Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 观自在菩萨，行深般若波罗蜜多时，照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄。舍利子，色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色，受想行识，亦复如是。舍利子，是诸法空相，不生不灭，不垢不净，不增不减。 | Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, while practicing the profound Prajñāpāramitā, clearly saw that the five aggregates are all empty, and thereby crossed beyond all suffering and adversity. Śāriputra, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. Feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are likewise. Śāriputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness: they neither arise nor cease, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. |
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| 是故空中无色，无受想行识，无眼耳鼻舌身意，无色声香味触法，无眼界，乃至无意识界，无无明，亦无无明尽，乃至无老死，亦无老死尽。无苦集灭道，无智亦无得。以无所得故。菩提萨埵，依般若波罗蜜多故，心无挂碍。 | Therefore, in emptiness there is no form; no feeling, perception, mental formations, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects, or dharmas; no eye realm, up to and including no realm of mind consciousness; no ignorance, nor extinction of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death. There is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; no wisdom and no attainment. Because there is nothing to attain, bodhisattvas, relying on Prajñāpāramitā, have no hindrance in their minds. |
| 无挂碍故，无有恐怖，远离颠倒梦想，究竟涅槃。三世诸佛，依般若波罗蜜多故，得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。故知般若波罗蜜多，是大神咒，是大明咒，是无上咒，是无等等咒，能除一切苦，真实不虚。故说般若波罗蜜多咒，即说咒曰：揭谛揭谛，波罗揭谛，波罗僧揭谛，菩提萨婆诃。 | Because there is no hindrance, there is no fear. Far removed from inverted views and deluded dreams, they ultimately attain nirvāṇa. All Buddhas of the three times, relying on Prajñāpāramitā, attain unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Therefore, know that Prajñāpāramitā is the great spiritual mantra, the great bright mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is true and not false. Therefore the Prajñāpāramitā mantra is proclaimed. It is proclaimed thus: Gate, gate, pāragate, pārasaṃgate, bodhi svāhā. |
| 凡人要度苦厄，了生死，成大觉，非从自心下手不可。但要明白自心，只依这二百六十个字，已经够了。但空的道理不明白，自心的相貌也难彻了。 | If ordinary people are to cross beyond suffering and adversity, transcend birth and death, and attain great awakening, they must begin with their own minds. Yet to understand one’s own mind, these 260 characters alone are already sufficient. But if one does not understand the principle of emptiness, one will also find it difficult to fully comprehend the nature of one’s own mind. |
| 这个经，最主要是说性空的道理，不是世人所说的空，那是断灭空，他们误解佛法是消极自了的。今把此经判分七段，用白话来逐字逐句解释，使世人明白空的真义，不至误会造业。由此断一切苦厄，并可发大悲平等心救世，证明佛法在社会上的大用，实是开发世界大同唯一的法宝。 | This sūtra chiefly expounds the principle of the emptiness of intrinsic nature. It is not the emptiness spoken of by worldly people—that is annihilationist emptiness. They misunderstand the Buddhadharma as passive self-liberation. I shall now divide this sūtra into seven sections and explain it word by word and sentence by sentence in plain language, so that people may understand the true meaning of emptiness and not mistakenly create karma. In this way, they may eliminate all suffering and adversity and also arouse a great compassionate and impartial mind to save the world, demonstrating the great practical function of the Buddhadharma in society. It is truly the sole Dharma treasure for bringing about a world of great unity. |
| 【般若】 这是梵文，我国名为大智慧。因为中国文字难尽其义，所以仍用原文，并且尊重这几个字，所以不译。这个般若，全是说心的妙用。上自佛，下至众生，无不由此而成佛道，了生死，度苦厄。 | [Prajñā] This is a Sanskrit word, called “great wisdom” in China. Because Chinese words cannot fully convey its meaning, the original term is retained untranslated, out of respect for these syllables. This prajñā entirely concerns the wondrous functioning of mind. From Buddhas above to sentient beings below, none can attain Buddhahood, transcend birth and death, or cross beyond suffering and adversity without it. |
| 论其性体，是不生不灭的金刚；论其相貌，却是无形无状的实相；论其妙用，乃是不可测知的圆通神妙。这个般若，是人人有分的，佛和众生都是平等的；不过佛是开了般若慧，众生是有而不开，被无明所蒙住了。 | In terms of its essential nature, it is an indestructible vajra, neither arising nor ceasing. In terms of its appearance, it is the formless, featureless true reality. In terms of its wondrous function, it is an immeasurable, all-penetrating wonder beyond knowing. Everyone partakes of this prajñā; Buddhas and sentient beings are equal in this respect. Buddhas, however, have opened prajñā-wisdom, whereas sentient beings possess it without opening it, obscured by ignorance. |
| 至于般若两个字，解释却有许多字，当云“通达世间法出世间法，融通无碍，恰到好处，而又不执取诸法的大智慧。”才能尽其义。因为世间法人事等等，都是佛法。佛是觉义，能觉悟世上一切人情世故。尽了人道，才可成佛。 | As for the two characters prajñā, many words are needed to explain them. Only “the great wisdom that comprehends worldly and supramundane dharmas, penetrates them without obstruction, is fitting in every respect, and yet does not grasp at any dharma” can fully convey their meaning. For worldly dharmas, human affairs, and so forth are all Buddhadharma. Buddha means awakening: being able to awaken to all the ways and circumstances of the human world. Only after fulfilling the human way can one become a Buddha. |
| 总之，入世、出世，只是一心，颠倒烦恼，贪嗔痴迷，是六道众生的心；如能空净自在，不固执，便是佛菩萨的心。所以离世法，便没有佛法；离了般若，只有作孽受苦厄的分了。 | In short, entering the world and leaving the world are nothing but one mind. Inverted afflictions, greed, anger, ignorance, and delusion are the minds of beings in the six realms. If one can be empty, pure, and at ease, without attachment, that is the mind of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Therefore, apart from worldly dharmas, there is no Buddhadharma; apart from prajñā, one can only commit harmful deeds and undergo suffering and adversity. |
| 【波罗】 此言彼岸；因为有个度字，所以假定一条生死河，众生在苦恼的此岸，要度过到清净的彼岸，用来比喻，不是真有此岸彼岸。 | [Pāra] This means “the other shore.” Because there is a word meaning “to cross,” we provisionally imagine a river of birth and death. Sentient beings stand on this shore of suffering and must cross over to the pure other shore. This is merely a metaphor; there is not truly a this shore or an other shore. |
| 【蜜】 是到的意思，是到了果位了。果位是究竟涅槃，涅槃就是清净。 | [Mita] This means “arrived.” It means that one has reached the stage of fruition. The stage of fruition is ultimate nirvāṇa, and nirvāṇa is purity. |
| 【多】 是上面的意思。到彼岸之上，才是究竟。现在假分五步：第一步在此岸；第二步入流，是下了渡船了，是初发心的人，亦是初果罗汉；第三步是中流，船在河中间，如声闻缘觉；第四步到了彼岸，是十地以下的菩萨，终不是究竟；必第五步上岸，“多”舍去了船，即是舍去了法见，扫除了执心，斯是了无挂碍的等觉菩萨和佛。 | [Pāramitā] This means “above.” Only upon reaching the other shore and going beyond it is one ultimate. We may now provisionally distinguish five steps. The first is on this shore. The second is entering the stream: one has boarded the ferry, like one who has first aroused the resolve, and is also a first-fruit arhat. The third is midstream, when the boat is in the middle of the river, like śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. The fourth is reaching the other shore: these are bodhisattvas below the tenth bhūmi, yet this is still not ultimate. Only at the fifth step, upon going ashore, does “tā” mean abandoning the boat—that is, abandoning attachment to dharmas and sweeping away the clinging mind. This is the state of equal-enlightenment bodhisattvas and Buddhas, wholly without hindrance. |
| 【心】 心是什么？是个影子，不能说有，不能说无：所以无形段，不过是六根（眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意）和六尘（色、声、香、味、触、法）相对起了认识，叫做六识（眼识、耳识、鼻识、舌识、身识、意识），所以是集起的。 | [Heart] What is mind? It is a shadow: it cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. In the formless stage, the six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—encounter the six objects—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile objects, and dharmas—and cognition arises. This is called the six consciousnesses: eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness. Thus mind is something that gathers and arises. |
| 就是心同外境集合而缘起的幻影，即名幻心；心中起的道理，叫做幻法；执住个幻我成个幻见，于是成熟了，就有六道生死。 | It is the illusory image that arises through dependent origination when mind joins with external circumstances; this is called the illusory mind. The principles arising within the mind are called illusory dharmas. Clinging to an illusory self produces an illusory view; when this matures, there is birth and death in the six realms. |
