lives. When we set forth this Dharani, that is, walk our lives deliberately and sit on our cushions deliberately, with meaningful, purposeful and compassionate effort, keeping the teachings of this sutra as still points in our hearts, we can do nothing but be Buddhas.
When we do get to the other shore, a euphemism for awakening, we find that we were always there. There is no other shore. This shore? That shore? No matter: all shores are one. Indeed, all shores are empty.
With palms together,
Be well.
Bibliography
Conze, Edward, Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra, Vintage Press, 2001
Glassman-roshi, Bernie, The Infinite Circle: Teaching in Zen, Shambala Press, 2002
Gyatso, Tenzin (His Holiness, the Dalai Lama), Essence of the Heart Sutra, Wisdom Press, 2002
Hasegawa, Seikan, The Cave of Poison Grass: Essays on the Hannya Sutra, Great Ocean Publishers, 1975
Pine, Red, The Heart Sutra: The Womb of Buddhas, Shoemaker and Hoard, 2004
Hahn, Thich Nhat, The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Parallax Press, 1988
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