Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Once confusion is recognized as confusion, it can no longer sustain itself and naturally dissolves, revealing the originally present wondrous luminous true mind.
Purna said,
“I and the Tathagata share the same precious, perfect, luminous, truly wondrous, and pure mind—without duality and complete in its perfection. Yet in the past, due to beginningless deluded thoughts, I long remained within samsara. Now, I have attained the noble vehicle, yet it is still not the ultimate.
“World-Honored One, when all delusions are completely extinguished, only the wondrous, true, and constant remains. I respectfully ask the Tathagata: for what reason do all sentient beings give rise to delusion, which obscure their own wondrous luminosity and cause them to sink into this drowning cycle?”
The Buddha said to Purna,
“Although you have resolved your doubts, remnants of confusion remain. I shall now question you with an example from the world before us. Have you not heard of Yajnadatta in the city of Sravasti? One morning, he suddenly looked into a mirror and delighted in the head he saw in it—its eyebrows, eyes, and features so clearly visible. Yet he became angry at his own head for not showing him his face. Thinking he had encountered a demon, he ran wildly in a frenzy. What do you think? Why did this man run mad for no cause?”
Purna replied,
“That man’s madness came from nothing but his own mind; there was no other cause.”
The Buddha said,
“The wondrous awareness is perfect and luminous; what is the cause of the delusion that arose from it? If there is a cause, how could it be called delusion? These deluded thoughts merely perpetuate one another through mutual conditioning. Through confusion layered upon confusion, they pass through eons of dust-like time. Even when a Buddha reveals this truth, beings still cannot turn back.
“Such confused causes arise from confusion itself. Recognize that confusion has no cause, and delusion has nothing to rely on. Since it never truly arose, what could possibly cease?”
Sentient beings and buddhas are both endowed with the tathagata-garbha—the wondrous luminous true mind. Yet sentient beings are deluded. Delusion feeds on itself, causing sentient beings to remain entangled in their own confusion, cycling endlessly in the six rebirth realms.
Even after the Buddha reveals the truth, sentient beings remain unable to turn back. The cause for their continual rebirth is that they see falsity and become deluded by it. After hearing the Buddha’s teaching, they know that everything is false, yet they still cannot let go of their attachment and delusion. Once confusion is recognized as confusion, it can be dispelled, and falsity immediately loses its support. If there are no deluded thoughts, then you don’t have to extinguish them.
However, everyone has delusions and problems, so the Buddha teaches us to minimize desire, be content, and purify the mind. When one seeks nothing, false thoughts diminish. With fewer thoughts come fewer delusions, and with fewer delusions come fewer thoughts. Living simply—with less negativity and more goodness—definitely helps!
When Grandmaster shouts “baofu”, it is for our sake, not for himself. He has very little desire for anything.