Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The mind gives rise to “good,” “bad,” and “indeterminate (unrecorded)” phenomena within consciousness. Yet all are illusory and ever-changing.
The conclusion is that all the six sense faculties—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and all that they perceive are illusory and false. They have no self-nature and do not arise due to either dependent-arising or self-arising.
“Ananda, in your mind you often think of the three natures—good, bad, and indeterminate—thus giving rise to dharmas [everything]. Are they born from the mind itself, or do they exist apart from the mind with their own bases?
“Ananda! If they are exactly the mind, then dharmas are not external objects or ‘dusts’; they are not objects of the mind. How could a base be established? If they have a base apart from the mind, then is the self-nature of all dharmas [everything] knowing or unknowing? If it is knowing, it is called a mind, and it would be different from you—and it would be the same for all others. If it is your very mind, then you would have two minds—how could that be?
“If it is unknowing, then since this object is neither form, sound, smell, taste, separation, union, cold, warmth, nor the mark of space—where could it be?
“Now it cannot be established in form, nor in emptiness, nor in the human realm beyond emptiness. If the mind has nothing to take as its object, how could a base be established?
“Therefore, you should know that dharmas and mind have no bases whatsoever; thus, mind and dharmas are both false and illusory—originally neither dependent-arising nor self-arising.”
This section of Surangama Sutra discusses the mind, the last of the six faculties—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. All are illusory, neither dependent-arising nor self-arising.
The Buddha says that there are three states of good, bad, and indeterminate that occur in the consciousness. Good brings benefit to oneself and others; bad brings harm. What is neither good nor bad is indeterminate, meaning it is neutral and unrecorded. Many things we do are unrecorded. For example, carrying a bag on the left, right, front, or back does not indicate whether it is good or bad.
The Buddha urges us to do good and refrain from all evil.
He further asks Ananda whether the three states of good, bad, and indeterminate and the external “dusts” of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and dharmas have any bases? No!
The Buddha points out that neither the mind, consciousness, nor the dusts have self-nature. All external changes are called “dusts of dharmas” [The Chinese character “fa” which sometimes is translated as “dharmas,” indicates everything and anything that is happening inside and outside the mind.] The mind and the three states of good, bad, and indeterminate have no bases. The mind, thoughts, consciousness, and everything that is perceived are illusory and false—without self-nature, neither dependent-arising nor self-arising.
During his younger days, Grandmaster recalled several women who were romantically interested in him. He was aware of their looks, personalities, and their expressed feelings toward him (although his feeling and perception of them turned out to be false). Sensation and perception give rise to the phenomena of good, bad, indeterminate, warmth, and coldness.
Although some women felt warmly toward Grandmaster, they failed to express it, and he perceived them as cold—thus, opportunities were missed. This shows that perception and the mind are false and illusory. Feelings of warmth, coldness, and indifference are all illusory too.
Likewise with friendship, if you perceive someone to be cold, you may hesitate to approach them. If they seem warm and likable, you become good friends. If you sense indifference or feel neutral toward them, that is indeterminate.
In sum, the six sense faculties: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and what they perceive are all illusory and false. They have no self-nature and do not arise due to dependent-arising or self-arising. This is what Sakyamuni Buddha teaches.