Buddha Shakyamuni, since he was Enlightened, could teach those who sought his advice on the basis of their own individual capacity. He had full awareness of each and every individual's mental inclination toward one way of practice or another. He was able to teach in many unusual ways such as performing miracles for those who would benefit from it. Because of his heightened capacity to perceive the state of mind of any given individual, he was able to give advice suited to that particular person or being. It is said that not only human beings sought his instructions but also non-human beings.

Before passing away the Buddha gave the complete teachings of the Theravada to those inclined towards this approach, and to those inclined towards the Bodhisattva path, he gave the complete teachings of that path. Two months before he passed away, he told his students which day and month it would happen. It is said that he made five hundred different aspiration prayers before passing away.

When looking at his lifestyle, one becomes well aware that it was very simple. The traditional Indian dress for men consists of a white cotton cloth tied to the body - it is called dhoti in Hindi. Buddha Shakyamuni would ask someone who had worn out his dhoti to give it to him. When someone who had been wearing this piece for a couple of months was about to discard it, the Buddha would ask for it, die it in the color of a monastic robe - saffron, and he would wear it. That is how simple a life he led. Buddha Shakyamuni had many students who were extremely wealthy. Many of the kings of what is today known as India were his disciples, and they would at times, out of devotion for him, offer robes that were woven with golden thread and had a very high value. One piece of such clothing may have been worth $100,000. He would wear it for a few days, for the sake of the student who offered it to him, and then give it away. He wouldn't keep that type of clothing. This is the person who gave the teachings we are trying to follow.

The place where he gave the Heart Sutra was on top of a hill located near a small town, which at that time was called Rajgir; it was a small kingdom. Vulture Peak is the name of the hill where he gave the teaching. There was a small seat for the Buddha, a slab of stone, where he sat while he thought. In the sutra it is referred to as his "throne-like seat," but one should be aware that it was merely a slab of stone. The Buddha gave the teachings on the Heart Sutra to those who were present - followers of the Theravada and followers of the Bodhisattva path. Followers of this aspect of the Theravada are called Shravakas in Sanskrit. There were many present who received this teaching.

As we all know, the major part of today's India is flat land; only in the Northern part do you find mountains. Rajgir is located in the flat land. Vulture Peak is referred to as a great mountain, only because most people in India are not familiar with real mountains, since most of the country is flat. Therefore they refer to a hill as a "great mountain," like the "Sky Mountain" found in Denmark. It is a hill outside of Copenhagen, elevated only 200 meters (600 feet) above sea level. I am telling you this in case you go to Rajgir some day and are surprised to find just a hill, when the literal wording in the Sutra mentions a great mountain.

At this particular place, Buddha Shakyamuni gave all the teachings of the Prajnaparamita - the perfection of ultimate wisdom. For a period of seven years, during three months in the summer retreat, he stayed at this place and gave these teachings.

The great Sangha who was present was made up of a monastic community - those who had taken full monastic vows. Both monks and nuns were part of it. The sutra speaks first of the monastic community, the ordinary individuals who have not yet attained fruition in the Therevada approach, then about the great Sangha, great spiritual community, which is made up of those who had attained fruition in the Therevada - the state of an Arhat. Each of the three stages that occur prior to attaining the state of an Arhat involve a particular level of realization.

There are four levels of fruition (note 2) in the Theravada. All approaches in the Buddhist path (Theravada, Mahayana, etc.) are made up of five stages. (note 3) The third stage of the Buddhist path is called the path of seeing, and one who has attained this has a direct perception of the nature of reality, or has had a glimpse of it. On the first level of the four levels of fruition in the Theravada there is an initial glimpse of the true nature of reality - that is the path of seeing the nature of reality in this particular approach. It includes 16 successive instances (note 4) where the insight into the essences of the individual progressively expands to come to full fruition. The first of the four levels in the Shravaka approach is the stage where the person, for the first time, directly perceives the essencelessness of the individual - that there is no real person.

In general, samsara, or conditioned existence in which we are trapped according to Buddhism, is made up of three different kinds of existences called: the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the realm of no form. To be reborn in the desire realm, certain causes and conditions must come together. After an individual who practices the Theravada approach attains the second of the four levels of realization on that path, he has not yet completely eliminated all causes for rebirth in the desire realm, therefore he will again return to the desire realm. However, one should not misunderstand what it means when it is said that he will again be reborn in the desire realm. We all live in this realm, but the practitioner who has attained this level does not have the strong, obscuring states of mind like we do. These individuals, though they are reborn in the desire realm, are developed to the extent that they automatically continue the practice which will result in their attaining the state of an Arhat.

The amount of effort the practitioner at this level makes will determine how long it will take to attain the third stage of realization, at which point he no longer will be reborn in the desire realm. For those practitioners who are able to put a lot of effort into their practice, it takes only one more lifetime. For those of middling capacity, it may take seven or eight lifetimes. For those who are not able to make a lot of effort, who are by nature more lazy, it may take about fourteen lifetimes. But for the person who has attained the second level of realization, the time to attain the third stage will never be longer than 14 lifetimes. When referring to the person who does not make much of an effort, one should be aware that it is "lazy" speaking figuratively, not literally. Having attained the third stage of realization on the Shravaka path, the practitioner will never again be reborn in the desire realm. At this stage, he will have eliminated all causes that would produce that rebirth. However, it is possible that he may be reborn in either of the two other realms, which make up conditioned existence - the realm of form and the realm of no form.

Note 2 : Four levels of fruition of the Theravada 1/ "The One who enters the Stream" or the ones who have entered the stream of moments which constitutes the path of seeing (they have reached a certain perfection). 2/ "The Ones who will return" once again to the desire realm. 3/ "The Ones who will not return" to the desire realm but will return once more to the form and formless realms. 4/ "Arhat."

Note 3 : The five stages of the path are: path of accumulation, path of junction, path of seeing, path of cultivation, path of no more learning.

Note 4 : The sixteen instances: when attaining the path of seeing, the Four Noble Truths are realized in sixteen aspects (each Noble Truth is divided into four aspects: "forbearance" and "understanding" which involve the purification of obscurations of the desire realm; "subsequent forbearance" and "subsequent understanding" which involve the purification of the obscurations of the form- and formless realms).