The Heart Sutra
A word-to-word Chinese-English translation for Buddhist chanting practice
Chanting the Heart Sutra is a popular Buddhist practice in East Asia for several reasons. First, it is one of the shortest sacred texts, which makes it convenient for even people who lead busy lives. It is also a daily practice of my wife and me. Despite being short, it’s very condensed: it can be easily considered to contain the very essence of Buddhist wisdom. Hence the full title: The Heart (essence) of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita).
Second, it’s a sutra whose main character is Guanyin Bodhisattva (appearing with another name, Guanzizai (觀自在), which is another Chinese translation of the Sanskrit Avalokitesvara. Guanyin, the personification of the Buddhist ideal of Compassion, often seen as a mother-figure is immensely popular among practitioners. This adds to the popularity of the Heart Sutra as well.
This translation of the Heart Sutra is primarily meant for English-speaking practitioners, who nevertheless, for one reason or another, prefer to adhere to the tradition of chanting the sutra in Chinese.
The principles behind the translation are simple:
- It should be easy-to-follow, at a reasonable speed, to chant in Chinese, while being able to understand the underlying English text.
- Wherever possible, the English should correspond one-to-one to the Chinese characters.
- If this is not possible, at least maintain understandability in English.
- Prefer shorter, simpler words to aid quick comprehension.
- Clearly signal Sanskrit transliterations, by rendering them in all-caps.
The full Chinese text, with modern punctuations:
般若波羅蜜多心經
觀自在菩薩，行深般若波羅蜜多時，照見五蘊皆空，度一切苦厄。舍利子！色不異空，空不異色；色即是空，空即是色，受想行識亦復如是。舍利子！是諸法空相，不生不滅，不垢不淨，不增不減。是故，空中無色，無受想行識；無眼耳鼻舌身意；無色聲香味觸法；無眼界，乃至無意識界；無無明，亦無無明盡，乃至無老死，亦無老死盡；無苦集滅道；無智亦無得。以無所得故，菩提薩埵。依般若波羅蜜多故，心無罣礙；無罣礙故，無有恐怖，遠離顛倒夢想，究竟涅槃。三世諸佛，依般若波羅蜜多故，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。故知：般若波羅蜜多是大神咒，是大明咒，是無上咒，是無等等咒，能除一切苦，真實不虛。故說般若波羅蜜多咒，即說咒曰：揭諦揭諦，波羅揭諦，波羅僧揭諦，菩提薩婆訶。
The translation follows below:
Please do not hesitate to let me know if you spot any errors, or if you have any suggestions to improve.
