A Heart Sutra Journey | Part Seventeen

"FAR BEYOND DELUDED THOUGHTS, THIS IS NIRVANA."

Avalokitesvara here points to Nirvana: etymologically, Nirvana is nir (negative) combined with van (desire) - so the end of desire. Nirvana was an issue on which the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhists were differentiated. In the Hinayana sense, Nirvana is a pure place of delight that is the target of practice. One could escape the cycle of rebirth and enter bliss. Mahayana Buddhists, on the other hand, practice the Boddhisatva Vow - and eschew the notion of entering Nirvana in favor of liberating all suffering sentient beings.

Now Shariputra is instructed that Nirvana is far beyond deluded thoughts. The word here for deluded is viparyasa, or not seeing things as they are. Because things "as they are" is emptiness, even Nirvana is devoid of existence and non-existence. All paths lead to emptiness - the very present infinite. Any place for hiding is eliminated when prajna paramita reigns.

Fazang (643-712 C.E.), the Third Patriarch of the Huayan school, explains it this way:

“Outside, they have no fear of demons or injustice, thus evil conditions cease. Inside, they have no confusion of doubts or obstructions, thus evil causes stop. Nirvana is perfect peace. ‘Perfect’ means complete in every virtue. ‘Peace’ means free of every obstruction. Wisdom is able to plumb the very limits of nirvana.”

See the full text of the Heart Sutra at: https://oneriverzen.org/heart-sutra