| 但造成这个生死的是幻心，要开般若智慧了脱生死的，还是要用这幻心；成到佛（涅槃），也是用这幻心，你既然知道是幻的，那么就有幻心造成幻法，一切人事等等，六道生死涅槃，还不是一样是幻的？由此可觉本来没有生死，都是冤枉造作。 | Yet it is the illusory mind that creates this birth and death. To open prajñā-wisdom and transcend birth and death, one must still use this illusory mind. To become a Buddha—to attain nirvāṇa—one also uses this illusory mind. Since you know it is illusory, then the illusory mind produces illusory dharmas; are not all human affairs, birth and death in the six realms, and nirvāṇa alike illusory? From this one may realize that there was originally no birth and death; all of it is vain fabrication. |
| 既无生死，就用不着涅槃了，所以说诸法空相，涅槃生死等空华，即是此意。 | Since there is no birth and death, there is no need for nirvāṇa. Thus it is said that all dharmas bear the mark of emptiness, and that nirvāṇa and birth and death are equally like flowers in empty space. This is the meaning. |
| 但又为什么分真心妄心呢？这是不得已而替初学的人说，其实心，根本不有，不可得，又分什么真和妄呢？不过幻心不能除，人事上一切的幻用不能废，所以权分真心妄心。 | But why, then, distinguish true mind from deluded mind? This is only an expedient explanation for beginners. In truth, mind fundamentally does not exist and cannot be obtained, so how could it be divided into true and deluded? Yet the illusory mind cannot be eliminated, nor can the illusory functions of all human affairs be discarded. Therefore, true mind and deluded mind are provisionally distinguished. |
| 真心是无心之心，何以叫无心之心呢？即是不起念时，而见闻觉知仍旧了了，却无分别，寂然不动的，此是真心；如一起了念，分别人事，而可以心不颠倒，亦不逐境流浪，顿然归到无心本位，此还是真心。 | The true mind is mind without mind. Why is it called mind without mind? When no thought arises, seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing remain clear and distinct, yet without discrimination, still and unmoving: this is the true mind. If a thought arises and one discriminates among human affairs, yet the mind does not become inverted and does not drift after circumstances, but suddenly returns to its original ground of mind without mind, this too is the true mind. |
| 至于念念流浪，不觉渐渐入了迷途，此名妄心，但本体勿失的。这部心经，就教你凛觉的法子，用智慧观照什么是心？什么是苦厄？又如何回归到清净寂灭无心之心的本位？所以名为般若波罗蜜多心经。 | When thought after thought drifts on, however, and one unknowingly and gradually enters a deluded path, this is called the deluded mind; but do not lose the original essence. This Heart Sūtra teaches you the method of alert awareness: using wisdom to contemplate what mind is, what suffering and adversity are, and how to return to the original ground of pure, quiescent extinction—the mind without mind. Hence it is called the Heart Sūtra of Prajñāpāramitā. |
| 【经】 有许多意思：如“路”，指示我们回复真心之路的；“法”，一切方法；“贯”，贯通前后的义理；“契”，契合各人的机，各事的理，有这几种解释。现在二百六十个字，是文字般若，指示我们观照般若的方法；照此去做，实证实相般若的究竟，总不出众生心行中事，所以经是完全指我们自身而说的。 | [Sūtra] It has many meanings. It may mean “road,” indicating the road by which we return to the true mind; “Dharma,” meaning every method; “thread,” meaning that which links together the principles before and after; or “accord,” meaning that which accords with each person’s capacity and the principles of each matter. These are several of its explanations. The present 260 characters are textual prajñā, indicating the method of contemplative prajñā. By practicing accordingly, one directly realizes the ultimate of the prajñā of true reality. It never goes beyond matters within the minds and conduct of sentient beings. Thus this sūtra speaks entirely of ourselves. |
| 此经共有七个翻译，这是唐朝三藏大师玄奘所译，文是简单的，义是深奥的。虽有七译，意义是一样的。读经当重意义，不可徒在文字上死执。 | This sūtra has seven translations in all. This one was translated by the Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang of the Tang dynasty. Its wording is simple, but its meaning is profound. Although there are seven translations, their meaning is the same. When reading sūtras, one should value their meaning and must not cling rigidly to the words alone. |
| 此经是替大乘菩萨登佛位说的，表至高无上的佛境，意境只有自己晓得，说不出的，所以叫做无字真经。 | This sūtra was spoken for Mahāyāna bodhisattvas ascending to Buddhahood. It reveals the supreme Buddha-realm, whose inner realization can be known only by oneself and cannot be expressed in words. Therefore, it is called the wordless true sūtra. |
| 并不是真的无字，愿学人自己领会自己的境界，到了如何地位；至于佛的境界，却不是二乘人或十地以下的菩萨可以测知的。我们东土人，大乘根器多而厚，所以不论男的女的，识字不识字，都喜欢读这个经；譬如人闻香，个个人知道香味好，但多半不知道是什么香；而受薰是平等的，所以不可思议。以上释题竟。 | It is not truly without words; students are invited to realize for themselves the level of their own state. As for the Buddha’s state, it cannot be fathomed by followers of the two vehicles or by bodhisattvas below the tenth bhūmi. We people of the Eastern Land have many and deep Mahāyāna capacities. Therefore, whether male or female, literate or illiterate, all delight in reciting this sūtra. It is like smelling a fragrance: everyone knows that it smells pleasant, but most do not know what fragrance it is. Yet all receive its permeation equally; thus it is inconceivable. This completes the explanation of the title. |
| 【观】 定下了心，运想那个道理叫做观。这个观，是已证到果地圆成的妙观，不是因地初修作观的观，是大自在观，般若的大机大用已经启发，心无能观，亦无所观，是能所双忘的妙观。 | [Contemplates] To settle the mind and direct one’s thought toward a principle is called contemplation. This contemplation is the wondrous contemplation of one who has already realized perfect fruition; it is not the contemplation practiced by one newly cultivating at the causal stage. It is the great contemplation of freedom. Prajñā’s great capacity and great function have already been activated. The mind has neither a subject that contemplates nor an object contemplated: subject and object are both forgotten in this wondrous contemplation. |
| 【自在】 是无可无不可的自在，不是自由。自由是不肯受拘束的，但环境不如你的意思，便苦了。独有自在，是到处能安，自然地不受环境所困，一切好坏随缘；乐亦不喜，苦亦不恼，知道他是本来空，自己有主宰的。这个自在，是指大自在。 | [At Ease] This is the freedom in which nothing is impossible and nothing is mandatory; it is not mere liberty. Liberty means unwillingness to accept restraint, but when circumstances do not accord with one’s wishes, one suffers. Only one who is at ease can abide wherever one is, naturally without being trapped by circumstances, accepting favorable and unfavorable conditions alike. One does not rejoice in pleasure or become troubled by pain, knowing that these are originally empty, while oneself remains self-mastered. This freedom refers to great freedom. |
| 【菩萨】 是菩提萨埵的简称，能自己觉悟，再能觉悟人的谓之菩萨；所以是人天的导师，为三界的善知识。三界是：（一）欲界，由人的一部分下至五道；（二）色界，指天道；（三）无色界，指禅天；总是在六道中。 | [Bodhisattva] This is an abbreviation of bodhisattva. One who can awaken oneself and then awaken others is called a bodhisattva. Thus such a person is a guide for humans and devas, and a spiritual friend within the three realms. The three realms are: (1) the desire realm, extending from a portion of the human realm down through the five realms; (2) the form realm, referring to the heavenly realms; and (3) the formless realm, referring to the dhyāna heavens. All are within the six realms. |
| 菩萨分在家，出家，地前，登地，十地等觉，最高是一生补处菩萨，就是佛退位后，他来接位的，如此土的弥勒佛，西方的观世音大士。这个菩萨，是指十地等觉将登佛位的大自在菩萨。 | Bodhisattvas are divided into lay and monastic bodhisattvas, those before the bhūmis, those who have entered the bhūmis, those of the tenth bhūmi and equal enlightenment, and so forth. The highest is a bodhisattva in the final lifetime, who succeeds to the Buddha’s position after the Buddha withdraws, such as Maitreya Buddha in this world and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva in the Western Pure Land. The bodhisattva referred to here is a greatly free bodhisattva of the tenth bhūmi or equal enlightenment, about to ascend to Buddhahood. |
| 【行】 心行，心中起种种妙观妙行的大用，作种种自利利他二事业。 | [Practicing] This refers to the functioning of mind: the great function of producing within the mind all manner of wondrous contemplations and wondrous conduct, and undertaking the two kinds of work of benefiting oneself and benefiting others. |
| 【深】 不是深浅的深，是不可测量的意思，圆遍广大，究竟无上的妙行。 | [Profound] This does not mean profound as opposed to shallow. It means immeasurable: a wondrous practice that is perfectly pervasive, vast, and ultimately unsurpassed. |
| 【般若波罗蜜多】 上面已经解释过了，就说菩萨的功行，已到究竟地，登彼岸之上了。 | [Prajñāpāramitā] This has already been explained above. It means that the bodhisattva’s meritorious practice has reached the ultimate stage and gone beyond the other shore. |
| 【时】 这时字关系甚大，显明到了这个境界的时候，正是果位的时候，已经断除一切烦恼，度尽苦厄，没有挂碍的了。在下两句“照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄”之后的意境，点明大自在的光景，不可草草。 | [While] The word “while” is of great importance. It makes clear that when this state is reached, one is at the stage of fruition, having already cut off all afflictions, crossed beyond all suffering and adversity, and become free from hindrance. The words that follow—“clearly saw that the five aggregates are all empty, and thereby crossed beyond all suffering and adversity”—point out the state of great freedom and should not be treated casually. |
| 【照见】 朗然觉照，彻见无余的意思，是无功用的功用，毫不著意的觉照，心神会通的了。 | [Clearly saw] This means lucid awareness and complete vision without remainder. It is functioning without deliberate effort, awareness without the slightest intentionality: mind and spirit have become fully integrated. |
