The Surangama Sutra, page 10
Contact between faculty and object is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the arising of one of the six consciousnesses.↩
By referring to the instance of someone pinching himself, the Buddha further shows that it is not logical to suppose that the mind has an essential nature and yet has no definite location. According to Ānanda’s idea, the mind cannot exist until the necessary conditions arise. A pinch is located on the boundary between internal and external; therefore, before the mind can come into existence at the location of the pinch, the essential nature of the mind must be located either inside or outside the body — alternate possibilities that have already been refuted.↩
The Buddha asserts that if the mind is composed of a single essential nature which pervades the body, then the pinch should be discerned not only at its actual location but wherever the mind extends (i.e., over the entire body). On the other hand, if the mind is composed of more than one essential nature, then Ānanda would have to be two people, as the Buddha has just demonstrated in refuting Ānanda’s fifth supposition. Were the mind to have a single essential nature that nevertheless did not pervade the body, then when one touched one’s head and foot at the same time, one could not be aware of both at the same time.↩
Ch. shi xiang 實相. The Sanskrit equivalent for this term is uncertain, perhaps dharmatā or bhūtatathatā. Numerous equivalents to this central concept are given in the text, including “true mind,” “suchness of reality,” “Matrix of the Thus-Come Ones,” “Dharma-body,” “Buddha-nature,” “enlightened nature,” and others.↩
Ānanda is not saying that we cannot be aware of any internal sensations but that, in the case of seeing, which is being discussed, the mind has no visual data about the inside of the body to make distinctions about.↩
In order to clarify his statement in this sixth supposition, Ānanda says that by “middle” he means between the faculty and its perceived object. He argues that since the Buddha taught that contact between faculty and perceived object is a necessary precondition of the arising of consciousness, then consciousness must arise in the “middle,” between the two, and must constitute the location of the mind.↩
The Buddha refutes Ānanda’s argument by considering whether the mind’s essential nature includes the essential nature of the eye-faculty and the essential natures of the visible objects that are perceived by it. Here the Buddha returns to an argument similar to one he made in response to Ānanda’s fourth supposition, namely, that it would be impossible for the mind to consist of two different essential natures that are aware. But in the present case, one entity, the eye-faculty, is aware, and the other, the visual object, is not. If the mind includes both, then we are left with “a confused combination of what is aware and what is not aware.”↩
The Buddha shows Ānanda that if having no specific location is an attribute of something that really exists, then by definition it must have a specific location, and that is contradictory. Therefore, nonattachment implies that something exists and has characteristics and therefore location. Having a definite location is a form of attachment, and so Ānanda’s argument collapses.↩
Ch. zhen ji 真際, probable Skt. bhūta-koṭi.↩
Skt. icchantika.↩
Skt. mleccha.↩
In Buddhist cosmology, the Sahā world is the world-system we inhabit. The name is interpreted as “what must be borne.”↩
Ch. e cha 叉, elaeocarpus ganitrus. The berry-like fruit grows in tight clusters of three. The round seeds are used for recitation beads.↩
That is, beings in the heavens, humans, asuras (beings addicted to anger and violence), animals, ghosts, and beings in the hells. See part 9, in which a seventh destiny, the ascetic masters, is listed as well. Which destiny beings are born into depends upon the karma they have created in previous lives.↩
Skt. śrāvakas, Ch. sheng wen 聲聞, that is, practitioners who have become Arhats through hearing the Buddha teach.↩
Ch. wai dao 外道.↩
Skt. kalpa, Ch. jie 劫.↩
The Buddha’s Dharma-body, which is immanent in all things. See part 3.↩
Ch. pan yuan 攀緣.↩
“Nirvana” here does not signify the passing of the Buddha into a state of cessation after the death of his body; it means simply the state of the enlightened mind.↩
“Understanding” here and elsewhere renders the Ch. ming 明, which also carries the meaning of “light” and, at the esoteric level, the meaning of “illumination” as experienced in enlightenment.↩
Lines in the shape of wheels on the pads of the fingers are among the thirty-two hallmarks that characterize the body of a Buddha.↩
That is, the internal and external objects of awareness.↩
Skt. anutpattikadharmakṣānti, Ch. wu sheng fa ren 無生法忍.↩
