Hi,
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I'd like to share a story with you that I wrote that talks about the metaphor of the Heart Sutra Mantra.
GATE GATE PARA GATE PARASOM GATE BORI SOHA This story may help you better understand the intention behind chanting this particular mantra.
Before sharing the story,
I would like to make a note that when I wrote the story I made the decision to include all three pronouns,
He,
She,
And they,
But the character in the story is only one person.
But I do move through all three pronouns and the reason I decided to do this is so that no matter who you are,
When you listen to the story,
You will be able to identify with the character no matter which pronoun you identify with.
I hope you enjoy this story,
Journey Through the Heart Sutra.
She stood on the shoreline gazing over the water.
If only I could leave this place behind,
She sighed,
Looking over her shoulder back at the mess on the beach.
I know it would be better over on the other side.
A soft wind touched her face.
The night was dark.
She waited by the water's shoreline hoping for a boat to arrive that would help her cross.
None came and so she turned back around and looked at the things that lay on the sand around her.
As she stepped forward,
She found a card.
Opening it,
It read,
Thank you for being a light in my life.
It was signed by her friend,
Judy.
The memory brought a smile to her face and she tucked it into her back pocket so that she could later remember it.
As she did,
She lit a candle and placed it on the sand where the card had lain.
He turned his head left,
His eyes making contact with a piece of broken glass.
He remembered that night.
It had been hard.
Words said that left them both hurt and feeling broken.
The anger rose in him now and he let it out,
Tears flowing freely,
Cooling the anger inside of him.
He bent down and picked up the glass piece by piece until it was gathered in his hands.
The stars overhead touched the glass and dissolved the pieces back into sand,
Allowing them to flow freely through his fingers back onto the beach.
He lit a candle to honor the moment,
Grateful that it had now made him a better listener.
Piece by piece,
Memory by memory,
She walked the beach cleaning,
Picking up,
And healing memories of joy,
Pain,
Loss,
Anger,
Amazement,
Grief,
Happiness,
Lighting a candle for each remembered moment.
He looked around and felt he could now smell the air around him.
They turned around towards the shoreline to watch the water lap slowly against the sand.
The boat had arrived.
She smiled and ran toward the boat grateful to find out what new things would lie on the other shore.
The guide who paddled the boat smiled and welcomed her into the hull.
The boat swayed and rocked until she was seated looking forward toward the new horizon.
Close your eyes and breathe,
The guide shared with him.
Chant these words as we take passage over the water.
Gate,
Gate,
Paragate,
Parasongate,
Bori,
Soha.
The guide breathed slowly,
Keep your eyes closed as we make our way across.
They closed their eyes and began to chant the words the guide had gifted them.
As they made their way over the water's surface,
They felt the cool air of the night around themselves.
The gentle mist from the water felt like stardust hitting their face.
They chanted and smiled.
It's time to open your eyes,
The guide said as the momentum of the boat slowed in the water and they seemed to drift.
She inhaled quickly,
A gasp.
The lights welcomed her.
The new shore looked so beautiful just as she had imagined it would.
The lights flickered white against the night sky.
It's so beautiful,
He said turning toward the guide.
Yes,
The guide nodded,
And now you may exit the boat.
He stood cautiously and stepped out of the boat,
His feet touching the water.
I wonder what this new shore will be like.
He felt the excitement grow inside of himself.
As she stepped onto the sand,
She began to laugh.
Hey,
Wait a minute,
This is the same place we just left.
She turned toward the guide.
Is it?
The guide smiled.
He looked again.
It was amazing.
It was,
In fact,
The very same location,
But it seemed different,
Beautiful,
So full of light.
They turned back toward the guide,
But he had vanished already and the sun began to rise on the horizon,
Touching the water.
They walked the beach,
Taking in all the joy that was around them.
I guess the new shore is inside of us.
As the sun rose,
They took joy in exploring new places on the beach that had opened up all around themselves.
These were places they'd never seen before.
They turned quickly back toward the water's edge,
Shouting,
Thank you,
Into the fading night.
They smiled as they welcomed the coming day on this new shore.
I want to say thank you so much for joining me for this story today that shares the intention behind the Heart Sutra Mantra.
Gate,
Gate,
Paragate,
Parasonne gate,
Bodhi,
Soha.
The intention is that we don't need to look outside of ourselves when things are going wrong or we don't like what we see,
But instead,
If we take the time to clean the inside places of ourselves,
We begin to find new shores to cross over to these new places that actually exist within us.
And from this place,
This healed place,
We can make new decisions for ourselves and that is what this mantra is all about.
Lifting our hearts up and crossing the shore into this awakened place within.
If you enjoyed this story and would like to learn more about the Heart Sutra Mantra as a chant,
I invite you to visit my teacher page here on Insight Timer where I guide us in a guided mantra practice with the Heart Sutra.
I hope that your day is filled with many blessings of light.
Namaste.
