Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
All things in this world are aggregates: our bodies, houses, cars, everything! The wondrous luminous true mind is neither an aggregate nor a non-aggregate; it does not arise due to causes and conditions, nature, or karma. It is ever-present, all-pervasive, and embodied in everything. It is beyond thought and beyond words—perfect, absolute, and the one and only.
“Ananda! Although you have already awakened to the pure awareness of the wondrous and luminous nature of mind—that it is neither born of dependent-arising nor of self-arising—you still do not fully understand that this innate awareness arises from neither aggregates nor non-aggregates.
“Ananda! I will now once again question you using an example from sensory experience. You still cling to the idea that all worldly phenomena arise through the agglomeration of deluded thoughts and causes and conditions. Because of this, you remain confused, believing that the realization of bodhi also arises from such combinations.
“So now I ask you: this pure and subtle seeing-awareness that you now possess—is it combined with brightness? With darkness? With openness? With obstruction?
“If you say it is combined with brightness, then observe: when brightness appears, what remains of that vision? One may discern an image, but what would the ‘combined’ image look like? If there is no seeing, how is brightness seen? And if there is seeing, then how could it perceive itself?
“If seeing is already complete in itself, where is there room to combine with brightness? And if brightness is also complete and does not need to combine with seeing, then seeing must be different from brightness. Once mixed, the purity of brightness would be lost. And if brightness loses its clarity through combination, then the idea of ‘seeing combined with brightness’ no longer holds.
“The same reasoning applies to darkness, openness, and all forms of obstruction.”
“Furthermore, Ananda! This pure and wondrous essence of seeing that you now possess—does it unite with brightness? With darkness? With openness? With obstruction?
“If it unites with brightness, then when darkness arrives and brightness disappears, this seeing should not be able to unite with darkness. So how could it still perceive darkness?
“If, when seeing darkness, it does not unite with darkness, then if it truly unites with brightness, it should be unable to see brightness either. But if it cannot see brightness, how could it be said to have united with it? And if brightness cannot be seen, how would one distinguish brightness from darkness?
“The same logic applies to darkness, openness, and all forms of obstruction.”
Although everything in this world is an aggregate—a combination of various elements—the wondrous luminous true mind is not. It is neither an aggregate nor a non-aggregate. It simply is. It cannot be described or defined. It is unthinkable and inconceivable. Of course, it cannot be combined with anything—not with brightness, darkness, openness, or obstruction.
Yet Ananda presumed that since everything arises due to causes and conditions, or since all things are aggregates, the wondrous luminous true mind must be the same. Sakyamuni Buddha addressed each of these views to help Ananda understand. Still, Ananda could not comprehend, for he continued to associate the wondrous luminous true mind with the material world and the domain of the senses and consciousness.
Take, for example, Grandmaster’s vision of the Medicine Buddha during his visit to Korea. A disciple asked whether it was due to cause and effect, or perhaps due to causes and conditions. But it was neither. Medicine Buddha did not appear “because of” anything Grandmaster had done. Yes, he went to Korea, and paid homage, but he had no intent in mind. He simply went. Afterward, Medicine Buddha and his retinue appeared. It seemed connected, but in fact, it was not. They simply revealed to him that he could be omnipresent in all dharma realms. This is a result of spiritual attainment.
Otherwise, anyone could go to Korea, pay homage to the same Medicine Buddha statue, and have the same vision. But they won’t—because the wondrous luminous true mind is not due to cause and effect. Not everyone is the same. Although you create the same cause, you won’t have the same result. It is neither self-arising nor naturally arising. Otherwise, one could just “be natural” and wait for it to appear—but it will not. Nor is it the result of union or combination. Grandmaster did not see Medicine Buddha through being in union with him.
The realm of enlightenment is like this as well. Upon awakening, one instantly understands everything. That is the manifestation of the wondrous luminous true mind—and it arises from no combination.
Everyone possesses this wondrous luminous true mind, but most have forgotten it and all they see are delusions, illusions, and falsehoods.