OMG!
During the last week of the retreat at Dharmagiri, we focused on traditional Chan practices (Chinese Zen), which include contemplations and recitations of the well-known (but little understood) Heart Sutra with its famous mantra:
gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!
(To hear an incredibly beautiful 2-minute recording of this mantra sung by Thanissara and friends, click here.)
Traditional translations of the mantra go something like this:
Gone,
Gone,
Gone beyond,
Gone far beyond,
What an awakening,
(Untranslatable Exclamation!!!!)
Kittisaro offered this alternative translation, attributed to his friend and fellow former-monk Paul Breiter:
Everything’s changing,
Everything’s changing,
Everything’s always changing,
And there’s nothing you can do about it,
That’s the way it is,
OH MY GOD!!!!!