A Heart Sutra Journey | Part Two
"AVALOKITESVARA BODHISATTVA"
The Heart Sutra belongs to a greater collection of texts often called the Wisdom literature - or Prajnaparamita sutras. Each varies widely in length - with some as long as one hundred thousand lines.
What we are studying is very concise at roughly twenty four lines and contains the essence, or hrdaya, of the Prajnaparamita literature. It is so concise it doesn't even list an author. In Buddhism, a principle called the Four Reliances has evolved to address questions of textual authenticity and authority:
Rely on-
1. The Dharma (teaching) rather than the author.
2. The meaning rather than the words.
3. The truth rather than the convention.
4. The knowledge rather than the information.
The text begins by introducing Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva:
A sattva is a being, and bodhi rendered enlightenment, ergo: 'being of enlightenment'. This moniker was used to describe a being whose goal is not nirvana, cessation from rebirth, but the liberation of all suffering sentient beings.
The particular being of enlightenment here is Avalokitesvara - a unique character in that she is the only bodhisattva in Buddhist literature with both male and female identities. She embodies the compassion of all the Buddhas. The name is comprised on ava, meaning down, combined with lokita - meaning behold or observe. Eśvara is a lord or master. Thus, we are introduced to the lord who gazes down - presumably at the world. Alternately some texts have a slight derivative, translated in to Chinese as Kuan-yin, or She (or He) who looks down on the cries of the world. Either way - a very clear embodiment of compassion.
Thus, our sutra begins with a lord who gazes down with compassion upon the world and has forsaken nirvana to save all sentient beings...
See the full text of the Sutra at https://oneriverzen.org/heart-sutra
