Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
In this excerpt, Sakyamuni Buddha shows how sensations or feelings are illusory. Grandmaster Lu gives modern-day examples on how sensations and feelings are illusory and not real.
“Ananda, consider a person whose hands and feet are at ease, the entire body comfortable, who momentarily forgets their own existence, abiding in a state without resistance or compliance.
“Then, for no reason, this person rubs their palms together in empty space, and between the two hands, illusory sensations arise—roughness, smoothness, cold, and heat. You should understand that the skandha of sensation (vedanā) operates in just this way.
“Ananda, these illusory sensations do not come from space, nor do they arise from the palms. So Ananda! If they arose from space, why would they only touch the palms and not the rest of the body? It makes no sense for emptiness to choose where to make contact.
“If they originated from the palms, they should not require physical contact to be felt. Moreover, if the palms truly produced them, then when pressed together, the palms would perceive the touch—but once separated, the sensations should retreat inward. In that case, the arms, wrists, and even bone marrow should detect their movement as they withdraw.
“If there were truly a perceiving mind that could track these sensations entering and exiting, then some independent entity must be passing through the body. Why, then, would contact be necessary to recognize it as ‘touch’?
“Therefore, you must realize that the skandha of sensation is illusory—neither born of causes and conditions, nor possessing an inherent nature.
Everything we experience is illusory. “False” means imaginary, illusory, and non-existent. The five aggregates—form, sensation, mental formation, action, consciousness—are all false, illusory, and unreal. They do not inherently exist. They are neither produced from causes and conditions nor do they arise naturally.
When the weather is cold and you rub your hands together, you feel warmth. It doesn’t come from your palms; it comes from friction. It does not come from empty space because if it did, any part of your body you wished to be warm would be warm. Therefore, everything your hands feel is false and illusory. This feeling is due to touch; without touch how do you feel? Touch is also illusory.
When you feel happiness or sadness, can you take it out and show it? You cannot. Where do they come from? They are merely illusory.
If you close your eyes and reach out with your hands, feeling smooth and delicate skin, you might feel happy, thinking that it’s a woman’s body. But when you open your eyes and see that it is actually a pig, your happiness disappears. This is sensation, and it is illusory.
When you sing or hear a lullaby, you feel sleepy and then fall asleep. Some drift off as soon as they touch the bed, while others must find the most comfortable posture, or even count sheep before falling asleep—this is all about feelings.
If you are walking down the street and someone glares at you or ignores you, you might go home and feel unhappy for three days. Perhaps that person simply has glaring eyes and did not even notice you. In that case, you suffer for no reason. Thus, this “feeling” is also illusory.
When men see beautiful girls in miniskirts or cheerleaders with attractive figures and pretty faces, they feel happy. However, if they see cheerleaders with less appealing figures, they might feel disgusted. All of these feelings are false because they are illusory.