Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Where is the mind, really? Is it inside the body? Or outside the body? The Buddha uses analogies to explain.
The Buddha said to Ananda, “As you have said, while inside the teaching hall with its open windows and doors, you can see the distant grove and garden. Now, is there anyone inside the hall who cannot see the Tathagata but can only see the outside?”
Ananda answered, “World-Honored One, it is impossible for anyone in the hall not to see the Tathagata and yet only see the grove and spring outside.”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “It is the same with you. Your mind is capable of perceiving everything clearly. If this mind of yours were truly inside your body, it should first be able to perceive everything inside your body. But is there anyone who can see the inside of the body before seeing external objects? The fact is they cannot see their own heart, liver, spleen, stomach, nor can they notice the nails and hair growing, tendons moving, or veins pulsing.
“If the mind were truly inside the body, it should be able to perceive these things. Since you cannot perceive internally, how can you claim to perceive external objects? Thus, your claim that the perceptive and knowing mind resides within the body is incorrect.”
Using the teaching hall as an analogy, the Buddha taught Ananda that believing the mind is inside the body does not make much sense. The Buddha used the hall as a metaphor for the body. If one is inside the hall, one should be able to see the inside of the hall, so if the mind is inside the body then one should be able to perceive the inside of the body. Yet one cannot perceive things inside the body and can only perceive objects outside the body. So based on this logic, saying that the mind is inside the body is incorrect.
Ananda bowed and said to the Buddha, “Hearing the Tathagata’s speaking thus, now I think my mind is outside the body. Why is this so? It is like a lamp lit within a room—naturally, the lamp first illuminates the inside of the room, and only then reaches the doorway and the courtyard beyond.Yet all sentient beings do not see what is within their bodies and perceive only what is outside, as if the lamp were placed outside the room and therefore could not illuminate the inside. This reasoning seems clear, leaves no confusion, and in accord with the Buddha’s ultimate meaning. It is not mistaken, is it?”
Ananda changed his mind after hearing Sakyamuni Buddha explained why the mind cannot be inside the body. Then he thought that the mind is outside the body, not within. He came up with an analogy: The room analogous to the body and the lamp to the mind. Since one can only see the outside and not the inside, so the lamp must be outside the room. Similarly, the mind must be outside the body for beings can perceive only external objects but not their internal organs.
Grandmaster wondered if using analogies to discuss where the mind is is a good idea or not. Up til now, he still does not know where the mind is. The sutra will continue to discuss why the mind is neither inside nor outside. Look forward to it!
Chinese YouTube: https://youtu.be/w_ZIUGfG5Qc