Quotes

Thus have I once heard:

The Blessed One was staying in Rajgriha at Vulture Peak along with
a great community of monks and a great community of
Bodhisattvas, and at that time, the Blessed One entered the
meditative absorption on the varieties of phenomena called the
appearance of the profound. At that time as well, the noble
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, clearly beheld
the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom itself and saw
that even the five aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence.

Thereupon, through the Buddha’s inspiration, the venerable
Shariputra spoke to the noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva,
the great being, and said: “how should any noble son or daughter
who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of
wisdom train?”

When this had been said, the holy Avalokiteshvara, the
bodhisattva, the great being, spoke to the venerable Shariputra
and said: “Shariputra, any noble son or noble daughter who so
wishes to engage in the practice of the profound of perfection of
wisdom should clearly see this way: they should see perfectly that
even the five aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence. Form is
emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is not other than form,
form too is not other than emptiness. Likewise, feeling,
perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are all empty.

Therefore, Shariputra, all phenomena are emptiness; they are
without defining characteristics; they are not born, they do not
cease, they are not defiled, they are not undefiled, they are not
deficient, and they are not complete.

Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no feelings,
no perceptions, no mental formations, and no consciousness.
There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, and no mind.
There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no texture, and no
mental objects. There is no eye-element, and so on up to no mindelement including up to no element of metal consciousness. There
is no ignorance, there is no extinction of ignorance, and so on up to
no aging and death and no extinction of aging and death. Likewise,
there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; there is no wisdom,
no attainment, and even no non-attainment.

“Therefore, Shariputra, since bodhisattvas have no attainments,
they rely on this perfection of wisdom and abide in it. Having no
obscuration in their minds, they have no fear and by going utterly
beyond error, they will reach the end of nirvana. All the Buddhas
too who abide in the three times attained the full awakening of
unexcelled, perfect enlightenment by relying on this profound
perfection of wisdom.

“Therefore, one should know that the mantra of the perfection of
wisdom – the mantra of great knowledge, the unexcelled mantra,
the mantra equal to the unequalled, the mantra that quells all
suffering – is true because it is not deceptive. The mantra of the
perfection of wisdom is proclaimed:

TADYATHA GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA

Shariputra, the Bodhisattvas, the great beings, should train in the
perfection of wisdom in this way”

Thereupon, the Blessed One arose from that meditative absorption
and commended the holy Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the
great beings, saying this is excellent.

“Excellent! Excellent! O noble child, it is just so, it should be just so.
One must practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you
have revealed. For then even the Tathagatas will rejoice”

As the Blessed One uttered these words, the venerable Shariputra,
the holy Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the great beings, along
with the entire assembly, including the worlds of gods, humans,
asuras, and gandharvas, all rejoiced and hailed what the Blessed
One had said.

English translation by Geshe Thubten Jinpa
Extracted from: the Essence of the Heart Sutra – The Dalai Lama’s
Heard of Wisdom Teachings