The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  “Consider these eight types. What would you say is the necessary condition for the presence of the understanding nature that is the essence of your visual awareness? If the presence of light is a necessary condition for your visual awareness, then when light is absent so that it is completely dark, you would not be able to see the darkness which in fact you do see.20 Your mind makes distinctions about light and darkness and the other phenomena, but the essence of your visual awareness does not make these distinctions. Clearly then, the mind that experiences these conditioned phenomena is not what is fundamentally you. But what is not these conditioned phenomena must be what is fundamentally you. If it is not you, what else could it be?

  Distinctions are being made when you perceive light and darkness, but not by your visual awareness; rather, they are made by your distinction-making mind that responds to circumstances. Don’t take that to be the essential nature of your awareness. Your knowledge of light and dark is an activity of your mind. Your visual awareness sees everything impartially without making any distinction. The act of seeing is simply to see.... The distinctions you make are made by your distinction-making mind.

  This particular section of text explains these teachings extremely well in a few words. All transitory characteristics are dependent on something else. They are not part of you. What stays with you and does not go anywhere else, what is not dependent on anyone or anything else — if that is not you, who is it?... It is something you cannot give away. (II, 75)

  “Know then that your mind is fundamentally wondrous, luminous, and pure. You have confused yourself and have lost track of what is fundamental. Constantly drifting and drowning, you have become submerged in the sea of death and rebirth. That is why the Thus-Come One says you are to be pitied.”

  Our true mind is not dependent on anything, but we ourselves are confused.... It is something that belongs to us, but we don’t realize that, so it seems to us that we have lost it. One who fails to understand the true mind will fall in life after life into the sea of suffering. Although we have not really lost our true minds, our falling is real enough.... Suffering one death and rebirth after another is like being tossed about on the open ocean and drowning. If you have not ended death and rebirth, then even if you can handle the water and swim, you will drown after being tossed about long enough. The waters of the sea of death and rebirth are composed of the karmic offenses you create.... You create karma because you do not recognize the true mind. It is said, “The sea of karma is vast.” It has no shore. Sometimes you are tossed about on its surface, and sometimes you sink to the bottom. Being in the water of that ocean is dangerous. That is what makes Ānanda pitiable.... He has put all his effort into intellectual learning. He is able to come up with many questions, but he still doesn’t understand, even when the explanations are repeated. (II, 77–80)

  Visual Awareness Is Not a Perceived Object

  Ānanda said, “Now I recognize that the nature of my visual awareness is that it does not depend on anything else. But how can I come to know that it is my true nature?”

  The Buddha said to Ānanda, “I will continue to question you. Aided by the Buddha’s wondrous power, you can now see clearly all the way to the heavens of the first dhyāna.21 You do not yet have the purity of freedom from outflows, but Aniruddha,22 who is free of outflows, sees the entirety of Jambudvīpa23 as plainly as one might see an amala fruit placed in the palm of one’s hand. Bodhisattvas at their various stages can see hundreds of thousands of worlds and more, and there is not one of the infinite numbers of Pure Lands24 that the Thus-Come Ones in the ten directions do not see. Ordinary beings cannot see with such clarity as this, even for a fraction of an inch.

  The purity of freedom from outflows is the purest of purities. Nothing is defiled about it. It’s easy to talk about, but it’s a very difficult state of mind to attain. In that state, there are no outflows from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind. When ordinary people see something, their attention is diverted to it: that is an outflow. If you hear something and cannot apply the skill of reversing your hearing25 but instead allow your attention to direct itself to the sound so that you listen, that too is an outflow. Your nose smells odors, your tongue tastes flavors, your body comes in contact with tangible objects, your mind responds to objects of cognition: all these events involve outflows. It is like a glass bottle with a hole in the bottom. It leaks when water is poured into it. If people don’t undertake spiritual practice and put an end to outflows, they become leaky bottles. They gradually pour themselves from the heavens to the realm of people. From the human realm they pour themselves into the animal realm and from there to the realm of hungry ghosts and on into the hells... depending on what kind of karma they have created. (II, 81–2)

  When compared to the vision of sages or of the Buddhas, ordinary people can’t see farther than a tenth of an inch or an inch at the most, even if they use all their power of sight. The Buddhas can see all the Pure Lands as numerous as fine motes of dust, but ordinary people can’t see even an entire country or even an entire town. If they look to the left, they can’t see what’s on their right. If they look to the right, they can’t see what’s on their left. If they look ahead, they can’t see what’s behind them, and if they try to see behind themselves, they can’t see what’s in front of them. Ordinary people’s vision is extremely limited. Although the essential nature of their visual awareness neither comes into being nor ceases to be, their physical bodies have limitations, and that is why their sight is obstructed. The Arhats, the Bodhisattvas, and the Buddhas all have the spiritual power of the celestial eye, and their visual awareness extends everywhere without impediment. But consider what ordinary beings can see: I can see you now, but if I hold a piece of paper up in front of my eyes, it stops me from seeing you. And the piece of paper is not even a tenth of an inch thick.... If you open the celestial eye, of course, there will be no obstruction, and you will be able see everything. Compared to the Buddha, we truly fall short. (II, 87)

