Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Enlightenment involves letting go of the discriminating mind, which causes us to perceive tastes as different. When attachment to distinctions falls away, we become liberated and free from afflictions. Only through cultivation can our body and mind be liberated and be free from hindrances, allowing us to transcend the ever-changing world.
Pilindavatsa then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha:
“When I first resolved to follow the Buddha and enter the path, I often heard the Tathagata speak of the unpleasantness of worldly existence.
“One day, while begging for alms in the city, my mind was occupied with the dharma when, without noticing, I stepped on a poisonous thorn that pierced my foot. My whole body was in pain.
“I reflected: I have an awareness that is aware of this intense pain. Although there is the awareness that perceives pain, the perceiving pure mind has neither pain nor pain awareness.
“I further reflected: How could there be two kinds of awareness within a single body? Before long, as I gathered and focused my thoughts, both body and mind suddenly became empty. Within twenty-one days, all outflows were completely exhausted, and I attained arhatship. I personally received the Buddha’s confirmation and realized the state of beyond learning.
“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, pure awareness that transcends the body is the supreme means.”
“Pure awareness that transcends the body” refers to entering the deepest samadhi in meditation, where body and mind become empty. This is the supreme means described in Pilindavatsa’s account.
Although his body was in intense pain, Pilindavatsa experienced no pain in deep meditation. He kept contemplating how one body could have these two different experiences. Through twenty-one days of focused contemplation and meditation, body and mind became empty, all afflictions ceased, and the Buddha confirmed his arhatship.
Grandmaster revisited his example of saliva. We naturally swallow our saliva, yet once we spit it out, would we swallow it again? A disciple answered, “No, because it becomes exposed to bacteria.” But aren’t there bacteria inside our bodies too? What if we spat it into a sterile bag? Would we swallow it then?
When kissing someone we love, we may find their saliva sweet and pleasant, yet reject it once it has been spat out. Why? The substance is the same, but our feelings differ. These questions invite us to examine how attraction, aversion, and context shape our judgments.
Grandmaster encouraged everyone to contemplate this repeatedly. Just as Pilindavatsa investigated pain and the absence of pain, we can examine acceptance and rejection. Through sustained contemplation and samadhi, body and mind can become empty and liberated, and afflictions disappear.
He recalled a story from Traces of Immortals in the Wild (绿野仙踪). There was a young novice monk who followed Leng Yu Bing. The novice contemplates how fragrant food becomes foul-smelling excrement. Eventually, he awakens, and his body and mind become liberated and free from hindrances. In the story, he eats excrement with pleasure, and Leng Yu Bing takes him to heaven. Grandmaster used this account to illustrate going beyond discrimination between fragrance and foulness.
Why might a man remain attracted to twenty-year-old women as he grows older? Why do people stop loving someone, and why can passion fade after marriage? These questions also direct us to examine the mind’s changing preferences and judgments.
Grandmaster emphasized that enlightenment involves letting go of the discriminating mind. Attachment to distinctions shapes what we accept and reject. Through cultivation, these attachments can fall away, freeing us from afflictions.
Grandmaster also shared a verse about the stages of life: “At one, we make our debut; at ten, studies come first; at twenty, youth is in full bloom; at thirty, we navigate our careers; at forty, we gain a little weight; at fifty, we are older but still vigorous; at sixty, our blood pressure rises; at seventy, we occasionally forget things; at eighty, we walk unsteadily; at ninety, we forget how to talk; and at one hundred, our picture hangs on the wall.”