The Story of the Heart Sutra

Answer 1

There are many related stories in the Heart Sutra. Here are some of the stories in vernacular Chinese:

** I. The Story of Xuanzang and the Heart Sutra **

When Master Xuanzang was passing through Shu, he met an old monk with sores and a bad smell. The master took pity on him and gave him clothes, food and care until he recovered. The old monk gave Master Xuanzang a Sanskrit scripture to express his gratitude. This was the famous Heart Sutra. Master Xuanzang was filled with joy after receiving the sutra. When he came out of seclusion, he would recite the Heart Sutra when he encountered difficulties and dangers. The disasters were often eliminated immediately and the danger was turned into safety. When Xuanzang returned from India to repay the old monk, he found that the old monk and the temple had disappeared. Some people said that the old monk was the manifestation of Guanyin Bodhisattva. In the novel Journey to the West, Tang Sanzang obtained the Heart Sutra on Mount Futu. The Wuchao Zen Master on Mount Futu was the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Before the Zen Master taught Tang Sanzang the Sutra, he said that if he encountered a demon, he would not be hurt as long as he recited the Sutra. Later, Tang Sanzang would recite the Heart Sutra when he encountered difficulties, obstacles, or demons.

** 2. The story of the Heart Sutra in the Jianning wizard incident of the Song Dynasty **

In the Song Dynasty, there was a very famous but evil wizard named Lai in Jianning who often sacrificed young girls. He kidnapped a teenage girl from Jiangsu and Zhejiang and locked her in an empty house. In the middle of the night, the girl heard movement from the skylight and was extremely afraid. Because he had read the Heart Sutra with his mother at home, he chanted the Heart Sutra for Guanyin's blessing. A white light came out of her mouth. The thing that climbed down from the skylight wanted to approach but hesitated. The girl repeatedly chanted the incantation at the end of the Heart Sutra,"Jiedi Jiedi, Boluo Jiedi, Boluo Monk Jiedi, Bodhi Sapoha." The white light grew brighter and brighter, and the thing was forced to kneel on the ground without moving. Later, the girl was saved when she heard the night patrol soldiers passing by calling for help. There was a dead white python on the ground, and the wizard was also beheaded and his house was raided.

** 3. About the meaning of the Heart Sutra and the mood of the story (combined with some explanations)**

There was a cultivator who was good at observing himself. He thought deeply with the method of wisdom to the other side. He found that all living beings judged the situation from their own standpoint, which led to pain and trouble. The Heart Sutra expressed things like,"The color of the sarira is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from color. Color is emptiness, and emptiness is color. Buddhist terms such as "sariras are the emptiness of all dharmas. They are neither born nor destroyed, neither dirty nor clean, neither increase nor decrease" contain deep meanings. To put it simply, Bodhisattva looked at everything in the world with wisdom, just like taking care of the twelve causes and four truths. He understood that everything was the emptiness of the origin and not the existence of the entity. In the realms attained by Bodhisattvas, there is no wisdom that can be attained, nor is there a realm attained. This is because Bodhisattvas see that everything is unattainable and their minds are not attached to everything, thus allowing themselves and all sentient beings to be enlightened. In addition, all Buddhas in the past, present, and future lifetimes became Buddhas because of the wisdom of Wisdom. Wisdom of Wisdom had incredible power, which could break the darkness of stupidity and eliminate all pain and evil.
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