Unlocking the Wisdom of Emptiness: A Modern Take on the Heart Sutra

In Easy-to-Read English :)

Taiwan Lotuses — Symbol for purifying our hearts with wisdom — Author’s Image.

Here is the first part of a summary of the Heart Sutra from a master of philosophy and martial arts.

I transcribed the philosophy class below.

The Title

It’s a philosophy book that helps us observe our hearts to reach Nirvana.

Observing Self-Being Bodhisattva

The first sentence introduces our main character and summarizes the story.

Observing Self-Being Bodhisattva is two ideas.

First, it means there is the highest level of Bodhisattva here as the subject.

This could be Guan Yin (Observing Life Sound Bodhisattva) or a Buddha appearing as a Bodhisattva. History is not clear to us here. Guan Yin appears in many different forms to help every kind of life, so that is who we generally accept it to refer to.

But how did they reach such a high level?

That is the second meaning—his name.

Through practising observing the self-being.

We should watch ourselves in the present and check our ‘being.’ This will help us gain wisdom, like the Bodhisattva.