Embodying Emptiness: (Anti-) Aesthetics of the Prajnaparamita-Hrdaya Sutra

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document in English

humanities/philosophy

school essay

published 02/10/2007

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Summary

The Prajna-paramita Hrdaya Sutra, the 'heart' of the Mahayana tradition, represents the Buddhist anti-aesthetic of complete enlightenment in which the perception of any dualistic reality is a view of the deluded mind. The Heart Sutra is Avalokitesvara's explanation of the “worldview” of a Bodhisattva dwelling in the state of sunyata (emptiness). In the sutra, the non-aesthetic quality of emptiness is described by Avalokitesvara: “Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling...No eye, ear…; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind; No sight-organ element...No mind-consciousness element.” In sunyata there is no duality to create the condition of any subject to have an aesthetic experience of any object. And yet “through the power of the [Awakened Being],” the awakening being Avalokitesvara conveys the experience of sunya-ta by means of upaya, 'skill in liberative technique' (Thurman). Avalokitesvara engages the sonic structures of conditioned language to relay how one courses in the unconditioned.

The Prajna-paramita Hrdaya Sutra, the 'heart' of the Mahayana tradition, represents the Buddhist anti-aesthetic of complete enlightenment in which the perception of any dualistic reality is a view of the deluded mind.
Such upaya of the Bodhisattva demonstrates the Prasangika Middle-Way interplay between the 'two truths' of co-dependently relative Phenomena, and Reality that is void of any independent structures.
Chant as Mahayana Praxis
Monks, there are these five disadvantages to one singing Dhamma with ayatakena gitassarena [drawn-out song tones]:
In the Mahayana chants of Chinese Buddhism, there is an 'emphasis on sounds rather than melodic shape, and on mindfulness during the chanting rather than' expression through music
Mimesis of Emptiness in the Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra is a story. It begins, as all Mahayana Buddhist sutras do, with Ananda recounting a sensory memory
It is interesting to see how different translations have conveyed the Heart Sutra's expression of emptiness to specific audiences.
The Mantra of Great Insight