Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 96-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche crosses from prologue commentary into the Heart Sūtra’s actual text — ending on a deliberate pause before the first key answer is given. He opens with Tsongkhapa’s Praise of Dependent Arising to ground the sūtra’s central logic: because all phenomena arise dependently, they are empty, and that emptiness liberates beings from saṃsāra. He then unpacks the common prologue’s four excellences (time, teacher, place, disciple) with careful etymology of Vulture Peak, bhikkhu, bodhisattva, and Chenrezig. The unique prologue follows: Buddha enters samadhi on “perception of the profound” to bless Avalokiteśvara for the dialogue ahead. The session closes with Śāriputra’s question posed — how should noble sons and daughters practice the perfection of wisdom? — but deferred to next week. A Q&A addresses who realizes emptiness and the three progressive wisdoms of hearing, contemplation, and meditation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 HS 2000 10 31.mp3
UUID: 197f0203-d604-4460-8cfe-513ea2a15b67
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Heart Sūtra (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 2000-10-31
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 96.5 minutes
Words: ~4,403
If we do the practices of listening and teaching and giving teaching through the motivation of altruistic intention bodhicitta, then our practice will become very effective and the result of being so will result towards a great happiness. Should develop a compassion and affection wishing that how wonderful it is if both oneself and others be free from all the sufferings and their causes. And develop their love, wishing how wonderful it is for both to have the happiness in all their causes. And I shall bring all the sentient beings towards free all the sentient beings, including myself, from all the sufferings and their causes and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness. For that purpose, I’ll lead a good practice to overcome all the negativities and the fall and attain the entire good qualities of the mind.
So in order to accomplish such wish, I shall hear, listen, contemplate, and meditate on the Heart Sūtra teachings, which is the teaching of the essence teaching of the Mahāyāna or great vehicle through this, I will bring a huge benefit to itself and others. And we shall do a short meditation on this great master of Tsongkhapa, his praise of Dependent Arising, was made for the Buddha Śākyamūni, and text called The Praise of the Dependent Arising said that whatever you have spoken begins from dependent arising, and it’s for the purpose of passing beyond sorrow. You have no activities that that do not bring peace, which means that Lord Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth a number of teachings of Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, including sūtra and the tantras, but all the teachings were based on the dependent arising. What it means is that all the phenomena are dependent arising. So, they are product of depending on others, like without are the product predominance or the product of the combination of causes and conditions are being produced by relying upon a part or by on the basis of label or the fabrications or thought.
So without depending on others, there can’t be the phenomenon do not exist. Therefore, that everything is dependent arising. Because everything depends on relying upon others, therefore it is empty or it’s emptiness. Saying such emptiness comes and such emptiness is the one which frees the migrating beings from the cyclic existence or saṃsāra. So therefore you wish proof that all teachings you have set forth is to free beings from the cyclic existence.
So, this is the reason the emptiness has been set forth very profound and very precious teaching. It is because the reason why it is empty or emptiness is because all phenomena comes from depending on others, therefore they are dependent arising, and for that reason the emptiness comes. So now, today we begin the actual teaching of the Heart Sūtra, and the Heart Sūtra begins from the discussion of the discussion of the prologue. And why it is been discussed is because it’s the reason why it’s been discussed is to understand because understand the heart where how does the Heart Sūtra the teaching of Heart Sūtra came? So therefore, if you have memorized the sūtra, is good.
If not, then it would be good to go through the Heart Sūtra text which we have recited from the beginning so that it will be explained word to word. So now the text begins from the discussion of the prologue that produced the sūtra and the discussion of the actual sūtra produced from that. And now with with respect to the first one, it has two, and the first one is called the common prologue, in which the text begins from thus I have heard, which shows the four excellences. The first one is called the Thus I Have Heard showed the Time, which shows the first one, the excellent time, which was the time that Buddha Śākyamūni still exists at that time. And who have heard this?
As the text says, Thus I have heard. And the I, which refers to Ānanda who was the cousin of Buddha Śākyamūni or he was a son of Buddha Śākyamūni’s sister, and said that he have heard this entire teaching within a short period. At that time, the Ānanda was not a Hinayanist, he was not the Mahāyāna practitioner, he was the Hearer practitioner and the text which he had received was not to be was not able to set forth by the Hearer practitioner. The reason why he said he was able to was because he was blessed by the Buddha Śākyamūni. That’s the words the text started from Thus I have heard such and such and such, which means saying that Thus I have heard and heard the teaching in one instant or in a very short period.
