Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Buddhadharma must be cultivated and personally experienced; merely listening to it will not manifest the wondrous luminous true mind. One must realize single-pointedness in samadhi.
The Buddha said:
“Ananda, if the absence of light is called ‘not seeing,’ then you should not be able to see darkness. But if you can in fact see darkness, even when there is no light, how can it be said there is no seeing?
“Ananda, if in darkness one cannot see brightness and calls that ‘not seeing,’ then right now, in brightness, you cannot see darkness—should this also be called not seeing? In this way, both states would be called not seeing. Furthermore, if brightness and darkness intermingle, it is not that your seeing nature temporarily ceases between the two. Thus, it is clear that both are still states of seeing—how could they be called not seeing?
“Therefore, Ananda, you must now understand: when you see brightness, the seeing is not the brightness; when you see darkness, the seeing is not the darkness; when you see emptiness, the seeing is not the emptiness; when you see obstruction, the seeing is not the obstruction—this accomplishes the fourfold meaning.
“Furthermore, you should understand: when ‘seeing’ perceives ‘seeing,’ it is no longer ordinary seeing. True seeing transcends the act of seeing—it cannot be grasped by seeing itself. How, then, can it be described in terms of dependent-arising, self-arising, or composite phenomena?
You sravakas are narrow-minded and shallow in wisdom, unable to penetrate the pure and ultimate reality. Now, I admonish you: reflect thoroughly upon this! Do not grow weary or negligent on the wondrous path to enlightenment!”
Ananda said to the Buddha,
“World-Honored One, as the Buddha taught us about causes and conditions, as well as self-existing and compounded phenomena, my mind remained unenlightened. Now, upon hearing that ‘perceiving seeing indicates that it is not ordinary seeing,’ I feel even more confused and lost. I earnestly beseech your great compassion to bestow upon us the eye of wisdom and reveal to us the luminous purity of the enlightened mind!”
Having said this, he bowed with tears of reverence, ready to receive the sacred teaching.
Ananda says that people in the world can see because there is light. The Buddha points out to Ananda that even without light, one still sees—what is seen is darkness. The true seeing spoken of by the Buddha is the wondrous luminous true mind, which is unaffected by any phenomena—brightness or darkness, emptiness or obstruction. No matter how Sakyamuni Buddha explains it to Ananda, Ananda cannot understand.
Grandmaster says, if someone asks you: What is the wondrous luminous true mind? What does it mean to understand the mind and see buddhanature? What is enlightenment? The correct answer is to remain silent, because words would miss the point. This truth is beyond names and phenomena—it is too profound to express!
Many try to explain with words, but do they truly know? This is the one and only truth discussed in the Surangama Sutra.
At that time, the World-Honored One, out of compassion for Ananda and the great assembly, prepared to expound the great dharani and the wondrous path of samadhi practice. He said to Ananda:
“Although you have strong memory and have heard much, your mind has not yet penetrated the subtle contemplative illumination of samatha. Now listen attentively! I will clearly explain this to you, so that you and all future beings still bound by defilements may attain the fruit of bodhi.
“Ananda! All sentient beings transmigrate through the cycle of existence due to two inverted and deluded views, which arise in a moment and propel the wheel of karma. What are these two views?
“First, the deluded view arising from individual karma.
“Second, the deluded view shared collectively by beings.”
Whether it is individual karma or collective karma—such as famine, war, or epidemic—a moment of deluded thought propels the wheel of karma, resulting in bondage to the cycle of rebirth. Why does one remain trapped in samsara? Because of these two types of karma. That is why it is essential to cultivate right view and follow the Noble Eightfold Path—part of the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment. Otherwise, one falls into deluded views.