A Heart Sutra Journey | Part Twenty-One
"SO SET FORTH THE PRAJNA PARAMITA MANTRA.
SET FORTH THIS MANTRA AND SAY:
GATE! GATE! PARAGATE PARASAMGATE! BODHI SVAHA! PRAJNA HEART SUTRA."
On Day One while discussing the title of the Heart Sutra, we noted that many of the early translations (pre-649 C.E.) of the Heart Sutra contained the word dharani. Both mantra anddharani are sacred incantations - with dharani generally being more intelligible as words. In this case, we have a mantra inside a dharani. For centuries, the entire sutra has been read for its power. Hanshan Deqing (1546–1623), Ming dynasty monk and commentator, points to a pivot in the text here- with the former being exoteric (for general understanding) and the latter being esoteric (understood by the initiated):
"There’s no place for an intellectual understanding, only silent repetition. The speed of its effectiveness depends upon the inconceivable power of forgetting feelings and putting an end to understanding."
The short mantra has words with meaning, although the combined spirit is certainly difficult to penetrate:
GATE - gone, into the gone
PARAGATE - beyond gone, into the beyond gone
PARASAMGATE - gone completely beyond, into the gone completely beyond
BODHI - enlightenment
SVAHA - an exclamation used at the end of Vedic rituals, so like an "amen".
So it references something so completely beyond it is literally beyond even itself. Even prajnaparamita itself conceptually is transcended. Emptiness shot through.
Gate! Gate! Paragate Parasamgate! Bodhi Svaha!
See the full text of the Heart Sutra at: https://oneriverzen.org/heart-sutra