| 【五蕴】 指色、受、想、行、识，这五事蕴结不分，叫做五蕴。此言心和外境相蕴合，统名曰色。一个色字，包括五个字在内，并且包括外面一切一切有相相形形色色，内面无相相思想方面都在内。 | [The Five Aggregates] Refers to form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. When these five factors are conjoined and inseparable, they are called the five aggregates. This means that mind and external objects are aggregated together; collectively, they are called form. The single word “form” encompasses these five terms, as well as all the myriad forms and appearances outside, and the formless aspects within, such as thought. |
| 外境原是色，而我的眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意也是色；外色和内色接触了，就有个受；既受了，就要去想象他，这是想；想到了，心中一行转念，这是行；转出那知识来，就是识；所以受想行识四个也还是色，总是幻心幻起的作用，成就种种的幻法。 | External objects are originally form, and my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are also form. When external form and internal form come into contact, there is feeling. Once there is feeling, one begins to imagine it; this is perception. When a thought turns in the mind after it has been perceived, this is volitional formation. When knowledge arises from that turning, this is consciousness. Thus, the four—feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—are still form. They are all functions aroused by the illusory mind, producing all manner of illusory dharmas. |
| 这个五蕴，是众生造孽受苦成立六道生死的资本，但也是开般若，除习气，度苦厄，了生死的工具，也就是佛菩萨成大觉度众生的工具。同要用五蕴，只是佛菩萨能照见本空，可以善用，不被所转，众生反被所缚；是在觉不觉，明空不明空之别，不要指定为不好的东西，反生了偏见。 | These five aggregates are the capital by which sentient beings create evil karma, undergo suffering, and establish birth and death within the six realms. Yet they are also the means for opening prajñā, removing habitual tendencies, liberating oneself from suffering and adversity, and transcending birth and death; they are likewise the means by which Buddhas and bodhisattvas attain great awakening and liberate sentient beings. All use the five aggregates, but Buddhas and bodhisattvas can see their मूल emptiness and use them skillfully, without being turned by them, whereas sentient beings are instead bound by them. The difference lies in awakening or non-awakening, and in understanding emptiness or not understanding it. Do not designate them as bad things and thereby give rise to biased views. |
| 【皆】 统统包尽无余，就是一切的意思。不但人空，法亦空，连照见亦空，因为照见亦是五蕴，所以称皆。 | [All] It encompasses everything without remainder; it means all. Not only is the person empty; dharmas too are empty. Even seeing is empty, for seeing is also one of the five aggregates. Therefore it is called “all.” |
| 【空】 世上的人，往往不明白空的道理，笼统说：空就是没有了。不知“空”有空间、虚空、空相、空义种种的分别。今分为两种：一空相，是有相的，如空屋，人满了，空相破了，所以“有”与“空”是相对的，这就是世人说的没有就是空了。经上另有十八空义，不必尽说。 | [Empty] People in the world often do not understand the principle of emptiness and speak vaguely, saying, “Emptiness means that there is nothing.” They do not know that “empty” has various distinctions: space, empty space, the appearance of emptiness, and the meaning of emptiness. Here they are divided into two kinds. First is the appearance of emptiness, which has an appearance—for example, an empty room. When people fill it, the appearance of emptiness is destroyed. Thus, “existence” and “emptiness” are relative opposites. This is the sense in which worldly people say that having nothing is emptiness. The sūtras also speak of the meanings of eighteen kinds of emptiness, but there is no need to explain them all. |
| 至于佛经上所说的“空”，是空义，是性空，是本来空，是与一切万有相和合的，不是相对的，不是没有的，是有而空的。 | As for the “emptiness” spoken of in the Buddhist sūtras, it is the meaning of emptiness: emptiness of nature, original emptiness. It is inseparable from all existing things; it is not relative, and it is not mere nonexistence. It is existence that is empty. |
| 要明白这个空的意义，先得明白几点：所谓宇宙间一切形形色色，山河大地，日月星辰，下至一切用物、植物、动物和我的身体，都是有相相；还有我的思想、道理、人事、人情、喜怒哀乐，都是无相相；一切包括在内，总名曰色，在因地上总是空的。 | To understand the meaning of this emptiness, one must first understand several points. Everything in the universe that takes diverse forms—mountains, rivers, the great earth, sun, moon, and stars, down to all utensils, plants, animals, and my own body—is an appearance with form. My thoughts, principles, human affairs, human feelings, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are appearances without form. All are included within the collective name “form,” and at the causal stage they are all empty. |
| 因为以上一切色，寻不出一件是有独立自性的。第一说有相的：拿布来比，布没有独立自性，变成为布的，须依于纱线而成；纱线不能自为纱线，必待棉花；棉花不能自有，必由种子；种子不能自种，必赖人工天时地肥等等。 | For among all the forms mentioned above, not one can be found to possess an independent self-nature. First, consider things with form. Take cloth as an example: cloth has no independent self-nature. To become cloth, it must depend on yarn; yarn cannot make itself into yarn, but must await cotton; cotton cannot exist by itself, but must come from seeds; seeds cannot sow themselves, but must rely on human labor, favorable weather, fertile soil, and so forth. |
| 不必分析开来才空，在未成布成纱前，及正有布有纱时，他的本身是由众缘和合而成；因为是因缘生，所以无有实体，求其究竟相，毕竟不可得，身体亦是如此。 | It is not only after analysis that they are empty. Before cloth and yarn come into being, and while cloth and yarn are present, they themselves are formed through the combination of many conditions. Because they arise from causes and conditions, they have no substantial entity. Seeking their ultimate appearance, one ultimately cannot obtain it. The body is the same. |
| 所以一切一切，无自性，无实体，因缘生，不可得的，所以是性空。第二说无相的：拿心来说，心是什么？根本是不有，但只集起的是心。 | Therefore, absolutely everything lacks self-nature and substantial entity, arises from causes and conditions, and cannot be obtained; thus it is empty in nature. Second, consider what is without form. Take the mind: what is mind? Fundamentally, it does not exist; it is merely what is gathered together and called mind. |
| 譬如夏天凉爽的席上，人睡得甜美之极，这时候便没有我，没有心；忽然蚊虫咬了一口觉得了，这觉得的便是蚊虫和我集合而起的心。此外一切都同此理，所以心也是无自性，因缘生，无实体，不可得的，所以是性空。 | For example, on a cool mat in summer, a person may sleep most sweetly. At such a time there is no self and no mind. Suddenly a mosquito bites, and one feels it. That feeling is the mind arising from the coming together of the mosquito and oneself. Everything else follows the same principle. Thus mind too lacks self-nature, arises from causes and conditions, has no substantial entity, and cannot be obtained; therefore it is empty in nature. |
| 因此物和心，无一不是空。但是有而空，是幻有的，这是性空，和一切一切分不开的；不是心物之外另有个空，也不是这个是空，那个不是空的。所以说到色，即不能离开空；说到空，就不能离开一切色。但要认明却是缘生幻有，又须切实知道这个空是因地本来空，是性空，非眼耳可以见闻，其义实空。 | Thus neither things nor mind is not empty. Yet they exist while empty; they are illusory existence. This is emptiness of nature, inseparable from absolutely everything. There is not some separate emptiness outside mind and things; nor is this empty while that is not empty. Therefore, when speaking of form, one cannot depart from emptiness; when speaking of emptiness, one cannot depart from all forms. Yet one must clearly recognize that they are illusory existence arising from conditions, and must truly know that this emptiness is originally empty at the causal stage, emptiness of nature—not something the eyes and ears can see or hear. Its meaning is truly emptiness. |
| 既决定知道一切一切是本空而幻有，那又何必执取当他是实呢！但世上一切人事，如何可废，我仍随缘应付；不是麻木无心，只是勿住，行云流水的到处自在，这才是真心空。 | Once one has decisively known that everything is originally empty yet illusorily existent, why cling to it as real? Yet how could all worldly human affairs be discarded? I still respond to circumstances as they arise. This is not numbness or mindlessness; it is simply non-abiding—like drifting clouds and flowing water, at ease everywhere. This alone is true emptiness of mind. |
| 佛说空是这个道理，世上盲目妄加批评，岂不可惜！世人果能明空，自然心勿执取，那贪得心，嗔恨心，痴迷心，自不会深入，天下没有极端的争夺了。 | This is what the Buddha meant by emptiness. How regrettable that people blindly and falsely criticize it! If worldly people could truly understand emptiness, their minds would naturally cease clinging. Greed, anger, and delusion would not take deep root, and there would be no extreme contention in the world. |
| 佛法岂不是社会上最大的利益，有什么迷信可说呢！又修行人往往有口头禅，说：“莫著了空！”这是怕他执著空见，正因为他根本不曾明空，总在空有二见上作道理，格外搅扰不清了。所以明空则破色，破色则心空，这是断苦厄的第一法门！ | Is not the Buddhadharma therefore the greatest benefit to society? What superstition could there be in it? Practitioners, moreover, often indulge in mere verbal Chan, saying, “Do not become attached to emptiness!” They fear attachment to a view of emptiness. Yet precisely because they have never understood emptiness, they continually theorize within the two views of emptiness and existence, thereby creating even greater confusion. Therefore, understanding emptiness destroys form; destroying form makes the mind empty. This is the first dharma gate for ending suffering and adversity! |
