SEA OF SOUND

A COMMENTARY ON
THE PERFECTION OF WISDOM IN ONE LETTER

BY JIM WILSON


Text

THE BLESSED PERFECTION OF WISDOM

THE MOTHER OF ALL THE ONES OF THUSNESS

IN ONE LETTER

Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom!

Thus have I heard: At one time the Lord dwelt at Rajagrha, on the Vulture Peak, together with a large congregation of renunciates, with 1,250 renunciates, and with countless Enlightening Ones. At that time the Lord addressed the Venerable Ananda, and said:

“Ananda, do receive, for the sake of the welfare and happiness of all sentient existence, this perfection of wisdom in one letter, the letter ‘A’.”

Thus spoke the Lord. The Venerable Ananda, the large congregation of renunciates, the assembly of the Enlightening Ones, and the whole world with its gods, humans, titans, and heavenly musicians, rejoiced at the teaching of the Lord.

Colophon: Based on the Edward Conze translation.
Comment

Most English letters represent several different sounds. The letter ‘A’ can stand for ‘Ah’ as in ‘father’, or ‘Ay’ as in ‘ate’, or an inbetween sound as in ‘lather’. In this sutra the letter ‘A!’ stands for the sound ‘Ah’ as in father so in reading this sutra one should read, “ . . . this perfection of wisdom in one letter, the letter ‘Ah’.”

The ‘A’ here translates the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. Because the Sanskrit alphabet has a completely phonetic character, no ambiguity as to the sonic designation exists in the original sutra. The first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet sounds deep in the throat, with the mouth held widely open, very resonant and full. Sanskrit considers this sound the original sound, all other sounds manifest as modifications of this deepthroated resonant ‘Ah’. For example, other vowels manifest as constrictions of either the throat or the mouth of the sound ‘Ah’. Because the Sanskrit letter unambiguously designates a sound I think that one could legitimately translate the sutra as follows:

Text

THE BLESSED PERFECTION OF WISDOM

THE MOTHER OF ALL THE ONES OF THUSNESS

IN ONE SOUND

Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom!

Thus have I heard: At one time the Lord dwelt at Rajagrha, on the Vulture Peak, together with a large congregation of renunciates, with 1,250 renunciates, and with countless Enlightening Ones. At that time the Lord addressed the Venerable Ananda, and said:

“Ananda, do receive, for the sake of the welfare and happiness of all sentient existence, this perfection of wisdom in one sound, the sound ‘Ah’.”

Thus spoke the Lord. The Venerable Ananda, the large congregation of renunciates, the assembly of the Enlightening Ones, and the whole world with its gods, humans, titans, and heavenly musicians, rejoiced at the teaching of the Lord.

Comment Continued

This sutra represents the greatest compression of the perfection of wisdom that can occur in a text. It may at first seem almost absurd, or exceedingly abstract, to present the perfectio!n of wisdom as one sound, the sound ‘Ah’. But before dismissing this idea as a clever trick, let’s try to contemplate its possible meaning, and the possible reasons for such a presentation of perfect wisdom.

First, note that the discourse present the perfection of wisdom as a single sound, not a single sight (like a flame), or a single smell (like the smell of oranges), or a single touch (like the feel of ice), or a single idea (like the idea of the good), or a single taste (like the taste of tea). Why choose a sound and not some other phenomenon?

If we contemplate the three marks of emptiness (change, dependence, and impermanence) we discover that the sonic domain most clearly presents us with the nature of emptiness in a manner directly accessible to our sensory awareness. Other sensory domains do not exhibit so clearly these three marks of emptiness, these three marks of existence. For example, most objects in the visual domain do not seem to change in a manner directly available to our senses. The desk I sit at right now does not seem to differ from the desk I observed yesterday. I infer that it has changed and I can establish, through practice, a profound inferential consciousness with regard to the changing nature of visual phenomena. However, I do not directly perceive this changing nature of visual phenomena. Similarly, visual phenomena do not display to my senses their dependent nature; visual phenomena seem to exist as independent and separate entities. Once again, I can infer the dependent nature of visual objects (for example I infer that the desk came from a tree, from a furniture maker, from a truck that delivered the furniture, etc.), and this inferential consciousness can, over time, provide a strong foundation for the understanding of emptiness, but the visual domain does not, for the most part, provide a basis for experiencing emptiness.

In contrast to this, consider the sonic domain. Sonic phenomena display to our senses in a clear manner the three marks of emptiness. When I strike a bell, for example, the sound of the bell clearly depends for its existence on my action, and so the sound of the bell clearly presents its dependent nature, not just inferentially, but in a manner directly available to my senses, experientially.

The sound of the bell constantly changes, thus displaying the second mark of emptiness, once again in a manner directly available to my senses.

Finally, the sound of the bell eventually fades and disappears, manifesting impermanence, the third mark of emptiness, in a manner directly available to my senses.

From this perspective, it makes sense to distill the perfection of wisdom to a single sound for the sonic domain functions most easily as the entrance to the reality of emptiness. The sutra draws our attention to the sonic domain, telling us to contemplate a sound because sounds, sonic objects, constantly display the reality of emptiness. It resembles the Awakened One saying something like, “Pay attention. Hear emptiness and you will understand. Listen to impermanence and you will understand. Listen to dependence and you will understand. Listen to change and you will understand. All other phenomena, experiences, events, occasions, resemble the emptiness of the sonic domain. Listen!”

But the Awakened One didn’t choose just any sound. He chose a sound that we humans can make, on our own, a sound that manifests as part of our presence in the world, the sound ‘Ah’. This allows us to practice the perfection of wisdom, as opposed to only contemplating or thinking about emptiness. This practice of the perfection of wisdom consists of simply chanting the sound ‘Ah’. Listen to this sound, and perceive emptiness. Produce this sound, and perceive emptiness.

