The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  Having made his request, Pūrṇa bowed to the ground and then waited respectfully and earnestly to hear the Thus-Come One’s sublime and compassionate instruction.

  Then the World-Honored One said to Pūrṇa and to all the other Arhats in the assembly, who were all free of outflows and needed no further instruction, “Today, for the sake of everyone in the assembly, the Thus-Come One will explain the most supreme truth among all supreme truths, so that all the Hearers of the Teaching in this assembly who have no further aspirations, and all of you Arhats who have not yet experienced the two kinds of emptiness2 but have turned toward the Great Vehicle, as well as others, may enter the true araṇya,3 the still and quiet place, the state of genuine practice that will lead you to become Buddhas. Listen carefully as I explain.”

  Pūrṇa and all the others, out of reverence for the sound of the Buddha’s words of Dharma, listened in silent respect.

  In true araṇya, there is no chaos. No one talks. A lot of people may dwell together, but it’s as if no one were there. Not even the sound of a mosquito can be heard. If you want to follow the correct path, you should learn not to talk so much. When there is too much talking, other people cannot enter samādhi. (IV, 13)

  The Buddha continued, “Pūrṇa, you have asked me why the mountains, the rivers, and everything else on this great earth have come into being from the Matrix of the Thus-Come One, which is fundamentally pure. Now, have you not often heard the Thus-Come One speak of the wondrous understanding which is intrinsic to our inherent enlightenment, to our fundamental, wondrous, luminous understanding?”

  Pūrṇa replied, “Yes, World-Honored One, I have often heard the Buddha expound upon this.”

  “Inherent enlightenment” refers to each person’s truly enlightened nature. “Wondrous understanding” refers to stillness and constant illumination,... an everlasting quietness that nevertheless can illumine the entire Dharma-Realm. The word “wondrous” also represents purity. The inherent, enlightened nature is the one truth; it is the Buddha-nature inherent in us all, the primary nature that multiplies to become the myriad things.... It is the fundamental enlightenment, the natural and primary essence inherent within us. It neither increases or decreases, is neither produced nor destroyed, is neither defiled nor pure. (IV, 15)

  The Buddha said, “When we talk about this understanding which characterizes enlightenment, do we mean an understanding that is intrinsic to our inherent enlightened nature? Or does our inherent enlightenment lack understanding until we gain it when enlightenment is realized?”

  Pūrṇa said, “Our inherent enlightenment is characterized by understanding only when that understanding is added to it.”

  The Buddha said, “Suppose, as you say, that for our inherent enlightenment to be characterized by understanding, that understanding must be added to it when enlightenment is realized. But an enlightenment to which an understanding is added cannot be a true enlightenment. Such an enlightenment would indeed lack understanding if understanding were not added. But an enlightenment that lacks understanding cannot be the true intrinsic enlightenment that is inherently pure and endowed with understanding. Therefore, if you think that an understanding must be added to your inherent enlightenment, you are falsifying the true understanding, the true enlightenment.

  “That is, nothing need be added to true enlightenment, but once an understanding is added nevertheless, that understanding must understand something.4 Once the category of ‘something understood’ is mistakenly established in the mind, the category ‘that which understands’ is mistakenly established as well.5 At first, there is neither sameness nor differentiation, but then that which is differentiated is clearly distinguished.6 That which differs from what is differentiated is distinguished as being uniform.7 Because the category of what is differentiated and the category of what is uniform have been established, the category of what is neither uniform nor differentiated is further established.8

  Enlightenment is not something that requires the addition of understanding... because understanding is already inherent in enlightenment. Once an understanding is added, an object is established. This is the first of the three subtle aspects of delusion. Once an object is falsely set up, you as a false subject come into being as a reaction to the false object. This is the source of your deluded thinking.... In this way, subjectivity is created. This ultimately unreal process is the second subtle aspect of delusion, the aspect of evolving.

  The general import of this section of text is that basically we are all Buddhas. Then if we originally were Buddhas, how did we become ordinary beings? And why haven’t ordinary beings become Buddhas? Where does the problem lie? Originally we were no different from the Buddhas. But living beings can be created from within the Buddha-nature.... The Buddha-nature is radiant; it is our fundamental enlightenment, and it is the wondrous light of the enlightenment inherent in us all. It is from within this light that the beings are created.

  To illustrate this point, I will use an analogy which is not totally apt but which will suffice to make the principle clear. A manifested body of the Buddha is like a photograph of a person — except that the photograph has no awareness. A Buddha can create a manifested body whose nature comes from the Buddha and whose features have a likeness to the Buddha’s. Another analogy would be a reflection in a mirror. When we pass by the mirror there is a reflection; once we have gone by, the reflection disappears. The same can be said of a manifested body of a Buddha.

