Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra is a concise Mahayana Buddhist scripture in which Avalokiteshvara teaches Shariputra that the five aggregates and other phenomena are empty of inherent existence.

Śūnyatā: The Buddhist teaching that phenomena lack independent, inherent existence. The sutra’s central teaching is that form and other phenomena are empty.
Form Is Emptiness: A Mahayana formulation identifying material form with emptiness rather than treating them as separate realities. This concise equation introduces the sutra’s account of the five aggregates.
Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya: The Sanskrit title of the scripture commonly called the Heart Sutra. This title identifies the text within the Sanskrit transmission.
Buddhist Chanting: The rhythmic vocal recitation of texts, formulas, or sacred syllables in Buddhist practice. Communities recite the Heart Sutra as a liturgical text.
Diamond Sutra: A Mahayana Prajñāpāramitā scripture that teaches emptiness through a dialogue between the Buddha and Subhuti. It develops related wisdom teachings at much greater length.
Five Aggregates: The five components used in Buddhist analysis of a person: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. The sutra declares each aggregate empty, beginning with form.
Dependent Origination: The Buddhist principle that phenomena arise through conditions and relationships rather than independently. Conditional arising helps explain why phenomena lack inherent existence.
Kumārajīva: A Buddhist monk and translator who rendered major Buddhist scriptures into Chinese in the early fifth century. A Chinese version attributed to Kumārajīva became especially influential.
Zen Buddhism: A Mahayana Buddhist tradition emphasizing meditation and direct insight into reality. The sutra holds a prominent place in Zen liturgy and teaching.
Large Prajñāpāramitā Sutras: A family of extensive Mahayana scriptures on the perfection of wisdom and emptiness. The Heart Sutra compresses themes elaborated across these longer texts.

Linked from 10 pages