Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Through his own past experiences and the story of Cudapanthaka, Grandmaster showed that intellectual capacity does not determine one’s attainment. Even someone who is slow-witted can attain realization by persevering in the cultivation of single-mindedness.
Cudapanthaka then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha:
”I was poor at reciting and retaining [the teachings], and had no capacity for much learning. When I first encountered the Buddha, I heard the Dharma and became a monk. I tried to remember and retain a single verse spoken by the Tathagata, but even after a hundred days, I would get the front and lose the back, or get the back and lose the front.
“The Buddha, pitying my dullness, taught me to dwell with ease on my inhalation and exhalation. At that time, I contemplated the breath in its subtlest details, observing it to the very end through arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing, and seeing how all phenomena change from moment to moment.
“Suddenly, my mind opened completely, and I attained great non-obstruction. Eventually, all my outflows ceased, and I attained arhatship. I remained beneath the Buddha’s seat, and the Buddha affirmed that I had attained the state beyond learning.
“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, turning the breath back to emptiness is the supreme means.”
Grandmaster explained that Cudapanthaka could neither understand nor retain the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha gave him a simple task: clean the monks’ shoes while repeating a short phrase about removing dust and filth. He also taught him to focus on his breathing. As Grandmaster has taught, breathing must be fine, slow, and deep.
Although Cudapanthaka struggled with learning, he could focus without distraction. As he cleaned, repeated the phrase, and observed his breath, he came to understand that he was removing both the dirt outside and the impurities within his mind. With complete focus and no distracting thoughts, his mind opened, his afflictions ceased, and he entered the state of emptiness and reached attainment.
Grandmaster humorously compared Cudapanthaka’s difficulties with his own childhood. He disliked studying, preferred swimming and playing, skipped classes, and ranked near the bottom of his class. After repeating grades in junior high school, he entered a vocational program for students who had struggled academically. He learned bookkeeping and typing English letters, although he did not understand English.
There, he discovered that a little effort could help him do well. His confidence grew, and he began studying seriously. A fortune teller had told his mother that he would improve and begin studying at fifteen. He eventually ranked near the top of his class and entered Kaohsiung Technical High School, where he placed first almost every semester and earned a scholarship covering his tuition and expenses.
His family could not afford college, so he applied to schools offering free education in return for service. He was admitted to a military school. His father considered withholding the acceptance letter because he was already earning money, but his mother insisted that he should know. Grandmaster gladly accepted the opportunity to go to college.
He studied surveying and spent ten years working throughout Taiwan. His assignments included mountains, islands, airports, highways, and urban planning projects. Since surveying points were often on summits, he climbed many mountains.
Grandmaster neglected English because he assumed he would remain in Taiwan, despite a classmate’s encouragement to learn it. Years later, he moved to America through his connection with three brothers who were disciples and whose furniture business had an American branch.
With very little English, he answered an immigration officer’s questions about the company in the Southcenter area of Tukwila. He tried learning English by conversing with locals, leading to amusing experiences. When someone held a door open for him and replied “You bet” to his thanks, he remembered the expression and began using it himself. He also used Chinese sound associations to memorize English words.
These recollections show that a slow beginning does not prevent progress or spiritual attainment. Confidence grows through effort, and wisdom unfolds through focused practice. Even cleaning shoes and observing the breath can lead to enlightenment when the mind becomes completely focused and its impurities are cleared.