  Our fundamental, inherent enlightenment is also like a mirror. Suddenly in the mirror an image appears, and in the same way, the first ignorant thought arises when an understanding is added to our inherent understanding.... For another analogy, we can say that fundamental enlightenment is like a light which is already on. If you flip the switch, you have added something extra, and in the process you have turned the light off. (IV, 17–9)

  “The turmoil of this mutual complementarity gives rise to mental strain, and as the mental strain is prolonged, grasping at objects of mind begins. Mental strain and grasping at objects together create a turbidity of mind, out of which the afflictions are generated. Motion becomes the world of perceived objects, and stillness is distinguished as space. In addition to space, which is undifferentiated, and the world, which is differentiated, are conditioned phenomena that are neither differentiated nor the same.

  In this passage, the first five of the six coarse aspects of delusion are mentioned.... Previously to this, the text mentioned the coming into being of what is neither uniform nor differentiated, together with the coming into being of the world and space. Now in the midst of this, turmoil is created. This turmoil eventually brings about mental strain, which is the first coarse aspect of delusion, the delusion of mundane knowledge. Prolonged weariness produces defilement; this prolongation is the second coarse aspect, that of continuation. The third is the aspect of grasping. The combination of these in a murky turbidity is the fourth coarse aspect, the aspect of clinging to names.... From the various conditions just discussed, afflictions arise, and with afflictions come the mountains, the rivers, and everything else on earth. This is the fifth coarse aspect, the aspect of karma.9 (IV, 20–2)

  “Once a light of understanding is added to enlightenment, the darkness of the primary element space appears, and the interaction of these two complements generates a disturbance in the mind. That disturbance becomes the disk10 of wind that is the essence of the primary element wind, and this disk then supports the world of perceived objects. In reaction to the mental disturbance generated by the interaction of the darkness of mental space and the understanding that has been added, there arises a firm attachment to that understanding, and this firm attachment is categorized as solidity. This solidity is the disk of vajra, which is the essence of the primary element earth. This is how, from the firm attachment to the light of the added understanding, the disk of vajra, which holds the world together, comes into being.

  “Thus the disk of vajra is generated from the firm attach
ment to the added understanding, and the disk of wind is generated from the disturbance arising from the interaction of the two complements, the light of the added understanding and the darkness of mental space. From the friction between the disk of wind and the disk of vajra there arises the light of the disk of fire, which is characterized by changeability. Moisture arises from the shining of the disk of vajra and turns to vapor in the presence of fire. Thus the disk of water comes into being and encompasses the worlds in the ten directions.

  “As fire flares up and water descends, their interaction brings about solidity. From the primary element water, the oceans come into being, while the continents and islands come into being from the primary element earth.11 Thus fire sometimes emerges from the oceans, and rivers and streams flow across the lands. Mountains form where the primary element fire is stronger than the primary element water; thus rock gives off sparks when struck and melts when heated. Vegetation grows where the primary element water is stronger than the primary element earth; thus the trees and grasses are reduced to ash when burned and exude liquid when they are compressed. These distorted interactions together produce the seeds that become the causes for the perpetuation of the world of perceived objects.12

  “Further, Pūrṇa, you should know that beings’ deluded understanding is due simply to the error of adding an understanding to inherent enlightenment. The inevitable consequence is the establishment, through delusion, of the categories ‘something understood’ and ‘that which understands.’ So it is that the ear-faculty is aware only of sounds and the eye-faculty is confined to visible objects. All six objects, which are perceived through delusion — visible objects, sounds, odors, flavors, objects of touch, and objects of cognition — are each placed in a separate category, resulting in a division into seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, tactile awareness, and cognition.

  “Some beings are born due to being bound together by shared karma; other beings are born due to union or else due to separation.

  “A point of light is seen to appear. When the light is seen clearly, deluded thoughts arise — both hatred in response to incompatible points of view and love in response to compatible ways of thinking. The thought of love flows out to the fertilized egg, which is then drawn into the womb. Thus the parents’ intercourse leads to the attraction of a being with whom they share a common karma. Due to these causes and conditions, the fetus develops, passing through the kalala stage,13 the arbuda stage,14 and the stages that follow.

  When a person comes into being, it is the eighth consciousness which arrives first, and when a person dies, the eighth consciousness is the last to leave. The body remains warm until the eighth consciousness leaves it; then the eighth consciousness continues as the “body between existences,” also called the “body between the five aggregates.” This body has the appearance of a person or an animal or otherwise, depending on what kind of being it belonged to in the life just completed, as if it had been cast from a mold. No matter how far away from its potential father and mother it may be, it will find them if its karma is bound to theirs. It is surrounded by darkness, but when its future parents have intercourse, it will see a pinpoint of light at that place, and it will be drawn to it like steel to a powerful magnet. This in turn leads to conception. If the body between existences is male, it will love the mother and hate the father. It will want to strike its father and steal its mother and have intercourse with her. If the body between existences is female, it will love the father and be jealous of the mother. With that one thought of ignorance, it enters the womb. Thus people are born from love and desire and they die from love and desire. (IV, 29–30)

  “Birth from a womb, birth from an egg, birth in the presence of moisture, and birth via metamorphosis come about in response to these circumstances: birth from an egg arises from mental activity; birth from a womb occurs because of emotion; birth in the presence of moisture occurs through union; and birth via metamorphosis is brought about through separation. Because of emotion, mental activity, union, and separation, beings may shift from one form of birth to another form. They ascend or fall entirely in accord with their karma. These are the causes and conditions for the perpetuation of beings.15

  “Pūrṇa, beings bind themselves to each other with their thoughts of love, love so strong that they cannot bear to be apart, and thus there come into being all the world’s fathers, mothers, children, and grandchildren in an uninterrupted succession of births. The root of all this is emotional desire.

