Heart Sutra, 1992

I know. Like oneself, all motherly sentient beings are by nature their same wishing happiness and do not suffer. Therefore, develop the great compassion wishing that both oneself and others be free from all the sufferings and their causes. Likewise, develop a a love wishing that both self and others have the entire happiness in their causes. So I shall here free all these motherly sentient beings from the sufferings from sufferings and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness.

For that purpose, I shall here purify all the negativities and attain enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings through this, to develop the bodhicitta or altruistic intention. So, you know, in order to fulfill that such wishes I shall hear, listen to the teaching which is the essence of entire teaching, the Heart Sūtra teaching, and bring all the hearings into contemplation and meditation. Through this I shall benefit or I will benefit in sentient beings. We shall do a short meditation here. So the praise, sir, as I said The hell of the The the great Indian scholar, Ārya Vimuktisena, who was one of the great scholars, especially on the topic of emptiness, had set forth that in order to realize or gain a proper understanding of emptiness, a person should have the combination of wisdom and the merit or virtues.

Can develop a good understanding of of emptiness if a person possess the combination of wisdom and virtues. Without virtues, it very difficult for a person to gain the understanding of emptiness because it is very profound. And not only one lacks understanding, one will not also one will not able to develop even a little doubt of thinking that is it emptiness? Does emptiness mean this or not? So this is the reason how emptiness is profound.

So the the field, the merit field or the field of where one cultivates the virtues are in two. One is Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which are the most perfect or most excellent fields to cultivate the merit. So, by making by developing faith, devotion, making prostrations, and offering towards Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, one cultivates a huge amount of merit and virtues. The the word Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha may sound a bit simple just by three words, but the fact it is not is very, very profound and very, very vast that Buddha just by saying Buddha Śākyamūni is one Buddha, but it’s not just the one Buddha. Buddha includes the millions and millions of Buddhas.

And likewise, the teachings, it’s not just one teaching of Mahāyāna vehicle or great vehicle. There are the numbers of teachings of the different schools of like the different vehicles like solitary realizers, hearers, Mahāyāna teachings, and so forth. And also in Sangha, there are numbers of great beings, the the superior beings of the lower schools as well as upper or greater greater vehicles, those who possess the teachings in the sense who possess the Dharma within them. So, only then, those beings have great deal of knowledge inside them, so therefore by making devotions often to them, one cultivates numbers of merits. So in order to make offerings and pay respect towards Buddhadharma and Sangha, We here have have make offerings of seven-limbed prayers to great master Tsongkhapa who is in the nature of entire Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

And we make the seven-limbed prayers offering, making prayers that may I or we gain the wisdom realizing emptiness. And the other field is to field of merit is sentient beings. So, by develop developing love and compassion, bodhicitta or altruistic intention focusing on motherly sentient beings, one also cultivates the huge amount of merit. So by collecting the great amount of merit as a benefit of this, one will have a good wisdom and that wisdom accompanies with the merit one has gained or one has developed. And through the power of this, one will be able to develop a proper understanding of emptiness as well as one can develop the wisdom realizing emptiness.

And then the great master, the one great Indian master Candrakīrti, who was who was the emanation of Mañjuśrī’s form or body, and also the opener of the teaching of view of emptiness has described what kind of qualities should disciples of emptiness teaching require. So the the great master recognized a disciple who through the during the time of ordinary being when his the word of emptiness or teaching of emptiness, which hears it again and again within him or herself and feeling joy or happy by hearing the emptiness. And because of the joy, drops the tears from the eyes and all the hairs of the body move. And such apart from having that joy, such a joy feeling by hearing emptiness teach about emptiness teaching and that kind, that person has been described as or recognized as a perfect disciple of the teacher and So, and such such disciples, when when when the person during during the time of being hears a number of teachings on emptiness, and that hearing of emptiness teaching has been imprint or implanted within one’s mind stream and stays as a latency or a predisposition. And as a result, when the person hears the teaching of emptiness again, that double hearing of emptiness teaching act as a water and meeting with the seed like the imprints one had implanted from the previous lives.