And where he had heard, and the text goes, great destroyer or Bhagavan, which was Buddha. He had heard it from Buddha. And that line shows the second excellences which is the excellent teacher. Thus I have heard great destroyer Bhagavan, so and so forth, the assembly in Rajgir. The reason of saying Bhagavan and Vulture Peak was the place where actual Heart Sūtra was taught, and it was up in the hill that the shape of the hill was in the shape of big vulture.
This is the reason it’s called the Vulture Peak. Rajgir is the city or the kingdom where the Vulture Peak was, so which the line shows the third excellence which was the excellent place. So that Vulture Peak in Rajgir was set forth to be excellent and holy place. It says the Dagpur cup in Tibetan was which is the resident of the king. The reason why it is set forth is because at that time, it was the time during Buddha was in India, there were set forth to be six great kingdoms.
So, in the six great kingdoms during that time is, let us stick with the Tibetan word, Kuru was the first, Nyechen is the second, Sambhakha was the third, and Varanasi, Yangbachen was the fifth, and last one was the Rajgir. So at that time, these were the six great kingdoms in Delhi and Kolkata that doesn’t exist at all. And the four different languages were within the six kingdoms at that time? The languages were called the Sanskrit and native speaking and also called the broken language. And the first one was Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is the language. Among those four types of languages, the Sanskrit was considered to be the utmost language, therefore Buddha Śākyamūni taught in Sanskrit language. In these days, some scholars or researchers say it was also taught in Pāli language. So the kingdom, the resident of the king or the kingdom, the Rajgir, was set forth, it is because which symbolizes or represents the place for the layman. So the Rajgir and the Vulture Peak, and Rajgir was set forth to be the place to place the utmost place from the layman’s place.
And the Vulture Peak was set forth to be the place to symbolize it within the places which are free from ever afflicted emotions, and it was set forth to be the utmost among the places which were free from afflictions. I’m not quite sure whether there is vulture in Australia, but it is available in Africa and Tibet. It’s a type of bird that the gray color with a very big and long neck, very strong fly speed and powerful and eats only meat. The reason why it’s called the Vulture Peak is because the place where the Heart Sūtra was taught was in similar shape or looks like a vulture shape, that’s how it’s been called vulture shape. Let’s go the Vulture Peak.
The Vulture word says the part of Vulture Peak or the Vulture Peak. In that peak, we’re set forth to be and on that hill or peak, on the hills there are lots of tiny little stones as well and each stones are in the shape of vulture. That’s how it’s called the bunches of vulture peaks. I know what a story. Therefore it’s been called Vulture Peak, and the place itself was considered to be a very holy place.
It is because that was the place where the Heart Sūtra, the teaching of emptiness was set forth. This place was set forth to be it comes out of the Buddha Śākyamūni’s meditative stabilization because it has been blessed by the Buddha Śākyamūni because if the place itself has not been blessed and a very holy place, then when if the Heart Sūtra was given on an ordinary place, the place will be destroyed or desecrated. The teaching was taught in the Vulture Peak and the disciples who received the teaching was in number of twenty five thousand Bodhisattvas, and so it is considered to be a very holy place, and it’s very fortunate and very good if you can pay visits on a pilgrimage to places, those holy places like Vulture Peak, Bodh Gaya, the Kushinagarr where Buddha was cremated, the place called Lumbinī where Buddha was born. It was set forth if you can visit through the pilgrimage, and then was said that one by visiting those holy places, it has been said that one will not go to the lower rebirth for once. And then the end of the verse end of the line, the first sentence was great bhikkhus and bodhisattvas, shows the four excellences, which is the excellent disciples.
The word says gelong, the bhikkhus, which means the taking of vow of not to cultivate any negativities through the first two doors, body and speech, keeping the vow maintained until forever is called the bhikkhu. And the word Gendun, which is the virtues and the Gue, which means virtues. The dun is the intention or likeness towards the virtues, which means the virtues referred towards the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the Three Jewels, and dun is the devotion, indestructible, indestructible. Faith and the devotion which is very strong, which can’t be betrayed or which can’t be destroyed even by the harms of hundred miles. The person who has this strong faith and devotion in the triple gem, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is called the Gendun.
