Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
The key point of this passage is the two kinds of emptiness: the absence of self is self-emptiness, and seeing all phenomena as emptiness is dharma-emptiness. Since the body only lasts a short time, how much can one attain or realize? That is what matters most; everything else is unimportant.
At that time, the World-Honored One said to Purna and to all the arhats in the assembly who had exhausted their outflows and completed their training:
“Today, the Tathagata universally reveals to this assembly the supreme meaning—the true nature within the ultimate truth—so that the fixed-nature sravakas among you, as well as all arhats who have not yet realized the two kinds of emptiness but aspire to the higher Vehicle, may all attain the ground of quiescence in the One Vehicle, the true place of secluded cultivation.
Now listen attentively. I will explain this for you.”
Purna and the others revered the Buddha’s words and silently received the teaching.
In this excerpt, the Buddha teaches the arhats who have exhausted bodily and mental leakages and completed their learning, yet remain fixed in their attainment without aspiring to rise higher toward buddhahood. The Buddha expounds an even more profound and important truth within the buddhadharma. The key point of this passage is to realize the two emptinesses: self-emptiness and dharma-emptiness.
When Sakyamuni Buddha speaks of “no self,” he means relinquishing the belief in a real self and realizing that the self is empty. The self is empty because it is impermanent, without inherent reality. The physical body is merely an aggregate, composed of changing elements—earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. As it decays, one ceases to exist. It is temporary, not real, and empty. This is the realization of self-emptiness.
Dharma-emptiness is the realization that all phenomena are also empty without inherent reality. Houses, cars, and all possessions are temporary. One day they will all disappear, and even if they outlast us, they no longer belong to us. When one realizes that everything—people, objects, property, and surroundings—is empty, this is the realization of dharma-emptiness. Therefore, whenever Grandmaster Lu is asked about his goals and wishes for the future of True Buddha School, he always replies “none whatsoever!” because he understands that everything is empty.
In this brief span of life, can you awaken? How much can you realize and comprehend? Can you radiate light to deliver sentient beings? Can you attain anuttara samyaksambodhi—the unexcelled perfect enlightenment? That is what truly matters; everything else is unimportant.