Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
There have been some disagreements about the number of merits as recorded in various sutras. Measuring or quantifying merit is meaningless. When the senses are pure, they generate merit. Spiritual cultivation that benefits others also generates merit.
“Ananda, among these, you should further determine their relative superiority and inferiority.
“For example, with the eyesight: what is behind is dark, what is ahead is bright. The front is completely bright, the rear is completely dark. To the left and right, one can see only two-thirds of the surrounding area. Considering all its functions, its merit and virtue are incomplete—three parts merits and one part non-virtue. Know that the eyes have only eight hundred merits.
“The ears can hear all around, missing nothing in the ten directions. When there is sound, they perceive it whether near or far; when silent, their range is boundless. Know that the ear faculty is complete with twelve hundred merits.
“The nose smells and connects with the breath as it goes out and comes in; there is exhalation and inhalation, yet there is no link between them. Examining the nose faculty, it lacks one third of the three parts. Know that the nose has only eight hundred merits.
“The tongue, however, proclaims and expresses all worldly and world-transcending wisdom. Speech has regional and tonal distinctions, but the principles spoken are inexhaustible. Know that the tongue faculty is complete with twelve hundred merits.
“As for the body, which perceives touch and distinguishes between agreeable and disagreeable sensations, it can feel when in contact but does not perceive when apart. One when in separation and two while in contact, thus examined, the body faculty lacks one third of the three parts. Know that the body has only eight hundred merits.
“Lastly, as for the mind, the intellect faculty silently encompasses all dharmas of the ten directions and the three times, both worldly and transcendent. Both the sacred and the mundane are without exception encompassed, reaching every limit and boundary. Know that the mind faculty is complete with twelve hundred merits.
The six faculties can generate merits. If they are used for mundane purposes, then they are only causes for rebirth and reincarnation in samsara. However, if they are used with purity, then each of the six can generate merits.
It was believed by other masters, and by Grandmaster himself, that all six senses should have one thousand and two hundred merits each, as stated in the Lotus Sutra, Sutra of Great Mastery, and Avatamsaka Sutra. Thus, it was unclear why the Surangama Sutra assigns different numbers of merits to the senses according to their limitations.
Quantifying the merits of the six senses is meaningless. In fact, it is futile to measure merit. Impure sense faculties generate no merit; they merely pollute the wondrous luminous true mind and create hindrances to spiritual cultivation. On the other hand, pure sense faculties generate merit.
One is not cultivating if one sees what should not be seen, hears what should not be heard, speaks what should not be spoken, touches what should not be touched, or thinks too much and lets the mind wander. That stirs up dust and turns it into afflictions and obstacles, accumulating no merit at all.
Spiritual cultivation is meant to benefit sentient beings. Only then does it generate merit. If it does not benefit others, there is no merit. There is no need to quantify, measure, or calculate merits—whether one recites the hundred syllable mantra in one breath or multiple breaths, or chants the long or short version of a mantra—the merit is the same. The key is the state of your mind: if the mind is quiescent and free from attachments and afflictions then it generates merit, otherwise it won’t generate merit.