Homage to the perfection of wisdom, the Blessed Mother.
Thus I have heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha on Massed Vultures Mountain together with a great assembly of monks and a great assembly of Bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One was absorbed in the concentration of the countless aspects of phenomena, called ‘Profound Illumination’.
At that time also the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the Great Being, was looking perfectly at the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom, looking perfectly at the emptiness of inherent existence also of the five aggregates.
Then, through the power of Buddha, the Venerable Shariputra said to the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the Great Being, ‘How should a Son of the lineage train who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom?’
Thus he spoke, and the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the Great Being, replied to the Venerable Shariputra as follows:
‘Shariputra, whatever Son or Daughter of the lineage wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom should look perfectly like this: subsequently looking perfectly and correctly at the emptiness of inherent existence also of the five aggregates.
‘Form is empty; emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form also is not other than emptiness. Likewise, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors, and consciousness are empty.
‘Shariputra, like this all phenomena are merely empty, having no characteristics. They are not produced and do not cease. They have no defilement and no separation from defilement. They have no decrease and no increase.
‘Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mentality; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no tactile object, no phenomenon. There is no eye element and so forth up to no mentality element and also up to no element of mental consciousness. There is no ignorance and no exhaustion of ignorance and so forth up to no ageing and death and no exhaustion of ageing and death. Likewise, there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; no exalted awareness, no attainment, and also no non-attainment.
‘Therefore, Shariputra, because there is no attainment, Bodhisattvas rely upon and abide in the perfection of wisdom; their minds have no obstructions and no fear. Passing utterly beyond perversity, they attain the final nirvana. Also all the Buddhas who reside perfectly in the three times, having relied upon the perfection of wisdom, became manifest and complete Buddhas in the state of unsurpassed, perfect, and complete enlightenment.
‘Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the equal-to-the-unequalled mantra, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, since it is not false, should be known as the truth. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is proclaimed:
TAYATHA OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SÖHA
‘Shariputra, a Bodhisattva, a Great Being, should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like this.’
Then the Blessed One arose from that concentration and said to the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the Great Being, that he had spoken well: ‘Good, good, O Son of the lineage. It is like that. Since it is like that, just as you have revealed, in that way the profound perfection of wisdom should be practised, and the Tathagatas will also rejoice.’
When the Blessed One had said this, the Venerable Shariputra, the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva, the Great Being, and that entire circle of disciples as well as the worldly beings – gods, humans, demi-gods, and spirits – were delighted and highly praised what had been spoken by the Blessed One.