Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Ananda, foremost in hearing the Buddha’s teaching but lacking real practice, beseeched the Buddha to teach the methods to enter true samadhi and be liberated from defilements.
Previously, Ananda had proposed that the mind was inside the body, outside the body, on the eyes or sense organs, half inside and half outside, in between the eyes—sense organs—and the sense objects, that the mind arose upon conditions, and lastly, that the mind existed whenever there was no attachment. He concluded that there was no mind; that the “mind” was just a term. But the Buddha challenged him by saying, without any mind, how can one discern anything? Afterward, Ananda had nothing more to say.
At that time, Ananda rose from his seat amidst the great assembly. He bared his right shoulder, knelt on his right knee, joined his palms respectfully, and said to the Buddha, “I am the youngest disciple of the Tathagata. Having received the Buddha’s great compassion and kindness, even though I have now left home, I still rely on my pride and the pity of others. That is why, although I have heard much, I have not attained the state of no-outflows. I was unable to resist the brahmanic spell and was lured to indulge in lust. This must be because I do not yet understand the ultimate truth.
“I now beseech the World-Honored One, in great compassion, to instruct us on the path of samatha, so that even icchantikas [those who have never heard of buddhadharma or reject the dharma] may break through their defilements.”
Ananda was the youngest paternal cousin of the Buddha. Though Ananda had left home and became a monk, he still desired the Buddha to take special care of him and the Buddha was especially caring and loving toward him. He was foremost in listening to buddhadharma since he was frequently alongside the Buddha. However, since he didn’t put these teachings into practice, he had not reach the state of no-leakage or no-outflows. This meant he still had desires and afflictions; he lacked meditative stability and understanding of the Marvelous and Luminous True Mind—the ultimate truth.
Ananda was still affected by external environment, such as the brahmanic spell and almost lost his body purity. Back then in India, there were a great many mantras and spells. All the twenty-eight heavens (six in the realm of desire, eighteen in the realm of form, and four in the realm of formlessness) each has their own mantras.
Thus, Ananda asked the Buddha to teach the methods for samatha—true meditation through “stopping” as part of the method of “stopping and contemplating.” He hoped that even icchantikas—the heretics, those without right faith or any faith at all, without any meditative stability, and those who had never heard of buddhadharma—could all benefit.
Having said this, he bowed with five points on the ground. The entire assembly greatly anticipated hearing the teaching.
Then the World-Honored One emitted an array of lights from his face, as dazzling as hundreds of thousands of suns, shaking all buddha worlds in six ways. In that instant, the dust-like realms of the ten directions opened up, and through the Buddha’s majestic divine power, they merged into one single world. Within that world, all the great bodhisattvas, remaining in their own worlds, joined their palms, ready to receive the teaching.
Before giving teachings, the Buddha radiates all kinds of dazzling lights—such as a halo around his head and body, light emitted from his heart, and lotus lights from the soles of his feet—filling the whole space.
Sakyamuni Buddha is indeed remarkable.
What are the six ways the earth quakes—something often mentioned in the sutras? They are the undulations of the earth accompanied by rumbling noises. This is called the Six Major Quakes. Have you noticed that there are sounds within the human body too—the sound of blood circulation, the heartbeat, and the digestive system? Cover your ears and you can hear the heartbeat and the internal sounds. This is also a method of breathing to enter meditation.