| 【度】 超脱的意思，就是登彼岸之上，法见都净了也。 | [Liberate] It means to transcend—to ascend to the other shore, where views of dharmas have all been purified. |
| 【一切】 包罗所有，净尽无余，凡有相无相，人我法我种种苦厄，尽包在内。 | [All] It includes everything, utterly and without remainder. All suffering and adversity involving form or formlessness, personal self or dharma-self, are wholly included within it. |
| 【苦厄】 身上的痛苦，心上的不安，有相无相，粗细微细，都是苦厄。其实全由心起，我果无心，苦在何处？心果无见，厄在何处？不是不知，不是不受；因为有智慧知道本来空，能够知而有若无知，受而等于不受；譬如两个人同时受苦，一个挡不住，甚至苦上加苦，因苦成病；一个却无所谓，心不著意，便无苦厄了。 | [Suffering and Adversity] Bodily pain and mental unease, whether with form or without form, coarse, subtle, or extremely subtle, are all suffering and adversity. In truth, they all arise from mind. If I truly have no mind, where is suffering? If mind truly has no views, where is adversity? This does not mean not knowing or not experiencing. Because wisdom knows original emptiness, one can know while seeming not to know, and experience while being as though one does not experience. For example, when two people suffer at the same time, one cannot withstand it and even adds suffering to suffering, becoming ill because of it. The other, however, is unconcerned; the mind does not fix upon it, and suffering and adversity cease. |
| 以上四句判为总持分，是第一段，总三藏十二部经一切法，持无量义，亦是此经纲领。通了这四句，就明白心经宗旨了。照此做去，自然度苦厄，了生死，出三界，成佛道，绰乎有余的了。 | The preceding four sentences are classified as the section on dhāraṇī; they are the first part. They encompass all dharmas in the Three Treasuries and twelve divisions of the scriptures, and contain immeasurable meanings. They are also the outline of this sūtra. Once these four sentences are understood, the purport of the Heart Sūtra is understood. Put them into practice, and one will naturally be liberated from suffering and adversity, transcend birth and death, leave the three realms, and accomplish Buddhahood with ease to spare. |
| 凡不明心要的人，总在文字上会，不肯从自心上会；弄得没有办法时，只好今日求佛，明日求法；下此者，求福报，求神通，死要一个有相的凭据，离佛道更远了。深入迷途，岂不可痛！ | Those who do not understand the essential point of mind always seek understanding in words and are unwilling to seek it in their own minds. When they have exhausted all means, today they seek the Buddha and tomorrow they seek the Dharma. Those of still lower capacity seek blessings and spiritual powers, desperately demanding some tangible proof; thus they move ever farther from the Buddha Way. They sink deeply into a misguided path—how painful this is! |
| 【舍利子】 佛弟子的名字，即是舍利弗；在声闻乘中，他是智慧第一。 | [Śāriputra] This is the name of a disciple of the Buddha, namely Śāriputra. Among the śrāvakas, he was foremost in wisdom. |
| 【色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色，受想行识，亦复如是】 首四句实是一个意思，总是说色空不二的道理。 | [Form Is Not Different from Emptiness; Emptiness Is Not Different from Form; Form Is Emptiness; Emptiness Is Form; Feeling, Perception, Volitional Formations, and Consciousness Are Also Thus] The first four sentences are in fact one meaning: they all express the principle that form and emptiness are nondual. |
| 初说不异，说没有两样的，还是方便的说；后说即是，是说就是一个，不能分的，是究竟说；斩金截铁，毫无犹豫。色一个字，不单是代表五蕴，连外面宇宙万有形形色色都包在内。 | At first, “not different” says that they are not two different things; this is still a provisional way of speaking. Later, “is” says that they are one and cannot be divided; this is the ultimate statement—decisive and without the least hesitation. The single word “form” represents not only the five aggregates, but also encompasses all the myriad forms of the external universe. |
| 因为宇宙万有，就没有离了我的性海，浑同一体，尽是色；而我的受、想、行、识，是无相相，也是色。这内外两种色，都是因缘生，无自性，无实体，不可得，根本是性空。 | For all existing things in the universe are inseparable from my ocean of nature; wholly one body, they are all form. My feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are appearances without form, and they too are form. These two kinds of form, inner and outer, arise from causes and conditions; they lack self-nature and substantial entity, cannot be obtained, and are fundamentally empty in nature. |
| 现下虽是幻有，毕竟不可得的，所以即色即空，并不是色之外另有个空。参透上面所说的空义，就知道这个意义了。 | Though they are presently illusorily existent, they ultimately cannot be obtained. Thus form itself is emptiness; there is not some separate emptiness outside form. If one thoroughly investigates the meaning of emptiness explained above, one will understand this meaning. |
| 所以心的形形种种，亦是五蕴流转；而色的形形种种，全似空华的乱起乱灭，如电影的一幕一幕，总是有而不可得。你莫把这四句看作玄妙，实是极普通极寻常的道理。 | Thus the mind’s manifold forms are also the circulation of the five aggregates; and the manifold forms of matter are all like empty flowers chaotically arising and ceasing, scene after scene in a film—always existent yet unobtainable. Do not regard these four sentences as abstruse and wondrous; they are in fact an utterly ordinary and commonplace principle. |
| 你只认明“一切是因缘生，无自性，无实体，不可得，所以是性空”。 | You need only recognize clearly: “Everything arises from causes and conditions, lacks self-nature and substantial entity, and cannot be obtained; therefore it is empty in nature.” |
| 不但色如是，受、想、行、识四蕴也如是；不但五蕴如是，宇宙万有的有相相，和下面一切法，如十八界，十二因缘，四谛法，六度万行的智得等，是无相相，一切皆复如是的性空。 | Not only is form thus; the four aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are also thus. Not only are the five aggregates thus; all the formed appearances among the myriad things in the universe, as well as all the dharmas discussed below—such as the eighteen realms, the twelve links of dependent origination, the dharmas of the Four Truths, and the wisdom and attainments of the six perfections and myriad practices, which are appearances without form—are likewise empty in nature. |
| 但是凡夫执有，所以说色不异空；二乘又执空，所以说空不异色；还有菩萨未曾会通不二的，所以说色即是空，空即是色，总是破他们的法见。倘明白法见也是本空，就了无挂碍的了。 | But ordinary beings cling to existence, and so it says, “form is not different from emptiness.” The two vehicles, in turn, cling to emptiness, and so it says, “emptiness is not different from form.” There are also bodhisattvas who have not yet comprehended nonduality, and so it says, “form is emptiness; emptiness is form.” All of this is intended to destroy their views of dharmas. If one understands that views of dharmas too are originally empty, one will be completely free of hindrance. |
| 以上七句判为色空分，为第二段，用以会通色空不二的道理。 | The preceding seven sentences are classified as the section on form and emptiness, the second part, which serves to elucidate the principle that form and emptiness are nondual. |
| 【舍利子】 此时要点到本来上，在紧要关头了，故又呼其名而告之，是郑重的意思。 | [Śāriputra] At this point the explanation must return to what is original; it has reached a crucial juncture. Therefore his name is called again and he is addressed, as a sign of solemn emphasis. |
| 【是诸法空相】 法是什么？是心影，是心中缘起的种种道理。如果没有对象，也就没有心没有法了，所以是因缘生、生而不生，无自性，无实物，不可得，本来是空，不是造作出来的空。 | [All Dharmas Are Marked by Emptiness] What are dharmas? They are reflections of mind, the various principles arising dependently within mind. If there is no object, then there is no mind and no dharma. Therefore they arise from causes and conditions; though arising, they do not arise. They lack self-nature and real substance, cannot be obtained, and are originally empty—not an emptiness artificially produced. |
| 古人说：心生法生，心灭法灭，心既是幻，法岂是真！诸法是说一切法，就是一切心。世上的人，总是以心缘心，以法缘法，不知本空，遂当他实有，彼此固执住了，争执就此多了。这个相字，应作义字解，下面正点到不生不灭的原理。 | The ancients said: “When mind arises, dharmas arise; when mind ceases, dharmas cease. Since mind itself is illusory, how could dharmas be real?” “All dharmas” means all dharmas—that is, all mind. People in the world always use mind to condition mind and dharmas to condition dharmas. Not knowing original emptiness, they take them as truly existent; thus they become mutually entrenched in their attachments, and disputes multiply from this. The word “mark” here should be understood as “meaning.” What follows directly points to the principle of neither arising nor ceasing. |
| 【不生不灭】 佛经上最不容易了解的就是这一句，须知宇宙间一切一切连我的思想五蕴等等，都是不生不灭的。因为一切是：（一）不自生，如上面说布不能自生为布，是无自性的，须赖众缘和合而生。 | [Neither Arising nor Ceasing] Of all the statements in the Buddhist sūtras, this is among the most difficult to understand. One must know that absolutely everything in the universe, including my thoughts, the five aggregates, and so forth, neither arises nor ceases. This is because everything: (1) does not arise by itself. As explained above, cloth cannot arise by itself as cloth. It has no self-nature and must depend upon the coming together of many conditions in order to arise. |