So, the Bodhisattvas in Tibetan are Changchub Sempa. Changchub stands for Changchub, which means Chang is purified and Chub, which means have achieved or cultivated, which means that Chang is being purified, those who have purified the negativities or disturbing emotions. And the Chub, which means? Which means they have attained, means who have achieved the great qualities. And called bodhisattva, and sattva, which means who always work for the welfare or work to benefit the sentient beings.
So, yeah, bodhisattva, the sattva and the sempa in Tibetan, pa, which also means the very brave that which can’t be who have overcome the harms of the non humans or the Maras. So, it’s called the bodhisattva and mahasattva, which is mahasattva. This refers to the reason which means mahasattva is within the five paths of the Mahāyāna school started from the accumulation path, preparation path, and the path of seeing. So the mahasattva, which counted from the third path, a person who have reached the third path of the Mahāyāna have been called the superior beings. So this is the it has been explained in that way, it’s called starting from the third path, or the tempo which also means could be in great numbers.
And together with one skillful means, which means that all the disciples there receiving the teachings with one intention or with the one skillful means that is to the enlightenment. And sit, which means sit together with the mahasattvas and so forth. To sit, which means the Buddha Śākyamūni sit along with the excellent disciples. So here, up to here, it shows the four excellences which concludes the four excellences, the excellent time, place, teacher, the disciple. This concludes the teaching of the first subdivision of the second main division, which is the explanation of the common prologue.
The reason why it’s called common is because the explanation of this teaching has also been found in others as well. And now here it begins the second subdivision which is the unique prologue, which only comes in the Heart Sūtra teachings. That’s why it’s called unique. So, in the text, it begins from, at that time, the Bhagavan Victor was absorbed in samadhi on the category of the phenomenon called perception of the profound, which begins the second subdivision, unique prologue. And so, the meaning of at that time, which was the time that the numbers of disciples whose minds were ripened to receive the teaching of emptiness.
At the time, when Buddha Śākyamūni attained enlightenment and he had stated that at that point, at that stage, saying that I have found the teaching of emptiness, which is very profound, free of elaboration yeah, elaboration. From this at the time of enlightenment, if I teach this teaching to others, if I teach this, there won’t be anyone or any disciple who can understand such teachings, such teaching. Therefore, he stayed silent for a while. And then after a while, the disciples’ minds seemed to arrive and Buddha Śākyamūni has started to teach for the disciple beginning at the Sarnath, the Varanasi, of teaching of four noble truths including emptiness. He has given a very vast teaching or a big teaching at that time and numbers and have also ripened the numbers of the mind stream of the disciples.
So it’s said that at that time the Bhagavan Victor was absorbed in samadhi on the categories of phenomena called perception or profound. The profound, which refers towards the teaching of emptiness and perception or Nangwa in Tibetan word which can also be translated in the appearances. So anyway, the perception here which refers towards the wisdom, which wisdom realizing emptiness. And was said And was that? Was in the adverb, in the samadhi on the categories of phenomena called the perception of profound view.
So it was the Buddha Śākyamūni, was in the Samādhi on the categories of all the phenomena, which called the phenomena are in numbers of the phenomena are was on samadhi on five aggregates, twelve sources, eighteen elements of perceptions. The reason why Buddha Śākyamūni was in the Samādhi on the categories of phenomena is because to bless the disciple Avalokiteśvara to bless the Avalokiteśvara to understand the teachings of emptiness. The reason why he was in the Samādhi on the categories of phenomena is because to bless Avalokiteśvara to understand and or have the clear understanding within his mind within the Avalokiteśvara because of the later teachings that are coming up, the numbers of during the teachings, the questions will be asked by Śāriputra and that the question was asked to Avalokiteśvara. Therefore, it was the reason because by blessing the Avalokiteśvara, and when and by blessing him later, the Avalokiteśvara will be able to give the answer for the questions. So how he blessed Avalokiteśvara was the verse or a line starting from the text which starting from also at that time, the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the superior Avalokiteśvara, and saw that those five aggregates also are empty of inherent existence.
