Observing everything at all times with an unencumbered manner, Kuan Tzu Tsai Bodhisattvaⁱ profoundly practices the prajnaparamita.ⁱⁱ He perceives that the Five Aggregatesⁱⁱⁱ are nothing but void,^iv and is thereby liberated from all hardship and suffering.

Oh, Sariputra,^v form does not differ from void, and void does not differ from form, for form is void and the very void is form;^vi and the same is true of sensation, perception, impulse, and consciousness.

Oh, Sariputra, all phenomena^vii are essentially void; they are neither produced nor terminated, neither defiled nor purified, neither increased nor decreased.

Therefore, in void there is no form, sensation, perception, impulse, or consciousness. There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mental organ;^viii no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or object of thought; no seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, or thinking.^ix There is no ignorance and no ending of ignorance, and so forth to no decay and death and also no ending of decay and death.^x There is no suffering and no cause of suffering, no emancipation and no path leading to emancipation.^xi There is no wisdom. There is no attainment.

It is because of this attitude of non-attainment that a person can attain the bodhisattvahood.^xii Relying on the perfection of wisdom, our minds will know no vexation or hindrance; our minds will shun fear, distraction, and fantasy, and do away with the idea of attaining nirvana.^xiii

Relying on this perfect wisdom, all the buddhas in the past, present, and future have fully awakened to the utmost, right, and perfect enlightenment.

Therefore, know that the prajnaparamita is the great mantra,xiv the awakening mantra, the utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra. It can surely relieve all suffering. This is all true and nothing but the truth. Therefore, chant the mantra of prajnaparamita: "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha."^xv

The Chinese version of the Heart Sutra has only 262 characters. It is very rhythmic and, as a result, is suitable for chanting. However, this rhythmic character disappears once it is translated into English.

The sutra contains the entire core of Mahayana Buddhist thought in only a couple of hundred words, which are all rich with meanings that have been added over the last couple of millennia. Fundamentally, it conveys the idea of eradicating all our worldly desires and attachments such as our bodies and thoughts, which decay and change rapidly. Once we can fully comprehend the truth that nothing in the world is permanent, we can eradicate our worries and suffering which arise in accordance with our attachments. It logically teaches us how to get rid of our attachments to temporary perceptions through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, even to the extent of eradicating our desires for otherworldly things such as attaining nirvana, bodhisattvahood and buddhahood.

People tend to treat everything as either good or bad, as "have" or "have not." In contrast, the tenet of "the interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature" teaches us to be unattached to these two extremes. What is fixed nature? It is based on three factors: it must be self-created, independent, and permanent. Nothing in the world has a fixed nature; everything is temporarily produced and terminated according to previous causes and conditions. When we realize this, we can then learn to accept the fact that we have no true, independent selves, and to treat everyone else as an equal since our existence in the universe is interdependent and intertwined. When that time comes, we will not differentiate between what is yours and mine, life-death and nirvana, perplexity and enlightenment, and the Five Aggregates and void. That is the true meaning of "void" conveyed in this sutra.

ⁱ The Sanskrit word bodhisattva can be divided into two parts, bodhi and sattva. The former means "enlightenment" and the latter "living beings." When combined, the phrase means "enlightened beings." Many people have translated Kuan Tzu Tsai Bodhisattva as Kuan Yin Bodhisattva, but they are actually two different bodhisattvas. The former is noted for his transcendental wisdom and the latter for his great compassion. Here, "Kuan Tzu Tsai" refers to one who is able to simultaneously help himself and other people to attain enlightenment, and who at all times has a carefree, unfettered manner. A bodhisattva's perceptions in his life and actions are always guided by altruism and transcendental wisdom.
　

ⁱⁱ Prajnaparamita means "transcending suffering with the perfection of wisdom." Prajna is Sanskrit for the "transcendental wisdom of all bodhisattvas and buddhas." Paramita means "delivering suffering beings from this shore of anguish to the other shore of happiness and emancipation." Prajnaparamita is one of the Six Paramitas. The other five are charity, ethical discipline, tolerance, diligence, and meditation.　

ⁱⁱⁱ According to Buddhist philosophy, a being or an individual is only a combination of ever-changing physical and mental forces or energies, which can be divided into five groups or aggregates. The Five Aggregates (skandha) include form, sensation, perception, impulse, and consciousness.

Form refers to the physics and the physiology of this world that we see, such as mirages and our bodies. Material things do not exist independently. They are made up of the four classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire. As these elements come together and drift apart, material things in this world arise and come to be and then fade away and cease to be.

Sensation is the acquiring of data through our sensory organs (including the mind) and the functioning of the mind in connection with the people, events, and material things in our daily lives. For example: we feel happy when we are in a favorable circumstance and unhappy in an unfavorable one.

Perception refers to the images imprinted in our minds by all the people, events, and things that we come into contact with in our daily lives. The mind identifies the sensory data and mental phenomena it has received and turns them into concepts.

Impulse covers all active mental dispositions, tendencies, impulses, etc., whether conscious or unconscious. A person may hold different emotions such as happiness, anger, love, or disgust toward people, events, or things. When we perceive an image, the mind analyzes and formulates a decision accordingly. These decisions produce karma, as the origins of such decisions lead to actions that create the outcome of our next life.

Consciousness is the awareness and the distinction and comprehension of all mental and physical phenomena. It implies a separation of subject and object and a discrimination among objects.

