Critical analysis of the Heart Sutra

Heart Sutra is considered as a refinement of the Mahayana understanding of a foundation and practical realization of the Buddha. This experiential realization is the belief that all ideas, things and beings (or all dharma) that are generally considered as real have no intrinsic existence. According to Buddha, the existence of all dharma and reality is viewed as nothing except the creation of people's deluded construction (Valentino par, 1). Buddha realized that the existence of all things, ideas and beings emanate from the motivation of the process of five skandhas through the realms of sound, color, smell or sight. The Heart Sutra basically implies that real is the cause of human suffering as well as the fact that nature and uniqueness of these realities are creations of the mind.

Notably, the Heart Sutra is considered as a summary rather than an introduction due to the fact that it gives essentials only and is used in the Buddhist culture as a text that introduces the teachings to new students (Hua p. vii). The five skandhas i.e. perception, sensation, consciousness, formation and form are viewed as emptiness since emptiness is form and vice-versa. Actually, according to the Heart Sutra, there is no birth, cessation, characteristics, formation, perception, sensation, feeling, consciousness, purity, impurity, eye, nose, tongue, body, ear, mind, appearance, touch, smell, sound and taste among other things (Lewis par, 3).

Given that the Heart Sutra states that whatever is form is emptiness and whatever is emptiness is form, it's important to understand the meaning of emptiness and whether it means that Buddhists believe in the existence of nothing. As explained using the five skandhas, emptiness is the belief that everything is interrelated rather than nothingness. Generally, the Heart Sutra explanation of emptiness is the fact that everything in the world including human existence has eventual substantiality ("The Heart Sutra" par, 11). This means that nothing in this world is permanent and totally independent of all the other things. Therefore, everything else in this world is not only interrelated but is also in constant change. Additionally, the existence of an object has no self-being and therefore emptiness is the other side of interdependence ("The Heart Sutra and Key Concepts" par, 5).

In order to further understand the Heart Sutra, the key question that needs to be answered and keenly examined is what is emptiness in relation to Buddhism? There are several factors that help in understanding the meaning of emptiness as explained in the Heart Sutra and in relation to Buddhism.

One of the key factors that help in this examination is the attainment of wisdom which explains the aggregate of form. The Heart Sutra explains that the application of four profundities proves that the aggregate of form is empty of intrinsic existence. As a result of applying the four profundities, the attainment of wisdom helps in applying the other four aggregates (Tsering par, 94). When one applies the same method used to establish the aggregate of form as empty of intrinsic existence, consciousness, feeling, discrimination and compositional factors are also viewed to be empty. However, erroneous views begin top unravel when we concentrate on identifying the natural emptiness of the mind.

In the Heart Sutra, Buddha is identified as a person who conquered the four obstructive forces and entered into the realm of the way things really are. Buddha entered into this realm of emptiness because of his concentration on attaining enlightenment and wisdom (Evans par, 18). On the contrary, this focus unravels an erroneous view since a person made up of the aggregates is considered as devoid of substance and intrinsic existence. Buddha is not an exception to this erroneous view because emptiness is also an element that is devoid of intrinsic existence. The focuses on this realm of emptiness or the way things really are in order to attain wisdom or enlightenment may lead to the conclusion that nothing really exists. This focus and conclusion is erroneous given that people feel something is there that can be both felt and held. It's important to note that this view can only be true when emptiness is considered as nothingness rather than the dependence on other objects.

The second important factor in understanding what emptiness is as explained in the Heart Sutra and in relation to Buddhism is the view of suffering. According to the sutra, suffering is as a result of discriminations of feeling, cognition and perception as applied to an ego's needs (Crook par, 24). On the other hand, self or ego is basically an assertion that is dependent on the feeling, cognition and perception function. When this conceptual uniqueness is integrated into a single meditative equipoise, there is liberation from all contingents suffering that a person experiences. This is because the knowledge gained in meditation permits the person to leave all such discriminations of conceptual uniqueness so that they are integrated into a single awareness. However, this declaration of suffering, its origin and stopping it through following a definite path is an empty category. Moreover, the declaration of suffering and its causes in the Heart Sutra does not provide the distinctions between suffering and its alleviation as well as the definite path to liberation (Sunim par, 50).

Conclusion:

As expressed in the Heart Sutra, ultimate reality is void or emptiness that results in the conception of all forms in the exceptional world (Leonard par, 7). Emptiness is therefore interdependence instead of nothingness as explained by the five skandhas. While form is the color, sound or solid object; feeling is the act of the logical organ touching the object and perception is the initial exciting awareness of the object. Moreover, while formation is the insensible response to the object, consciousness is the psychological awareness of the object.