Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Although Ananda had heard the marvelous teaching, he was still baffled as to how the loosening of the six knots results in the ending of the one. He earnestly beseeched the Buddha to bestow the methods for the sake of the assembly present as well as all future beings.
Ananda joined his palms, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said:
“I have now heard the Buddha’s unobstructed great compassion and his true words of dharma concerning the pure, wondrous, and eternal nature. Yet my mind still does not fully understand how, when the six knots are untied, the one also vanishes, nor the proper sequence for untying the knots.
“May the Buddha once again extend his great compassion, take pity on this assembly and those of the future, and bestow upon us the sound of dharma to wash away our deep-seated impurities.”
Ananda could not understand why, when the six knots are untied, the “one” also vanishes. He also asked in what sequence the knots should be loosened. There was no fixed sequence, unlike in Tantric Buddhism, where practitioners first cultivate the Development Stage and eventually progress to the Completion Stage.
Ananda requested that the Buddha elucidate the dharma once more to eliminate the karmic hindrances accumulated since beginningless time through the eighteen sense-fields: the six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses.
Anything that arises and ceases, or is subject to birth and death, is ultimately unreal. The only reality not subject to arising and ceasing is the ultimate truth, or buddhanature. Different religious traditions give different names to their understanding of the non-arising and non-ceasing. In Christianity, it is expressed through the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Buddhism, it is expressed through the Four Sagely Realms. In Islam, it is Allah.
By understanding this principle, we cultivate ourselves to lessen our grasping toward everything that arises and ceases, such as property, cars, land, people, fame, afflictions, and all phenomena. Always remind ourselves that nothing lasts forever, and anything we own is fleeting. Ultimately, there is nothing we can gain. Yet sentient beings place great importance on all phenomena that arise and cease while neglecting the unborn and unceasing. This is inverted thinking.
Looking back through history, the Assyrian, Roman, Mongol, and Soviet empires have all disappeared. Julius Caesar, Constantine, Genghis Khan, and Kublai Khan are also gone. Long periods of unity are inevitably followed by division, and long periods of division by unity. A husband and wife are like birds in the same forest, but when the time comes, each flies their own way. Our loved ones, and we ourselves, will eventually cease to exist. Many of Grandmaster’s schoolmates have already passed away.
If we want to find the ultimate truth, we must learn to let go, because even the things we cherish most will eventually disappear. Grandmaster demonstrated this by letting go of his very expensive watch. He has donated far more than this, including his residences such as Rainbow Temple. We should go with the flow and remain joyful rather than falling into sadness. As the Buddha taught:
“Everything conditioned
is a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow.
It is like a dewdrop or a flash of lightning.
Always keep this in mind!”