And by making this as a like a water meet with the seed and the seed tries to give rise of the sprout likewise. And that second teaching of emptiness activates the water and which develops, which makes, give birth to the predisposition. And that person had the feeling, which we have described like joyous and all the hairs moves of the body, all the body hairs moves and drop the tears. That is the joy of the tears, which is the joy tears of hearing emptiness teaching. It’s like Olympic, you know, the people who win the medals, you know, and they just sob there, and that that is the taste of happiness.

I hope you are all alive, please. So, for the best, the disciple should need all these qualities, but if not, well, one should have a proper should have likeness, towards the emptiness teaching, the view of emptiness, and have devotion and have trust in view of emptiness. And at least one should need all these, qualities because the emptiness teaching is very profound, and and it is not said to be one of the secret teachings that can’t be easily simply taught. Therefore, I’m sure you all have have joy or or lack lack likeness towards the emptiness and have interest and and devotion in emptiness teaching. And I’m pretty sure you have because you are all here, many students today, and that is a sign that you are very keen.

So today, we’ll be giving a preliminary teaching on emptiness that the requirements of a proper merit to receive the teaching of emptiness and needs to have a devotion in the emptiness teaching and also one needs the proper wisdom to study emptiness. Studying emptiness with the lack of wisdom has huge disadvantages or faults, so therefore I will go through the preliminary practices about merit, wisdoms, and the benefits of learning emptiness and the profundity of emptiness as well. So it said that in order to examine or study on emptiness, one needs to have a proper wisdom because with yeah, one needs to have a proper wisdom. Without proper wisdom, if one attempts to study on emptiness, there is a danger of misleading oneself. So, yeah, the to study about wisdom yeah, about emptiness, one needs to have a proper wisdom because without a proper wisdom, there is a danger of falling into two extremes called nihilism and eternalism.

That by thinking in terms of like thinking that such describing that emptiness taking something like the emptiness is something which is empty doesn’t exist at all, taking in such a way. Example like thinking that such thing does not exist and it just exists by the elaboration or not elaboration, sorry, It’s about something exaggerated. And if one thinks in that way, then it’s a danger of falling into eternalism. And then, in other ways, because of the lack of wisdom, by thinking such thing, the fact that emptiness does exist, but without with the lack of wisdom, thinking that such teaching or the teaching of emptiness doesn’t exist in if one develops such a thought, then one has a danger of falling into nihilism. So therefore, that one should have a proper wisdom to travel in the middle way, not to fall in both extremes.

So one needs to be very careful to be able to travel in the middle way, that not falling in both extremes. If one develops the thought of saying that emptiness doesn’t exist, or such thing doesn’t exist, and that will result in the lower rebirth. And if one goes through eternal sorry. Yeah. If one goes through it so extreme, thinking that exaggerating emptiness more than it is, there is a danger of not being able to free oneself from the saṃsāra as saṃsāra is endless, one may still circle in saṃsāra.

So therefore, the great master Candrakīrti has set forth to travel in the middle way, as been said Mādhyamika which means the middle. So, therefore, when Buddha Śākyamūni, after his enlightenment here, they at the Bodh Gaya under the Bodh Gaya tree on the fifteenth or fourth month of Tibetan lunar calendar. And they had set forth that that the emptiness is very profound and is free of elaboration, which and which and as you set forth, it is very profound. It’s very hard to realize, and it is free of elaboration in the sense, which means that it is that that that it it doesn’t exist. It it doesn’t inherently exist by its own, And it’s very profound and it is faultless, very pure, and very profound.

And whoever and nobody will understand if I teach this, Therefore, I shall not teach this teaching of emptiness for a while. So therefore, the therefore, as emptiness is very profound and and it’s not easy to understand. One needs to have a very sharp and good wisdom to study emptiness. So in order to develop a good wisdom, it is good for one to recite the mantras of Mañjuśrī, who is the embodiment of wisdom, with the mantra Arapacana Dhih. By reciting and making prayers to Mañjuśrī, one will develop or develop one’s wisdom.