  “Because of excessive desire and emotional love, all crave nourishment,16 a craving which will not cease. Thus all of the world’s beings, whether born from eggs, via metamorphosis, in the presence of moisture, or from a womb, devour one another and are in turn devoured, each according to the measure of its strength or weakness. The root of all this is the desire to kill.

  “Suppose then that a human being eats a sheep. The slaughtered sheep is reborn as a human. When the human who ate the sheep dies, he in turn becomes a sheep. This pattern holds among all ten kinds of beings as they devour one another in a continuing cycle of death and rebirth. The evil karma of this mutual devouring accompanies each of them from life to life to the farthest reaches of the future. The root of all this is the urge to steal.

  Stealing is taking what is not given. For instance, when you eat the flesh of a sheep, the sheep certainly did not give it to you... If you kill a sheep for no reason but to eat its flesh, you have stolen its life. So it is reborn as a person and you are reborn as a sheep, and in this way you keep stealing from each other. (IV, 42)

  “Suppose you are in debt to someone for having taken his life; he will want to take your life in repayment. Due to such causes and conditions, beings must pass through hundreds of thousands of eons in an everlasting succession of deaths and rebirths.

  “Suppose someone loves someone else for his or her mind, or for his or her beauty. Due to such causes and conditions, beings must pass through hundreds of thousands of eons in an everlasting succession of entanglements.

  “The roots of all this are killing, stealing, and emotional love. Those three and nothing else are the causes and conditions for the perpetuation of retribution in accord with karma.17

  “Pūrṇa, these three distorted perpetuations ultimately derive from adding an understanding to inherent enlightenment. From this added understanding, a false understanding arises. From that, a deluded awareness brings into being the mountains, the rivers, and all the other conditioned phenomena in this world. Due to that illusory awareness, we experience the world as constantly changing patterns, which are perpetually coming into our awareness and then disappearing.”

  The Buddhas’ Enlightenment Is Irreversible

  Pūrṇa then asked, “If our wondrous enlightenment is fundamentally wondrous, awake, and endowed with luminous understanding, and if the mind of the Thus-Come One neither increases nor diminishes, how is it then that all beings and all conditioned phenomena — the mountains, the rivers, and everything else on earth — suddenly arise without a reason? Also, now that the Thus-Come One has realized wondrous emptiness and understanding, will the mountains, the rivers, and all other conditioned phenomena on this earth, as well as the habits and outflows of beings, ever arise for him again?”

  This section of text voices Pūrṇa’s doubt. He wonders whether the Buddha-nature has a beginning and whether there will be a time when the Buddha will no longer be a Buddha and will become an ordinary being again. (IV, 50)

  The Buddha said to Pūrṇa, “Consider the analogy of someone who loses his way in a village and becomes confused about which way is north and which way is south. Has he mistaken his directions because of confusion, or because of understanding?”

  The village in this analogy represents the Matrix of the Thus-Come One. The person who has lost his way represents ordinary beings, who are afflicted with deluded thoughts. North and south represent the false and the true, confusion and enlightenment. (IV, 53)

  Pūrṇa replied, “He is l
ost neither because of confusion nor because of understanding. Confusion has no basis in reality, and so how can it be a cause of his being lost? As for understanding, how could that be a cause of being lost?”

  The Buddha said, “Suppose this confused person who has become lost in the village unexpectedly meets someone who knows which direction is which and who points out the way to him so that he understands. What do you think, Pūrṇa? He was lost in the village, but now will he become lost again?

  “He will not, World-Honored One.”

  “The same is true, Pūrṇa, of the Thus-Come Ones throughout the ten directions. Confusion has no basis in reality. In its very nature it is ultimately empty. There never was anything real about the confusion; it only seems that there have been confusion and understanding. Once one has awakened from one’s confusion, the confusion disappears, and from that awakening, no confusion can arise again.”

  “Or again, a person with an eye-disease may see a mirage of flowers in the air, but once the disease is cured, the flowers he saw in the air will disappear. Suppose that person is foolish enough to look up at the place where the flowers disappeared and expect to see them reappear. Would you consider such a person to be foolish or wise?”

  Pūrṇa replied, “There never were any flowers in the air. They appeared because his visual awareness was distorted. Seeing the flowers disappear into the air was also a distortion. To expect them to reappear would be foolish to the point of madness. How could one possibly call such a crazed person merely foolish, much less call him wise?”