The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  “Thus, having passed through these various stages — twelve stages in all, some counted singly, some in groups39 — they reach at last the stage of Wondrous Awakening, which is the unsurpassed enlightenment.

  “At each of these stages, with their Vajra-mind, they have used ten profound analogies to make the contemplation that all is an illusion. They have stopped the flow of deluded thoughts in their minds, and by means of the Thus-Come Ones’ contemplative insight, they have advanced step by step as they bring their pure practice to fulfillment.

  The ten profound analogies are as follows:

  All karma is like an illusion.

  All phenomena are like a mirage.

  All physical bodies are like the moon in water.

  All wondrous forms are like flowers in space.

  All wondrous sounds are like echoes in a valley.

  All Buddhalands are like cities of the gandharvas.40

  All deeds of the Buddha are like dreams.

  The Buddha’s body is like a reflection.

  The Reward-body41 is like a shadow.

  The Dharma-body is like a transformation.

  Do not look upon any of these things as real. You should neither grasp nor reject these illusory states. That is because everything is empty, and so you should not regard anything as having any real and permanent existence. The meaning behind these ten profound analogies is that you should not be attached to anything at all. You have to let everything go. If you see through it and let it all go, then you will gain mastery over yourself. (VII, 77)

  “Because they have taken the three gradual steps, Ānanda, these people are fully capable of reaching each of the fifty-five stages42 along the true path to full awakening. The contemplations that have been described here are the right contemplations; all other contemplations are mistaken.”

  If you can look upon the three realms as if they were flowers in the air; if you can regard all deeds of the Buddha as if done in a dream; and if you rely on the three gradual steps in your practice, your contemplations are being made correctly. (VII, 78)

  Naming the Discourse

  Then the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, Prince of Dharma, stood up in the assembly and bowed at the Buddha’s feet. He said to the Buddha respectfully, “What shall this discourse be called? How shall we and other beings hold it in respect and rely on it in our practice?”

  The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī, “This discourse may be called ‘The Sutra of the Supreme and Magnificent Dharma-Imprint of the Mantra of the White Canopy, Which Is Spoken above the Crown of the Great Buddha’s Head, and Which Is the Serene and Pure Oceanic Eye of the Thus-Come Ones of the Ten Directions.’ It may also be called ‘The Sutra Concerning the Rescue of the Buddha’s Cousin Ānanda, the Teachings for Liberating Him, the Awakening of the Bhikṣuṇī Prakṛti in this Assembly, and Her Entry into the Sea of All-Knowing.’

  “It may also be called “The Hidden Basis of the Thus-Come Ones’ Practices and the Basis of their Verification of Ultimate Truth.’ It may also be called ‘The Sutra of the Wondrous Royal Lotus-Flower of the Expanded Teachings43 and of the Dhāraṇī-Mantra That Is the Mother of All Buddhas Throughout the Ten Directions.’ It may also be called ‘The Sutra of the Consecrating Mantra Phrases and the Myriad Śūraṅgama Practices of the Bodhisattvas.’

  “In this way you may you hold it in respect and rely on it in your practice.”

  The “Wondrous Royal Lotus-Flower” is the Śūraṅgama Sutra; the “Dhārāni-Mantra” is the Śūraṅgama Mantra. The “Myriad Śūrańgama Practices of the Bodhisattvas” is another reference to the Śūrańgama Mantra. If you recite this mantra, your karmic obstacles will very quickly be eradicated. Very soon you will gain wisdom. Earlier in the Sutra, Ānanda speaks in verse about the mantra:

  O deep and wondrous Honored One, all-knowing, pure, and still,

  Śūraṅgama, the King of Mantras, rarest in the world,

  Extinguishing distorted thoughts from countless eons past —

  No need to wait forever to attain the Dharma-body.44 (VII, 82–3)

  When the Buddha had spoken these words, Ānanda and the others in the assembly — having heard the Thus-Come One’s instruction concerning the meaning of the hidden Dharma-imprint of the Mantra of the White Canopy and the profoundly significant titles for this discourse — immediately understood the practices of meditation in stillness that lead to advancement through the stages of sagehood. They progressed in their mastery of the wondrous truth. Their minds became empty of all deliberation. They broke free of the six kinds of subtle affliction that, in the three realms, affect the practitioner’s mind.

  At this point, Ānanda becomes a second-stage Arhat.45 (VII, 85)

  The Hells

  A. Ānanda Requests Instruction

  Ānanda stood up and bowed at the Buddha’s feet. Placing his palms together reverently, he said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, your great virtue inspires awe, and your compassionate voice reaches everywhere unhindered. You skillfully help beings break free of subtle and deeply buried delusions. Today you have brought me delight in body and mind. It has been of great benefit to me.

