Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The consciousnesses arise due to the sense faculties and objects. Without the six roots and six dusts, they are non-existent. They are mere manifestation of the tathagatha-garbha, and empty in nature.
“Ananda, the nature of consciousnesses has no source. It arises delusively through the six sense-roots and their corresponding sense-objects. When you look around this great assembly, your visual perception is like a mirror: it reflects without analyzing. Yet your consciousness then distinguishes, identifying: ‘This is Manjusri, this is Purna, this is Maudgalyayana, this is Subhuti, this is Sariputra.’
“Ananda, if consciousness arose from seeing, then if darkness, light, form, and space were all absent, and thus, no seeing, how then, could consciousness arise?
“Ananda! If consciousness arose from appearances but not from seeing, then without seeing, appearances would not be perceived. As such, how could consciousness arise from them?
“If consciousness arose from space—which is neither appearance nor seeing—then without seeing, it would lack discernment and could not know light, darkness, form, or space. Without form, the conditions for seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing would have no basis. In such a state—neither form nor seeing—space would not be mere nothingness, nor would it be a tangible thing. Even if your consciousness were to arise, what would it distinguish?
“And if consciousness arose without cause, then in broad daylight you should be able to recognize the moon clearly.
“Examine this more closely: seeing depends upon your eyes; appearances depend on the external objects. When objects are present, that is existence; without phenomena, it is nothingness. From where does consciousness arise?
“Though consciousness stirs, the seeing remains clear. They neither merge nor unite. Hearing, listening, sensing, and knowing are likewise the same. Thus, consciousness cannot arise without a cause.
“If this conscious mind truly has no origin, then you should understand that the discerning faculties of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing are already perfect and lucid—neither produced from any source nor depending on conditions. Along with space, earth, water, fire, and wind, they are called the seven elements. Their nature is true and perfectly interpenetrating—all are the tathagata-garbha, fundamentally non-arising and non-ceasing.
“Ananda, your mind is coarse and restless, so you fail to realize that what manifests as seeing, hearing, and discerning knowledge is fundamentally the tathagata-garbha. You should observe this conscious mind in the six bases: is it the same or different? Is it empty or existent? Is it neither the same nor different? Or neither empty nor existent?
“You have never understood that in the tathagata-garbha, the nature of consciousness is luminous awareness, and enlightened awareness is true consciousness—wondrous, serene, and pervading the entire realm, encompassing all directions and space. How could it be confined to any specific location?
“It manifests in accordance with karma. The deluded mistake this for dependent or self arising. Yet these are nothing but discrimination and calculations of the conscious mind—mere words, without true meaning.”
This excerpt discusses the nonexistence of the consciousnesses, as mentioned in the Heart Sutra.
Consciousness arises when the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind interact with sights, sounds, tastes, touches, and all phenomena. Yet consciousness has no source; it does not originate from them. When it arises, it has no fixed location or specification. Like the other eighteen sense-fields and seven elements, it, too, is empty in nature, and a mere manifestation of the wondrous luminous true mind—tathagatha-garbha.