So the benefits of knowing emptiness is? So, we have taken numbers of same numbers of rebirths in the cyclic existence or saṃsāra, and during each rebirth we undergo through numbers of sufferings. We have undergone through numbers of sufferings in the past and we are going through at the present time, and we will go through our sufferings in the future. It is because we suffer, it’s not something that somebody puts you to suffer in the cyclic existence. One suffers because of lack of understanding or not understanding the true nature or the reality of the teachings because of one’s ignorance.

Out of ignorance, one cultivates attachment towards in the name of friends, relatives, and so forth, and develops hatred towards developed hatred towards towards the person by saying enemy and so forth. And due to these two attachment and hatred, one developed one cultivate the karma as a result one suffers. So, it has been called the Heart Sūtra or in word in Tibetan is the word to word translation. Here is which means the gist of the wisdom or the most essence of the wisdom. Which means there are various of wisdoms and the Heart Sūtra, which is set forth to be the main or the gist of the wisdoms which is the wisdom realizing emptiness.

So it is called the most essence of the wisdom. It the reason because because because that wisdom realizes the ultimate of existence of the old phenomena, which is empty. So, by by knowing the emptiness the knowing the emptiness of all the phenomena, therefore, such wisdom has been called the most essence or the gist of the wisdom. So, when one develops wisdom realizing emptiness through the power of meditation, as a result one will overcome the ignorance which makes one to circle in the cyclic existence of saṃsāra because by eradicating the ignorance, as a result, one will not have the attachment and hatred. And by purifying, so through the power of the wisdom realizing emptiness, one purifies or eliminates all the ignorance, attachment, hatred.

As a result, one will not circle in the cyclic existence and also will attain or achieve the ultimate happiness. So the wisdom realizing emptiness or awareness of emptiness is the antidote towards ignorance or to abandon the ignorance. And the attachment which comes out of ignorance, in order to abandon that, one needs to have the renunciation or a wish to free from cyclic existence. And also, the other one, the hatred or anger. Anger, in order to overcome hatred or anger, one needs to have love, compassion, and the bodhicitta or altruistic intention.

Those wisdom realizing emptiness, renunciation, love, bodhicitta, those three are those are are are the object to abandon ignorance, hatred, and attachment attachment. So this so this is the reason those three, the wisdom realizing emptiness, renunciation, bodhicitta, love are being called the essence of the teaching. Very, good. Yeah. I would love to tell tell you a joke.

No. I can make you laugh, definitely. Trust me. So it was like when I first came to Buddha House and that was after three months at Buddha House, I was teaching at Buddha House and teaching of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and so forth. And during the question and answer time, the Buddha House director, whose name was Dirk at that time, he said, what Buddha doesn’t exist at all?

I’ve never seen the Buddha. It doesn’t exist. Confused. Confused. Oh.

I was shocked or confused. Shocked or confused when I heard such questions and confused and thinking, where am I? And and and and and and how how I come here? Because I’ve never heard such things in India and Tibet that saying that Buddha doesn’t exist. And and thinking that thinking that I’m here in the Buddhist Association or Buddhist Center, and the person who said was said to be was was the director of the center, and and in within me thinking that, I mean, he should be kind of like understand quite a lot.

And then and such word comes from the direct the director. I was thinking I was, yes, pretty shocked and confused. And then after a while yeah. I think for for a while, and then I just asked him a question that do how to put the quest okay. Is it necessary for you to see if the thing exist?

And he sort of like said, yes. I need to see. And I didn’t say much after that and finished the teaching and went back to my room and and thought for a while again and then console myself thinking, yeah, this will happen, and it’s okay. I’m in the West, and the people, it’s pretty, you know, new to Dharma and so forth, and was able to say, they recover or or say or relax myself. So and now you know the history of of Lord Buddha Śākyamūni.

