Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Through fragrance, taste, the contemplation of impurities, the Four Noble Truths, or indeed anything, one can attain realization through deep contemplation and samadhi.
Medicine King Bodhisattva and Medicine Lord Bodhisattva, the two Dharma Princes, together with five hundred Brahma devas in the assembly, rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha:
“Since beginningless kalpas, I have been a skilled physician in the world. With my own mouth, I tasted the grasses, trees, minerals, and stones of this saha world, numbering one hundred and eight thousand in all. In this way, I came to know all their flavors—bitter, sour, salty, bland, sweet, and pungent—as well as their combinations, their inherent properties, and the changes they undergo. I knew whether they were cooling or heating, poisonous or nonpoisonous, and understood them all completely.
While serving the Tathagata, I came to understand that the nature of taste is neither empty nor existent, neither identical with body and mind nor separate from body and mind.
By discerning the causes of taste, I awakened.
The Buddha Tathagata then confirmed us brothers with the names Medicine King Bodhisattva and Medicine Lord Bodhisattva. Now, within this assembly, we are Dharma Princes.
Through the clarity of the sense of taste, I attained the bodhisattva stage. The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I have realized, the cause of taste is supreme.”
The two bodhisattvas, Medicine King and Medicine Lord, were brothers. For countless lifetimes, they had been skilled physicians, tasting and studying plants, trees, minerals, and stones to heal people. They learned to distinguish bitter, sour, salty, bland, sweet, and pungent tastes. They also understood how substances changed when combined or prepared, their properties, and whether they were poisonous.
Grandmaster explained that a good herbalist or physician must understand this. People’s bodies differ, so a treatment that suits one person may not suit another. He recalled the story of Jivaka, whose teacher asked him to find a plant with no medicinal properties. Jivaka returned empty-handed because he could find none.
Medicine King and Medicine Lord also contemplated the nature of taste. Where does taste come from? What happens to it when we consume something? They realized that taste is neither simply existent nor nonexistent. It is neither identical with the body and mind nor separate from them. Through this contemplation, they awakened. When the Buddha asked about perfect penetration, they said that taste was their means of attainment.
Grandmaster extended this contemplation to things we encounter every day, including stool and urine. Food and drink are not faeces and urine when we consume them, yet through the body’s processes they become so. They remain inside us for a time and then leave. Nothing truly belongs to us, not even the faeces and urine inside our bodies. They arise through causes and conditions and are neither something we have always possessed nor something wholly separate from us.
He also recalled that his grandfather had once been wealthy and owned an entire block. The property was destroyed during the war, and eventually his grandfather and other family members passed away. Grandmaster reflected that the houses and cars he owns today will likewise one day cease to be his. All possessions, and even this body, are temporary.
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