Intuition of Reality [21]
A new, partial translation of The Heart Sutra
The Heart of Perfect Wisdom is a very short 200-word distillation of the 100,000-line Large Discourse on Perfect Wisdom, which was written in China around 1400 years ago. This partial translation reflects the words, ideas, and stories discussed in [Reality and Being].
— — —
Appearance is nothing more than relativity, and relativity is nothing more than appearance.
Appearance itself is relativity, and relativity itself is appearance.
Sense, idea, habit, and experience—these, too, are only appearance, only relativity.
Everything is relative.
Nothing is created or destroyed.
Nothing is corrupt or pure.
Nothing is gained or lost.
So, appearance has no reality of its own:
no feeling, perceiving, habit, or experiencing;
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind;
no sight, sound, aroma, flavor, sensation, or thought;
no external world to know and no inner world of knowing;
no ignorance and no ending of ignorance;
no old age and death, and no ending of old age and death;
no suffering, no cause of suffering, no ending of suffering, and no path to the ending of suffering;
no knowledge and no attainment, because there is nothing at all to attain.
All who are aware of this are freed from illusion and fear, and they are aware of this reality.
All who are awake to reality, regardless of when or how they awakened, know they are this reality.
— — —
The Heart of Perfect Wisdom is presented as a guided meditation. It describes a certain state of mind. People who practice this meditation do so with the expectation that practice will lead to this state of mind. It requires effort and commitment to achieve this or even briefly experience it in any meaningful way. Some topics in this book describe a state of mind similar to that in The Heart. The Heart primarily addresses the idea of absolute relativity.
Where Is Here is offered as an object of meditation. It consists of a simple word-puzzle with the clear implication that there is more to this puzzle than meets the eye. The context in which the puzzle is introduced implies another puzzle: “What is reality?” This book is a guide to solving both of these puzzles as one. Solving these puzzles can lead to greater understanding of the nature of reality. Other topics in this book describe a state of mind similar to that implied by “Where is here?” or “What is reality?” These two puzzles primarily reflect the nature of reality, being, and awareness.
Answer these questions:
What does intuition mean?
Where does intuition happen?
What does where mean?
What is the context of awareness?
What is the context of being?
What is the context of reality?
What is the context of here?
— — —