Gate Gate Paragate, The Awakening Sound Of Perfect Wisdom

Gate paragate in standard or kaisho

At the Gate Gate Paragate gallery artist Nadja Van Ghelue pays homage to the perfection of wisdom with calligraphic artwork of the Heart Sutra Gate mantra. In brushstrokes of different styles of Japanese calligraphy She lets the Gate mantra resound in subtle rhythms and colors.

The Heart Sutra Gate Gate Paragate mantra that heals all suffering

The Buddhist Heart Sutra Gate mantra is practiced as a wisdom spell that kindles the knowledge of original Buddha nature. In the Maha Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra it is called the great holy mantra, the great mantra of wisdom, the unexcelled mantra, the mantra that equals the unequalled, the mantra that heals all suffering. It is the sound that tunes the mind to Prajna, to our inherent awakened nature.

The vibration of the Gate Mantra

In Sanskrit the Gate mantra sounds as following:

Gate Gate Paragate Parasangate Bodhi Svaha

which in English is translated as:

Gone gone, Gone beyond, Gone completely beyond, Enlightenment Hail!

Basically mantras are not translated, as they represent the ultimate sound of a certain wisdom or deity. Therefore they are transliterated into other languages and in Japanese we find the Gate Gate Paragate mantra transcribed as follows:

Gyatei Gyatei, Hara Gyatei, Haraso Gyatei, Boji Sowaka

If you like, stop your activity for a moment and let the mantra vibrate for a while.

The Heart Sutra Gate Mantra brushed in Japanese calligraphy

I have several calligraphies on my web that pay homage to the Heart Sutra and to the Perfection of Wisdom mantra. Some of them are on large scrolls or as in the case of the gate mantra in seal script it is in my book The Heart Sutra in Calligraphy

For all of you who would like to have the presence of this Gate mantra at home or on your altar, I have brushed the Heart Sutra mantra in three styles of Japanese calligraphy, in regular script, semi-cursive and cursive script. The Heart Sutra calligraphies are available as originals and as prints.

Gate gate paragate
in semi-cursive or gyosho

The regular or kaisho style is the one most rooted in the earth, the brush play is settled.

In the semi-cursive style or gyosho the brushstrokes are more interlinked and the brush play becomes freer. Let’s say that the characters show heaven and earth in the same degree.

The cursive or sosho style is the freest of all. Here the character structure loosens up and the brushstrokes flow into each other evoking a heavenly play of brush and ink.

Buy an Original Heart Sutra Mantra Calligraphy or a Gate Mantra print

I hope very much that one of these calligraphies inspires you and that their energy will bring the light of the Perfection of Wisdom into your life.

See below the gate gate paragate calligraphies and click on the links to see more details.

Gate gate paragate in regular script or kaisho	Gate gate paragate in semi-cursive or gyosho	Gate gate paragate in cursive or sosho

Buy the *Original* Buy a *Print*	Buy the *Original* Buy a *Print*	Buy the *Original* Buy a *Print*

More pages on the Heart Sutra