  Many beings are stubborn and obstinate.... They don’t believe that there are causes and effects, they don’t believe that there is a cycle of death and rebirth, and they don’t believe that there is retribution. So the Buddha, as a skillful expedient, can subdue beings by causing them to feel awe. On the other hand, it is his virtue that attracts beings who have faith and are receptive. (VII, 86–7)

  “World-Honored One, granted that, at the fundamental level, this true, pure mind, with its wondrous understanding, fully pervades all things. Granted that all things, from the entire planet, with its forests and plains, to the most minute forms of wriggling life, have as their foundation and source the suchness of reality, which is identical to the true essence of the Buddhahood realized by all Thus-Come Ones. Given all that, why are there still the destinies of hells, ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, and gods, since the essential nature of all Buddhas is the true reality? World-Honored One, do these destinies exist of their own accord, or do they come into being based on the deluded habits of living beings?

  “World-Honored One, there was the case of the Bhikṣuṇī Precious Lotus-Fragrance, who had been following the Bodhisattva Precepts but then indulged her lust in secret and afterward made the false claim that sexual acts involve no retribution because they do not involve killing or stealing. Immediately after she said this, her reproductive organs burst into flame, and the fire spread through all her joints as she fell into the Unrelenting Hell.

  Although the bhikṣuṇī Lotus-Fragrance had accepted the Bodhisattva Precepts, she not only broke her vow of celibacy,... she also praised sexual desire by claiming that sexual acts have no karmic retribution. She was a nun, and yet she was promoting sex.... Her retribution involved being burned, because sexual desire belongs to the element of fire. (VII, 89)

  There are hells especially equipped for individuals with strong sexual desire. One of the implements is a copper pillar that is red-hot because a fire blazes within it. However, when one who is fond of sex looks at that hot pillar, he or she sees it as a former lover and rushes madly to it to embrace it....Then the red-hot pillar burns the person to a crisp. As if that weren’t enough, out of the corner of their eye they see a bed. Actually, it’s a red-hot iron bed. But what the person sees is a former boyfriend or girlfriend on the bed. The person runs to the bed and is burned again. That’s how severe the karmic retribution is for excessive sexual desire. (VII, 90–1)

  In the Unrelenting Hell, there are no lapses in time and there is no unoccupied space. One person fills it, and many people fill it.... The extreme suffering is unintermittent.... In a single day and night, beings in the hells undergo thousands of deaths and rebirths. They die and are revived again and again, with no respite from their bitter suffering. (VII, 90)

  “There were also King Virūḍhaka46 and Bhikṣu Sunakṣatra. King Virūḍhaka exterminate
d the Gautama clan, and Sunakṣatra persisted in making false statements about the emptiness of phenomena.47 These two also fell alive into the Unrelenting Hell.

  “Do hells have a fixed location? Or do they come into being naturally, such that each being creates karma and each undergoes privately the appropriate retribution? We younger disciples are uninformed about this matter, and we only hope that the Buddha, out of his great kindness, will explain it so that beings who are following the precepts will hear precisely what the teaching is, will joyfully and reverently accept it, and will take care to avoid error in order to maintain purity.”

  B. The Roles of Emotion and Thought

  The Buddha said to Ānanda, “An excellent question! It will keep people from adopting wrong views about this matter. Listen carefully now; I will explain this matter to you.

  “The fundamental nature of all beings is truly pure, Ānanda, but because of their wrong views, they develop deluded habit-patterns, which are of two kinds: those that are internal and those that are directed outward.

  “Habit-patterns that are internal involve beings’ internal autonomic processes. When they are influenced by emotional desire, Ānanda, and their feelings accumulate steadily, they generate fluids associated with emotion. Thus when beings think of delicious foods, their mouths water. When they think of others who are no longer alive, whom they may have cherished or may have hated, their eyes fill with tears. When they are seeking wealth, they experience intense craving, and when they encounter someone whose body is sleek and glowing, lust takes hold of their thoughts. When they think about sexual acts, their procreative organs, whether male or female, will secrete fluid in response.

  “Emotions differ, Ānanda, but all are alike in that they are associated with secretions, which may be exuded or may remain within the body. Moisture does not rise; its nature is to flow downward. Such is the situation with internal habit-patterns, whereas habit-patterns that are directed outward, Ānanda, concern beings’ aspirations. When they yearn for something higher, beings have uplifting thoughts, and when these thoughts accumulate steadily, they can generate a superior energy. Thus those who follow the precepts feel that their bodies are serene, and beings who hold mantras in their minds develop an heroic and fearless air about them. If they aspire to birth in the heavens, they will dream of floating or flying. If they are mindful of the Buddha-lands, sacred visions will appear to them privately. If they serve a wise and skillful teacher, they will consider their bodies and their lives to be of little importance.

  When beings follow the precepts, their bodies will be buoyant and feel light and clear. This can happen to anyone.... You almost feel like you’re floating when you walk, and your mind will be extremely pure and clean.... If you specialize in holding a mantra in your mind, you will have an heroic air about you, and your glance will be powerful and determined. You will know no fear.... When you maintain a mindfulness of the lands of the Buddha, the realms of the sages will appear in a shimmering vision.... You will see it, but others won’t be able to see it.... And when you have the chance to draw near to wise and skillful teachers, to respect them, and to make offerings to them, you will have total disregard for your former lifestyle. Your very life will seem unimportant compared to this opportunity. (VII, 98–9)

  “Ānanda, these aspirations differ, but all are alike in that they lead beings to soar upward by conferring either lightness or upward motion. It is their nature not to sink but to take flight and to transcend. Such is the situation with habit-patterns which are directed outward.

