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.
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, lets 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 didnt 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 ones belly or hara. Take
in a full breath. On the exhale, chant a sustained Ah. At the end of
the exhale, inhale again, filling ones lungs, pulling in the air from
the base of ones 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.
|
