The Heart Sutra: Loosening the grip of ego-grasping and discovering our true nature

According to the Buddha, we all possess the potential for mental clarity, contentment, love, and the other beautiful human qualities. In fact, he says, they are our natural state, and that the development of these qualities is the job of a spiritual practitioner. Our main stumbling blocks are the deeply held assumptions that, attachment, anger, depression and fear are innate and therefore impossible to eliminate; and, that suffering and happiness come from the outside. As long as we believe this, we will always remain victims. By understanding Dependent Arising and Emptiness as expressed in the Buddha’s Heart Sutra, as well as understanding the logic of the law of karma that says that we create our own suffering and happiness, we can slowly loosen the grip of ego-grasping and begin to experience our marvellous potential - for our own sake and the sake of others.