Heart Sutra



Today is the anniversary of my grandfather's birthday.

In Japan, Buddhist sutras are read daily at temples and at a family altar on anniversaries related to life and death. By a lucky coinsidence, a link appeared to the Heart sutra (Flash), in Japanese called Hannya Haramita Shingyo, so I invite everyone to listen.

The central passage is "shiki soku ze ku ku soku ze shiki" which translates as "emptiness is form and form is emptiness". I love how this sutra connects ancient India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan - and recently, America and Europe as well. Read more here and here.

The photo is from the gate at Sogenji, my Rinzai zen temple in Okayama prefecture.

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