Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Why are there so many love songs in this world? It is because people have feelings through bodily contact. It also shows that people’s hearts are attached to the saha world, unable to transcend it. The body must transcend the six roots, six dusts, and six consciousnesses.
“By the two appearances of separation and contact, attached to the lucid wondrous perfection, sensation arises. The essence of sensation reflects touch; together with touch, it becomes the root. The source of the root is called the pure four great elements. Thus it is called the physical body, shaped like the sides of a waist drum*. The floating root and four dusts flow and rush toward touch.”
Grandmaster noted that the sutra’s imagery may be made more accessible by analogy: a plump person resembles a water barrel, while a thin person resembles a bamboo stick, rather than describing the body as being shaped like a waist drum.
Bodily sensations arise due to contact. When we shake hands, sensation arises. Without physical contact, there is none. When in contact with heat, we feel warmth. When in contact with ice, we feel cold. The body experiences sensations through interaction with temperature and the surrounding environment.
When Grandmaster was in elementary school, his family went to the movies with their company, and his girlfriend was also there. They traveled together in a crowded car. As she sat across from him, their knees happened to touch, and a sensation arose. He became so distracted that he did not even know what movie he was watching. He has never forgotten this incident, and the feeling remains with him to this day. This shows how significant the body is—it remains within the mind consciousness. When one’s left hand holds one’s right hand, no special feeling arises. However, touching the hand of one’s girlfriend is different.
Grandmaster is writing a book entitled Sending My Love that is a sequel to Eternal Star. As spiritual cultivators, we should direct our true affection towards mountains and rivers. Sometimes Grandmaster asks people to send his regards to someone. This person must have been someone he truly loved in the past. Yet it’s best not to meet again, because it would shatter the cherished image of her.
Some disciples once found the elementary teacher whom Grandmaster fell in love with in the past. They showed him a recent photograph of her—she had become an old lady in her nineties! The image of her youthful beauty that he had preserved in his memory was shattered. He recalled that whenever she passed by him in class, she carried a pleasant fragrance. Feeling her breath on his face was another example of bodily contact. This illustrates the principles of separation and contact.
Last night, Drashi Lhamo entered Grandmaster’s double protection boundaries. Besides buddhas, bodhisattvas, Drashi Lhamo, and close relatives, no one else could enter. Drashi Lhamo was with Grandmaster the entire night, which was an example of contact. Grandmaster said that no woman in the world could compare with Drashi Lhamo’s beauty.
Next, we will talk about mind consciousness. Why are there so many love songs in this world? It is because people’s hearts remain in the saha world, unable to transcend it. Those who understand how to transcend it become sages, while those who do not remain ordinary beings.
The body must transcend the six roots, six dusts, and six consciousnesses. One must also transcend attachment to the past. The Surangama Sutra will explain the methods for doing so. Continuing on, we’ll discuss the six roots, six dusts, and six consciousnesses again. The Buddha and twenty-five bodhisattvas will discuss their methods of practice—how to cultivate using the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
[*A waist drum (腰鼓) is a traditional Chinese drum that is narrow in the middle and wider at both ends, resembling an hourglass or spool shape.]