Buddha never philosophized the truth; he believed that truth can not be said. One of the reasons behind his silence about ten questions is said to be this that he did not wanted to categorize truth in yes and no. Nagarjuna one of the great philosopher and preacher explained Buddha's silence and created his great philosophy of nothingness. What Buddha avoided to answer later became the basis for development of Buddha dharma.
The philosophy of Sunyata is answers to the silence of Buddha. The whole Prajnaparamita literature which became the foundation for the development of Mahayana religion and Tantrik esotericism appeared from the sunyavada and the theory of cause and effect taught by Buddha. Heart sutra one of the primary sutra of Prajnaparamita literature is the seed sutra which explains above said two theories. Heart sutra is said to be the heart of Prajnaparamita philosophy. According to Mahayana Buddhism Tathagata preached it on the vulture peak at Rajgrih of Magadh to some of his selected disciples. There is a mystical narrative found in Mahayana Buddhism about how heart sutra descended from Buddha's wisdom and compassion to us although not directly from Buddha's mouth rather from the meditation of Arya Avalokitesvara.
Story goes thus: thus I did hear. At one time the Bhagavan was abiding at vulture peak in Rajagrah with great assembly of monks and a great assembly of bodhisattvas. At that time Bhagavan entered into Samadhi on the categories of phenomenon called 'perception of the profound'. Also at that time, the bodhisattva, the mahasattva, the noble Avalokitesvara beheld the practice of profound perfection of wisdom and saw that those five aggregates also are empty of intrinsic nature. Than, by the power of the Buddha, the venerable Sariputra said this to the bodhisattva mahasattva, noble Avalokitesvara, "how should a son of good lineage who wishes to practice the profound perfection of wisdom train?"
Heart sutra is answer to this critical question asked by Sariputra. Buddha did not preached it though it was his power that created the whole environment for heart sutra to come to us. Above narrative clearly says that when Buddha entered in the great Samadhi 'perception of the profound' only than Avalokitesvara got power of seeing the true nature of phenomena and Sariputra was able to ask question. But who heard it? It was a sacred discourse, very mystical and profound and can not be understood by unqualified person. Therefore only a qualified person would have been heard since sutra says 'thus I did hear'. Who is narrator 'I', Buddhist commentators still could find any name since sutra was secretly proclaimed. Tibetan Buddhist monks believe that it was Ananda who first heard this profound sutra, he was the first samgitikartr.
As it is usually believed that Ananda was very close to Tathagata and was witness of almost every event that took place in the lifetime of Buddha. Many Buddhist tenets say that "when the Buddha, the dharmaraja, the proclaimer of all doctrines, the muni appears, the refrain that phenomena do not exist arises comes from the grass, bushes, trees, plants, stones, and mountains." The Heart of the Heart sutra is the heart of all the Buddhas since in this very heart they do abide, from this very heart they do appear and in this very heart they do return.
This heart is the heart of lady Prajnaparamita, the great goddess of Mahayana. Sutra of entering in this mystical heart is 'emptiness' as taught in the heart sutra. This that, 'form is empty, empty is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is not other than emptiness'. To understand that all phenomena are empty, without characteristics, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not stainless, undiminished, and unfilled is the only way to realize the profound. This is the great awakening of perception. In Heart sutra Avalokitesvara says, "All the Buddhas who abide in the three times have fully awakened into unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment in dependence on the perfection of wisdom".
In the Mahayana Buddhism heart sutra is regarded as a gem and believed that by mere recitation and memorization of the sutra realization can take place. Heart sutra can also be used as a mantra since it has in its end a very powerful mantra, 'gate gate pargate parasamgate bodhi swaha'. In Tibetan Buddhism heart sutra is used as tantra since it has all the three elements of tantra i.e. outer, inner and the secret. According to Tantrik interpretation sutra is proclaimed as tantra because in the sutra Sariputra asked Avalokitesvara that, 'how should a son of good lineage who wishes to practice the profound perfection of wisdom train'. This not sutra rather tantra since it can not be imparted publicly and to every one, it was proclaimed in secret and for those who are of good lineage. Here good lineage means the lineage of Buddhas according to Buddhist tantras there are five Buddha lineages namely Ratnasambhava, Vairochana, Amitabh, Aksobhya, Amoghasiddi,.
Only a son of good lineage also refers to those who follow the path of Buddha as sutra itself says 'who wishes to enter in the Samadhi called perfection of profound', non others. A man of good lineage is bodhisattva since only in a bodhisattva this wish burst forth out of compassion that let me liberate myself in order to liberate others. Heart sutra is a ladder to conceive the ultimate truth 'Sunyata' which is beyond all categories of thinking. According to Dalai Lama, ' hear sutra is a mantra because it protects one's mind from erroneous beliefs, afflictions that arise from such believes and from the suffering produced by the mental afflictions". In relation to this a beautiful Japanese Story about a young boy is tolled by 'Miminashi Hoichi'. The young boy named Hoichi was a rare epic tale reciter.
He lived in the temple of Amidaji near the town of shimonoseki in the southern Honshu. One day while he was reciting the tale and playing the 'biwa' a stringed instrument, he heard someone call his name. from the sound of the foot step he determined that it was a samurai warrior.in full armor who told Hoichi that his lord was passing through the area and wished to have performed him the portion of the epic which tells that final battle.
He was led to what seemed and opulent villa where women spoke in the language of court. He was given a kneeling cushion and began to sing the mournful song of the battle. His performance was so poignant that the whispered praise he overheard soon changed to sobs and wails from what must have been a large audience. The lord was so moved that he invited him to perform for next six months.
The soldier led him back to the temple before dawn. The next night, the soldier came once again and led him to the king palace. This time however some temple servants followed. They lost Hoichi in the evening but heard his song, which led them to cemetery of Amidaji, where Hoichi sat alone. The led him back to the monastery where monks realized what happened to him. Hoichi was in grave ganger, for he had not taken to palace but to crematory, where he had performed not for king but for ghosts of the Heike clan. One night when he completed the tale he would be killed.
That night, the guru advised a plan to protect him. The monk took calligraphy brushes and ink and wrote the words of heart sutra over Hoichi's entire body. This would render him invisible. If remained silent and did not betray his presence with his voice when the soldier came to fetch him, the ghost would be unable to find him. The next morning the monks discovered Hoichi sitting in monastery garden, alive. But blood was flowing from holes of either side of his head, holes where his ears had been. The monks had forgotten to write the sutra on his ears, which alone remained visible to the ghost, who tore them off to present his lord. From then on, the famous singer of Heike monogatri was known as Miminashi Hoichi 'Hoichi the earless'.
Heart sutra is profound in meaning; it is most popular sutra in Buddhist religious practice. In china and Tibet it is daily recited in monasteries. Its Tantrik interpretation made it more popular in general people. It became a mantra through which not only knowledge is acquired but also material things too can be realized. In Tibet there are some secret thangka paintings are found in which heart sutra mandala is painted for meditation. The mandala of heart sutra is regarded secret in Tibetan Buddhism since its nature is esoteric. It's Visualization technique should be learned through an accomplished teacher.
