Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The tongue, the object of taste, and tongue-consciousness are interdependent and empty of self-nature. When separate, none of them exist on their own; only through mutual contact do they give rise to the experience of taste.
“Ananda, you know that the root of the tongue and taste are conditions for the arising of tongue consciousness. Then tell me, does this consciousness arise from the tongue, taking the tongue as its sense-field? Or does it arise from taste, taking flavor as its sense-field?
“Ananda, if it arises from the tongue, then all the sweet sugarcane, sour plums, bitter coptis, salty rock salt, pungent asarum, ginger, and cinnamon of the world would have no taste. When you try to taste your own tongue, is it sweet or bitter? If the tongue itself were bitter, who would be there to taste it?
“If the tongue cannot taste itself, then what performs the knowing? If the tongue’s nature is not bitter, then flavor does not arise on its own, so how can a ‘sense-field’ be established?
“If it arises from taste, then consciousness itself would be taste; it would be like the root of the tongue that cannot taste itself. Then how could it know what is taste and what is not?
“Moreover, flavors do not come from a single source. Since there are many kinds of flavors, there should be many consciousnesses as well. If the consciousness were one in nature, then when flavors such as salty, bland, sweet, and spicy combine and transform, they would all merge into a single flavor, without distinction.
“Without the ability to discern, how could it be called the sense-field of tongue-consciousness?
“Your mind-consciousness cannot possibly arise from empty space. The tongue and taste, in their combination, originally have no self-nature—how then could any sense-field be born from them?
“Therefore, you should understand that the tongue and taste are conditions for the arising of tongue-consciousness, yet all three, the tongue, the flavor, and the tongue-consciousness are fundamentally neither dependent-arising nor self-arising.”
Grandmaster explained that the tongue alone cannot produce taste. Without contact with something flavorful, there is no experience of taste at all. Conversely, flavor itself cannot be known without the tongue. Thus, tongue, flavor, and the resulting consciousness of taste must come together for the sensation to arise—none possesses an independent self-nature.
If tongue-consciousness were to originate from the tongue alone, then all foods—sweet, sour, bitter, or spicy—would be tasteless. When you try to taste your own tongue, it is neither sweet nor bitter, proving that the tongue itself has no intrinsic taste.
Likewise, if flavor alone could generate consciousness, it would remain as flavor without awareness—unable to know itself. It is only through the meeting of the tongue and flavor that tongue-consciousness manifests, yet even then, its existence is transient and without inherent essence.
Grandmaster humorously shared that Master Changzhi would start drooling at the mere mention of “durian.” Though his mouth reacts, he has not actually come into contact with the fruit and therefore has not tasted anything.
In another example, Grandmaster noted that when lips meet lips without involving the tongue, there is no taste—because taste belongs to the sense-field of the tongue, not the lips.
The Buddha shows that the tongue, flavor, and the consciousness of taste are empty of fixed nature. They neither arise by themselves nor from one another. Inherently, they do not exist; only through temporary conditions do they appear. Recognizing this truth reveals the illusory nature of all the senses, sense objects, as well as the consciousnesses.