The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  The three thousand kinds of awe-inspiring deportment are calculated as follows: the two hundred and fifty precepts that monks follow are counted four times with regard to walking, sitting, standing, and lying down, making one thousand, and then counted three more times as they apply to the karma made by body, speech, and mind, for a total of three thousand.

  Each of the four attitudes of the body — walking, standing, sitting, and lying down — inspires awe with its particular manner. One should walk like a gentle wind, that is, in a slow and stately manner, without impulsiveness or haste. Second, one should stand like a pine, straight up, without slouching. Third, one should sit like a bell, that is, like one of those huge, heavy bells of old that hung solid and unmoving. Fourth, one should recline in the auspicious bow-like position, on the right side, with the right hand under the cheek and the left hand resting on the left thigh.

  As for the eighty thousand subtle aspects of demeanor, the Sutra is giving an approximate number. This number is derived by multiplying the three thousand kinds of awe-inspiring deportment of body, speech, and mind by their seven expressions — that is, freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion, and avoidance of killing, stealing, lying, hurtful words, coarse language, and duplicity. To the resulting twenty-one thousand, one applies the four causes of affliction: greed, hatred, delusion, and the four of them combined.

  The “fundamental precepts” are the ones that forbid killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying. It is sometimes said that violations of these prohibitions cannot be removed, but actually, if you firmly resolve to change your behavior, you still have a chance. As for the “precautionary regulations,” these forbid acts which lead you to commit offenses which otherwise you would not have committed. (V, 84–5)

  [17] Great Maudgalyāyana then stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “Once when I was on the road seeking alms, I met the three Kāṣyapa brothers — Uruvilvā, Gayā, and Nadī — and they proclaimed the Thus-Come One’s explanation of the profound principles of causation. Immediately I resolved to become enlightened, and my mind was entirely free of impediment. The Thus-Come One kindly accepted me, and then the precept robe suddenly appeared on my body while my hair and beard all at once fell from me. Now I travel throughout all ten directions with nothing to impede me. My spiritual powers were revealed and are now esteemed as unsurpassed. So it was that I became an Arhat. Not only the World-Honored One, but Thus-Come Ones throughout the ten directions praise me for the perfect clarity, purity, ease, and fearlessness with which I exercise my spiritual powers. The Buddha has asked how we broke through to enlightenment. I used the method of returning the mind-consciousness31 to its pure source32 so that the light of my mind shone forth and revealed the turbid flux within.33 That flux gradually subsided until it became brilliantly clear. That is the best method.”

  [18] Then Fire-Head34 approached the Buddha, put his palms together, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “I often recall that many long eons ago, I was afflicted with an excess of sexual desire. At that time there was in the world a Buddha named King of Emptiness, who said that a blazing fire grows in people with too much sexual desire. He taught me to observe the flow of hot and cold energies along the bones all through my body. A spiritual light became focused within me and transformed my excessive desire into the fire of wisdom. Since then, all the Buddhas I have served have given me the name ‘Fire-Head.’ So it was that I became an Arhat on the strength of the Blazing Fire Samādhi. I made a great vow: that whenever someone is about to become a Buddha, I will serve as a spiritual warrior and will come to subdue that person’s demons and adversaries. The Buddha has asked us how we broke through to enlightenment. I closely observed the places of warmth in my body until they became unobstructed and there could be free movement through them. A magnificent light blazed forth in my mind and lit the way to supreme enlightenment. This then is the best method.”35

  Fire-Head is a powerful vajra-lord, one of those guardians of the Dharma whom this Sutra refers to as vajra-warriors.36... Why does the text say that he “approached the Buddha,” instead of saying that he “stood up”? The reason is that Fire-Head would have already been standing. Vajra-warriors are spirits, and spirits cannot sit in the presence of the Buddha. They must stand. As for ghosts, they are not only forbidden to sit; they are not even allowed to stand. They must kneel. (V, 91–2)

  [19] Then the Bodhisattva Ground-Leveler stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “I can recall being a monk during the time that the Thus-Come One Universal Illumination was present in the world. It was my constant labor then to carry in sand or dirt to level roadways or to build bridges wherever highways or fords were so narrow or so dangerous as to obstruct cart traffic or to cause injury to horses. Moreover, during the time that countless Buddhas appeared in the world, I applied myself with diligence to the laborious task of carrying goods for people. I would go to the gates of towns, take up the goods, set them down at their destination, and then walk away without seeking any payment. And when there was a widespread famine during the time that the Buddha Viśvabhū37 was in the world, I would carry both goods and people on my back, and whether I carried them for a short or long distance, I would accept only a small coin. If an ox-cart was mired in mud, I would free it by applying my spiritual powers to push the cart until its wheels could turn freely.

  “At one time, the king of that country invited the Buddha Viśvabhū to partake of a vegetarian feast. I leveled the road that the Buddha Viśvabhū was to take and then waited there for him by the roadside. That Thus-Come One circled his hand on the crown of my head and told me, ‘You should level the ground of your mind. Then the ground throughout the entire world will become level as well.’ Immediately my mind opened, and I saw that my body was in part composed of particles of the primary element earth and that these particles were not different from the particles of which the world is made. I saw that the inherent nature of these particles was such that they could never actually come into contact with each other. Even the particles of which clashing swords are composed do not collide. In this way I learned how to be patient when no mental objects arise. So it was that I became an Arhat. I then resolved to advance through the Bodhisattva’s stages. I listened to the Thus-Come Ones proclaim this wondrous lotus-flower38 which was the basis for my attaining the Buddha’s wisdom and vision. My understanding was verified, and I now serve as a leader in this assembly.

  “The Buddha has asked how we broke through to enlightenment. By attentive contemplation I realized that the particles of the primary element earth of which my body is composed are no different from the particles of the primary element earth of which the world is partly composed. Fundamentally, they are all the Matrix of the Thus-Come One; their manifestation as particles is an illusion. When they disappeared, my understanding was complete, and I entered upon the path to enlightenment. This then is the best method.”

  [20] The Pure Youth Moonlight stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “I can remember when a Buddha named Water and Sky was in the world, as many eons ago as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges. He taught Bodhisattvas to enter samādhi through the contemplative practice of insight into the fundamental nature of water. My contemplation was that all the fluids in my body share the same fundamental nature. I began by contemplating saliva and mucus, and then phlegm, stomach acid, marrow, blood, urine, excrement, and so forth. In all the fluids that circulate through my body, my contemplation was that the fundamental nature of water is the same. I saw too that the water inside my body is not different from the water outside my body. Even as far away as the Fragrant Seas of the Royal Floating-Banner Lands,39 the fundamental nature of water is one and the same.

  Moonlight entered the monastic life as a virgin youth, but he is no longer a youth when he speaks here. By this time he had become an elder among the Bodhisattvas. People referred to him as a pure youth in honor of his
having become a monk when he was still young and undefiled. (V, 99)

  “At this stage, when I was first striving to perfect this contemplation, I was aware of only the water in my body, although I still understood that I had a body. I was a monk at the time, and once when I was sitting quietly in my room, a young disciple of mine peeked in to the room through a window. Seeing nothing but water in the room, the boy in his ignorance took up a small piece of tile and tossed it into the water. It hit the water with a splash. He skipped away, looking back over his shoulder. As I emerged from samādhi, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. It was like the pain Śāriputra felt upon encountering a hostile ghost. I thought to myself, ‘I am already an Arhat, and for a long time I have not created any conditions that would lead to illness. How is it then that this pain has arisen in my heart? Does this mean that I have retreated?’

  “At that moment the boy ran up to me and told me what he had done. I instructed him: ‘When you see the water again, open the door immediately, wade into the water, pick up the piece of tile, and go out again.’

  “The boy listened respectfully to my instructions, and after I had again entered samādhi, he saw the piece of tile in the water exactly as before. He opened the door, removed the tile, and went out. I emerged from samādhi, and my body was again free of pain.

  “During the time that I was making my contemplations, I met countless Buddhas. At length, when the Thus-Come One Royal Self-Mastery and Spiritual Powers Vast as Mountains and Seas was in the world, my body vanished. Then the fundamental nature of the water in my body and of all the waters of the Fragrant Seas in worlds throughout the ten directions merged into true emptiness so that they were one and the same, without the slightest difference. Now the Thus-Come One has given me the title ‘Pure Youth,’ and I have joined the assembly of Bodhisattvas.

  “The Buddha asked how we broke through to enlightenment. I understood that water, as it flows and circulates, in its fundamental nature is everywhere the same, and so I understood how to be patient when no mental objects arise. My enlightenment was perfected. This is the best method.”

  The incident that the Pure Youth Moonlight mentions occurred when Śāriputra was sitting in meditation. It happened that two ghosts flew past him. One of them was named Excessively Cruel and the other was named Relentlessly Cruel. Relentlessly said to Excessively, “Do you see that elder monk meditating over there? How about if I go smack him on the head?”

  Excessively said to Relentlessly, “Don’t do it. You don’t want to hit a monk. Better not mess with someone practicing in accord with Dharma.”

  Excessively left the scene, but Relentlessly did not heed his advice. He whacked Śāriputra over the head with a bludgeon. As a result, Śāriputra had a headache when he came out of samādhi. He thought, “I’ve already been verified as an Arhat, and I haven’t any illness, so why does my head ache?” He went to ask the Buddha about it.

  The Buddha explained, “You were struck by a ghost called Relentlessly Cruel, and as a result of what he did to you, he has already fallen into the Unrelenting Hell. The blow he dealt you was so powerful that it could have split Mount Sumeru in half had it been aimed in that direction. Fortunately, the power of your samādhi is great; otherwise you would have been smashed to smithereens.” (V, 101–2)

  [21] The Dharma-Prince Brilliance of Lapis Lazuli stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “I can remember when a Buddha named Infinite Voice was in the world, as many eons ago as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges. He taught Bodhisattvas that the wondrous understanding which is our original enlightenment may be attained by making this contemplation: the world and beings’ bodies are unreal phenomena that are made to move by the power of the primary element wind.

