Lou Harrison

LA KORO SUTRO

NA015

UC Berkeley Chorus: Philip Brett, dir; American Gamelan: William Winant, dir, John Bergamo, conductor; Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio

The Esperanto title of "La Koro Sutro" means 'the Heart Sutra' which is among the most used and profound of Buddhist sutras. 'The Heart Sutra' is the essence of the Perfect Wisdom Scriptures (1st century B.C. onwards) belonging to Mahayana Buddhism. It refers to the heart of divine wisdom ('Hagia Sophia' in Greek). This philosophic text is approximately contemporary to the Byzantine era in the West.

_________________________________________________________________

LA KORO SUTRO

Homage

Om. Homage to the Blessed, Noble Perfect Wisdom.

I.

Avalokiteshvara, the noble Bodhisattva, when engaging in the practice of the Transcendental Wisdom, saw that in their nature all Five Aggregates are void and empty.

II.

Here, O Shariputra, form is empty, and the void is form itself; from void to form is no distinction, form is not distinct from voidness. That which form has, that is empty also; that which empty is, itself has form. The same is true of feeling and perception, the impulses and the conscious.

Mantram

Going, going, yonder going, going on beyond, awake, all hail!

English metric translation by Bruce N. Kennedy _________________________________________________________________

New Albion Records / 584 Castro St #525, San Francisco, CA 94114 / ergo@newalbion.com