theology

Jeffrey Tjhe

Professor Stephen Chan

THRS 230

June-05-2009

Reflections on The Heart of Sutra

Primarily known for its teachings on emptiness , the Hannya Shinyo otherwise known as The Heart Sutra ' which is one of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition , is based on the philosophy of finding Nirvana . It is also based on the philosophy of rejecting material possessions and is somehow related to Christ 's teachings about salvation

At present time , The Heart of Sutra ' is arguably the most popular Buddhist text . Its

main is the Perfection of Wisdom , talking about the futility of all material possessions . The original text is written in Sanskrit and was only translated later into Chinese and other languages (May . Other authors however claim the opposite , saying that the text came sometime between 200 and 250 C .E

According to its history , Avalokiteshvara is the speaker of the text Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of Compassion , and legend suggests that the text was written in response to a certain monk named Sariputra 's teachings about the concept of dharma . It is said that Avalokiteshvara had an epiphany about the futility of human existence or the skandahs ' which are : form , feeling , perception , volition , and consciousness (May . To sum up his philosophy , the world is composed of emptiness so in to achieve perfection of wisdom , the emptiness has to be dealt with first

Avalokiteshvara sees form and emptiness as one in the same thing . It means that form does not amount...