Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Bhadrapala Bodhisattva attained enlightenment through contact with water (tactile sensation). At any moment, any experience can become a method to attain enlightenment. Once awakened, one must continue to cultivate until eventually one becomes a bodhisattva. The eighteen sense fields can be the cause of perpetual rebirth in the six realms, but they can also be the means through which we transform ourselves and attain buddhahood.
Bhadrapala, together with his sixteen fellow practitioners, rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha:
“In the past, during the time of Majestic Voice King Buddha, we heard the dharma and renounced the worldly life. When it was time for the sangha to bathe, I followed the customary practice and entered the bathhouse.
“Suddenly I awakened to the cause of water: it neither washes the dust nor washes the body. Between the two, peacefully settled, one reaches the state of nothingness.
“The habits of former lives were not forgotten. Now, having followed the Buddha and renounced worldly life, I have attained the state beyond learning.
“That Buddha named me Bhadrapala. Through the wondrous clarity of touch, I attained the stage of a buddha-child.
“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, the sense of touch is the supreme means.”
Bhadrapala Bodhisattva and his sixteen fellow enlightened lay practitioners rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and explained how they attained realization through touch.
During the time of Majestic Voice King Buddha, they heard the dharma and renounced worldly life. One day, while bathing according to the sangha’s customary practice, Bhadrapala suddenly awakened to the nature of water. He realized that water neither washes the dust nor washes the body. Between the two, he settled peacefully into a state in which nothing exists. Through the wondrous clarity of touch, he attained realization. This awakening remained with him when he later encountered Sakyamuni Buddha and again entered monastic life. When the Buddha asked about perfect penetration, he explained that touch was his supreme means.
Grandmaster explained that even bathing can lead to enlightenment. We become dirty without noticing exactly when dust settles on our bodies. When we bathe, the dust washes away, yet we rarely contemplate where it came from or where it went. Water is simply water. How does contact with it make the body clean? By deeply contemplating this ordinary experience, Bhadrapala awakened.
Grandmaster also used kissing to explain that the feelings arising from touch depend on causes and conditions. Kissing a loved one brings a feeling of intimacy, while kissing a wall does not. Falling and striking the ground with one’s mouth brings pain. Although all involve contact, the sensations differ because other factors are present. The feeling does not arise from touch alone.
Rather than merely following these sensations, we should examine them: Why does contact with one person evoke a feeling, while contact with another does not? What gives rise to that feeling? Through sustained contemplation, an everyday experience can become a means of realization.
The six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses together form the eighteen sense-fields. They can bind us to samsara, or they can become pathways to enlightenment and the attainment of bodhisattvahood and buddhahood.
Bhadrapala attained realization through contact with water. We, too, can contemplate our sensory experiences deeply, awaken to their nature, and continue spiritual cultivation until we reach attainment.