The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  “This first theory is called ‘concluding that one has fully achieved one’s goal.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth as a follower of a wrong path.

  [2] “Further, Ānanda, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. Once he has entered the consciousness aggregate, he may take that consciousness to be his own body, and he may have a vision of his body extending to the ends of space. He may have the experience of seeing all beings in all twelve classes being born from within his own body. He will believe that in this he has discovered the ultimate truth. Thus this person makes the mistake of believing that he has an ability60 that no one else has. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of Maheśvara, who appears in an infinite body.61 The practitioner is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This second theory is called ‘concluding that one has a special ability and believing that one has succeeded in exercising it.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth as a god who, in his great arrogance, considers his self to be all-pervading and to include everything within it.

  [3] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. Once he has entered the consciousness aggregate, he may become attached to abiding there. Then he may wrongly suppose that his body and mind are born from there and that everything in the ten directions throughout empty space arises from there. Because he supposes that both his body and mind well up from the consciousness aggregate, he may conclude that this supposed source constitutes an immortal body which neither comes into being nor ceases to be. In fact, he is still subject to death and rebirth. He has come to the unjustified conclusion that his consciousness is immortal. Already deluded about what is beyond coming into being and ceasing to be,62 he is also confused about what is subject to coming into being and ceasing to be. Having sunk into confusion, he is content to abide in that state of mind, considering it to be the ultimate truth.

  “Thus this person becomes attached to the mistaken view that the consciousness aggregate is permanent and that everything else is impermanent. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of the god Īśvara. He is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This third theory is called ‘concluding that one has an origin and making deluded speculations about what arises from there.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth in a place that he has wrongly taken to be perfection.

  [4] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. If he becomes aware that his consciousness is all-pervading and includes all things, then based on that awareness, he may theorize that all the vegetation throughout the ten directions is no less sentient than people are. He may suppose, further, that a plant can be reborn as a person and that, after death, a person can go anywhere in the ten directions to be reborn as a plant. Believing that awareness is universal in this way, and supposing that this belief is the ultimate truth, this person makes the mistake of ascribing awareness to what in fact is not aware. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of Vaiśiṣṭa and Senika,63 who were convinced that everything is endowed with awareness. The practitioner is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This fourth theory is called ‘supposing that all things are aware and drawing erroneous conclusions from that supposition.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth into a state of distorted awareness.

  [5] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. When, in the perfect interfusing of his faculties, he has completely mastered their interchangeable functioning, he may theorize that all perceived objects come forth from that perfectly interfused functioning. This supposition will lead him to crave the brilliant light of fire, to delight in the purity of water, to cherish the ubiquitous motion of wind, and to enjoy contemplations of the earth, upon which all things depend. He will hold these primary elements in reverence, supposing that they are fundamental causes and are everlasting. Thus he makes the mistake of believing that the primary elements bring into being what in fact they do not bring into being. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of Kāśaypa and of other Brahmins who, through mental diligence and physical asceticism, seek to escape death and rebirth by reverently making ritual offerings to water and to fire. The practitioner is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This fifth theory is called ‘mistaken speculations and misplaced reverence that cause one to be so confused as to worship the primary elements.’ Having come to false conclusions concerning fundamental causes, this person seeks a wrong result. Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, he proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth among beings with distorted beliefs.

  From morning to night, this person bows to water, fire, wind, and earth, worshiping the four primary elements. He makes offerings to them. Each of the four primary elements is associated with spirits, and soon this person is as reverent to these spirits as he might be to his own ancestors. The elder monk Mahākāśyapa had been a member of the fire-worshiping sect, and he used to bow in homage to fire.

  The practitioner described here takes these mundane elements to be the cause of his very existence, and he believes that they are everlasting. It is true that at the fundamental level, wind, earth, fire, and water are identical with the Matrix of the Thus-Come One. However, the Thus-Come Ones, not the primary elements, are the proper objects of reverence. (VIII, 252)

  [6] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. It may seem to him that his consciousness illuminates everything, and he may speculate that within this illumination there is a void. He may wish to negate any of the various forms that arise and to abide forever in permanent cessation. He will believe that his understanding of this place of abiding is the ultimate truth. Thus he makes the mistake of believing that what is not a place of permanent abiding nevertheless is such a place. He adopts the doctrines of the dwellers in the empty void of the Heaven of No Cognition.64 He is confused about the nature of the full a
wakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This sixth theory is called ‘making suppositions about a void and drawing various conclusions concerning that void.’ The person speculates that this void is the basis of his consciousness and that the result is permanent cessation. As a result, instead of breaking through to enlightenment, he proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his rebirth into a void in which everything has ceased to be.

  [7] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. If his consciousness seems to him to be all-pervading and permanent, he may attempt to fortify his body in the hope that it will become immortal — as long-lasting, as refined, and as all-pervading as his consciousness. He will conclude that his quest for immortality of the body is the ultimate truth. Thus this person makes the mistake of craving something that should not be an object of craving. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of Asita65 and of others who seek a long life. He is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This seventh theory is called ‘becoming attached to a belief concerning the source of life and drawing the erroneous conclusion that fortifying the body will result in a long life.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in a long life of delusion.

