Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra

Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha at Vulture Peak mountain, together with a great gathering of the sangha of monks and a great gathering of the sangha of bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One entered the samadhi that expresses the dharma called "profound illumination," and at the same time noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, while practicing the profound prajnaparamita, saw in this way: he saw the five skandhas to be empty of nature.

Then, through the power of the Buddha, venerable Shariputra said to noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, "How should a son or daughter of noble family train, who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita?"

Addressed in this way, noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, said to venerable Shariputra, "O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita.

Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times, by means of prajnaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true, complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajnaparamita, the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth, since there is no deception. The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA

Thus, Shariputra, the bodhisattva mahasattva should train in the profound prajnaparamita.

Then the Blessed One arose from that samadhi and praised noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, saying, "Good, good, O son of noble family; thus it is, O son of noble family, thus it is. One should practice the profound prajnaparamita just as you have taught and all the tathagatas will rejoice."

When the Blessed One had said this, venerable Shariputra and noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, that whole assembly and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.


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Lotsawa Bhikshu Rinchen De translated this text into Tibetan with the Indian pandita Vimalamitra. It was edited by the great editor-lotsawas Gelong Namkha and others. This Tibetan text was copied from the fresco in Gegye Chemaling at the glorious Samye vihara. It has been translated into English by the Nalanda Translation Committee, with reference to several Sanskrit editions.

The Plant Medicine Sutra by Robert Schrei

Thus I have heard. That night the bodhisattva awoke and found herself surrounded by vines, branches, flowers, roots, sap, essence of the plant world, and the wild-ness of nature, all supplicating her for a teaching that would illumine their minds. The bodhisattva spoke: No, it is you, not I, who needs to speak; it is you, it is your voice that is needed to awaken the self-centered human species to the vast web of life and love and awareness that is the intimate birthright of us all. Your sap, your juices, your fibers, your chemistry. We ask that all of you speak through and to our species, blood and bone, in a language that is unmistakable, unfettered by the intellect we have come to value so highly. Speak to us of our interconnectedness, teach us how to hold each other in love, teach us how to experience our own primal essence, true nature, teach us how to know the essence of each sentient being, trees, grasses, rocks, mountains, stars, clouds, animals, insects, spirits, other realms of existence. We have lost our connection and wander here and there without center, unaware of the web that you sustain. It is from you that I learned from countless rebirths of the altruism of the natural world. Teach us how to enter the stream, the stream of vows, the stream of wishes, the stream of the hearts and minds of our ancestors. It is you who came forth and affirmed my nature when on that perilous night, I touched the Earth and called you to witness . . . Yes! Yes! You are worthy and it was your grace and blessings raining down from the spreading, unfolding branches of the bodhi tree that sustained me on my journey; it was you, as the early morning star that affirmed my nature and the nature of all sentient life, all beings, just as they are, whole and complete, lacking nothing, soaked with wisdom and compassion. We bow before you and ask for your teachings.

Tibetan philosophical systems (a tentative reading list) Sat, February 16, 2008 - 10:59 PM

I want to develop a good understanding of the various Tibetan philosophical systems, how they relate to each other, as well as how they differ (both from each other and from their Indian forerunners).

After I finish Gyurme Dorje’s dissertation on the Guhyagarbhatantra, I will be trying to start a Spring & Summer reading list which I hope will give me a better handle on this material. The tentative the reading list is below. Do you think this would be sufficient to get a broad understanding? Are some of these texts redundant? If you have read any of these and/or have recommendations, I would love some feedback.
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Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations by Georges B. J. Dreyfus

Maps of the Profound: Jamyang Shayba's Great Exposition of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist Views on the Nature of Reality by Jeffrey Hopkins

Buddhist Philosophy: Losang Gonchok's Short Commentary to Jamyang Shayba's Root Text on Tenets by Daniel Cozort

Knowledge & Liberation: Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology in Support of Transformative Religious Experience by Anne C. Klein

The Two Truths Debate: Tsongkhapa and Gorampa on the Middle Way by Sonam Thakchoe

Freedom from Extremes: Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness by Jose Ignacio Cabezon and Geshe Lobsang Dargyay

The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chopel by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

The Nature of Things: Emptiness and Essence in the Geluk World by William Magee

Absorption in No External World: 170 Issues in Mind Only Buddhism (Dynamic Responses to Dzong-Ka-Ba's the Essence of Eloquence) by Jeffrey Hopkins

The Yogacara School of Buddhism by John Powers

Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism by Jeffrey Hopkins

The Essence of Other-Emptiness by Taranatha

Mountain Doctrine: Tibet's Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha Matrix by Jeffrey Hopkins

Contemplating Reality: A Practitioner's Guide to the View in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism by Andy Karr

Knowing, Naming and Negation: A Sourcebook on Tibetan Sautrantika by Anne Klein

The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make? by Sara McClintock and Georges Dreyfus

A Study of Svantantrika by Donald Lopez

The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism