Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
All kinds of seeing—whether it is empty dusts, or by the wondrous luminous true mind—are all mental formations. Therefore, one cannot say which is right or wrong, true or false, real or unreal.
The Buddha said,
“Likewise is the seeing of wondrous luminosity and all empty dusts. Originally, there is the wondrous, luminous, unsurpassed bodhi—the pure, perfect, and true mind. But delusion misconstrues form and emptiness, hearing and seeing, as a second moon. Now, which is the real moon, and which is not?
“Manjusri, only one moon is real. In between, there is no ‘this is the moon’ or ‘this is not the moon.’ Therefore, your seeing and the various phenomena you observe are deluded thoughts. It is futile to try to determine what is and is not. Only through this pure, true, wondrously aware, and luminous nature can you distinguish between pointing and not pointing.”
Ananda said to the Buddha,
“World-Honored One, truly as the Dharma King has spoken, awareness and its conditions pervade the ten directions—lucid and ever-abiding, its nature neither arises nor ceases.
“How is this different from what the brahmin Savikara once called the ‘dark truth,’ or from the views of other heretics such as the Ash-Throwers, who say there is a ‘true self’ that pervades all ten directions?
“World-Honored One, you once explained this very point to Mahamati and others at Mount Lanka, saying: ‘The heretics often speak of being natural (self-arising); I speak of a different realm—that of causes and conditions (dependent-arising).’
“Now, as I contemplate this self-arising nature of awareness—unborn, unceasing, free from all delusions and distortions—it does not seem to be dependent arising, yet not quite exactly self-arising nature either.
“How should it be explained so that one does not fall into heretical views, and can truly realize the wondrous, luminous nature of true mind?”
The Buddha replied,
“I have explained by various means and spoken the truth to you, yet you still do not awaken and remain confused, mistaking it for self-arising nature. Ananda, if you insist that it is self-arising nature, then you must clearly determine what its inherent substance is.
“Take this wondrous, clear seeing—what exactly do you identify as its essence? Is it the clarity? The darkness? The emptiness? Or the obstruction?
“Ananda, if clarity itself were its essence, then you should not be able to see in darkness.
If emptiness were its essence, then you should not be able to see when there is obstruction.
If you claim darkness or other such states to be its essence, then when light appears, the faculty of seeing would cease—so how would you see the light?”
“Empty dusts” refers to form and emptiness. The Surangama Sutra states that all forms, emptiness, and the wondrous luminous true mind are one and the same. Form and emptiness originate from the wondrous luminous true mind. When there is the wondrous luminous true mind, so why is there also form and emptiness? It is because of deluded thinking, which regards all perceived forms as a second moon. But there is no second moon. That said, even the real moon is also false [without inherent existence]. Yet we can also say that both are real. The real ones are false and the false ones are real too. The moon is the moon whether you point to it or not. Pointing does not determine if the moon is true or false, real or unreal.
All kinds of seeing—whether it is empty dusts or by the wondrous luminous true mind—are all mental formations. Therefore, one cannot say which is right or wrong, true or false, real or unreal.
The wondrous luminous true mind, form, and emptiness are all the same. Only ordinary people make false distinctions between real and unreal, right and wrong, true and false. Those discernments are deluded thoughts.
“Dharma King” refers to Sakyamuni Buddha. Savikara is the sage with dyed yellow-red hair who founded Samkhya School. Ash-Throwers are heretical ascetics who go against nature in seeking enlightenment: going naked in the cold of winter, wearing thick coats in the heat of summer, meditating in rivers, hanging upside down from trees, harming their bodies, abstaining from food, water, or sleep, and all kinds of self-inflicted torture. They believe that the true self pervades all ten directions, similar to what the Buddha says that the wondrous luminous true mind pervades all ten directions.
In the Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha spoke to Mahamati Bodhisattva about this. The Buddha talks of dependent-arising and causes and conditions—everything arises and ceases due to causes and conditions, and there is cause and effect. But the heretics speak of self-arising, devoid of karma. It may seem right, but there is a very fine line between the two realms. This will be expounded in the next discourse.