  “Accordingly, I contemplated how the world is established; I contemplated how time moves through it; I contemplated how my body moves and then is still, and how thoughts move in my mind. I understood that all these movements are fundamentally identical. None of them is different from the others. I came to understand that it is the nature of all movement to arise from nowhere and to go nowhere. The countless numbers of deluded beings throughout the ten directions are equally unreal. In the billion worlds that make up this great system of worlds, beings are indeed like a swarm of mosquitoes trapped in a jar, droning in their confusion, buzzing madly in their confinement. After meeting the Buddha Infinite Voice, I was able to be patient when no mental objects arose. My mind opened, and in the east I saw the Land of the Unmoving Buddha.

  There I became a Dharma-Prince in the service of Buddhas throughout the ten directions. My body and mind gave forth light that shone through all things without obstruction.

  “The Buddha has asked us how we broke through to enlightenment. I awakened to my enlightened mind through the contemplative insight that the primary element wind has no essential attributes of its own. I entered samādhi, and together with Buddhas throughout the ten directions, I transmitted the teaching of the wondrous One Mind. This is the best method.”40

  As soon as we allow thoughts to arise in our minds, we have created wind within our minds. Once there is wind in our minds, the many kinds of external winds arise. (V, 105)

  [22] The Bodhisattva Matrix of Space41 stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “When the Thus-Come One and I were with the Buddha Light of Samādhi, my body became infinite. Then four great and precious pearls that I held in my hands illuminated countless Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions, and I saw that all these lands were as empty as space. Then my mind was like a great flawless mirror in which there shone ten kinds of subtle, wondrous, magnificent lights that illuminated all ten directions to the ends of space. All the Royal Banner Lands were reflected in this mirror and thereupon were drawn into my body without conflicting with it, since my body was the same as space. I became skilled in entering an infinite number of lands, in which I did the great work of the Buddhas and developed a great power to respond to beings in accord with what they require.

  “This great spiritual power arose through my attentive contemplation that the first four primary elements have no essential attributes of their own; that they come into being and cease to be as a result of deluded acts of mind; and that space and the lands of the Buddhas are one and the same — no different at all. It was through this contemplation that I understood, and I learned to be patient when no mental objects arise. The Buddha has asked us how we broke through to enlightenment. I contemplated the boundlessness of space and entered samādhi. In this way my wondrous powers reached a luminous perfection. This is the best method.”

  [23] The Bodhisattva Maitreya stood up, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to him respectfully: “I can recall the time when a Buddha named Brilliance of Sun, Moon, and Lamp was in the world; it was as many eons ago as there are motes of dust. I entered the monastic life as a disciple of that Buddha. At that time I was deeply preoccupied with a wish to be well known. I enjoyed cultivating friendships with eminent families of the nobility. That World-Honored One then taught me to enter samādhi by focusing on a contemplation that all things exist only in consciousness.42 While in this samādhi, I have throughout many eons served as many Buddhas as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges. My yearning for fame vanished without a trace. Eventually, during the time when the Buddha Blazing Lamp was in the world, I brought to an unsurpassed wondrous perfection this samādhi of consciousness-only. I then understood that all the lands of the Buddhas throughout all space — both lands which are partly pure and partly impure and lands which are entirely pure — exist only within consciousness. World-Honored One, because I understood in this way that all things exist only in consciousness, I understood that it is from the true nature of consciousness that all Buddhas come forth. Thus, in accordance with predictions, I have taken my place as the one who will be the next Buddha.

  “The Buddha has asked us how we broke through to enlightenment. I focused on a practice of contemplating tha
t everything in the ten directions exists only in consciousness. My mind gained perfect understanding, and I understood the true nature of reality. I left far behind any dependence on what is external and freed myself forever from incessant categorizing. I learned to be patient with the state of mind in which no mental objects arise. This then is the best method.”

  [24] Then the Dharma-Prince Great Strength43 stood up with fifty-two Bodhisattva companions. They bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and the Bodhisattva Great in Strength said respectfully to the Buddha: “I can recall the time when a Buddha named Infinite Light was in the world, as many eons ago as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges. During that eon, twelve Thus-Come Ones appeared in succession, and the last of these, the Buddha Light Surpassing the Sun and Moon, taught me the samādhi of mindfulness of the Buddha.

  The Dharma-Prince Great Strength and the Dharma-Prince Who Hears the Cries of the World44 were sons of the Buddha Amitābha when he was a Universal Monarch45 in a previous life. When Amitābha became a Buddha, these two Bodhisattvas served him. They are his daily companions, one on his left, one on his right. When the Buddha Amitābha retires as teacher and host of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, the Dharma will disappear during the first half of the night, and in the second half of the same night, the Bodhisattva Who Hears the Cries of the World will become a Buddha there in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. When the Bodhisattva Who Hears the Cries of the World retires as the resident Buddha of the Western Land, the Bodhisattva Great Strength will become a Buddha in the same way.

  The Bodhisattva Great Strength is so powerful that if he raises his hand, moves his foot, or moves his head, the earth quakes and trembles. When he walks about, the earth shakes.