Water and Wave

I've just finished reading a book titled "The Heart of Understanding - Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra" by Thich Nhat Hanh last night. The Prajnaparamita Sutra, or also known as the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is probably my favourite Buddhist text. And I truly enjoyed reading this subtle yet profound interpretation of the Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh! :)

I think I blogged about this sutra before. In Chinese it is called the 心经 or literally, the heart sutra. We chant it everytime at the temple, and it is a very famous Mahayana sutra. The sutra basically talks about the nature of emptiness in everything in life. The sutra talks about how Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara, while practising Prajnaparamita, discovered that the 5 skandhas are equally empty.

Maybe I should share with you the English version of the sutra here!

PS: This is a new translation by Thich Nhat Hanh, which is different from the book. But so far this one of the most beautiful translation of the Sutra that I've come across with!

Avalokiteshvara
while practicing deeply with
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore,
suddenly discovered that
all of the five Skandhas are equally empty,
and with this realisation he overcame all Ill-being.

Listen Sariputra,
this Body itself is Emptiness
and Emptiness itself is this Body.
This Body is not other than Emptiness
and Emptiness is not other than this Body.
The same is true of Feelings, 

Perceptions, Mental Formations, and Consciousness.

Listen Sariputra,
all phenomena bear the mark of Emptiness;
their true nature is the nature of
no Birth no Death, no Being no Non-being,
no Defilement no Purity, no Increasing no Decreasing.

That is why in Emptiness,
Body, Feelings, Perceptions,
Mental Formations and Consciousness
are not separate self entities.

The Eighteen Realms of Phenomena
which are the six Sense Organs,
the six Sense Objects, and the six Consciousnesses
are also not separate self entities.

The Twelve Links of Interdependent Arising 

and their Extinction
are also not separate self entities.

Ill-being, the Causes of Ill-being,
the End of Ill-being, the Path,
insight and attainment, are also not separate self entities.

Whoever can see this
no longer needs anything to attain.

Bodhisattvas who practice
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
see no more obstacles in their mind,
and because there are no more obstacles in their mind,
they can overcome all fear, destroy all wrong perceptions
and realize Perfect Nirvana.

All Buddhas in the past, present and future
by practicing the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
are all capable of attaining Authentic and Perfect Enlightenment.

Therefore Sariputra,
it should be known that
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore
is a Great Mantra, the most illuminating mantra,
the highest mantra, a mantra beyond compare,
the True Wisdom that has the power
to put an end to all kinds of suffering.

Therefore let us proclaim
a mantra to praise
the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore.

Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!

To me this is a very important sutra in Buddhism. It teaches about emptiness, impermanence and the nature of things, which is something the Buddha always taught about. The 2nd and 3rd stanza is already such a powerful reminder to us. That everything in life bears the mark of emptiness. In the book, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about this emptiness. Sure they are empty. But empty of what? He explains that they are empty of a separate self. Nothing in this world and truly exist on its own!

There are a lot of things the book explain but I really recommend you to buy the book and read it for yourself. In fact, I'm going to read the book again to highlight my favourite quotes haha. It is a pretty subtle yet profound interpretation of the sutra and that's how I find the book so beautiful. I love Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. They feel like a wonderful breeze that blows gently in springtime.

To end today's post, I'm going to quote a passage from the book: 

"A wave on the ocean has a beginning and an end, a birth and a death. But Avalokitesvara tells us that the wave is empty. The wave is full of water, but it is empty of a separate self. A wave is a form that has been made possible, thanks to the existence of wind and water. If a wave only sees its form, with its beginning and end, it will be afraid of birth and death. But if the wave sees that is is water and identifies itself with the water, then it will be emancipated from birth and death. Each wave is born and is going to die, but the water is free from birth and death."

Be the water, not a wave!

Chanting Inner Peace

So it's been 3 good years since I discovered this wonderful song above. It is The Prayer (Chanting Inner Peace) by Ketsana and it is truly one of the most peaceful and beautiful song I've ever heard in life. I am a bit sad that I cannot find this anywhere on iTunes or elsewhere. I really hope that she will make it available for purchase somewhere. Because it is truly a beautiful song! Apologies first, but I actually took the song off Youtube - and have been listening to this song almost everyday since I discovered it. 

It has 880 plays on iTunes! And if I'm not wrong it has a thousand plays on my old iPod :P

Like the title of the song, it truly gives me inner peace. I really have to thank Ketsana for this song. This song has helped me to get through tough times, back when I was still in Singapore and up till now. When I feel angry or stressed, sad or frustrated, I would just listen to this song to find a "balance" to my emotions and yep, this song is able to make me stable again. There are times in Singapore where I would put this song on repeat for an hour. Just to calm myself down.