| （二）不他生，不是单靠他缘，还不能离我这个布，所以也不是他生。那么是（三）共生的了？不！也不是共生，因为两面也都是缘生，两无实体，只是一个偶合，所以也不是共生。 | (2) Not arising from another: it does not arise solely through other conditions, nor can it be separated from this cloth itself; thus it does not arise from another. Then does it (3) arise jointly? No. It does not arise jointly either, because both sides arise dependently and neither has any substantial reality; they are merely coincidentally combined. Thus it does not arise jointly either. |
| （四）不无因生，现在的假相，似乎是生，但必由因成果；没有可以成布的因，就没有成布的果。以此类推，一切一切是不生的，现在虽有相，终是生而不生的。既不生，即不灭；但现在的假相，却有个假灭，只是不自灭，如布烧成灰，布不能自烧；不他灭，虽有火烧，终不能离了布；不共灭，不无因灭，都是一个理，可以推想得到的。 | (4) Nor does it arise without cause. The present illusory appearance seems to arise, yet it must result from causes; without causes capable of producing cloth, there can be no result of cloth. By the same reasoning, all things are unborn. Though appearances are present now, they are ultimately arising without arising. Since they do not arise, they do not cease. Yet their present illusory appearances undergo an illusory cessation: they do not cease of themselves. For example, when cloth is burned into ashes, the cloth cannot burn itself. Nor does it cease through another; although there is fire to burn it, the fire cannot ultimately be separated from the cloth. Nor does it cease jointly, nor without cause. The principle is the same in every case and can be inferred. |
| 【不垢不净，不增不减】 因为不生不灭，所以垢净、增减、长短、是非、好坏、来去，一对一对的都是因分别而缘生，统统是幻有不可得，所有的相，本来是空相；因世事无一不由相对而成，苦恼也由相对而立。 | [Neither Defiled nor Pure, Neither Increasing nor Decreasing] Because there is neither arising nor ceasing, defilement and purity, increase and decrease, length and shortness, right and wrong, good and bad, coming and going—each pair arises dependently through discrimination. All are illusory existents that cannot be obtained. All appearances are originally empty appearances. Since none of the affairs of the world comes about except through opposition, suffering too is established through opposition. |
| 倘知根本是因缘生，无自性，无实体，不可得，根本是生而不生，不过暂时有这个虚妄相，那又何必执为实体呢？既不执有，亦不废有；即一切法，离一切法；即此用，离此用；心如长空万里，包罗一切，自在无住，此是诸法空相的本来面目，亦即无心可心的本来面目。 | If one knows that the root of things is dependent arising, without self-nature, substantial reality, or anything obtainable—arising without arising, with only this temporary false appearance—why cling to them as substantial realities? Since one does not cling to existence, neither does one reject existence. That is, one engages in all dharmas while being free from all dharmas; one engages in this functioning while being free from this functioning. The mind is like the vast sky, encompassing everything, at ease and non-abiding. This is the Original Face of the empty appearance of all dharmas, and likewise the Original Face in which there is no mind that can be taken as mind. |
| 但众生久已不知的了，有全不知者是六道众生，半知者是二乘，知而未彻者是菩萨，都是有挂碍。所谓有五部，有此岸，有入流，有中流，有彼岸而未登岸上种种。以上五句，判为本来分，为第三段，修行人最要紧是这一点，切勿忽过。 | But sentient beings have long failed to know this. Those who know nothing at all are beings in the six realms; those who know it halfway are the two vehicles; and those who know it but not thoroughly are bodhisattvas. All have hindrances. Thus there are said to be five divisions: this shore, entering the stream, the middle stream, the other shore, and the various states of not yet having reached the shore. The preceding five statements are classified as the section on the original nature, the third section. This point is of utmost importance for practitioners; do not pass over it lightly. |
| 【是故】 此是决定的口气。 | [Therefore] This is a tone of certainty. |
| 【空中无色，无受想行识，无眼耳鼻舌身意，无色声香味触法，无眼界，乃至无意识界】 既明白了空中的道理，那么空之中还有什么实体可得呢？这“无”字有两个解释：一是无有，是根本不有的意思。二是毋的意思。 | [In emptiness there is no form, feeling, perception, formation, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma; no eye realm, up to and including no mind-consciousness realm.] Having understood the principle of emptiness, what substantial reality could there still be to obtain within emptiness? The word “no” has two explanations: first, it means nonexistence, that something fundamentally is not; second, it means “must not.” |
| 因为现在虽有幻相，但毕竟是无，毋庸执取以为实有而生法见，添许多烦恼。 | Although illusory appearances are presently present, they are ultimately nonexistent. There is no need to grasp at them as truly existent, thereby giving rise to a view of dharmas and adding many afflictions. |
| 所以五蕴（色、受、想、行、识）、六根（眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意）、六尘（色、声、香、味、触、法）这是十二入，再加上六识（眼识、耳识、鼻识、舌识、身识、意识）共为十八界，都是不可得；因为是缘生的，无自性的，无实体的，不可得的。 | Thus, the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—the six sense faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and the six sense objects—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—make up the twelve entrances. Adding the six consciousnesses—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses—makes the eighteen realms. All are unobtainable, because they arise dependently, have no self-nature, have no substantial reality, and cannot be obtained. |
| 然而人既有此幻身，自有幻心作用，不能断灭；佛菩萨也要用以度众生，救世间无量苦，我人正要用此以开般若，了生死，出三界，不过圣人明白本来空，所以无法执；众生迷了，遂生颠倒，这是众生的大挂碍。 | Yet since people have these illusory bodies, there is naturally the functioning of illusory minds, which cannot be annihilated. Buddhas and bodhisattvas also use them to liberate sentient beings and relieve the world’s immeasurable suffering. We ourselves must use them to open prajñā, transcend birth and death, and leave the three realms. Sages understand their original emptiness and therefore have no attachment to dharmas. Sentient beings, being deluded, give rise to inverted views; this is their great hindrance. |
| 因为地狱众生，挂碍在具足多分贪嗔痴，鬼道挂碍于多分的贪，畜道挂碍于多分的痴，魔道挂碍于多分的嗔，人道挂碍于半分的贪嗔痴，天道挂碍于少分的贪。这贪、嗔、痴三毒，都由六根六尘六识而起，只一空字可以化除一切烦恼挂碍。化除了，当下即是菩提；所以烦恼菩提，同是这个东西。 | Beings in hell are hindered by abundant greed, anger, and ignorance; beings in the ghost realm by abundant greed; beings in the animal realm by abundant ignorance; beings in the māra realm by abundant anger; humans by half portions of greed, anger, and ignorance; and devas by a small portion of greed. These three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance all arise through the six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses. The single word “emptiness” can dissolve all afflictions and hindrances. Once they are dissolved, that very moment is bodhi. Thus afflictions and bodhi are one and the same thing. |
| 【无无明，亦无无明尽，乃至无老死，亦无老死尽】 这是缘觉（即辟支佛，是不曾闻到佛法而借因缘觉悟的）执取十二因缘法而生挂碍，他不知道诸法空相。既说是因缘，可见是缘生不实，但伊不能明空，被法见缚住了，不得自在。那十二因缘即是： | [No ignorance, and also no ending of ignorance; up to and including no old age and death, and also no ending of old age and death.] This concerns the hindrance produced when pratyekabuddhas—those who have not heard the Buddha-Dharma but awaken through causes and conditions—cling to the teaching of the twelve links of dependent origination. They do not know the empty appearance of all dharmas. Since these are called causes and conditions, it is evident that they arise dependently and are not real; yet they cannot understand emptiness. Bound by a view of dharmas, they do not attain freedom. The twelve links of dependent origination are as follows: |
| 一、无明：是过去的根本烦恼，只要碰到缘就动了。缘就是转下去的意思。 | 1. Ignorance: the fundamental affliction from the past; whenever it encounters conditions, it stirs. “Condition” means that the process turns onward. |
| 二、无明缘行：行是行动，做种种或善或恶的行业。 | 2. Ignorance conditions formations: formations are actions—the performance of various wholesome or unwholesome karmic deeds. |
| 三、行缘识：由于过去的行业，而起现世受胎的一念，是因认识而成为果的。 | 3. Formations condition consciousness: because of karmic deeds in the past, a single thought arises in the present life at conception; through consciousness, a cause becomes a result. |
| 四、识缘名色：在胎中已有形体而有名色。 | 4. Consciousness conditions name-and-form: within the womb there is already physical form, and thus name-and-form. |
| 五、名色缘六入：是六根具足，可以和六尘相对的了。 | 5. Name-and-form conditions the six entrances: the six sense faculties are complete and can encounter the six sense objects. |
| 六、六入缘触：是出胎后对于一切有所接触了。 | 6. The six entrances condition contact: after leaving the womb, one comes into contact with all things. |
| 七、触缘受：接触之后，就受苦受乐而生种种感觉。 | 7. Contact conditions feeling: after contact, one experiences suffering or pleasure and gives rise to all kinds of sensations. |
| 八、受缘爱：如成年以后，就有强盛的爱欲。 | 8. Feeling conditions craving: after reaching adulthood, strong desire arises. |
| 九、爱缘取：有了爱欲，就想去取得，心去四面驰求。 | 9. Craving conditions grasping: once there is desire, one seeks to obtain its objects, and the mind races in every direction. |