That he was born according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, was born on 2960 and been in his kingdom until the age of 29. And then he developed a renunciation and also developed a wish to achieve or strive for the arhat or liberation. Then, yeah, and he became a monk and meditated for six years continuously without moving from his meditation area or meditation cushion. And at the age of 35 he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. And after forty nine days after he didn’t teach for the forty nine days after his enlightenment, and then by the request of all the Brahmas, the kings Brahmas, the universal kings and so forth that make offerings and request him to teach, and he then turned the first wheel of Dharma or first teaching at Sarnath.

So, yeah, he he turned the first wheel of Dharma at Sarnath, the the teaching of four noble Truths. And then the second wheel of Dharma was turned at Vulture Peak at Rajgir in India. And the third one is called Yangpachen in Tibetan. Excuse me, I don’t know the Indian name. It’s called Yangbachen.

And so during the turning of three wheeled The Heart Sūtra at Vulture Peak, the turning of the second wheel of Dharma. And third one is turned at Yangpachen. And so during the turning of three wheels of Dharma, he taught numbers of teachings. And has stayed until the age of 81, and he entered parinirvāṇa at the age of 81. Buddhadharma was said to exist for four, five thousand years.

And out of five thousand years, two thousand eight hundred and eighty two years has been passed. So that that that remains two thousand one hundred something twenty years left for Buddha Buddhadharma. Can you hear me? So, of the remaining years, two thousand one hundred and eighteen or twenty, The last five hundred years are said to be that the Buddhadharma just exists simply a name during the five the last five hundred years. That that during those five hundred years, that just the name of the Buddhadharma exists, the the people will be monks, but monks and nuns and so forth, it’s like just a mere name and in the sense becomes extensive practice or just a label to hold a name.

And after that, the Buddhadharma ceases or deceases. So therefore, it shows that the remaining of the Buddhadharma, the remaining years of Buddhadharma is not much. And if we do not practice well, then then soon we’ll lose the Buddhadharma. So today, just to just start the teaching and also to have to for the sound of auspiciousness, I shall recite a few lines of the beginning few lines of the teach of the text. So I just started the text and from the next the commentary we’ll start from the next session which is next week.

So we shall stop here. And if you have any questions at this stage, please feel free to ask. Daniel, can you you’ll be next. Somebody. Sorry.

The The question was what will happen after the five thousand years of teaching and what will happen during the break time and when Maitreya Buddha will come. So, the Buddha Śākyamūni teaching was said to last for five thousand years. And the era of Buddha Śākyamūni is being called the era of vision or clarity. And then, so when Buddha Śākyamūni’s teaching ceases after five thousand years, then the time limit without the Dharma is set forth to be millions of years or era. And after that, the era called the So it’s called the era.

The Buddha Śākyamūni era is being called the clear or vision era that they are teaching and so forth. And after that, the era or eon of darkness where there is no teaching and that era will remain for eons and eons, millions of years. So the reason why it’s called the the dark the dark era or eons because there’s no occasion at it. Yeah. Yeah.

And then after the the the time of darkness, then. So the time limit without teaching after five thousand years, the time limit at the time of without teaching is set forth to be very long in millions and billions of years or in. So it’s been set forth that at this stage the human lifespan is set fixed or set forth to be sixty years and it minimizes or it decreases gradually which goes until the tenth. And during the time of the human lifespan of ten years, then the size of the human being is set forth to be the size of a thumb. During that time, the people, the victorious or conqueror Maitreya, the Maitreya will The emanation emanation of of the Maitriya will come in the form of this size and people approach, will discuss, and how come you’ve been in a very good form and so forth.