  “Ānanda, you and I can now see the palaces where the Four Celestial Kings reside. Between there and here, we can see forms and shapes that move on land, in the water, and through the air, in light and in shade. All these are perceived objects that you can distinguish as solid, and among them you should be able to distinguish what is you and what is not you. I am now asking you to choose, from all that lies within your visual awareness, what is essentially you and what are perceived objects. If you employ the power of your vision to its fullest extent, Ānanda, you will be able to see as far as the Sun Palace and Moon Palace. All that you will see are objects; they are not you. Carefully observe everything as far as the seven circular ranges of golden mountains; everything that you will see, even the various sources of light, will be an object; it will not be you. Again, step by step, observe the clouds in motion, the birds in flight, the wind blowing, the dust rising, the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the plants, the people, and the animals. All are objects of your perception. None of them is you.

  The Heaven of the Four Celestial Kings is the heaven closest to us, located halfway up Mount Sumeru. As explained in the Buddhist sutras, this heaven does not reach the peak of Mount Sumeru. There is a celestial king in the north of this heaven, one in the east, one in the south, and one in the west.The lifespan of beings in the Heaven of the Four Celestial Kings is five hundred years; after five hundred years, they are destined to die and be reborn in a lower destiny.... A day and a night in the Heaven of the Four Celestial Kings is equivalent to fifty years among people. “How can this be?” you ask. I’ll give you an example to help you understand. If we feel very happy on a given day, the day passes without our even being aware of it. We feel the day was very short. Because it is blissful in the heavens, one day and one night there is equal to fifty years among people. Fifty years count for such a long time in the realm of people because people are subject to the unrelenting disturbance and affliction arising from their involvement with perceived objects....

/>   Circling Mount Sumeru are seven ranges of mountains made of gold. A fragrant sea lies between each range. (II, 88–90).

  “Ānanda, all these perceived objects, near and far, have their own distinctive nature; nevertheless, all are seen within the purity of the essence of your visual awareness. Each kind of object is distinguished as different from the others, but there are no such distinctions in the wondrous understanding of the essence of your visual awareness. This visual awareness is in fact the pure and wondrous understanding mind.

  “If visual awareness were a perceived object, then would you not be able to see my visual awareness as an object? You may argue that you do see my visual awareness at the moment when we are both looking at the same thing. But when I am no longer looking at that thing, then would you still see my visual awareness? Even if you had been able to see my awareness when you and I were looking at the same thing, clearly you will not be able to see my awareness once I begin looking at something else.26 And since you cannot see my awareness when you and I are looking at different things, clearly my visual awareness cannot be an object. Therefore, how could your own visual awareness not be what is fundamentally you?27

  The Buddha has told Ānanda that visual awareness is not an object, but Ānanda doesn’t believe it yet, so the Buddha has to make it clearer to him.... If visual awareness were an object, then visual awareness would be visible. Therefore Ānanda should be able to see the Buddha’s visual awareness, because if visual awareness were an object, it would have attributes which could be distinguished. In fact, however, visual awareness has no form or appearance. It is neither green, yellow, red, white, nor black; neither long, short, square, nor round. It isn’t a thing, and so you can’t see it.

  You say, “If visual awareness cannot be put in the category of objects, what is it then? What is it in the same category with?” You figure it out. Investigate it... as a meditation topic.... To ask, “Who is it who is mindful of the Buddha?” is to investigate this question. If you can recognize your visual awareness just at this point — if you can say, “Oh, basically my visual awareness does not come and does not go, basically does not come into being and does not perish” — if you understand this doctrine, then you understand the nature of your visual awareness. (II, 96–8)

  “Otherwise, when you see an object, the object would see you as well.28 If visual awareness and its objects were intermixed like that, you and I and everything else in the world would be immersed in chaos. But, Ānanda, when you are aware of something, it is you, not I, who are aware of it. The essential nature of your visual awareness pervades everything. If it is not yours, whose could it be? Why do you doubt that it is your true nature? Why don’t you accept it as genuine and instead ask me what is true?”

  Visual Awareness Has Neither Shape Nor Extension

  Ānanda then said respectfully to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, I accept that my visual awareness, with its capacity to understand, cannot be other than mine. The Thus-Come One and I are looking now at the halls of the Four Celestial Kings, which are adorned and resplendent with superb treasures; our glance has lingered on the Sun Palace and Moon Palace, and then our visual awareness has extended to fill the entire Sahā world. However, when we return our gaze to this pure hall and look upon this sanctuary only, we do not see beyond the roof and the walls.

