Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines
Pāli / Sanskrit:Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā
The OLDEST Prajñāpāramitā text, dating from c. 100 BCE — source of all later Prajñāpāramitā.
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Exposition of the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines
Context
The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines (Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā) is the oldest scripture in the corpus of Prajnaparamita sutras, formed around 100 BCE in India. It is the spiritual foundation of the entire Mahayana Prajnaparamita tradition, one of the decisive factors that shaped Northern Buddhist Dharma.
This scripture arose in a historical context in which the Indian kingdoms developed a refined Buddhist learning. Anonymous bodhisattvas and scholars gathered the wisdom of many generations, weaving a scripture wholly distinct from earlier Hinayana sutras. Whereas the Pali Canon focuses on the Four Noble Truths and the path of individual awakening, the Perfection of Wisdom points out a deeper truth: all dharmas are without self-nature and have no independently real essence.
Main Contents
The mountain core of this sutra is the teaching on prajñāpāramitā, Transcendent Wisdom. This is not ordinary intelligence or scholarly knowledge, but a direct realization that all phenomena (dharmas) have the nature of śūnyatā, emptiness. The sutra teaches that form is empty, feeling is empty, perception is empty, formations are empty, and consciousness too is empty. There is no form, no feeling, perception, formations, or consciousness; this is not a nihilistic denial, but points out that dharmas have no immutable self-nature.
Throughout the sutra, the Buddha teaches the bodhisattvas that in order to reach the Perfection of Wisdom, they must transcend dualistic concepts (bodhisattva and Buddha, subject and object). The act of giving has no giver, no recipient, and no gift, yet giving is still performed and its fruit is immeasurable. This is "signless giving" (animititta dāna), the highest form of ethical action.
The sutra also emphasizes that bodhisattvas should not rely on any dharma in their practice, and should not even rely on the Perfection of Wisdom.
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