Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The point the Tathagata conveys is that, although we all have a wondrous luminous true mind, it is obscured by our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. As a result, we are deluded by the superficial workings of the six senses and eighteen sense-fields and are unable to recognize the buddhanature within.
At that time, the Tathagata, seated upon the lion’s seat, adjusted his lower robe, gathered his sanghati robe, and drew the seven-jeweled table toward him. He reached toward the table and picked up a flowered cloth offered by a deity of the Kapala Heaven. Before the assembly, he tied it into a knot and showed it to Ananda, saying:
“What is this called?”
Ananda and the assembly replied together:
“This is called a knot.”
The Tathagata then folded the flowered cloth and tied another knot. Once again, he asked Ananda:
“What is this called?”
Ananda and the assembly replied:
“This is also called a knot.”
In this way, following the proper sequence, the Tathagata repeatedly folded and tied the flowered cloth until there were six knots in all.
Each time a knot was formed, he held up the knot in his hand and asked Ananda:
“What is this called?”
Ananda and the assembly answered the Buddha in sequence each time:
“This is called a knot.”
The Buddha said to Ananda:
“When I first tied the cloth, you called it a knot. Yet this flowered cloth was originally a single piece. When I tied the second and third knots, why did all of you also call them knots?”
Ananda said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, although this precious flowered cloth was woven into a single piece, as I understand it, each time the Tathagata ties it, one knot is formed. If it were tied one hundred times, it would be called one hundred knots.
“How much more so when this cloth has only six knots? It has not reached seven nor stopped at five. Why does the Tathagata recognize only the first as a knot, but not the second and third?”
The Buddha said to Ananda:
“You know that this precious flowered cloth was originally only one piece. When I tied it six times, six knots came into being. Examine it carefully: the cloth itself is the same, yet the knots differ.
Sakyamuni Buddha gave an analogy by tying knots on a long flowered cloth (khata) and asking Ananda and the assembly what they saw. They saw the knots—one, two, three, and eventually six knots, and naturally neglected to see the cloth itself. These knots represent the six roots, while the cloth itself is the wondrous luminous true mind.
They were even entangled in the naming, calling the first knot the first and differentiating it from the second and third. They saw the knots as separate and distinct from one another, failing to recognize that they were all formed from the same cloth.
In this way, humans become confused and deluded by superficial appearances and fail to recognize the true reality within.
The wondrous luminous true mind is inherent and eternal. It is always there, neither arising nor ceasing. It is likened to the cloth itself. In sentient beings, it is obscured by the sense faculties, sense objects,and consciousnesses. They focus only on superficial phenomena and transient present. It is indeed extremely difficult for them to comprehend the wondrous luminous true mind because they cannot see through these false phenomena.
The passages that follow in the Surangama Sutra will explain how to untie these knots.