Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
There are five layers of turbidity: kalpa turbidity, view turbidity, affliction turbidity, sentient beings turbidity, and life turbidity. The first is kalpa turbidity, marked by calamities. View turbidity arises from seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing, which enshroud the wondrous luminous true mind.
“Ananda! You see empty sky pervading the ten directions. Space and seeing are not distinguished. Space has no substance; seeing has no awareness. Their appearances intertwine and falsely give rise to formation. This is the first layer, called the turbidity of calamities.
“Your body is formed by the four elements as its substance. Seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing become obstructed and confined. Water, fire, wind, and earth in turn give rise to perception. Their appearances intertwine and falsely give rise to formation. This is the second layer, called the turbidity of perceptions.”
Grandmaster finds the Chinese translation of the Surangama Sutra pretentious and difficult to understand and prefers to explain it in his own words.
The Buddha told Ananda that everything one sees is a transformation of the four elements; however, one does not perceive cosmic space itself.
The first of the five turbidities is kalpa turbidity, the turbidity of calamities—arising from the interplay of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind within cosmic space.
In recent years, there have been many tectonic shifts, earthquakes, massive floods, torrential rains, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and other disasters across the world. Strong winds arise suddenly, toppling trees, damaging cars, and destroying houses.
The world is not at peace. This first layer of turbidity affects the entire world.
Yiguandao often speaks of the “Three Human Spiritual Ages”:
• The era of Dipamkara Buddha, called the Blue Yang Period—an early, pure age
• The era of Sakyamuni Buddha, called the Red Yang Period—a middle, mixed age
• The era of Maitreya Buddha, called the White Yang Period—the final, declining age marked by calamities
They believe that we are now living in the final age of Maitreya Buddha—the era of calamities.
The second layer is view turbidity. It refers to the impure experiences arising from what we see, hear, feel, and know. These experiences are entangled with the four elements of the body. This turbidity affects the individual.
For example, many youngsters today are addicted to the internet and video games, and find it difficult to give them up. Because we can see, hear, feel, and know, we are easily captivated by external occurrences. Once immersed, we become deluded by sights and sounds.
Seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing cloud the wondrous luminous true mind—this is called the turbidity of views and perceptions.
We then lose sight of our own buddhanature and see only the superficial.