  “World-Honored One, that is how our visual awareness is. First it extended throughout a world; now it is confined to this one room we are in. Did our awareness contract to fit into the room, or did the walls and ceiling divide our awareness up, enclosing part of it and leaving the rest outside? At this point, I don’t know which one of these alternatives is right. I hope that the World-Honored One will bestow his great kindness upon us and will explain this point to us.”

  A balloon is big when it is filled with air, but when the air is released it becomes small.... Is visual awareness like a balloon? Ānanda is still making visual awareness into a thing. He still thinks, “Ah, awareness is a thing. I’ve got to think of a way to use an example in order to debate with the Buddha and win. I’m going to think of a way to invalidate his theory. I’m going to find a way to make my notion be right, and he’ll have to acknowledge my achievement.” That is what is going on in Ānanda’s mind. “You say that everything I say is wrong. I’m definitely going to find something to say that’s right and let you have a look at it.” One suspects that Ānanda’s attachment to self is particularly tenacious just now. (II, 103)

  The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Everything visible in the world — whether large or small, whether inside this hall or outside of it, whatever kind of thing it is — may be an object of our visual awareness. Do not say your awareness itself expands and contracts.

  “Let us consider an example: suppose you are looking at the space inside a square box. Let me ask you: is the space you see inside the box fixed there in a cubical shape, or is it not? If it is, then if it were transferred into a round box, it would not become round. If, on the other hand, it is not fixed in a cubical shape, then there can’t have been a cube of space in the box in the first place.

  “You said that you don’t know which one of your alternatives is right. What you said about the nature of visual awareness can be compared to what I said about the space in the square box. In truth, neither the awareness nor the space can have a location.

  “Do you want to say the space in the boxes is neither square nor round? Simply remove the boxes, and you’ll see that the remaining space indeed has neither shape. You can’t say that when the boxes are removed, you would still be able to remove a cube or a sphere of space.

  “Besides, suppose your visual awareness does contract when you enter a room, as you suggest. Then why, when you look up at the sun, does your awareness not expand till it reaches the sun’s surface? Suppose, again, your visual awareness does divide when walls and ceilings are interposed; then why, if someone drills a hole through one of the walls, will there be no evidence of a linkage created as your divided awareness expands through the hole to reconnect itself? These ideas of yours cannot be right.

  “From time without beginning, all beings have mistakenly identified themselves with what they are aware of. Controlled by their experience of perceived objects, they lose track of their fundamental minds. In this state they perceive visual awareness as large or small. But when they’re in control of their experience of perceived objects, they are the same as the Thus-Come Ones. Their bodies and minds,29 unmoving and replete with perfect understanding, become a place for awakening. Then all the lands in the ten directions are contained within the tip of a fine hair.”

  Visual Awareness Is Both Separate and Not Separate from Objects

  Ānanda said respectfully to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, granted that my visual awareness is indeed my wonderful true nature; then this wonderful nature must be what appears before me. But if my visual awareness is in fact really my true nature, what is the mind that I experience in my body? The mind that I experience in my body is able to make distinctions, whereas my visual awareness does not make distinctions, even about my own body. But if my visual awareness is really my mind and is what causes me to see, then the essential nature of this visual awareness is what is truly me, and so my body is not me. Is not my objection, though, the same as the objection that the Thus-Come One made previously, namely, that perceived objects cannot see me?30 Bestow upon us your great kindness and explain this to us who have not yet awakened.”

  It can be said that Ānanda is confused, but it can also be said that he is not confused. He manifests the appearance of confusion in order to help others. He is acting as a model, showing others that even someone as confused as Ānanda pretends to be can become enlightened.... So as he and Śākyamuni Buddha investigate the nature of visual awareness, it is as if they are acting out a play, line by line, each in harmony with the other. (II, 116–8)

  The Buddha said to Ānanda, “What you have just said — that your visual awareness is in front of you — is not co
rrect. If it were actually in front of you, you would see it. In that case, your visual awareness would have a location which you could point to easily.

  “As you and I are seated in Prince Jetri’s Grove, we can see the Dharma hall, with trees and streams around it, and beyond them the River Ganges, and both the sun and the moon above us. Now, you and I, from here at the Lion’s Seat, could point to all these things: the shade cast by the trees, the shining sun, the walls that block our view, the trees themselves, the other plants, the space through which we see these things, some of them large, some as small as strands of hair — all are distinct from one another, but as long as they are visible, you can point to them. If your visual awareness were indeed in front of you, then as you point to these things you would be able to indicate which one of them is your awareness.

  “Therefore, understand this: if your awareness were identical with space, how could space still be space? If your awareness were all these objects, how could they still be objects? Can you reveal, by means of a minute analysis of these many objects, the source that is the essential, pure, wondrously understanding awareness? Can you point it out to me in the same way that, with clarity and certainty, you can point out these objects?”