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The Heart Sūtra is the abbreviated name for a Chinese text known as the Heart of the Doctrine of the Perfection of Wisdom, and is a summary text that reduces the teachings of the entire system, which we’re reading in the earliest long form of 8000 lines, into a brief one-page chant. 

In some traditions, like the Rinzai Zen I first encountered it in, the Heart Sūtra is actually called a dhāraṇī, which is a form of protection spell similar to what are also called parittas in Pāli. It’s both a teaching device in which a longer teaching is summarized to aid memorization, and a ritual object in itself. 

In the longer Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines we’ve looked at the use of the text itself as a devotional object separate from its use as a teaching text. In the same way, and more concentrated, the Heart Sūtra became an important ritual object, and being short could be used as a chanted part of Buddhist rituals. 

If you’ve spent any time in Zen practice, you know that this is the main text chanted several times a day. But beyond that, it is used in many purification rituals, including intense ones like exorcisms. The core idea is that the text is an embodiment of the core teaching of radical emptiness, understanding which brings awakening to Buddhas, and thus the text itself has a kind of extraordinary power.

In addition to its power as a devotional object, emptiness as the core doctrine is pure power because it goes beyond any constricted idea whatsoever, including even the beautiful ideas of the Dharma. So this is a magic spell that can protect the practitioner from anything because emptiness is the realization that liberates beyond all concepts. 

Tonight we’ll open into exploring the Heart Sūtra and I’ll urge folks to come on retreat with me to learn it in depth. 

SEAN OAKES
Sean Feit Oakes, PhD (he/they, queer, Puerto Rican & English, living on Pomo ancestral land in Northern California), teaches Buddhism and somatic practice focusing on the integration of meditation, trauma resolution, and social justice. He received Insight Meditation teaching authorization from Jack Kornfield, and wrote his dissertation on extraordinary states in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance. Sean holds certifications in Somatic Experiencing (SEP, assistant), and Yoga (E-RYT 500, YACEP), and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Insight Timer, and elsewhere.

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Blessings on your path.