Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Although the wondrous luminous true mind cannot be pinpointed, its function can be perceived. A spiritual cultivator should gradually realize and witness it, and eventually become one with the wondrous luminous true mind. This is attaining the Dao! One who is in union with Dao is the greatest; everything else is merely a grain of sand.
The Buddha said to Ananda, “You just said that ‘the seeing is in front of you.’ But this idea is not real. If it truly were in front of you, and if you were truly seeing it, then this seeing-awareness would have a fixed location—it would not be without a point of reference.
“Now, here we are sitting in the Jeta Grove. You can look all around at the forest paths, the halls and buildings, up to the sun and moon above, and across to the Ganges River in front. As you sit before me on the lion’s throne, you raise your hand and point out various things: ‘The dark one is the forest,’ ‘The bright one is the sun,’ ‘The obstructing one is the wall,’ ‘The open one is space.’ In this way, you can point to everything, down to even the finest blades of grass and smallest branches of trees—no matter the size, if it has form, it can be indicated.
“Now, if you insist that ‘seeing’ truly exists in front of you, then you should be able to point it out to me. Use your hand and clearly identify: which thing is the seeing?
“Ananda, you should know: if space is what you call seeing, then once it becomes seeing, what is left to be space? If objects are what you call seeing, then once they are identified as seeing, what then remains as the object?”
The wondrous luminous true mind is unspeakable. Even Laozi said that the Dao that can be spoken is not the true way. “Wondrous” refers to the wondrousness of the dharma. “Luminous” means immaculate, without any defilements and afflictions. Only when the mind is immaculate is it bright. It is wondrous and luminous when three virtues convene. “True mind” is Dao. Once you attain the wondrous luminous true mind, you are in union with the Dao. The one in union with the Dao is the greatest!
In this sutra, “seeing” refers to the wondrous luminous true mind. It cannot be equated with space or object. It cannot be seen or touched; it is without form. Anything that can be pointed to is not it. However, it can be perceived when it manifests.
The wondrous luminous true mind manifested when Golden Mother first opened Grandmaster’s third eye. Although he was lying in bed with eyes closed, he spent the whole night in the heavens and saw Padmakumara and the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. It was not his physical body that traveled there, nor did he see with his physical eyes—it was through the wondrous luminous true mind. It did not happen through his own power, vision, or thoughts; at that time Padmakumara had not even crossed his mind. Yet when he opened his eyes, all he saw was the room.
Once, the wondrous luminous true mind played a role when Grandmaster gave a blessing to Chen Li (Lily), a dharma sister from Indonesia. With only a light tap on her head, her tumor disappeared right away. This was the function of the wondrous luminous true mind. There must be a reason for it—perhaps it is due to her friend Anan, her son Yan, and his girlfriend Michelle, who are now composing many mantra-chanting pieces.
Grandmaster sees the deities with his eyes closed. First, he sees many pulsing, radiating lights of various colors. Within these glowing circles of lights, the deity appears in majestic splendor. He doesn’t see this with his physical eyes.
Every time Grandmaster thinks of or invokes his mother and Golden Mother, they always appear, and he cannot help but cry. When there is meeting, there is separation. The Buddha teaches impermanence—nothing lasts forever. Death follows birth, and vice versa. What goes up must come down. Although we understand this, we can’t help but feel nostalgic.
The universe is vast, yet people in the saha world can only perceive forms and phenomena, and are deluded by them. Thus, they cannot understand or experience the wondrous luminous true mind. This is the key point in all of Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. It is truly precious when we can realize and experience the wondrous luminous true mind and unite with the vast sky and the whole universe.
Fame, wealth, treasures, all tangible things, are merely grains of sand, yet people fight over them.
But when we spiritually cultivate and can manifest our wondrous luminous true mind, we attain and witness the Dao. We transcend the ordinary, become free from afflictions, and attain anuttara samyaksambodhi—unexcelled right equality and right realization (perfect enlightenment). There is nothing higher than this. It is the very essence of the Buddha’s teachings. In our spiritual cultivation, we need to experience it—gradually, until eventually one day, we are in union with the Dao. That is what is truly precious.