Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
In this part of the dialogue, Ananda indicated that there is a twofold awareness of the mind—one which can perceive inside and one which can perceive outside. He said that it is because the internals of the body is dark that one cannot see anything. But one can see the outside because it is bright.
The Buddha refuted, “Then what is the difference between seeing the inside of the body and being in a completely dark room? Also, if one can see the outside because it is bright, then why can’t you see your own face?”
In this part of the dialogue, Ananda indicated that there is a twofold awareness of the mind—one which can perceive inside and one which can perceive outside. He said that it is because the internals of the body is dark that one cannot see anything. But one can see the outside because it is bright.
The Buddha refuted, “Then what is the difference between seeing the inside of the body and being in a completely dark room? Also, if one can see the outside because it is bright, then why can’t you see your own face?”
Ananda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, I now reflect further: The body of a sentient being contains the internal organs within, while the sensory orifices—such as eyes and ears—are located on the outside.
What is inside is dark; what is open to the outside is bright.
Now, as I face the Buddha with open eyes, I see brightness—this I call seeing outward. When I close my eyes and see darkness, I call this seeing inward. Is this so?”
Everyone has one physical body with internal organs inside and seven orifices (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and one mouth) facing outwards.
The Buddha said to Ananda, “When you close your eyes and perceive darkness, is that darkness in front of your eyes or is it not?
If it is in front of your eyes, then how can it be considered inside?
If you truly see the darkness inside, then how is it different from seeing the darkness of a room without [the light of] the sun, moon, or lamp?
The internal organs refer to the five solid organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys) and six hollow organs (gallbladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, bladder, triple burner).
In Taoism, there is a concept called “activating the three burners/dantians.” The upper dantian corresponds to the brow cakra, the middle dantian to the heart cakra, and the lower dantian to the navel cakra.
“If the darkness is not in front of your eyes, then how can you say that you “see” darkness?
“If you assert that there is an inward seeing that is different from outward seeing, and you call seeing darkness with the eyes closed inward seeing, then when you open your eyes and see brightness, why do you not see your own face?”
The Buddha refuted Ananda, “For seeing internally, how can the mind ‘see’ independent of the eyes? For seeing externally, why can’t you see your own face?”
“If you cannot see your own face, then inward seeing does not hold.
“If you do see your face, then your knowing mind and sense faculty must be floating in space, so how can they be inside your body?
“If they are in space, then they are not part of your physical body. Otherwise, wouldn’t I, the Tathagata, who now sees your face, also be considered part of your body?
If you say that the mind can perceive independent of the eye faculty, then why can you not see your own face?
Say if the mind can perceive your own face, then the mind and the eyes must be outside the body, and they are not yours because they are separate from the body.
“Your eyes already know that union with the body does not mean awareness.
Your eyes already know that being part of the body does not mean they have awareness.
If you insist that both the body and the eyes have awareness, then there should be two separate awarenesses. In such a case, one body will become two buddhas.
Therefore, you should understand: to claim that seeing darkness means seeing inward—this is incorrect.”
Two separate awarenesses imply two perceptions, two minds, or two buddhas! One mind to see inside and one mind to see outside. But looking outward, you cannot see your face, and looking inward, you cannot see your internal organs. Thus, this presumption is incorrect.
Buddhism has too many concepts; Taoism is better. The Taoist philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi teaches one to live a natural life—work at sunrise and rest at sundown, without much ado about nothing. It advocates an ordinary life following the course of nature, keeping a simple mind, without overthinking, overdoing, or forcefulness. As such, everything flows smoothly without any exertion. Otherwise, going against nature will create suffering.
Grandmaster added that it is best not to think about too many things. The more you think, the worse things get. Do not be like Ananda, going down the rabbit hole. Today, we have such advanced technology and conveniences, but how many people are truly happy?