Continuing with our theme of The Heart Sutra, todayand#8217;s Dharmabyte leads us into and#8216;The Meaning of the Prajnaparamita Mantra.and#8217; Going beyond the unconditioned, going beyond even the distinction of the conditioned and the unconditioned, going, going, gone beyond. Selection from the talk titled and#8216;The Heart Sutraand#8217; by Sangharakshita, 1967.
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The Meaning of the Prajnaparamita Mantra
[music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you, and happy listening. [music] But we haven't quite finished with the sutra. There's a further condensation at the end of the sutra. It doesn't condense the perfection of wisdom teaching quite so much as the letter A does, but it condenses it considerably. At the end of the sutra, we find the mantra of perfect wisdom. And just as the sutra itself condenses, the Pragnya Paramita literature, so the mantra condenses the sutra itself. Kamsa translates mantra as spell, but that's completely misleading. The mantra is a sort of sacred word. I can't really explain it more than that. And here, at the end of the sutra, the mantra, which is usually not translated. In fact, never translated really. The mantra goes, gati, gati, paragati, parasangati, bodhisvaha. Kamsa renders it. One can render it like this. Gone, gone, gone beyond. Gone all together beyond. Oh, what an awakening. All hell. Well, as I say, this is Kamsa's translation. It doesn't really help us very much. It gives the bare word meaning and nothing more. But what does it really mean? Gati, the first gati, gone, means gone from the conditioned, gone from the phenomenal world. Or if you like, gone from the world, as we know it, gone beyond that. Then gati, the second gati, the second gone, gone from even the unconditioned, gone even from nirvana. That it was from the concept of nirvana, enlightenment, as something distinct from this world and this state. You're going beyond duality, beyond dualism. So, isn't enough to go beyond the conditioned? You've got to go beyond the unconditioned. If not enough, we may say using Christian language to overcome Satan. You've got to overcome God too. Otherwise you remain stuck there. So, gone beyond the conditioned, gone beyond the unconditioned. And then hara gati, gone beyond, gone beyond the distinction of conditioned and unconditioned, samsara and nirvana, this world and that, default and undefiled and so on. Gone beyond all distinctions, whatsoever. And then, lastly, parasangate, which means gone all together beyond. And how does one do this? One goes beyond even the conception of shunnyata, even the conception of reality. Even that, eventually, is left behind. And then one has gone all together beyond. And then what's next word? Bodhi. Doesn't make any statement. Bodhi means enlightenment or equity. Knowledge of the ultimate. So, the sutra, the mantra, rather, doesn't say, oh, and then you realize Bodhi. Conza translated, oh, what an awakening. Well, that's not bad. But it has not the force of that simple bodhi. The mantra merely says, go beyond the conditioned, beyond the unconditioned. Go beyond even that distinction. Go beyond shunnyata itself. And then, Bodhi, awakening, enlightenment. And the final syllable is svar. You can't translate that, but the general meaning in Indian literature is all is well. Or spaciousness, blessing, if you like. Because when you've reached that, when you've awoken, when you've become a Buddha, when all is well, there's nothing more. Everything is completely auspicious. So, svar. And this is what the mantra means. Gati Gati Para Gati Para San Gati Bodhi Svar. Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone all together beyond. Awakening, enlightenment, all is well. And in the Mahayana tradition, this mantra is to be constantly recited and constantly meditated upon so that eventually, one assimilates its deep meaning. As I've said, just as the heart sutra itself condenses and concentrates, the meaning of the entire bulk of perfection of wisdom scriptures. In the same way, this mantra itself condenses the meaning of the heart sutra. If you like, it's the heart of the heart sutra, or the essence of the essence. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [music] [music] [music] [BLANK_AUDIO]