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Heart SutraThe Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra or Heart Sutra (Sanskrit: Prajñā Pāramitā Hridaya Sūtra, Chinese: 般若波羅蜜多心經) is a well known Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture. Notable for its brevity, concision and clarity, the Heart Sutra is considered to represent the core teachings of the much longer Perfection of Wisdom sutras, hence its name. The sutra fits easily on a single manuscript page. The study of the Heart Sutra is particularly emphasized in the Zen sects, and its Chinese version is frequently chanted (in the local pronunciation) during ceremonies in China, Japan, and Korea. Some scholars believe that the Heart Sutra was originally composed in China and only later translated into Sanskrit. However this appears to be a minority position; most hold that the Sanskrit is the original, even though the Chinese version has undoubtedly been more influential. The Heart Sutra contains a famous mantra or dharani, which appears in Sanskrit words even in the Chinese version, merely transliterated into Chinese characters: - Gate gate
- Pāragate
- 'Pārasamgate
- Bodhi svāhā
(Approximate pronunciation: guh-tay guh-tay pah-ra-guh-tay pah-ra-sahm-gah-tay bo-dee swah-hah) Most often translated approximately as: - Gone gone
- Gone beyond
- Altogether gone beyond
- Enlightenment, how wonderful!
External links Recommended reading
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