  “Ānanda, all beings in all worlds are caught up in an endless succession of births and deaths. While beings are alive, they follow their natural inclinations, and upon their deaths, they follow the various currents of their karma. At the moment of death, while some warmth remains in their bodies, all the good and all the evil that they have done during their lifetimes suddenly appear before them. Their inclinations are to shun death and to embrace life — two habitual emotions that complement each other and are felt at the same time.

  The place on the body from which the eighth consciousness departs will be warm to the touch. For instance, if the eighth consciousness leaves through the soles of the feet, that spot will be warm. If it leaves from the legs, the legs will be warm.... If it goes out the top of the head, the top of the head will be warm.... When a person is on the verge of death, the good and evil he or she has done is revealed and a reckoning is at hand. The person is rewarded or undergoes retribution depending on what he or she has done. If you performed good deeds, you can be reborn in the heavens; if what you did was evil, you may fall into the hells. If you did more in the way of good deeds and meritorious acts, then you can leave from your head. If you did more in the way of committing crimes and creating offenses, then you’ll leave from your feet. To leave from the upper part of the body signals that rebirth will be in the higher realms. (VII, 101–2)

  If you have practiced well, you can become a Buddha. If you have not practiced well, you can become a ghost. You may ask whether there are really such things as ghosts. Ask yourself first if there are Buddhas. If so, then of course there are ghosts as well. If you are not sure that there are Buddhas or ghosts, ask yourself whether there are people. If you acknowledge the fact that there are people, then you will know that there are also Buddhas and ghosts, because they are all different aspects of the same thing. (VII, 101)

  “If pure mental activity alone is present in their minds,48 they will soar upward and will be certain to be born in the heavens. While in this soaring state of mind, if they have both blessings and wisdom, and if they have vowed to be reborn in a pure land, their minds will naturally open, and they will see the Buddhas of the ten directions. They will be reborn in any one of the pure lands in accordance with their wish.

  The Buddha is known as “The One Whose Blessings and Wisdom Are Complete.” It’s not enough to gain wisdom; you must plant the seeds of future blessings as well.... Making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and doing other good deeds bring blessings in the future. If you don’t make offerings in this life, no one will make offerings to you when you become an Arhat in a future life. (VII, 103–4)

  “If pure mental activity is dominant in their minds but some emotion is also present, they will still soar upward, but not as far. They may become flying ascetic masters49 or ghost-kings of great power, or flying yakṣas, or rākṣasas that travel along the ground. Such beings roam unhindered in the Heaven of Four Celestial Kings. Further, beings may have made wholesome vows, or simply have a wholesome intent, to be protective of the Dharmas I have been teaching. They may have vowed to defend the precepts and to be protective of precept-holders. Or they may have vowed to be protective of mantras and to guard beings who recite mantras. Or they may have vowed to defend the practice of meditation in stillness and to be protective of beings whose practice is to meditate in stillness, and who are likely to encounter aspects of the Dharma that are new to them. Such beings will become close disciples who will sit at the feet of the Thus-Come Ones.

  “If their pure mental activity and their emotions are equal in strength, beings will neither soar nor fall. They will be born in the human realm. The brighter their thoughts, the greater their intelligence will be; the darker their emotions, the duller their wits will be.

  “If beings have more emotion than pure mental activity, they will be reborn in the realm of animals. If their emotions are of greater weight, they will become fur-bearing beasts, and if their emotions are of lesser weight, they will become winged creatures.

  “If emotion is seventy percent of their mental activity and pure thoughts are thirty percent, they will fall beneath the disk of water50 and will be reborn as hungry ghosts along the rim of the disk of fire. They will be buffeted by the raging fire, and they will be constantly burned by the blaze and scalded by the steam. For hundreds of eons they will have nothing to eat or to drink.

  The karma of hungry ghosts is such that when they see water, it turns i
nto a raging fire.... As a hungry ghost one is burned to death, but after a while one revives and then has to go through being burned to death again. Because they see water as fire, they can’t drink, and they can’t eat, either. (VII, 111–2)

  “If emotion is ninety percent of their mental activity and pure thoughts are ten percent, they will fall through the disk of fire and will be reborn between the disk of fire and the disk of wind. If their emotions are less weighty, they will enter a hell where suffering is intermittent. If their emotions are of greater weight, they will enter either the Unrelenting Hell.51

  “When they are ruled entirely by emotion, they sink into the Unrelenting Hell. If, in this submerged state of mind, they have spoken ill of the Mahāyāna teachings or of the Buddhas’ precepts; if they have recklessly propounded false doctrines which they present as being in accord with Dharma; if they have greedily sought the offerings of the faithful under false pretenses; if they have shamelessly accepted undeserved reverence from others; or if they have committed the five unnatural crimes or the ten major offenses,52 then they will be reborn in the Unrelenting Hell in one world after another throughout the ten directions.

  “Beings undergo these retributions exactly in accord with the evil karma that they create. But though they have brought their retributions upon themselves, they will share the same fate in the same place with other beings who have created the same karma.