Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Spiritual cultivation is a path that each person must take on their own. We cannot depend on the Buddha or anyone else to do it for us. No matter how much one has learned, if it is not put into practice, then it is of no use.
When Ananda heard this, he again wept sorrowfully, prostrated with all five points on the ground, knelt with joined palms, and said to the Buddha:
The five-point prostration refers to touching the ground with both arms, both knees, and the forehead.
”Since the day I followed the Buddha to become a monk and generated bodhicitta, I had relied on the Buddha’s majestic power. I always thought, ‘I need not exert myself in cultivation; the Tathagata will grant me samadhi.’ I did not realize that body and mind cannot be substituted by another. I lost my original mind. Though my body became ordained, my heart-mind never entered the path—like a poor son abandoning his father and running away.”
Ananda relied too much on the Buddha’s majestic power and mistakenly believed that the Buddha would give him samadhi—meditative stability. The Sanskrit word “samadhi” was at first transliterated into “sanmei” in Chinese. Upon his return from India, Master of Tripitaka Xuanzang transliterated it as samadhi, in his translation work at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, during the Tang Dynasty. After that, samadhi has been used in translations.
Ananda then realized he must develop his meditative ability through his own practice; the Buddha’s blessing is only a form of support. Each person’s attainment depends on their own efforts, not on anyone else.
Ananda likens not recognizing his own buddhanature (original mind) and seeking it elsewhere to a poor son abandoning his wealthy father to search for money. His buddhanature has always been with him, yet he is deluded by false thoughts.
“Today I finally understand that even with vast learning, without cultivation, it’s the same as not having heard anything at all. Like someone merely speaking of food—he will never be full.”
Grandmaster expounded on many sutras throughout the years, but if we don’t practice what we learn, it’s as if we never heard them—we don’t achieve anything spiritually. It’s like merely talking about delicious food without eating it; it won’t make you full.
“World-Honored One! We are now entangled by the two obscurations—all because we do not recognize the serene and eternal nature of the mind. I pray that the Tathagata will compassionately take pity on our destitution and helplessness, awaken our wondrously luminous mind, and open our eye of the path!”
The two obscurations are:
- Obscurations from knowledge: what we know is not necessarily the truth; what we think is true is not necessarily true, and this can obscure us.
For example, when you are young, you might believe you will always be beautiful. But everyone grows old, and beauty fades. Everything in the world is always changing, so it isn’t the ultimate truth.
- Obscurations from afflictions: wealth, lust, fame, food, sleep, aging, sickness can obscure us. Grandmaster gave an example of how his recent eczema caused him to suffer, showing how sickness can trouble us.
The serene and eternal nature of the mind means buddhanature. Later on, the Buddha will use analogies to explain buddhanature.