Herein, the aggregate of form refers to the body and the latter four to the mind. Both the body and mind change according to exterior circumstances.
　

^iv The void or emptiness mentioned in the sutra does not mean vacant space. Nothing has any true existence in its own right, since everything arises and disappears in accordance with previous causes or chance meetings of certain elements and conditions. Since nothing ever lasts, we should maintain an attitude of non-attachment--we should not cling to anything, even the notion of "void" itself.
　

^v Sariputra was one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha. He was noted for his wisdom. For more information, please read the article on Sariputra in the Spring 1997 issue of the Tzu Chi Quarterly, which is accessible online at http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw.　

^vi The Five Aggregates and void are interdependent and co-existent with each other. We can see "have not" in the Five Aggregates because all things are impermanent and have no fixed nature of their own; in the same way, we can see "have" in the void because things in fact do exist, even if only temporarily, due to the meeting of a certain set of conditions. For example: the existence of a tree is based on the right combination of the conditions of a seed, soil, water, and sunshine. We can see the growth of a tree (its form). However, the tree does not have its own fixed nature (it is void) because it is constantly changing in accordance with those conditions. For example, if the water supply is cut off, the tree will cease to exist.
　

^vii All phenomena, even all the truths and doctrines in the universe, change all the time since they have no fixed nature; therefore, nothing once defiled will remain defiled, and nothing once pure will remain pure.
　

^viii We should link eye with form, ear with sound, and so forth since form is the object of the eye, sound is the object of the ear, etc.

^ix This sentence shows that there is no existence of the 18 elements, which are composed of the six sense organs, the six sense-objects, and the six kinds of mental consciousness (which are created when the sense organs and sense-objects come together). For example: you can consciously recognize with your eyes that the color of a red rose is red. This recognition originates from the meeting of your eye and the rose (form). However, this recognition or mental consciousness is externally based and constantly changing, thus it has no fixed nature. Your appreciation of the rose is caused by a set of physical phenomena (form), physiology (eye), and mentality (recognition of the red color of the rose).
　

^x Ignorance is the first of the 12 causes and conditions of our rebirth.

The twelve causal links are: (1) ignorance; (2) volitional action (please change it to volitional action); (3) consciousness; (4) name and form (the fetus in a mother's uterus); (5) six sensory organs (i.e. eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind); (6) contact or touch; (7) sensation; (8) desire, craving; (9) possession; (10) creating more karma or becoming; (11) birth; (12) decay and death.

In further detail, the first two links are the causes of our rebirth (through the ignorance of attachment to substantive selves and all phenomena, we create good and bad karma generated by our bodies, words, and minds, which in turn cause our next reincarnation). Causal links 3 to 7 are the results arising from the karma we have created and accumulated over the span of our previous lives. Links 8 to 10 are the present causes that lead to the conditions for rebirth in our next life. Causal link 11 means we will again face the Five Aggregates in our next life, which will follow the course of the life circle in aging, decay, and death. Life goes on and on just like this. Those who attain enlightenment through reasoning on these 12 causal links are called "Enlightened From Observing and Stopping the 12 Causal Links."
　

^xi These are the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth shows that life is nothing but suffering and pain. It also includes deeper ideas such as imperfection, impermanence, void, etc. The Second Noble Truth explains that it is our thirst, desire, greed, and craving that give rise to all forms of suffering and trap us in the cycle of reincarnation. The Third Noble Truth is that emancipation from suffering can be realized. In Sanskrit, this is known as nirvana. The Fourth Noble Truth states that the Eight Noble Paths (Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Behavior, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration) lead to the cessation of suffering or emancipation.

After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha expounded these Four Noble Truths at Isipatana to his old colleagues, the five ascetics, who then attained enlightenment on the spot. Those who attain enlightenment by studying the Buddha's teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, are called "hearers."

However, the Buddha reminds us not to desire anything in this world or in any other world. We must not desire to attain the titles of "buddha" or "hearer," or even to reach nirvana.
　

^xii When we realize that everything, even our very own existence, is delusive and impermanent, then there is no distinction between wisdom and stupidity, gain or loss, etc. There is no need to judge or discriminate, no need to disturb one's peace of mind with a sense of gain or loss. When we see impermanence as the normal run of events and lead our lives without any desire to attain anything for the self--not even nirvana--we can achieve a tranquil, self-possessed state of mind like that of the bodhisattvas.

^xiii Nirvana is a state of everlasting emancipation and supreme tranquility. According to Mahayana Buddhism, it cannot be attained by seeking after it since the desire to obtain it would in itself be an attachment that would obstruct the way to emancipation. For example: Master Cheng Yen is famous in Taiwan for all of the good deeds she and her disciples have accomplished. Yet she has never thought of gaining fame or publicity in doing charitable work. The fame naturally came to her because of her unselfish giving. Likewise, nirvana will come to a spiritual cultivator once the person's sense of morality, meditation, wisdom, and compassion have achieved a certain level.

^xiv A mantra is an invocation or an incantation which consists of sets of Sanskrit syllables. It can also be a treatise with mystical meaning.
　

^xv The Sanskrit words can be pronounced as "gadi, gadi, brongadi, bronsongadi, bodhi souha." The mantra means, "Go, go, go to the other shore [of emancipation and joy]. Let's all go! May we attain enlightenment soon!