| 十、取缘有：取得就有了，是有业成就的果位。 | 10. Grasping conditions becoming: once one has obtained, there is becoming; this is the fruition in which karma is brought to completion. |
| 十一、有缘生：这是成立了，生生不已，转入未来。 | 11. Becoming conditions birth: this establishes the process, which continues birth after birth and turns into the future. |
| 十二、生缘老死：有生就有灭，一切本是梦幻泡影，终必变灭，老死是这一段生死的果。但只是无明未灭，再来一转，生生世世转辗不已，遂有六道轮回，总是无明作祟。乃至两个字，是由无明跳至老死，中间略去十位。 | 12. Birth conditions old age and death: where there is birth, there is cessation. All things are inherently like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, and must eventually change and perish. Old age and death are the result of this cycle of birth and death. But as long as ignorance has not been extinguished, the cycle turns again and continues from life to life without end, producing the six realms of rebirth. It is always ignorance that causes the mischief. The words “up to and including” leap from ignorance to old age and death, omitting the ten intermediate links. |
| 这十二因缘，位位都依据无明作主，不知皆是妄心幻法缘起，根本无有。尽者，极也，就是无之极也，言无亦无有也，是绝对不可得的意思。所以无明非有实体，如空中华，梦中事；梦中非无，及至梦醒，了不可得。 | Each of these twelve links takes ignorance as its governing basis. Not knowing that all are dependent arisings of the deluded mind and illusory dharmas, one takes them as fundamentally existent. “Ending” means the utmost limit: it is the ultimate nonexistence, meaning that even “nonexistence” itself does not exist. It means that they are absolutely unobtainable. Thus ignorance has no substantial reality; it is like flowers in empty space or events in a dream. A dream is not nothing, but when one awakens, it cannot be found at all. |
| 可惜众生不能断无明，缘缘而下，无有穷期，无非是惑业苦。缘觉虽已悟到十二因缘，原是假有的一合相；但以为是定法不移，所以法见不净而生挂碍。 | It is regrettable that sentient beings cannot cut off ignorance. They proceed from condition to condition without end; it is nothing but delusion, karma, and suffering. Although pratyekabuddhas have awakened to the twelve links of dependent origination as a temporarily existing composite appearance, they take them to be fixed and unchanging dharmas. Thus their view of dharmas is not purified, and hindrances arise. |
| 【无苦集灭道】 这是声闻执取四谛法，而生挂碍。苦、集、灭、道，是名四谛，就是四种重要的道理。苦是身心逼迫不安。众生身有三苦：老、病、死。心有三苦：贪、嗔、痴。后世有三苦：地狱、鬼、畜生。 | [No suffering, origination, cessation, or path.] This concerns the hindrance produced when śrāvakas cling to the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. Suffering, origination, cessation, and path are called the Four Noble Truths, the four important principles. Suffering is the oppression and unease of body and mind. Sentient beings have three bodily sufferings: old age, illness, and death; three mental sufferings: greed, anger, and ignorance; and three sufferings in future lives: hells, ghosts, and animals. |
| 更有三灾八难苦、坏苦、行苦、苦苦、不知足苦、不安命苦、心无寄托苦，这是苦谛。却是三界六道生死苦果，无不由心和境集合而成，这是集谛。灭是消灭的意思，断一切苦，归到清净寂灭。 | There are also the sufferings of the three calamities and eight difficulties, the suffering of decay, the suffering of conditioned existence, the suffering of suffering itself, the suffering of dissatisfaction, the suffering of being unable to accept one’s lot, and the suffering of having no support for the mind. These constitute the truth of suffering. They are the painful results of birth and death in the three realms and six realms, all formed by the conjunction of mind and circumstances; this is the truth of origination. Cessation means extinction: cutting off all suffering and returning to pure quiescence. |
| 因为结业既灭，则无生死的患累，这是灭谛。但要灭除那集合的诸苦，必得有个道理，道是正道；做到正道，必要助道，助其离一切苦，到涅槃乐，这是道谛。声闻执此法见以为究竟，所以分段生死，或者可了，变易生死却不易了。倘明本来空，知此四谛法，不过一时的缘生；不但是果上色空，实是因上色空，不必执取，便无挂碍了。 | When karmic entanglements have been extinguished, there is no longer the burden of birth and death; this is the truth of cessation. But to eliminate all the assembled sufferings, there must be a path. The path is the right path; to practice the right path, auxiliary practices are necessary to help one leave all suffering and attain the bliss of nirvāṇa. This is the truth of the path. Śrāvakas cling to this dharma-view and take it as ultimate. Thus they may perhaps be liberated from segmented birth and death, but transformational birth and death is not easily ended. If one understands original emptiness and knows that these Four Noble Truths are only temporary dependent arisings, then not only are the results empty in form, but the causes too are empty in form. There is no need to cling to them, and thus there are no hindrances. |
| 【无智亦无得】 这是菩萨的挂碍。菩萨执取六度万行诸法，以为确有智慧可得，有众生可度，有佛可成，心中不免具此波罗蜜的行相，微细的法见不曾净，所以不到究竟涅槃地。 | [No wisdom and also no attainment.] This is the hindrance of bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas cling to the dharmas of the six perfections and myriad practices, believing that wisdom truly can be attained, sentient beings truly can be liberated, and Buddhahood truly can be attained. Their minds inevitably retain the appearances of practicing these pāramitās. Their subtle view of dharmas has not yet been purified, and therefore they do not reach the ground of ultimate nirvāṇa. |
| 从前阿难问佛如何是烦恼地狱种性？佛说行六波罗蜜行是烦恼地狱种；如我能布施，因见他人不肯布施而生厌恶，是烦恼地狱种；我能持戒等等，因见别人不能持戒等等，心生厌恨，是烦恼地狱种。 | In the past, Ānanda asked the Buddha, “What are the dispositions that lead to the hell of afflictions?” The Buddha said that practicing the six pāramitās is a disposition that leads to the hell of afflictions. For instance, if I can practice giving but become disgusted on seeing others unwilling to give, this is a disposition that leads to the hell of afflictions. If I can uphold the precepts, and so forth, but resent others because they cannot uphold the precepts, and so forth, this is a disposition that leads to the hell of afflictions. |
| 这就是弥陀经上说的见浊，是名染法，染糊涂了。况且有智无智，都是幻心作用，分别为二。同是性空，更有何法可得？世尊昔在燃灯佛所得佛授记，成无上菩提，世尊当时并不取以为胜，因为知道性空！实无少法可得，不过名为菩提而已。所以菩萨必到法无我的时候，才是挂碍净尽。 | This is what the Amitābha Sūtra calls the turbidity of views. It is called a defiled dharma: one has been defiled and confused. Moreover, whether there is wisdom or no wisdom, both are functions of the illusory mind, discriminated into two. Both are empty in nature; what dharma is there to attain? Long ago, when the World-Honored One was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, he received the prediction of Buddhahood and unsurpassed bodhi. Yet at that time the World-Honored One did not take this as something superior, because he knew that all is empty in nature. In truth, not the slightest dharma can be attained; it is merely called bodhi. Therefore, only when bodhisattvas reach the stage of no self in dharmas are their hindrances completely exhausted. |
| 【以无所得故】 这是总结一句，极言上面五蕴、十八界、十二因缘、四谛法、六度智得一切本空，仔细推求，实无所得。以上十三句判为法用分，为第四段，说空了之后，般若法用自然启发，也不受法缚了。 | [Because there is nothing to attain.] This is a concluding statement, emphasizing that the five aggregates, eighteen realms, twelve links of dependent origination, Four Noble Truths, six perfections, wisdom, attainment, and all else are fundamentally empty. Examined carefully, there is truly nothing to attain. The preceding thirteen statements are classified as the section on the function of dharma, the fourth section. Once emptiness has been explained, the function of prajñā naturally unfolds, and one is no longer bound by dharmas. |
| 【菩提萨埵】 简称就是菩萨，此指已登佛位的明心菩萨，又名开士、大士；又萨埵译为精进勇猛，堪以荷担如来事业的人。 | [Bodhisattva.] This is abbreviated as “bodhisattva.” Here it refers to a mind-realizing bodhisattva who has already ascended to the Buddha stage, also called a great adept or great being. Sattva is also translated as diligent and courageous: one capable of shouldering the Tathāgata’s work. |
| 【依般若波罗蜜多故】 他因为依自性的金刚般若，能够超登彼岸的缘故，所以有下面实证的受用。我们应该知道修行不是图利，更不能图名，名利是生死最毒的药；名利的心不死，永无出头的日子。 | [Because they rely on prajñāpāramitā.] Because they rely on the vajra prajñā of their own intrinsic nature and are thereby able to transcend to the other shore, they have the experiential realization described below. We should know that cultivation is not pursued for profit, much less for fame. Fame and profit are the most poisonous medicines of birth and death; unless the mind that seeks fame and profit dies, there will never be a day of release. |