So, placed in Avalokiteśvara to understand the empty, the inherent existing nature or empty of inherent existing nature of the phenomena, of the five aggregates. The yes, called the bodhisattva, mahasattva, Superior Avalokiteśvara. The reason the superior which means the superior than the ordinary being. The ordinary beings are the beings those who have not realized the emptiness. So the ones yeah, the persons who are superior are the persons who realize the emptiness.
And Avalokiteśvara is the Sanskrit name, whereas in Tibetan called Chenrezig, Wangchuk, and Īśvara. Avalokiteśvara was a superior being who have realized the emptiness directly, therefore it’s superior than the ordinary person. And Avalokita which means in Tibetan, and Chen refers to as the eye, has ishvara, the one chuk, has power, which means have a gain of power to true, just by looking through the eye, looking at the sentient beings, a power to free the being from the suffering or from the cyclic existence. That’s why it’s called that’s the meaning of Chenrezig Wangchuk or Avalokiteśvara. So, Chenrezig was blessed by Buddha Śākyamūni to see, to contemplate on the meaning of the perfection of the wisdom and wisdom, which is the perfection wisdom, are like the text where it shows the emptiness called the the perfected text or the perfection text and the path perfection path and the resulting path, resulting perfections.
So I call it the perfection sutras. And so that those five aggregates which are to see to realize the meaning or realize the emptiness of the five aggregates and also are the empty of inherent existence which also the reason why it’s called also it’s just the empty the the inherent existence of the five aggregates, but also implies the rest, which are the six twelve sources and eighteen elements of perception are also the emptiness. So such a discussion of the prologue has been called the unique prologue because this discussion is not, it’s taught or discussed in the Heart Sūtra and was not in others. Up to here are the discussions of the prologue and forth, which is to to discussion of where the teaching was set for, which place, and how it was taught and from whom and so forth. And now the actual teaching of the Heart Sūtra begins from the second main division which is called the meaning of the actual sūtra and that starts from the verses. Śāriputra asks his questions.
From here, we begin the actual teaching of the sūtra up and the previous teaching we have taught is called preliminary. Now the rest of the teachings shows how the Śāriputra answers how Chenrezig gives the answers for the questions and how Buddha Śākyamūni or the teacher admires the answers? And then the text begins from how Buddha Śākyamūni blessed the Śāriputra’s mind stream to raise the questions. The Śāriputra’s mother’s name was Sharika. So Śāriputra, in Tibetan, Śāriputra because it comes from the name of the family, the mother being called Sharika. And Pu, which is referred to the Putra, is called the son.
And that’s how it’s called the son of Sharika. So it’s been called Sharipu and sometimes called Śāriputra or Śāriputra, and the second one was includes with the family name, and the first one, Sharipu, is called the son of Shari. So now begins from that time and also say it was the time when the Śāriputra was asking a question to Avalokiteśvara. So at that time, the Buddha Śākyamūni has blessed the Śāriputra’s mind stream, and thus he asked the question to such question has been asked during Vesik or Avalokiteśvara. So the question was how the how the noble son and the daughter the noble is called those who have developed the bodhicitta or altruistic intention, called the bodhicitta, being called the son and the daughter of noble family or noble ones.
And kang la la, which in Tibetan was set and those So, kang, which is in Tibetan grammar terms, is a general word which pervades entire, and kang la la is those who separate, the la la separates, which means the first one I said, the noble son and their daughters, and those who have not developed or debuted altruistic intention. So the question was how those sons and the daughters and the others can relish or the So the question was that those are the sons and daughters of noble ones and the others who wishes to meditate on the emptiness, how can they meditate on the profound perfection wisdom or practice the profound perfection wisdom. Reason why the Śāriputra, they put emphasis on those noble sons and daughters. It’s because those who are the noble sons and daughters, if they meditate or practice, they can attain the realization on emptiness and so forth within lives. So that was the reason they put the emphasis on the word noble son and daughter.
So they are called the noble son and the daughters, which also implies for those beings who say, have the genitals but which can’t function. Eunuchs? And there was the other word as well. Anyway, the So it’s three types. One hasn’t got any genitals which was eunuchs, and some have but can’t function emptiness, and those who have both.
