Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
This is the last of the five skandhas—consciousness—and it too is empty. Consciousness is also ever-changing and illusory. Consciousness discriminates, whereas non-discrimination is wisdom. All five skandhas are empty in nature. Yet, although they are illusory and unfixed, they are manifestations of the wondrous luminous true mind, due to an instant of deluded thought.
“Ananda, suppose someone seals a kalavinka bottle, fills it with empty space, and carries it a thousand miles away to present to another country. The consciousness skandha is just like this.”
“Ananda, this empty space does not come from that other place, nor does it enter from here. If it came from the other place, then when the bottle, once filled with emptiness, left its original location, there should be less empty space there. If it entered from here, then upon unsealing the bottle and turning it upside down, one should see the emptiness pour out.
“Therefore, you must realize that the skandha of consciousness is fundamentally illusory—neither dependent-arising or self-arising.”
Say you fill a bottle with air from Seattle and transport it to another country, such as Taiwan. The air in Seattle does not decrease and the air in Taiwan does not increase. It is meaningless. The same is true if one brings a handful of soil from one’s homeland to another country. Although there seems to be coming and going, there actually is no coming or going. Such is the skandha of consciousness. It is illusory and false, neither self-arising nor dependent-arising. With discernment, it is consciousness; without discernment, it is wisdom.
Therefore, it is stated in the sutra that the skandha of consciousness is fundamentally illusory—neither dependent-arising nor self-arising.
In the following volume, Sakyamuni Buddha will discuss the six sense entries (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind), along with the root of mind and the alaya consciousness. Like the five skandhas, these too are false, empty, illusory, and non-existent. They are unreal—mere phenomena manifested by the wondrous luminous true mind due to an instant of deluded thought. They are neither dependent-arising, self-arising, nor any compounded formation.
Anything that arises due to dependent-arising, self-arising, or through combination or union is also illusory and is not the wondrous luminous true mind.