| 因此因地要正，总要在自性上打算，老老实实，真参实究，决不要在神通奇特，出语玄妙上求，丝毫挡不住生死的。菩萨尚不能离开般若，何况我辈，离了般若之外，更有何法？这是成佛的根本条件，肯向这条法上走的，才是有智慧的人，此生决可成就。 | Therefore, the causal ground must be correct. One must always attend to one’s own intrinsic nature, honestly investigate and genuinely practice, and never seek supernormal powers, marvels, or mysterious speech. Such things cannot in the least obstruct birth and death. Even bodhisattvas cannot depart from prajñā; how much less can we. Apart from prajñā, what other dharma is there? This is the fundamental condition for attaining Buddhahood. Only those willing to follow this dharma have wisdom, and they can certainly attain accomplishment in this very life. |
| 【心无挂碍】 这个心，是毫无挂碍，人空法空，寂灭轻安的大自在心，视世间出世间一切一切皆量等虚空，无有边际，包罗万有，了无挂碍。心且不有，挂碍何依？苦厄安在？ | [The Mind Is Free of Hindrance] This mind is utterly free of hindrance: a mind of great freedom and ease, in which self and dharmas are empty, quiescent, and at peace. It sees all worldly and supramundane things as vast and equal to empty space, without boundary, encompassing all that exists, and wholly free of hindrance. If even mind does not exist, on what could hindrances depend? Where, then, could suffering and adversity be? |
| 【无挂碍故，无有恐怖，远离颠倒梦想】 心里既是净空无见，白天没有想象，夜间自无乱梦，正如千眼千手，圆照十方，岂有颠倒？凡人恐怖，先有一个得失心，就是有我的果，正是六道生死的种性。 | [Because There Is No Hindrance, There Is No Fear; One Is Far Removed from Upside-Down Dreaming] Since the mind is pure, empty, and free of views, there are no imaginings by day and naturally no confused dreams at night. Like a thousand eyes and a thousand hands illuminating the ten directions completely, how could there be any inversion? Ordinary people are afraid because they first have a mind of gain and loss—the notion that there is a self that receives karmic results. This is precisely the propensity for birth and death in the six realms. |
| 如能心空法空，登于佛位，两个生死已了。菩萨再来世间，是大悲愿力，不是业力，自然没有恐怖，颠倒梦想，都远离了，到了生灭灭已，寂灭为乐的境界了。 | If one can realize that mind is empty and dharmas are empty, one ascends to the Buddha stage and is liberated from the two forms of birth and death. When bodhisattvas return to the world, it is through the power of their great compassionate vows, not through karmic force. Naturally, they have no fear and are far removed from upside-down dreaming; they have reached the state in which arising and ceasing have ceased, and quiescent extinction is bliss. |
| 【究竟涅槃】 这涅槃是清净的意思。二乘人是有余涅槃，不是究竟；这究竟涅槃是佛位，名为无余涅槃，连涅槃亦不可得。所谓成了佛，也没有成佛的法见。本来涅槃是对生死说的，既本来没有生死，亦安有涅槃，不过同是个假名罢了。这是菩萨的果德。 | [Ultimate Nirvāṇa] Nirvāṇa means purity. The practitioners of the two vehicles attain nirvāṇa with remainder, which is not ultimate. Ultimate nirvāṇa is the Buddha stage, called nirvana without remainder; even nirvāṇa itself cannot be obtained. What is called becoming a Buddha involves no dharma-view that one has become a Buddha. Nirvāṇa was originally spoken of in contrast to birth and death; since birth and death have never truly existed, how could nirvāṇa exist? Both are merely provisional names. This is the fruition virtue of a bodhisattva. |
| 【三世诸佛】 无论现在佛，过去佛，未来佛，统包括三世一切诸佛，不问已成未成，都是一体平等。须知释迦弥陀是果上佛，我和六道众生是因上佛，性自平等，所以不可自弃，也不可轻人。 | [The Buddhas of the Three Times] Whether present Buddhas, past Buddhas, or future Buddhas, all Buddhas throughout the three times are included. Whether they have already attained Buddhahood or not, they are one body and equal. You should know that Śākyamuni Buddha and Amitābha Buddha are Buddhas at the fruition stage, while I and sentient beings in the six realms are Buddhas at the causal stage. Our natures are inherently equal; therefore, we must neither abandon ourselves nor look down on others. |
| 【依般若波罗蜜多故，得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提】 三世诸佛，也无不由此法门而得无上菩提。一切大智慧，无不由自性佛母所生，生是启发的意思。这个得，正是无得之得；必得心中了无所得，然后本来的面目斯得。 | [Relying on Prajñāpāramitā, They Attain Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi] All Buddhas of the three times likewise attain unsurpassed bodhi through this dharma gate. All great wisdom is born from the Buddha-mother of intrinsic nature; “born” here means brought forth or awakened. This attainment is precisely attainment without attainment: only when one attains a state in which there is utterly nothing to attain in the mind can one attain one’s Original Face. |
| 此时无人，无我，无众生，无寿者，寂然不动，而妙用恒沙，由此启发，这是佛的果德。阿耨多罗是无上，三藐是正等，三菩提是正觉；就是无上正等正觉，是言佛的意境。你想连佛也不能离此法门，众生岂可自外，另觅途径，岂非颠倒！所以不自求而他求，都是因地不正，适以自误！ | At this point there is no person, no self, no sentient being, and no life span. Serene and unmoving, yet wondrous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are brought forth from this. This is the fruition virtue of a Buddha. Anuttarā means unsurpassed, samyak means rightly equal, and saṃbodhi means right awakening; together they mean unsurpassed, rightly equal, right awakening, the state of mind of a Buddha. Consider this: even a Buddha cannot depart from this dharma gate. How could sentient beings exclude themselves from it and seek another path? Would that not be upside-down? Thus, seeking others rather than oneself is a distortion at the causal stage and only leads one astray. |
| 以上十句判为果德分，为第五段，是说到果德地位，一切挂碍才算净尽，才是究竟涅槃，都赖观空成就，并无别法。又以上可算是上半部心经，专说此法无实。下面再翻身过来说个无虚，金刚经说：“此法无实无虚。 | The preceding ten sentences are classified as the section on fruition virtue, the fifth section. They describe the stage of fruition virtue, where all hindrances are finally exhausted and one reaches ultimate nirvāṇa. This is entirely accomplished through contemplating emptiness; there is no other dharma. The foregoing may also be regarded as the first half of the Heart Sūtra, which exclusively explains that this dharma is not real. Below, the discussion turns around to speak of its not being unreal. The Diamond Sūtra says that this Dharma is neither real nor unreal. |
| ”要人不要执实，也不要执虚，正显般若无住的妙用。若再深一层讲，心既不有，法于何依？既没有法，更谈不到无实无虚的了。所以说，涅槃生死等空华。 | It teaches people not to cling to the real, nor to cling to the unreal, thereby revealing the wondrous functioning of non-abiding prajñā. Going a level deeper, if mind does not exist, on what could dharmas depend? If there are no dharmas, then one cannot even speak of their being real or unreal. Therefore, nirvāṇa and birth and death are equally like flowers in empty space. |
| 【故知般若波罗蜜多】 以下是转入无虚，点明一知字的妙用。 | [Therefore Know Prajñāpāramitā] What follows turns to the unreal and points out the wondrous function of the single word “know.” |
| 这知字是灵照觉知，表明悟后的意境，仿佛是转而为有；不知这知字也是法，也是性空，一时的缘生，暂时的法用，即是知而无知，生而不生；所以不明无生的道理，就不能证知真空的道理。 | This word “know” is numinous illumination and awakened knowing, expressing the state after awakening; it may seem to turn toward existence. Yet this knowing too is a dharma and is also empty in nature—arising temporarily through conditions and functioning only provisionally. Thus, it knows yet is without knowing; it arises yet does not arise. Therefore, without understanding the principle of the unborn, one cannot directly realize the principle of true emptiness. |
| 前说一空字，是般若的体；此说一知字，是般若的用。所以表般若的至德，无可形容，无可言表；至此言语道断，心行处灭；惟有神会，惟有赞叹，正是冷暖自知的时候。 | Previously, the single word “empty” was discussed as the essence of prajñā; here, the single word “know” is discussed as the function of prajñā. Thus, prajñā’s supreme virtue cannot be described or expressed in words. At this point, the path of speech is cut off and the activity of mind is extinguished. There can only be silent realization and praise; it is precisely the time when one knows for oneself whether something is cold or warm. |
| 【是大神咒，是大明咒，是无上咒，是无等等咒，能除一切苦，真实不虚】 这六句是赞叹的辞句。咒是密意，以决定如是曰咒，如军令严速曰咒。 | [It Is the Great Mantra, the Great Bright Mantra, the Supreme Mantra, the Unequaled Mantra, Which Can Remove All Suffering and Is True, Not False] These six clauses are words of praise. A mantra conveys a secret meaning: that which is decisively and certainly so is called a mantra; that which is as strict and swift as a military command is called a mantra. |
| 以无所不包谓之大；以无所不通谓之神；以无所不照谓之明；以无可比对无可再加谓之无上；以毕竟平等谓之无等等；空不偏空，有不著有，于寂灭无住的性体中，能启发恒沙妙用。 | Because it encompasses everything, it is called great; because nothing is beyond its reach, it is called spiritual; because nothing is beyond its illumination, it is called bright; because nothing can compare with it or be added to it, it is called supreme; because it is ultimately equal, it is called unequaled. Empty, yet not biased toward emptiness; existent, yet not attached to existence: within the nature that abides nowhere in quiescent extinction, it can bring forth wondrous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. |
| 六祖云：何期自性本不生灭，本不动摇；何期自性能生万法。前为无实之体，此为无虚之用；故能除一切苦，真实不虚。你想世上的人，没一个人没有挂碍的痛苦，哪一个人能离了佛法，佛法又何曾迷信呢！ | The Sixth Patriarch said: “How unexpected that intrinsic nature is originally neither arising nor ceasing, and originally unmoving. How unexpected that intrinsic nature can give rise to all dharmas.” The former is the essence of not being real; this is the function of not being unreal. Therefore, it can remove all suffering and is true, not false. Consider that no person in the world is free from the suffering of hindrances. Who can be apart from the Buddhadharma? And when has the Buddhadharma ever been superstition? |
