Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
In the beginning of volume four, Purna Maitrayaniputra speaks for the assembly, acknowledging that these awakened people are still entangled in their own ingrained habitual tendencies and have not liberated themselves from afflictions and attachments.
The Surangama Sutra from the Great Buddha Crown on the Tathagata’s Secret Cause for Cultivating and Validating the Ultimate Enlightening Reality and Myriad Practices of the Bodhisattvas, Volume Four
(This sutra was originally a scripture from the great monastic center of Nalanda in Central India, and was later excerpted and circulated separately from the Abhiseka Tantra section.)
Translated during the Tang Dynasty by the Indian Sramana Paramiti
At that time, Purna Maitrayaniputra rose from his seat among the great assembly. Baring his right shoulder and placing his right knee on the ground, he joined his palms respectfully and addressed the Buddha, saying:
“O World-Honored One of great majesty and virtue! You have skillfully expounded the supreme truth of the Tathagata for sentient beings. The World-Honored One has often praised me as foremost among those who teach the dharma. Yet now, hearing the marvelous and profound sound of the Tathagata’s dharma, I feel like a deaf person trying to hear the buzzing of a mosquito from a hundred paces away—unable to perceive it, much less comprehend it.
“Although the Buddha has revealed and clarified this teaching to dispel my delusion, I still have not fully grasped its ultimate meaning or reached the state beyond all doubts.
“World-Honored One! Those like Ananda have indeed been awakened, yet their habitual outflows remain. As for those in this assembly who have attained the state of no outflows, although we have exhausted all leakages, upon hearing the Tathagata’s dharma discourse today, we are still entangled in doubt and perplexity.”
While Ananda was the foremost in hearing the dharma, Purna Maitrayaniputra was one of the ten great disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha foremost in preaching. After the Buddha’s parinirvana, Purna traveled widely to spread the teachings. He addressed the Buddha as one of great majesty and virtue, who was supreme and unparalleled in expounding the ultimate truth of the Tathagata.
Despite the Buddha’s clear explanations, Purna still had doubts. Although disciples like Ananda had understood the teachings, their ingrained habits had not yet been eliminated. This reflects our own situation. We might listen to lots of dharma and think we understand, but understanding alone does not free us from greed, anger, delusion, and habitual tendencies. We still cannot change our own habitual tendencies that were carried over from many previous lifetimes. We still want wealth, get caught in wanting and avoiding things, and have physical and mental leakages.
Changing these deep human habits is difficult—sometimes even harder than moving mountains. Even those who have exhaustive outflows still have doubts. It shows how difficult it is to eliminate deeply ingrained habits completely.