Living Without Walls, Part 1

The focus of today’s talk is part three of the heart sutra: The Bodhisattva Path. Sattva means being and bodhi means awakened. So, a bodhisattva is an awakened being or a being which aspires to awaken. In the first part of the heart sutra, Shariputra is asking Avalokiteshvara to teach him prajnaparamita. Prajna is wisdom and paramita means perfect or beyond. So prajna paramita is the perfection of wisdom or wisdom beyond wisdom and Avalokiteshvara simply teaches him the wisdom of emptiness. Prajna can also be broken down into pra, meaning “before” and jna, meaning “to know”. Therefore, prajnaparamita is what comes before knowing – what is it that comes before knowing – what was your original face before you were born? Before I can know, I have to be. Being comes before knowing. What is it that is prior to thinking? What does it mean to take refuge in prajnaparamita?