ABSTRACT
The Heart Sūtra (S. Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya) translated by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Xuanzang in the Tang dynasty only contains 260 words and primarily explicates what emptiness is all about. It states that form is none other than emptiness, and emptiness is none other than form; that which is form is emptiness, and that which is emptiness is form. What is the true meaning of this emptiness? The interpretations of each school are similar, and they are not separated from the connotation of dependent origination without a fundamental cause. This study, based on existing Buddhist scriptures, as well as the interpretations of the Heart Sūtra’s emptiness in Buddhist schools, explores and concludes that the statement “the five aggregates are all empty” refers to the “characteristics of emptiness” of sentient beings’ five aggregates, which is also the emptiness understood by the Buddhist community nowadays with respect to the contents of the Heart Sūtra. However, while there is the five aggregates’ emptiness that arises, ceases, changes, and alters, there must exist the true nature of emptiness that does not arise nor cease to exist. This nature of emptiness (śūnyata) is exactly the ultimate emptiness and the emptiness of ultimate truth set forth in the Āgama Sūtras and the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras. The Heart Sūtra elucidates emptiness but is non-empty.
