About This Blog

Teachings given by Ken McLeod often continue to resonate long after I listen to them. Their power has much to do with presence, precise use of language, framing, and timing. I've saved many personally significant passages in a practice journal. This blog offers a selection of these “special” quotes.

Each post brings together an audio clip, its transcript, and a short reflection on why the passage matters to me after more than 20 years of studying, contemplating, and practicing this material. The source is Unfettered Mind, where the full recordings and transcripts are available.

These reflections arise from returning again and again to the same material and allowing new understandings and openings to unfold with their own rhythm.

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04 December, 2025

Mantra of the Heart

I bow /
to the Lady of Wisdom, /
clear and boundless. //

The Buddha sat upon Vulture Peak, /
surrounded by monks and bodhisattvas. //

He entered a deep absorption — /
where everything arises, shines, and is known. //

Avalokiteshvara, /
looked into the heart of wisdom /
and saw the five streams of being /
empty of their own nature. //

Then Shariputra asked: /
To live this deep wisdom/
How should one train?//

O Shariputra, /
see this clearly — /
Replied Avalokiteshvara /
this body is emptiness, /
and emptiness is this body. //

Body is not other than emptiness, /
emptiness not other than body. //

The same is true /
for feelings, /
for thoughts, /
stories, and awareness. //

All experience is open — /
not fixed, /
not born or destroyed, /
not pure or impure, /
not lacking, not complete. //

Therefore, Shariputra, /
in emptiness there is no thing to grasp: /
no form, no feeling, /
no thought, no story, no awareness. //

No eye, no ear, no nose, /
no tongue, no body, no mind. /
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, or thought. //

No ignorance, /
no end of ignorance. /
No old age and death, /
no end of old age and death. //

No suffering, /
no cause, /
no cessation, /
no path. //

Nothing to know, /
nothing to gain. //

And so the bodhisattva rests, /
trusting the heart of wisdom. /
With nothing clouding the mind, /
no fear arises. /
Delusion falls away, /
and awakening unfolds. //

All buddhas of past, present, and future /
awaken by this same wisdom. //

Therefore, know this mantra of the heart — /
the great mantra, /
the clear mantra, /
the unsurpassed mantra — /
that ends all suffering. //

It is true, not illusion. //

Say it — /
feel it — /
know it — //

Om gāte gāte / pāragāte / pārasaṃgāte / bodhi svāhā. //

These lyrics draw on the wonderful translations of the Heart Sutra by Ken McLeod and Thich Nhat Hanh. I created the music with suno.com.

Ken McLeod's translation of the Heart Sutra is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 and was used with permission. Thich Nhat Hanh's translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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