The practice of perfect wisdom as indicated in this sutra happens best with a group of three or more participants. Gather together at an agreed upon time. Sit in a circle. Sit in a good medita!tion posture, comfortable, but with the back straight. Breathe deeply from one’s belly or hara. Take in a full breath. On the exhale, chant a sustained ‘Ah’. At the end of the exhale, inhale again, filling one’s lungs, pulling in the air from the base of one’s belly, or hara. On the next exhale once again chant the sound ‘Ah’. The chant on the exhale should manifest as a sustained, unwavering pitch (though the pitch may vary from exhale to exhale), the same loudness from beginning to end. Chanters should allow themselves time to take a deep inhale; this may last anywhere from 5 to 40 seconds. Do not feel a need to leap back into chanting immediately by taking a rushed breath/inhale. In small groups, this may mean the appearance of silences during those times when all participants inhale at the same time.

Begin the chanting by striking a bell. Chant for a minimum of 10 minutes. If a large group undertakes this practice, the group as a whole can commit themselves to the sustained chanting of ‘Ah’ by working out a schedule of chanting, each participant committing themselves to staggered, overlapping periods of, for example, 20 to 40 minutes. After a period of chanting a participant would enter a period of silence, but some members of the group would continue the chanting. In this way the group of chanters can sustain the chanting of ‘Ah’ for many hours, or even days. However long the chanting lasts, conclude the chanting of ‘Ah’ by striking the same bell used to begin the chanting. At the end of the chanting, upon hearing the bell, those chanting ‘Ah’ should keep chanting untill finished with that exhale. In this way the chanting will gradually taper off, coming to a smooth conclusion.

As a group, the chanters will produce a sea of sound with waves and swirls manifesting. The chanting of perfect wisdom does not constitute a piece of music, so do not have concerns about consonance, chords, simultaneous entries or endings. All of those do not have relevance to this practice.

The sea of sound produced by the chanting, clearly reveals the empty nature of our existence. The sea of sound exists dependently. The sea of sound, the ocean of ‘Ah’, exists only because the chanting participants bring it into existence. If the chanters had not chanted the sea of sound would not exist as the ocean of ‘Ah’. And this dependent nature of the sonic object, of the sonic ocean, reveals the dependent nature of all things.

The sea of sound manifesting as the ocean of ‘Ah’ constantly changes. As some chanters take a breath, their voice fades from the ocean of sound. Then it re-enters, perhaps at a different pitch and volume. The density of the sea constantly shifts. This constantly shifting nature of the sonic objects reveals the constantly shifting nature of all things.

The sea of sound manifesting as the ocean of ‘Ah’ at some point ceases. When the chanters end chanting, the sonic object comes to an end, thereby revealing the impermanent nature of all things.

Thus the sea of sound, the ocean of ‘Ah’, manifests clearly the three marks of emptiness, the marks which all things bear, but which we have trouble recognizing in many situations.

In addition, this practice of chanting perfect wisdom as the sea of sound, as the ocean of ‘Ah’, reveals to use the nature of our discriminative consciousness. As we participate in this practice our like and dislike mind appears. Perhaps we wish someone would chant on a different pitch, or less loudly, or more forcefully, or etc. This allows us to perceive the mind which wishes to bend existence to its own contours even in situations where such bending would serve no purpose. By simply continuing to chant, we allow ourselves the opportunity to let go of this like and dislike mind, and thereby transcend the discriminative consciousness which does so much to keep us bound to suffering.

Chanting functions as a powerful form of practice because it unites body, breath, speech, and mind into a single activity, giving a point of focus for the entire organism. In addition, normally the speech or discriminative function and the musical function of the mind do not function together. In chanting, these two spheres of the mind come together as a single activity. Thus chanting provides us with a powerful means for cultivating one-pointedness.

Chanting has yet another benefit; chanting produces a rhythm of breathing highly conducive to meditative awareness. When chanting, we take a deep inhale followed by a long drawn-out, slow exhale. This rhythm of breathing appears naturally among advanced practitioners of zazen, according to studies done in Japan. In Korean Zen, beginners consciously establish this rhythm of breathing from the beginning of their zazen practice. This manner of breathing helps to circulate chi, or life-force energy, throughout the body. In chanting we use this rhythm of breathing without thinking about it, simply as a natural consequence of breathing. For this reason, this style of chanting ‘Ah’ can prove very helpful as a lead-in practice for zazen, or other forms of silent meditation, or, for that matter, other forms of chanting meditation, for the chanting of ‘Ah’ naturally inclines us to a way of breathing conducive to meditation.

The practice of chanting perfect wisdom as the sea of sound, the ocean of ‘Ah’ manifests emptiness as luminous clarity. The sonic object/event/process/occasion does not hinder the appearance/manifestation/presence of any other object from any other domain. The ocean of ‘Ah’ manifests luminous transparency which means the primal empty nature of all things.

The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter reveals to us a means for the realization of emptiness, of transcendental wisdom. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter reveals to us a means for directly perceiving the suchness of existence. The Perfection of Wisdom in One! Letter reveals to us the antidote to suffering. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter guides us to the sea of sound which also means the ocean of wisdom, which names the original condition in which we dwell. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter gives all of us a means for the liberation of all sentient existence.

To the sea of sound, I give thanks.

To the ocean of ‘Ah’, I give thanks.

To the Perfection of Wisdom, Mother of all Awakened Ones, I give thanks.

To all the Enlightening Ones of all realms I give thanks.

To the Awakened Ones of all realms I give thanks.

May peace of heart and serenity of mind manifest among all sentient existence.

Notice: Copyright by Jim Wilson, also known as Dharmajim, 1998. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to download and copy this document, provided that this notice is kept as part of the document.
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