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Sūtra no. 15 (posted 04/2008)
Sūtra of the Great Illumination Mantra of Mahā-Prajñā-Pāramitā
摩訶般若波羅蜜大明呪經
Translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in the Yao Chin Dynasty
by
The Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva from Kucha
As Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva acted upon the profound prajñā-pāramitā, he saw in his illumination the emptiness of the five aggregates, which delivers one from all sufferings and tribulations.
"Śāriputra, because form is empty, it does not have the appearance of decay. Because sensory reception is empty, it does not have the appearance of sensory experience. Because perception is empty, it does not have the appearance of cognition. Because mental processing is empty, it does not have the appearance of construction. Because consciousness is empty, it does not have the appearance of awareness. Why? Śāriputra, form is no different from emptiness; emptiness is no different from form. Form is in effect emptiness; emptiness is in effect form. Sensory reception, perception, mental processing, and consciousness are the same way. Śāriputra, dharmas, with the appearance of emptiness, are neither born nor perishing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. This dharma of emptiness is of neither the past nor the future nor the present.
"Therefore, in emptiness, there is no form, nor sensory reception, perception, mental processing, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mental base, nor sights, sounds, scents, tastes, tactile sensations, or mental objects; and no spheres, from eye sphere to mental-consciousness sphere . There is neither ignorance nor ending of ignorance; and neither old age and death nor ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering, or the path. There is neither knowledge nor attainment because there is nothing to attain.
"Bodhisattvas, because of relying on prajñā-pāramitā, have no hindrances in their minds. Without any hindrance, they have no fear. Staying far from inverted dreaming and thinking, they will ultimately attain nirvāṇa. Buddhas of the past, present, and future, because of relying on prajñā-pāramitā, all attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi.
"Hence, we know that prajñā-pāramitā is the great illumination mantra, the unsurpassed illumination mantra, the unequaled illumination mantra, which can remove all sufferings. It is true, not false. Hence the Prajñā-Pāramitā Mantra is pronounced. Then the Mantra goes:
gate gate pāragate pāra-saṅgate bodhi svāhā ||"
—Sūtra of the Great Illumination Mantra of Mahā-Prajñā-Pāramitā
Translated from the Chinese Canon, Volume 8, Text no. 250