The Heart Sutra
from the forward to The Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore:
The Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sutra is the essence of Buddhist teaching. It is chanted or recited daily in monastic and lay communities throughout the world. Thích Nhất Hạnh’s commentaries, contained in his book The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, are part of the continuous stream of oral transmission basic to Buddhism since the time of Śākyamuni Buddha, 2500 years ago.
Introductory Chanting
During many Plum Village ceremonies, the Heart Sutra is one of the preparatory chants, together with the Incense Offering and the Opening Chant. You may wish to begin your practice in the same way.
Here is a link to the Incense Offering page.
Here is a link to the Opening Chant page.
The Heart Sutra
The Insight that Brings us to the Other Shore:
Avalokiteśvara
while practicing deeplyˆ with
the Insight that Brings Us to the O‿ther Sho‿re,ˆ
suddenly discovered that
all of the five Skandhas areˆ equally emptyˆ,
and with this realization
(s)he overcameˆ all Ill-being.
“Listen Śāriputra,
this Body itse‿lf is Emptiness
and Emptinessˆ itself is this Body.
Thisˆ Body is not other than Emptinessˆ
and Emptiness is not o‿ther than thisˆ Bo‿dy.
The same is true ofˆ Feelings,
Perce‿ptions, Mental Forma‿tions,
and‿ˆ Consciousness. 
“Listen Śāriputra,
all phenomena bear the mark ofˆ Emptiness;
their true nature is the natureˆ of
no Birth no Deathˆ,
no Being no Non-being,
no Defilementˆ no Purity,
no Increasing no Decreasing.ˆ
“That is why in Emptiness,
Bo‿‿dy, Feelingsˆ, Perce‿ptionsˆ,
Mental Formations and Consciousnessˆ
are no‿‿‿t separate self entities.
“The Eighteen Realms of Phenomena
which are the six Sense Organsˆ,
the six Sense Objects,
and the six Consciousnessesˆ
are also not separate self entities.
“The Twelve Links of Interdependent Arising
and their Extinction
are also notˆ separate self entities.
Ill-being, the Causes of Ill-being,
the End of Illˆ-being, the Path,
insight and attainmentˆ,
are also not separate self entitiesˆ.
“Who‿ever can see thisˆ
no longer needs any‿thingˆ to attain.
“Bodhisattvas who practice
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shoreˆ
see no more obstacles in their mindˆ,
and becau‿se there
are no‿ moreˆ obstacles in their mind,
they can overcome all fear‿ˆ,
destroy all wrong perceptions
and realizeˆ Perfect Nirvāṇa.
“All Buddhas in the past, present and future
by practicing
the Insight thatˆ Brings Us to the O‿ther Sho‿reˆ
are all capable of attain‿ing
Authentic andˆ Perfect Enlightenment.
“Therefore Śāriputra,
it shou‿ld be known that
the Insightˆ that Brings Us to the Other Shore
is a Great Mantraˆ,
the mo‿st illuminating mantraˆ,
the high‿est mantraˆ,
a mantra bey‿ond compa‿re,
theˆ True‿‿ Wisdom that has‿ theˆ power
to put‿ anˆ end to all kinds‿ of suffering."
Therefore let us‿ proclaim‿
a mantra to praise‿
theˆ Insight that Brings‿ Us to‿ the O‿ther Shore.
Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā! 1
Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā!
Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgatebodhi svāhā!
« » between the quotation marks, the community joins in the chant as a chorus.
1 Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, gone all the way to the other shore, Enlightenment, hail!