Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The Surangama Sutra is vast and boundless; it is seen by His Holiness in his samadhi as the countless stars—bright and radiant—illuminating the whole universe.
Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu, began his first exposition on the Surangama Sutra at Seattle Leizang Temple. In the samadhi just before the exposition, he saw the radiant light of the stars in the universe. This signifies that the Surangama Sutra is as radiant and all-encompassing as the bright stars in the sky.
The title of the sutra is The Great Buddha Crown Surangama Sutra. Buddha represents wisdom; Crown means liberation. This sutra contains many terms that are hard to understand, thus they must be explained in great details so everyone can understand the underlying meaning.
Thus Have I Heard
When Sakyamuni Buddha was about to enter parinirvana, Ananda asked Sakyamuni Buddha the following four questions.
1. Where shall we dwell in the future?
Sakyamuni Buddha’s answer is to dwell in the Fourfold Mindfulness. They are:
– Be mindful that the body is impure
Human bodies are unclean.
– Be mindful that sense-perceptions are suffering
Anything our sense faculties perceive causes suffering. We suffer due to afflictions. Suffering far outnumbers happiness in human life. One suffers being bound by a physical body.
– Be mindful that the mind is impermanent
Mind refers to thoughts, and it is ever changing. Everything is ever changing and deteriorates. This is impermanence. Humans, having many negative thoughts and wrongdoings, must repent.
– Be mindful that dharmas (everything) are devoid of self
“No-self” is the highest realm. The existence of self is only momentary, arising due to causes and conditions. Self is non-existent before and after it. It does not inherently exist because everything in this world is devoid of intrinsic self. Since everything is impermanent, nothing belongs to us.
Cultivators need to understand and practice “no-self.”
These four are great wisdom taught by Sakyamuni Buddha. Only when we abide in this Fourfold Mindfulness do we gain wisdom and understand human lives. This is the “ultimate truth.”
2. How should we live with ill-behaving bhiksus?
Keep silent and disregard. Let them be and do not let their malicious actions disturb or affect you.
3. After Sakyamuni Buddha enters parinirvana, who shall be our teacher?
The precepts are your teacher. Uphold them! Only by upholding the precepts can one have attainments; otherwise, one will be trapped in the rebirth cycle.
4. How should the sutras begin when compiling Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings?
The Buddha said that all sutras should begin with “Thus Have I Heard.” “I” refers to Ananda who personally heard the Buddha spoke. By reciting Thus Have I Heard, it is as if we were there listening to the Buddha.
One time, the Buddha was in the city of Sravasti, residing in the Jeta Grove Monastery. He was accompanied by an assembly of 1,250 great bhiksus, all of whom were great arhats without any outflows/leakages.
At one time, in the southern part of city of Sravasti, Sakyamuni Buddha resided in Jetavana Monastery, located within the Jetavana Grove. The monastery was offered to the Buddha by the great benefactor Anathapindika, who especially helped the poor and desolate. The Buddha stayed there for 25 years, surrounded by an assembly of great bhiksus—referring to senior monastics or elders—and 1,250 close followers.
They were all great arhats without outflows, meaning they were completely free from afflictions. When the mind abides in the Fourfold Mindfulness, afflictions cease. One must apply great wisdom to alleviate afflictions. When one reaches the realm of “no-self,” no-self leads to no-birth. This is the realm of a sage, unaffected by the five aggregates, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses. As such, one is free from the delusion of one’s senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and is liberated from samsara.