Brief and profound, the Heart Sutra encapsulates the essence of prajnaparamita—the perfection of wisdom personified as the “lady of wisdom.” The sutra emerged from the Buddha’s teachings at Vulture Peak (Gridhakuta) near Rajgir in India, a site that remains a pilgrimage destination for Buddhists from around the world.

The Heart Sutra is the philosophical core of the vast Prajnaparamita literature. In it, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara explains the nature of ultimate reality through the doctrine of emptiness (shunyata) in reply to a question from Shariputra, a senior disciple of the Buddha. The text points toward a wisdom that transcends all conceptual frameworks.

On Wednesday, I began assisting in the fifth year of Andrew Holecek’s Preparing to Die program, in which I’m meeting some wise and compassionate spiritual yogis and yoginis.

One is Ann Wheatley, who lives on the South Island of New Zealand and who set to music (including an oud) a free-verse remix of Thich Nhat Hanh and Ken McLeod’s translations of the sutra. I find her work (along with Thay’s and Ken’s) moving and have her permission to share it here in From the Pure Land. It is an honor and a blessing to pass it along to you.

The audio without my introduction and visuals is available here.

A Buddhist Path to Joy: The New Middle Way Expanded Edition by Mel Pine is available via online bookstores worldwide.

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