So thank you very much Ketsana for this beautiful song. It has helped me a lot.

Talking about chanting, I'm currently doing my third resolution of the year! Which is to start my mini-book of Buddhism. I've been reading up a lot on Buddhist articles the past few days and it is pretty much an enlightening experience. I've been a bad Buddhist hah. I'm currently on the Noble Eightfold Path, and just finished on the Four Noble Truths. These two topics are the Buddha's first teachings after he gained enlightenment. Well I have heard and briefly read about them but I've never gotten into such depths like what I'm doing now. It is never too late to start I suppose! :)

I don't think I've told you this, but I have also been chanting Sutras everyday for... About a month? Or two? I forgot actually. But yes, I've been chanting 大悲咒 (The Great Compassion Sutra) and (般若波罗蜜多心经 (The Heart Sutra, or Prajna-Paramita Sutra) everyday, three times for each Sutra. It is also another resolution of mine to memorise these Sutras so that I can chant anywhere. And I've memorised almost the whole Sutra :D If you want to do the same, just chant everyday. Effortless memorising.

Now come the question - Why chant?

Okay this is a question I've been asking myself too. It is said that chanting the Great Compassion Sutra helps to alleviate or even free the sufferings of all living things. And to be honest, this is my main objective for chanting the Sutra everyday. As for the Heart Sutra, like I once mentioned in a post last month, I love the wisdom of the Sutra, and chanting everyday is like reminding myself of the wisdom of Prajna-Paramita everyday too. Reminder not to cling to the 5 aggregates, and be free of suffering.

And chanting the Great Compassion Sutra also helps to invoke compassion within us.

You know I read somewhere that chanting the Great Compassion Sutra may also clear all your bad karma, even the ones you had from your previous lives. But... I somehow don't really believe in this? I mean from what I know, whatever karma we create, good and bad, will always be there once created. And it cannot be cleared, and of course we will reap the good and bad karma as time goes by too. So I'm not sure if we can really clear our bad karmas simply by chanting.

And I also read somewhere that doubting a Dhamma is considered a sin.... Oh dear don't tell me I'm creating bad karma by "doubting" the benefit of chanting. But anyway like I said, I don't chant the Sutra to "clear" my bad karma, but mainly to wish and help free other living beings from their sufferings, and to invoke compassion within me. If chanting the Sutra helps to cleanse my bad karma then of course, I am thankful for it. But these two are my main objectives for chanting.

But all in all, a few days ago I came upon a saying by the late Venerable Dr. H. Saddhatissa Mahanayaka Thero, who said that almost all Buddhist practices are nothing else but some form of meditation. And I think these words sparked a bit of enlightening flame within me. Come to think of it, I do feel that chanting is a form of meditation too? Where we sit down, quietly, calmly, and do nothing but chant. After every chanting session, I feel calm and peaceful. And my mind is "light" and fresh. 

I remember a wonderful saying by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi: "In meditation, leave your front door and back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don't serve them tea."

From this quote, I have this analogy for our minds. Our mind is like a house. And everyday this house is being visited by a lot of guests known as thoughts and emotions. Imagine having a lot of guests coming to your house throughout the day. You'll feel tired right? So... When is the time of the day when you don't have these guests in your house? It's either when you're asleep, or when you're resting. You can help your house rest, by meditating, and chanting! These two activities are the times in your day when your mind doesn't have guests. When your mind is finally resting.

And like I've always believed, our mind is a very powerful thing. By letting your mind rest, you're training and taming your mind. And by training your mind you can do some powerful things with it. So I suppose this is where the healing part of chanting comes from. Some Sutras are deemed to help alleviate sickness and pain, some are able to heal too. So in a way, you're "healed" and "blessed" and "blissed" not because you chant the Sutras, but because you unconsciously train your mind while chanting the Sutras, and yup, your mind helps you to "heal" your condition. 

But anyho, I am just a human being. These are just my thoughts and my opinion so they are definitely not a 100% correct and proven true. At the end of the day, the teachings that I found to be true are the teachings of the Buddha - The teachings which I seek refuge in. And the way I want to follow is the Boddhisatva's way. Where I hope to help free the suffering of all living things on earth. And hence, like I said previously, I hope I can help alleviate the sufferings of all living things by chanting the Great Compassion Sutra, and I hope I can get the wisdom of Prajna-Paramita by chanting the Heart Sutra. 

Alright that's all for now, time to chant the Sutras soon! May all living things be happy :)