Heart Sutra Summary – Part 1

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.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

The Title

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

 

Observing Self-Being Bodhisattva 

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 to teach. History is not clear to us here. Guan Yin appears in many different forms to help every kind of life.

How did they reach such a high level?

Secondly, through practising observing the self-being.

So, we should observe ourselves in the present and how we are ‘being’ to reach a higher level of wisdom like this Bodhisattva. 

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

 

Bo Re Bo Luo Mi Duo Has Two Meanings

Here, it is saying how they reached this level of wisdom and became a Bodhisattva.

The first is awareness of the Eternal truth of life (Dharma.)

The second is to develop the 6 Bodhisattva characters. They are not listed in the Sutra directly, but they are:

• Generosity, 
• Discipline, 
• Patience,
• Concentration, 
• Meditation, 
• Wisdom Being

Both meanings help us understand the concept more deeply. 

Developing those characters is equal to being aware of the Eternal Truth of life. Without the characters, we can’t be aware of it. 

If we don’t have that ability yet, we cannot reach that.

In the same way, we cannot become professional tennis players by reading only a book. We have not even practised for one second!

Once we become the best, our understanding has reached a new level. We have developed something.

What happens once we develop something?

 

Bright Aware

They reached a stage of awareness called bright awareness.

This shows a bright, clear awareness, like a sun. It shines through their hearts.

It illuminates all the darkness with wisdom. It is poetic but clearly different from “Yes, I know that fact.”

This awareness changes the being so they are no longer the same. This awareness can no longer go backwards into foolishness again.

But what are they brightly aware of?

 

Awareness that the five developments are empty

There is also another Dharma to help us understand. 

Five developments explain the relationship between consciousness and all the changing power.

We are consciousness. We have the ability to be aware of something.

What are we aware of? All the things (illusion being)

Because when we observe life very deeply, we become aware that everything comes from causation. 

 

The Five developments are:

• Illusion Being (all the appearing changing form)
• Consciousness
  • Receiving (information) also called feelings
  • Thinking (Calculation)
  • Act / React
  • Awareness

 

This process never stops. The action creates a new causation, and the awareness leads to new receiving.

Everything comes from causation

 

Causation comes from this power of changing. 

Something cannot change by itself. It must somehow mix with something else and change.

For example, the sun’s heat warms the ocean, and water becomes steam. Steam mixes with cool air and becomes a cloud.

Change is a mix that comes from others and keeps going nonstop.

So, the entire existence of our universe—from Hells to Pure Lands—is all this changing power. 

But because it comes from the other, if we observe it deeply, we realise it is empty. 

That’s how life is, and that’s the most mysterious part! That’s the fun part of life.

Can you say there’s something truly there and not changing?

That means nothing’s moving. Everything would be frozen. We could not be aware of anything.

If everything stays the same, that will not work either. We cannot be aware of anything if everything stays the same. We would get bored. Everything is the same. We don’t have to look at second time. We don’t have to hear it a second time. It’s not possible. So there’s no life.

But if life is truly empty—like there is nothing there—we don’t have to be aware of anything because we are not even here!

 

So, the idea of emptiness does not mean nothing.

 

It means everything can appear as if it is there but truly is not there. That kind of empty.

It’s like a movie projected onto a screen. We see someone on the screen, but no one is there.

 

Illusion Being

Life is like a dream. If we think about a dream, it makes understanding it easier.

Everything can appear, but nothing is truly there. Wake up. Dream gone. Dream a new dream tonight. Goto sleep, dream appear again.

The power to dream is consciousness ability.

And that’s the mysterious part. 

Every Buddhist philosophy is connected to this basic truth. 

So 5 developments, the first development is illusion being. Already tells us it’s a changing power.

That’s why the Diamond Sutra teaches about dream illusions. We should practice observing life like a dream, a bubble, a shadow, lightning, or the dew that appears in the morning on a flower. It comes and goes without a break.

Our body is also like this. 

 

Receiving – Feelings

Our consciousness is something true, our true self.

But this never appears. Consciousness has the power to receive this illusion. To receive it, consciousness creates a body. Consciousness is trying to understand who I am and what I am. 

So, it creates a body, and through this tool senses receive information. 

The moment we receive information, we create one kind of feeling. Everything we receive becomes a feeling. So, receiving also means feelings.

 

Thinking

So, you receive information as feelings, and then you will try to understand your own feelings. The moment you try to understand your feelings, you already think about them.

Even if you have words or no words, you actually try to think about the feelings. 

 

Act / React

Then, you act based on your thoughts. You won’t go beyond that.

So, deep wisdom is crucial. Wrong thinking leads to wrong actions, and you may not realize that you’re doing them wrong.

There’s more power in belief than in mere thinking. True thought goes beyond language.

Sometimes, you feel the need to learn something important. But then, a voice says, “Let’s play. It’s nice outside. Learning can wait.” So, you end up learning nothing.

Now, deeper thoughts emerge. If you say, “I tried, but it didn’t work,” the question is, why?

You only tried with surface thoughts, not deep ones. Deep thinking blends all your thoughts. It reveals your true intentions.

By observing truths slowly, we see the full picture.

Gradually, our actions align with what is right. This is true dharma.

Correcting Action

 

 

Awareness

Our actions lack dharma. By understanding dharma, we improve it.

In Chinese, “Shi” means awareness, the act of being aware, and the ability to be aware.

Consciousness puzzles humans, even top scientists. Quantum physics is now shedding light on it.

Before this, scientists believed in a systematic material world. They called this science, which Buddhism refers to as dharma. They saw this system as all reality.

Thus, they excluded consciousness from their calculations.

Now, they realise that observing an atom alters it. Intent can influence the physical world.

Previously, consciousness was seen as personal views, feelings, beliefs, or imagined realities. People thought it had nothing to do with physical reality.

Quantum physics challenges previous scientific beliefs. Observing something alters it. Then, checks confirm this fact. Understanding follows. Our consciousness, it turns out, is key. It shapes the universe, bodies, and light. Light behaves like waves or straight lines.

Consider a video game. It springs to life when you play. When you stop, it vanishes. The game isn’t personal. It’s simply there for you.

 

Observing Emptiness

 

The form looks real, but it keeps changing.

Consciousness is real but never appears.

Life is so tricky!

Buddha says the whole universe is doing that. Life is already unlimited. Everything is already built, and it continues to change unlimitedly.

But you can only discover it when you observe it. And that’s actually easy to understand.

Any ability you build is through your observation, which makes you aware of it. It becomes your ability. And then this universe, whatever knowledge we discover, is like that.

Cavemen didn’t have lighters, but if they had been aware, they could have done it at their time, too. Lighters already existed back then; you would have needed awakened awareness and wisdom to discover them. 

But the possibility can exist. It has no beginning or end. It’s only when you discover it that you realise it’s there.

So you think we need to make something happen? No.

Everything’s already there. Can you discover it? That’s all.

So, become Buddha also like that. Buddha is always there. Our Buddhahood, our unlimited awareness, is in our hearts.

Buddha said that whatever you connect to, you become.

Like Taiji, you must connect to Taiji philosophy, observe it, and be aware of it.

You’re aware of it, and then you can always enjoy it.

A high-level being develops wisdom and becomes it. They reach a bright awareness to enjoy every moment of their lives, free from suffering.

Lights on, then darkness disappears. Lights off, darkness appears.

Only true ability can remain with the lights on.