Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
In this excerpt, Ananda said that the mind is located somewhere within the eyes so that it can only see the outside but not inside the body. This, too, was rejected by the Buddha.
Ananda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, just as you have said: ‘Because it does not see within, it cannot be inside the body; and because the body and mind are mutually aware and not separate, it cannot be outside the body.’ So I now reflect and believe that the mind must reside in one specific place.”
After the Buddha questioned Ananda further, Ananda realized that the body and mind are interconnected and inseparable. What the eyes see, the mind immediately perceives. For example, the moment Ananda saw Sakyamuni Buddha’s hands, soft as cotton, it was instantly imprinted in his mind. By now he knew that the body and the mind must be interconnected, so he presumed that the mind must reside somewhere, but where?
The Buddha asked, “Where is that place now?” Ananda replied, “Since this knowing mind cannot see inside yet can see outward, upon reflection, I think it must be hidden within the sense faculty itself.
“It is like someone placing a glass bowl over their eyes—the glass bowl are united with the eyes—although there is something on the eyes, it does not obstruct the sight, and the sense faculties can see and discern accordingly.
“The aware and knowing mind does not perceive what is inside [the body] because of its location at the faculty. Yet, it sees the outside clearly without obstruction.”
Ananda thinks the mind is hidden in the eyes, and that the mind and the eyes are united. He used an analogy using the glass bowl to represent the mind. Nowadays, let’s say eyeglasses instead of a glass bowl. Eyeglasses over the eyes don’t obstruct one’s sight, but the eyeglasses cannot see the eyes, yet it can perceive what the eyes see. As such, Ananda presumed that the mind must be somewhere together with the eyes.
The Buddha said to Ananda, “You have said that the mind—analogous to the glass bowl—is concealed within the sense faculty. Their eyes, together with the glass bowl, can see mountains and rivers out there. But do the eyes also see the glass?”
The Buddha questioned that if the mind is analogous to the glass—or eyeglasses in Grandmaster’s example—when you are wearing your colored eyeglasses to see the mountains and rivers, can you actually see the eyeglasses too?
Ananda replied, “Yes, World-Honored One. One who places a glass bowl over their eyes would in fact be seeing the glass.”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “If the mind is likened to the glass bowl over the eyes, and you can perceive the mountains and rivers, why can you not see your own eyes?
“If you see your own eyes as if the eyes are part of the mountains and rivers, then the eyes would no longer be the perceiver. If you cannot see the eyes, then how can you say that this knowing mind is joined with the sense faculty, like the glass bowl over the eyes?
“Therefore, you should understand that your claim that the aware and knowing mind reside with the sense faculty, like a glass bowl encasing the eyes, is not valid.”
Thus, Ananda’s logic that the eyes are concealed within the eyes also failed. No matter where the mind is—inside, outside, or on the eyes, it cannot see the eyes.
Chinese YouTube: https://youtu.be/gnf5HXDlvrc?feature=shared