The Benefits of Recitation of the Heart Sutra The Perfection of Wisdom1 is a well-known Buddhist scripture belonging to the Mahayana

or second turning of the wheel of the noble Dharma by Buddha Shakyamuni, taught at Vulture Peak Mountain in Rajagriha. The Heart Sutra is the concise form of The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, and explains directly the profound emptiness of all phenomena, devoid of any intrinsic separate existence. Through meditative concentration on emptiness as explained in the Heart Sutra, a Mahayana practitioner can realize the innermost essence of the teachings revealed by the Buddha at that time in all their subtleness and profundity. The name of the ritual text that will be used for Shamar Rinpoches long-life practice is "Complete Liberation, the Powerful Dispeller of All Obstacles." What follows is an excerpt regarding the benefits of this practice: There are both ultimate and relative benefits to be gained from this ritual practice. The first is that one will be ultimately victorious over the four obstructive evil forces of the maras.2 These are: (1) The obstructive evil force of the aggregates3 (2) The obstructive evil force of defilements4 (3) The obstructive evil force of death,5 and (4) The obstructive evil force of the child of the gods.6 Whoever wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom, through being mindful of its profound meaning and single-pointedly contemplating on the emptiness aspect of the perfection of wisdom sutras, through the power of the merit of reciting the words and mantra of the Heart Sutra, one will be able to pacify and eradicate all hindrances and obstacles brought by the maras, along with evil deeds and obscurations, sickness and harm caused by negative spirits. More importantly, the realization of the eighteen kinds of emptiness of elements will finally dawn within ones' mind stream, culminating in the eventual attainment of perfect enlightenment. The Relative Benefit: Just as in the past, Indra the king of the gods by purely being mindful and aware of the profound meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, the Great

Prajnaparamita in Sanskrit. Mara is a Sanskrit word that refers to negative forces, which are fundamentally internal obstacles due to our mistaken beliefs about reality, which can manifest also as external forces which create suffering and impede spiritual development. 3 Skandha mara in Sanskrit, refers to the five physical and psychological constituents that we mistakenly believe are a separate self or person. 4 Klesha mara in Sanskrit, refers to negative emotions which color our perception of reality and create bad karma. 5 Devaputra mara in Sanskrit, this refers to the obstacle of great attachment to the things of this world, symbolized by pleasures that are bestowed upon the children of gods. 6 Yama mara in Sanskrit, death often brings great fear and confusion which disturbs our minds and prevents realization.
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Mother,7 and by deeply contemplating upon it using the words and mantra of the Heart Sutra through chanting and recitation, was able to vanquish all the obstructive evil forces of the maras. In a similar way, through the power and unfailing truth of the Heart Sutra practice, we will be able to overcome and dispel all negative evil forces, including ominous days, inauspicious bad dreams, all manners of untimely death, eight major fears and sufferings of irreparable loss caused by the four elemental catastrophic destructions, epidemics and many more. In particular, by the power of merit gained through the Heart Sutra practice performed for eliminating obstructive evil forces, in conjunction with the power and truth of Three Jewels decree and teaching, may we vajra master and vajra disciples be able to overcome and avert impediments caused by enemies, lawsuits, black magic, spells and so forth, including all unfavorable adverse circumstances that obstruct the progress of spiritual practice and the potential for the attainment of enlightenment. As the Heart Sutra states: "May all obstacles be averted; may they be no more, may they be pacified." This text known as The Powerful Dispeller of Obstructive Evil Forces in reliance upon the Heart Sutra was written by the 1st Jamgon Yonten Gyatso Lodro Thaye at Palpung retreat center in eastern Tibet. This text explaining the benefits was excerpted from the Heart Sutra ritual and translated from the original Tibetan into English by Sonam Chhopel at the sincere request of senior vajra friend Mr. Bart Mendel and edited by him. We sincerely apologize and confess to the Three Jewels for any mistakes and unintentional errors which are ours alone.

The Perfection of Wisdom is often described as the Great Mother, because all Buddhas are born through realizing the profound wisdom contained within it.