Was looking for that. If the person is one of those, such a person can’t gain any realization through practice. So the noble son and daughters replaced it most and because if a person, the noble son and meditate will attain the realization within their life, and Kang la la, which refers to it, the path noble sons and daughters, and those who are like those, if they want to, the Kang la la which is not the noble sons and daughters but they are, doesn’t belong to any of those three mentioned ones. So if that person wants to meditate, how can they meditate or practice on the profound perfection wisdom? So that was the question.
To evaluate them, if those how those persons can practice on the profound or practice the profound yeah, the perfection of wisdom. How can they practice such? So the question and answer was between the Avalokiteśvara and the Śāriputra, and the first question was how those noble sons and daughters will meditate or practice on the or realize the emptiness, This was the question. And the answer will be given by Avalokiteśvara in the later parts is saying how if one how to study on the emptiness and how one meditates how can one realize or attain the view of wisdom realizing emptiness through meditation. The discussion is between the Śāriputra and Avalokiteśvara and the rest of the disciples were listening for the discussion of the those between those two, and through this they understood the teaching of the Buddha Śākyamūni was very skilled in teaching disciple teach, very skilled to teach disciple the teaching of emptiness in very skillful way through this.
This is how he taught the disciple, the teaching of emptiness, letting Śāriputra and the Avalokiteśvara to discuss the question and answers and let the disciple to listen, and this is the way how he taught. Which is the reason we keep a time at the end of the teaching for the questions because the person who doesn’t understand or has doubt on a certain set point will ask will raise the question question and I’ll give the answer and others can listen and can learn many things through the question and answer. If both the question and answer becomes very good question and answer, people can learn a lot, but if both question and answer were not a good question and a good answer, then they can learn nothing. We’ll stop here today and next week we’ll begin from answer how shall we Avalokiteśvara give the answer of how one can meditate on practice emptiness, the meaning of emptiness. Okay.
So we shall stop teaching here and take some questions. Question has to be very and I will try my best to give good answers. You’ll be the next person, please. I’m not good at repeating. Can you speak louder, please?
Can you hear the questions or no? Alright. Can if the practitioner realizes the the emptiness of self and phenomena and the actual dapadis, who realizes the emptiness and what was realized? Is that something like that? What does the realizing realization?
So who realizes the emptiness? Yeah, yeah. Of self and phenomena. Within the person, there are these numbers of perceptions inside, and within the perception which is called the wisdom, which wisdom realizes emptiness realizes the emptiness because the wisdom, the actual realizer is the wisdom but because the wisdom exists within the person and we say that person realizes the emptiness, but it actually was not the person, the wisdom within the person realizes the emptiness. We call the three doors, body speech and mind, and the mind, which is called the same in Tibetan words. So within the mind there are different types of mind, the different types of mind, within the mind, one of the yeshe is called the wisdom, which wisdom, that wisdom analyzes the matter or analyzes the meaning of the emptiness and through analyzation, the person, that wisdom realizes the wisdom realizes the emptiness.
And originally because the wisdom is based within the person’s mind who possess the mind or wisdom, therefore we don’t say the wisdom realizes the emptiness we say the person realizes. So as for the wisdom, there are three types of wisdom. The wisdom of hearing comes from hearing, from contemplation, and from the meditation. So the process is the first one is the wisdom of hearing, that particular wisdom which has the numbers of teachings. After hearing all the teachings for numbers of time, then the next step is the step of the wisdom, is the wisdom which contemplates on the hearing, the teachings that one has heard. And through all the contemplations, seeing the true nature of the teachings or the reality of the teachings and finding, bringing all into the resolution, finding the final meaning of the teaching, and then when they bring into when they got the resolution or the final see the final reality of the teaching, then person meditates on the final meaning of the teachings, and therefore and the wisdom which came through the meditation is called the wisdom gain or come through meditation, and that was the third wisdom which was set forth to be the utmost.
I can do a good meditation because I’m frustrated. And such wisdom derived through meditation and that meditation, that wisdom which meditates on emptiness or meditates and again and again make you familiarize with the actual meditation and that wisdom perfects and becomes the wisdom gone beyond. And that wisdom abandons or eliminates the entire disturbing emotions and finally attains the enlightenment. Buddha. Buddha.
Buddha. And I got the second part. What was the first part? It’s called did you say Buddha Śākyamūni? Or Yeah.
That was it. Yeah. It it was in the book. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.