  [8] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. Having contemplated the interconnectedness of the lives of all twelve classes of beings, he will retreat into a reengagement with his own stressful inner world of perceived objects. In this situation, fearing that this world will come to an end, he will cause himself to be seated in a palace made of lotus-flowers and the seven precious things, where he is surrounded by beautiful women.66 Concluding that this is the ultimate truth, he will abandon himself to luxurious enjoyments. Thus he makes the mistake of believing that what is not genuine is in fact genuine. He becomes one of the adherents of the doctrines of the lord of celestial demons. He is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This eighth theory is called ‘perverse thoughts arising and leading to the erroneous conclusion regarding the raging fire of the world of perceived objects.’ Instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in rebirth as a celestial demon.

  [9] “Further,67 although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. In his understanding of the source of individual lives, he will distinguish between the fine and the coarse, and he will discern what is true and what is false, based on the interplay of cause and effect. He seeks an awakening in response to his efforts, thereby turning his back on the path to the highest purity.68 That is to say, he perceives the unsatisfactoriness of life, eliminates the accumulation of afflictions, and realizes cessation as he practices in accord with the Path.69 But once he comes to abide in cessation, he stops there and goes no farther in his practice. He considers cessation to be the ultimate meaning of life. In this way he makes the mistake of becoming a Hearer of the Teaching who is restricted to a single lineage.70 His companions will be ignorant members of the Sangha and supremely arrogant practitioners. He is confused about the nature of the full awakening of the Buddhas, and as a result, the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible to him.

  “This ninth theory is called ‘perfecting the essence of the mind and so realizing the goal of cessation.’ But instead of breaking through to enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his becoming restricted by emptiness.71

  [10] “Further, although this good person has completely eliminated the aggregate of mental formations — although he has already done away with the coming into being and perishing of mental formations — he has not yet completed the journey to the wonder of his essential nature, which is nirvana. If he inquires into the deep wonder of the pure and perfectly interfused illumination of his awakening, he may come to the conclusion that this deep wonder is the final nirvana. He then may cease to make progress, believing that he has already realized the ultimate meaning of his life. In this way this person will make the mistake of becoming a Solitary Sage who is restricted to a single lineage. His companions will be Solitary Sages — both those who have become enlightened through contemplation of the conditioned world and those who have become enlightened on their own. These sages do not turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle.72 Thus this person becomes confused about the nature of the Buddhas’ full awakening, and for him the Buddhas’ right knowledge and correct views are no longer accessible.

  “This tenth theory is called ‘completely merging the mind with a perfected awareness and so realizing the goal of gaining a profound understanding.’ But instead of breaking through to perfect enlightenment, this person proceeds far in the opposite direction. He turns his back on the city of nirvana and plants a seed that will result in his continuing in the all-pervading but still imperfect illumination of a Solitary Sage.

  “In these ways, Ānanda, these ten states are experienced while practicing meditation in stillness, and they are caused by confusion that leads to derangement. Because of their confusion, these practitioners will believe that they have completely attained what they have not completely attained. Each of these mental states is the result of the interaction of meditation practice and unwarranted speculation while within the realm of the aggregate of consciousness.

  In these ten states of mind that appear during the practice of meditating in stillness, the practitioner becomes confused and claims to have attained complete realization before actually having done so.... He claims that he is now a Buddha, but... if someone asks how he became a Buddha, it will become apparent that he doesn’t know. A Buddha who doesn’t know how he became a Buddha is certainly a confused Buddha — except that there are no confused Buddhas. (VIII, 264–5)

  All these states are the result of interactions between the consciousness aggregate and the mental effort of the practitioner.... When you work hard, the consciousness aggregate battles against your skill. If you have the slightest bit of greed, lust, or deluded thinking, you will enter a demonic state. If you become attached to this state, then you will be possessed by a demon. (VIII, 265)

  “In their obtuseness and confusion, these beings will not take proper measure of themselves. When they encounter these states — each one according to what he craves, each one confused by his long-cherished habits — they will choose to abide in one of these states, which they will suppose is the final and serene place of refuge. They will make the claim that they have completed a full and supreme awakening. This is an egregious lie, and because of it — once the karma of their present state has been exhausted — those whose karma has led them to be followers of wrong paths, or to be disciples of perverse demons, will fall into the Unrelenting Hell. As for the Hearers of the Teaching and the Solitary Sages, they will make no further progre
ss on the Path.

  “You all must devote yourselves to the Path of the Thus-Come Ones. After my nirvana, you must explain my teachings and transmit them to beings of the time of the Dharma’s ending so that all beings everywhere will understand what I have taught. Then they will not allow their own demonic views to lead them into egregious offenses. Protect them, give them comfort, compassionately rescue them, and free them of their perverse tendencies, so that in mind and body they may enter the path to the wisdom and vision of the Buddhas. Then from the beginning to the end of their journey, they will not stray from the Path.

  “For as many past eons as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges, Thus-Come Ones as many as motes of dust have entered the gateway of this Dharma, have opened their minds, and have traveled along this supreme path.

  “Once you have come to the end of the aggregate of consciousness, your faculties will function interchangeably, and then on the basis of that mutual functioning, you will be able to reach the Bodhisattva’s level of vajra-like wisdom. When you experience the full illumination of that refined state of mind, you will undergo a transformation. Your mind will become like a resplendent moon enclosed within a pure crystal, and then you will leap over all the stages of the Bodhisattva’s Path — the Ten Stages of Stabilizing the Mind, the Ten Abodes, the Ten Practices, the Ten Dedications, the Four Additional Practices, the vajra-like Ten Grounds, and Equivalent Enlightenment, in which understanding is finally perfected. You will enter into the wondrous and magnificent multitude of all the Thus-Come Ones, vast as the sea. You will attain the perfection of full awakening, in which there is nothing that is attained.