Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings can sometimes seem contradictory. He teaches both the dharma of negation, and the dharma of affirmation. He also teaches the dharma of causes and conditions, through which many great disciples attained enlightenment, yet he teaches the negation of causes and conditions as well.
These are not contradictions, but teachings of the different states.
At that moment, Ananda rose from amid the assembly, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and addressed the Buddha:
“World‑Honored One, you have just taught that by severing the conditions of killing, stealing, and lust, the three causes no longer arise. The mad nature of Yajnadatta in the mind ceases by itself. When it ceases, that is bodhi, which is not obtained from others. This makes the principle of causes and conditions clear and evident. Why then does the Tathagata suddenly dismiss causes and conditions? It was through causes and conditions that my mind attained enlightenment.”
“World-Honored One, why should this principle apply only to those of us younger learners among the sravakas? In this very assembly, Mahamaudgalyayana, Sariputra, Subhuti, and others—after hearing the Buddha speak of causes and conditions while they were aged brahmins—aspired to be enlightened and attain the state of no outflows. Yet now you say that bodhi does not arise from causes and conditions. Would that not mean that the teachings of the Koshali and others in Rajagriha, who speak of naturalism, become the supreme truth?
We implore your great compassion to dispel our confusion and obscurity.”
In the past, the Buddha spoke about causes and conditions. If you eliminate the conditions for killing, stealing, and lust, the causes for them will not arise. When the causes no longer exist, one’s heart-mind naturally becomes calm, and bodhi arises.
The teaching on causes and conditions explains that everything arises due to causes and conditions, and everything ceases when the causes and conditions cease. Previously, Maha Maudgalyayana and Sariputra followed deviant paths, each with their own groups of followers. But after hearing the Buddha’s exposition on the dharma of causes and conditions, they brought their followers to take refuge in the Buddha, and aspired to attain enlightenment, learn the Sravaka Vehicle, and to attain the state of no outflows.
Ananda therefore asked: why does the Buddha now negate causes and conditions?
Sometimes, the Buddha’s teachings may seem contradictory, but in fact, they are not. They are the different states of the teachings.