And will question, will be asked by the other beings saying, how come you are so nice and so on and so forth? And the answer is, it is because of my practice and guiding ethical disciplines and maintaining good conduct or characteristic. So people will amaze of such effort or work and they make commitments to practice and lead a proper life. And from that onward, lifespan, the human lifespan will increase from the tenth again back to the eighty thousand years, will become eighty thousand years of life span. And so from that time, and and then the real, the Maitreya Buddha would come yeah, will come and give teachings from the starting of human lifespan of eighty thousand years.

Daniel. Sorry. Ah, Helen. Okay. I mean all at one Or Yes.

Can you repeat that, please, a bit louder as well? Sorry for that. The question, you can re ask the question if I’m misinterpreted. Okay? Yeah.

The abandonment of ignorance and hatred and attachment is one, it’s like the, for example, the ignorance is like a tree trunk or a root of a tree, whereas the attachment and the anger are like stronger branches of the tree. So if you cut the root of the tree, then parts all of the tree, the attachment, anger, everything will be abandoned or destroyed. It’s like if you cut the branches of the tree, then it will grow again. So this is the difference that when one gets rid of the root of the negativity or, say, the ignorance, and all the branches of the ignorance like attachment and anger will eventually get a get gotten rid of along with the ignorance. So, is that the machine or a blade in Australia cut the tree, you know?

Yeah. That is the wisdom. Helen, please. So all of us have these three, the ignorance, attachment, and the anger. So and it as among those, ignorant is the main root one which let us circle in the cyclic existence.

So therefore, Buddha Śākyamūni has taught us how to get rid of the root of cyclic existence, which is ignorance. That there we for that reason, he gave teachings. So you need to buy that tutu to cut the tree. You. It it it inside you.

So your wisdom should find it. Helen, In terms of entering into nirvana or a parinirvāṇa has different interpretation of different schools like greater and lower vehicles. According to the lower vehicle, when one overcomes the entire disturbing emotions and the sufferings which comes out of disturbing emotions. Whenever one overcomes that and is set to and set forth yeah, so they’re set forth to be that the person has entered parinirvāṇa or in terms of in terms of lower vehicle. So, yeah, so according to the lower wake lower vehicle, it’s been said that when when one overcomes the entire suffering and the disturbing emotions, then one enters the nirvana and nirvana and it’s like that this is the end of the thing, like the end of the butter lamp.

Once the flame is gone, then the butter lamp is finished. So this is how the or in terms like the yeah, so that’s the end of and set forth to be. So, like the So, like the last flame of the butter lamp gone, the consciousness or wisdom, and that is the end of the wisdom or of the consciousness, of the mind stream actually. Not a consciousness, the mind stream. So, in such a mind stream a consciousness is set forth to be the nirvana, or the in terms of greater vehicle.

So in in terms of the Mahāyāna school, it’s said that the the Buddhas, they emanate in numbers of forms to benefit or or or, yeah, benefit the sentient beings through teaching. And whenever they or when they when there’s more benefit during the time, Buddhas will come in the or comes in emanated into forms of body that one can actually see and receive the teachings. So during the time when Buddhists can there are lots of where they can do more benefit more beings at the time. And at the time when they find it’s not that beneficial, it’s like the very bright light and where there’s more disciples, more benefit, the light becomes very bright and comes off and so forth. And at the time when they see it’s not beneficial, not much actual disciples really get benefits from the teaching, the light shrinks back in the sense the light is still there, but it’s not like a butter lamp, it’s not an end, but which means they then shrinks in the sense that the Buddhas can’t be visible or seen, but it’s still there.

So, it is not like the lower vehicle at the end of the butter lamp, continuum is still there. The Buddha is still there. So it’s like that the the time of Buddha teaching involved ceased or decreased, and because of finding more beneficial in other continents, the Buddha shrinks in and which means doesn’t been seen in the world, but in other continents benefit the different sentient beings. I was mentioning this morning. So, and at the time when Buddhas are shrinking in the sense currently, they dissolved or their bodies have not been seen, which was said to be Buddhas had entered the parinirvāṇa.

Thank you.