Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The wondrous luminous true mind is independent of any phenomena, yet it encompasses everything. It is neither self-arising nor dependent-arising, neither a cause nor an effect—its manifestation is sudden and impromptu.
The Buddha said to Ananda,
“Now I explain with skillful means and speak 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 its self-arising substance. Take this wondrous luminous seeing—what would it be considered self-arising? Is it its luminosity? Its darkness? Its emptiness? Or its obstruction?
“Ananda, if brightness were self-arising, then you could not see darkness. If emptiness were self-arising, then you could not see obstruction. In this way, if you claim that darkness or other such states are its self-arising substance, then the faculty of seeing would cease amidst luminosity—so how could you see the light?”
Ananda said,
“If this wondrous nature of seeing is certainly not of self-arising nature, then I now propose that it must be of the nature of causes and conditions. My mind is still unclear on this point, so I consult the Tathagata: how does this principle conform to the nature of causes and conditions?”
The Buddha said,
“You speak of causes and conditions, so I ask you this: Right now, because you can see, the seeing nature is present before you. Does this seeing arise because of brightness? Because of darkness? Because of emptiness? Because of obstruction?
“Ananda, if seeing arises because of brightness, then you should not be able to see darkness. If it arises because of darkness, then you should not be able to see brightness. Likewise, the same principle applies to emptiness and obstruction.
“Furthermore, Ananda, does this seeing arise conditioned upon brightness? Conditioned upon darkness? Conditioned upon emptiness? Conditioned upon obstruction? Ananda, if seeing arises conditioned upon emptiness, you should not be able to see obstruction. If it arises conditioned upon obstruction, you should not be able to see emptiness. Likewise for brightness or darkness.
“You should understand that this pure, wondrous, and luminous awareness is neither caused nor conditioned, neither self-arising nor not self-arising. It is neither ‘is’ nor ‘is not,’ neither ‘this’ nor ‘not this.’ It is independent of all phenomena, yet it is everything.
“How then can you set your mind within it and use worldly conceptual play, names, and labels to make distinctions? It is like trying to grasp empty space with your hand—only adding to your own exhaustion. How could empty space ever follow your grasping?”
Because Ananda had not been enlightened, he could not understand the wondrous luminous true mind, no matter how it was explained. In fact, it is impossible to use words to describe it. It is independent of any phenomena, yet it encompasses everything.
To describe the wondrous luminous true mind as bright or dark, existent or nonexistent, void or obstructed, and so on is useless. Yet, there are examples of some phenomena that can happen only due to the wondrous luminous true mind.
For example, Grandmaster can see the northern lights while lying on his bed in Seattle, whereas people usually need to go to Alaska to see them. It is neither seen with the physical eyes nor the heart-mind, but with the wondrous luminous true mind.
Reverend Lian Yi of Norway, a neuroscientist, can travel throughout the Heavenly Realms of Desire, Form, Formlessness, and anywhere on Earth using his wondrous luminous true mind. It is neither done physically nor through soul travel, and it is definitely not dreaming. The experience of the wondrous luminous true mind gives a sense of reality, whereas dreams are very far from reality. When one’s soul leaves the body, it may not return, in which case, one will die.
Grandmaster’s experiences of giving blessings to a line of spirits, signing their papers, and knowing that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva put a seatbelt on him can only happen due to the wondrous luminous true mind. It is neither self-arising nor dependent-arising, neither natural nor caused. Grandmaster never thought of giving head blessings to the spirits before this occurred—there never was a cause or an effect. It just happens! But it is not natural either. It happens, and then suddenly you know!