| 以上七句判为证知分，分第六段，要亲证才知这个境界，不是靠文字可以得知的。所以得知的必须要真参实究，从自性上用功，经是不过借来考证罢了。 | The preceding seven sentences are classified as the section on direct realization, the sixth section. Only through direct realization can one know this state; it cannot be known through words and writings. Therefore, those who wish to know must truly investigate and cultivate, applying effort to intrinsic nature. The sūtras are merely borrowed as corroboration. |
| 总之，心通才是最大神通；但心不空就不能通，不通就不能明，不明则一切智慧被无明所覆，不能启发。这一分是说心到了真空的境界，自然有许多力量；不是有苦再除，却使一切苦厄无所依附，根本无苦厄的了。 | In sum, penetrating mind is the greatest spiritual power. But if the mind is not empty, it cannot penetrate; if it cannot penetrate, it cannot be bright; and if it is not bright, all wisdom is obscured by ignorance and cannot be brought forth. This section says that when the mind reaches the state of true emptiness, it naturally possesses many powers. It is not that suffering is first present and then removed; rather, all suffering and adversity are left with nowhere to depend, so that fundamentally there is no suffering or adversity. |
| 【故说般若波罗蜜多咒，即说咒曰：揭谛揭谛，波罗揭谛，波罗僧揭谛，菩提萨婆诃】 梵咒本来不许翻译的，因为怕持的人着了解释，反而添知见，心乱了。但此经是自利利他的，终不能忘记众生，离了大悲本愿。 | [Therefore He Spoke the Prajñāpāramitā Mantra, Saying: Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasaṃgate Bodhi Svāhā] Sanskrit mantras were originally not to be translated, for fear that those who recite them would become attached to the explanation, thereby adding views and confusing the mind. But this sūtra is for benefiting oneself and others, and one ultimately cannot forget sentient beings or depart from the fundamental vow of great compassion. |
| 姑将咒义略述一二：揭谛揭谛，是说度过去呀！度过去呀！波罗揭谛，是向彼岸度过去呀！波罗僧揭谛，是彼岸大家度过去呀！菩提萨婆诃，是速速证到菩提呀！以上六句判为秘密分，为第七段，只有自己知道，没法出口的意思。 | Let us briefly explain something of the mantra’s meaning. Gate Gate means, “Go beyond! Go beyond!” Pāragate means, “Go beyond to the other shore!” Pārasaṃgate means, “Let everyone go beyond together to the other shore!” Bodhi Svāhā means, “Swiftly realize bodhi!” The preceding six sentences are classified as the secret section, the seventh section: it is something that only one knows for oneself and cannot be put into words. |
| 佛说的三藏十二部，总是说个心，这心经是说心内精华。大凡人有七个心，每每自己不知道的，那六个是六道心，每日流转勿停；忽而天道心，忽而人道心，又忽而三恶道心，总是无主的逐境流浪心。 | The Tripiṭaka and twelve divisions of the Buddha’s teachings always speak of mind; this Heart Sūtra speaks of the essence within mind. In general, people have seven minds, though they themselves often do not know it. Six of these are the minds of the six realms, ceaselessly revolving each day: now the mind of the deva realm, now the mind of the human realm, and then the mind of the three lower realms. They are all minds that, without a master, wander after circumstances. |
| 下等的人，并且不知道什么是叫做心，中等的人才知道善心恶心的分别心，上等人是多有向上的心，可以得人天的好果。 | People of lesser capacity do not even know what is called mind. Those of middling capacity know only the discriminating mind that distinguishes good from evil. Those of superior capacity often have an aspiring mind and can attain favorable results in the human and deva realms. |
| 还有第七个心是空心，是无上的心，是无住的心，是有主的心，是清净自在的心；这个心不是修证到是不会知道的，连二乘人和权乘菩萨也不会知道的。佛说：微生虫到处可去，只是火里不能去。 | There is also a seventh mind: the empty mind, the unsurpassed mind, the non-abiding mind, the mind with a master, the pure and free mind. Unless one cultivates and realizes it, one will not know this mind. Even practitioners of the two vehicles and bodhisattvas of the provisional vehicles do not know it. The Buddha said: “Tiny insects may go everywhere, but they cannot enter fire.” |
| 众生的心到处可缘，只是不肯向般若上去，就是不知道那第七个心。这个心是出世的心，明了这个心，去成佛就不远了。众生在此岸，是六个心，超登彼岸，便是那第七个无心的心，正是毫无挂碍的心了。 | The minds of sentient beings can form conditions everywhere, but they are unwilling to turn toward prajñā; thus, they do not know the seventh mind. This mind is a supramundane mind. Once one understands it, Buddhahood is not far away. Sentient beings on this shore have the six minds; transcending to the other shore is the seventh mind—the mind of no-mind, the mind wholly free of hindrance. |
| 但人不从六个心上下手，就不能出世，要从烦恼上参透，挂碍上打开，方可成佛。譬如人已落在泥坑里，必要从泥里拔出来，所以世法正是出世的资粮。人先要明白烦恼是什么？还是我的六个心。 | But unless one begins with the six minds, one cannot transcend the world. One must penetrate afflictions through investigation and open up the hindrances before one can become a Buddha. It is like someone who has fallen into a mud pit and must pull themselves out of the mud. Thus, worldly dharmas are precisely provisions for transcending the world. One must first understand: what are afflictions? They are still my six minds. |
| 你且息下了，心空无著，才见那无心的心了。从来修佛道的人，以为是出世看得轻，不值得理他，平时就不在人事上练心，于做人道理全不讲究。孝悌是根本，忠信是法用，是尽人道的根基，正是成佛的本钱。 | Just let them rest; when the mind is empty and free from attachment, one then sees the mind of no-mind. Those who have cultivated the Buddha Way have always regarded transcending the world as something lofty and worldly matters as unworthy of attention. Ordinarily, they do not train the mind in human affairs and pay no heed to the principles of proper conduct. Filial piety and fraternal respect are the foundation; loyalty and trustworthiness are dharma functions. They are the basis for fulfilling the human way and precisely the capital for becoming a Buddha. |
| 大乘佛法，首重根本，所以能一路直入，一竿到底，中间不会背师忘道，自入歧途。 | Mahāyāna Buddhadharma places primary importance on the foundation. Therefore, one can enter directly all the way through and reach the end in one stroke, without turning one’s back on the teacher, forgetting the Way, or straying onto a wrong path. |
| 你想五蕴法见都空了，那贪根已断，名利心又附在何处呢？所以奉劝世人读经要照经去做，第一步求得明心的法门，一门深入，见到了实相，自然般若开了；第二步有了办法，在人事上磨练，扫荡习气；此时有进无退，直到成佛。 | Consider this: when the views of the five aggregates and dharmas have all been emptied, the root of greed has been cut off. Where, then, could attachment to fame and profit lodge itself? Therefore, I urge people to read the sūtras and act in accordance with them. The first step is to seek a dharma gate for realizing the mind. Enter deeply into one gate; upon seeing the true aspect of reality, prajñā naturally opens. The second step, once one has the method, is to train amid human affairs and sweep away habitual tendencies. Then one advances without retreating, until Buddhahood is attained. |
| 但此生只可见性成佛，除净习气，还得多世，不用功还要迟下去；不过见性后，就世世不退转了。 | Yet in this life one can only realize one’s true nature and attain Buddhahood; to eliminate habitual tendencies completely still requires many lives. Without applying effort, it will be delayed still further. But after seeing one’s true nature, one will never regress throughout life after life. |
| 这个经是文字般若，指示我们的法行；须自作观行，即是观照般若；启发般若后，见到自性，开了智慧，这是实相般若；此时归宗唯一的门路，由此永断无明，了脱生死。 | This sūtra is textual prajñā, which indicates the path of practice. One must personally undertake contemplative practice, which is contemplative prajñā. When prajñā is brought forth and one sees intrinsic nature, wisdom opens; this is prajñā of true reality. At this point, it is the sole path of return to the source, by which ignorance is forever cut off and one is liberated from birth and death. |
| 文虽二百六十个字，足以荡空扫有，实证菩提，菩萨与三世佛，均不能出此范围。此经虽有七译，经义实是不二，汇万法以归一，更破一以归宗，无心可心，无经可说。世尊说法四十九年，不曾说一个字，就是点明一切性空的道理。愿行者须从自性的道理上会，不要在文字的道理上会。把心空了，才可以和心经相印，是谓印心。 | Though the text contains only 260 characters, it is sufficient to sweep away emptiness and existence, and to directly realize bodhi. Neither bodhisattvas nor the Buddhas of the three times can go beyond its scope. Although this sūtra has seven translations, its meaning is truly nondual: it gathers the myriad dharmas into the One, then breaks even the One in returning to the source. There is no mind that can be called mind and no sūtra that can be spoken. For forty-nine years the World-Honored One taught the Dharma, yet he did not utter a single word; this points out that all things are empty in nature. May practitioners understand this through the principle of intrinsic nature, not through the principle of words. Only when the mind is emptied can it accord with the Heart Sūtra; this is called Mind-Seal. |
| 讲心经竟。 | The exposition of the Heart Sūtra is complete. |
| 佛历二五一五年岁次庚寅九月同人敬录。 | Respectfully recorded by fellow practitioners in the ninth month of the gengyin year, Buddhist Era 2515. |