Ch. jiu zhu xin, 九住心. Müller lists them as follows: “1) The mind holds deep concentration upon one object with ease (安住心); 2) The mind, supposed to be concentrated upon one object, drifts to other objects; a reaction occurs, and the mind promptly switches back to its chosen object (攝住心); 3) The mind, concentrating upon an object for the purpose of grasping its nature by analysis, drifts to other objects; a reaction occurs, and the mind instantly returns to its work (解住心); 4) The mind ceases to grasp the nature of things by analysis. When this occurs, the mind has entered deep concentration (轉住心); 5) The mind, after prolonged meditation, experiences a feeling of fatigue; a reaction occurs, and immediately the mind is revitalized (伏住心); 6) The inner mind becomes agitated, whereupon a reaction occurs, and the mind is quickly soothed (息住心); 7) When greed, desire, and attachment arise in the mind, a reaction occurs which eliminates them (滅住心);8) When various temptations appear in the mind, distracting it, a reaction occurs, and the mind becomes cognizant that it is pure in nature. This realization enables the mind to function correctly again (性住心); 9) As the result of extended practice, the person is able to remain in meditation. The person is therefore in a blissful condition, which enables him to maintain virtue steadily and avoid falling into error (持住心).” Charles A. Müller, ed., Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, s.v. “Nine Stages of Meditation,” www.buddhism-dict.net.↩
A reference to the parable of the errant son in chapter four of the Lotus Sūtra.↩
The two obstructions are the obstruction of affliction, which arises from attachment to self, and the obstruction of knowledge, which arises from attachment to phenomena and which leads to arrogance.↩
Skt. svastika. In contradistinction to its perverted use in the twentieth century, the svastika was in ancient India a symbol representing spiritual goodness and purity.↩
A reference to the “Hidden Basis” in the Sutra’s title.↩
The Nature of Visual Awareness
It Is the Mind That Sees
“Ānanda, a moment ago you said you saw my fist send forth light. What caused my fist to send forth light? How did I make the fist? And what were you seeing it with?”
Ānanda replied, “The Buddha’s body is the color of crimson-tinted gold from the River Jambu. His body is like a mountain of precious stones. It sends forth light because it is born of purity. With my own eyes I saw his hand when he held it up for us and made a fist by curling his wheel-imprinted fingers.”1
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Now the Thus-Come One will demonstrate a truth for you. Following the wise, who use analogies as aids to understanding, Ānanda, let us use my fist as an analogy. Without a hand, I couldn’t make a fist. Without your eyes, would you be able to see? Are these two situations similar?”
Ānanda replied, “They are, World-Honored One, because without my eyes, I couldn’t see. Therefore the Thus-Come One’s making a fist can be compared to my using my eyes.”
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “You say they are comparable; however, they are not. Why? A person with no hands will never make a fist. But one whose eyes do not function will not be entirely unable to see. Why? If you asked a blind man on the street, ‘Do you see anything?’ he would no doubt reply, ‘All that I see in front of me is darkness — nothing more.’ Reflect upon what that might mean. Although the blind man sees only darkness, his visual awareness is itself intact.”
Ānanda replied, “It’s true that all a blind man sees before his eyes is darkness, but can that really be what we call ‘seeing’?”
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Is there any difference between the darkness seen by the one who is blind and the darkness seen by sighted people when they are in a completely darkened room?”
“No, World-Honored One, there is no difference between the darkness seen by sighted people in a completely dark room and the darkness seen by the blind.”
“Then suppose, Ānanda, that the blind person, who has been seeing only darkness, now sees before him a variety of objects because suddenly he has regained his sight. In such a case, you would say it is his eyes that see. Therefore, when a sighted person who has been seeing only darkness in the darkened room now sees before him a variety of objects because someone has suddenly lit a lamp, you’d have to say, by analogy, that it is the lamp that sees. Now if a lamp could see, it would no longer be what we would call a lamp. Moreover, if it were the lamp that sees, what would that have to do with that sighted person?
“Thus you should know that, in the analogy, the lamplight simply reveals visible objects; it is the eyes that see, not the lamp. In actuality, the eyes themselves simply reveal visible objects; it is the mind that sees, not the eyes.”
Visual Awareness Does Not Move
Ānanda and the others in the great assembly had not understood what they had heard and so were silent. But they hoped that they would hear the Thus-Come One continue to proclaim the teaching. Putting their palms together, they cleared their minds and waited for the Buddha to compassionately instruct them.
Why did they put their palms together? It represents their single-mindedness. They were of one mind, not two. When your hands are apart, it is said you have ten minds, and when your palms are together, it is said you have one mind, because when your palms come together, your mind also comes together and becomes one. (II, 9–10)
Then the World-Honored One stretched forth his arm and opened his shining, cotton-soft, finely webbed hand,2 revealing the wheel-shaped lines on his fingers. To instruct Ānanda and the others in the great assembly, he said, “After my awakening, I went to the Deer Park, where, for Ājñātakauṇḍinya’s sake and for the other four monks,3 and also for all of you in the four assemblies, I said that beings in their multitudes have not become Arhats, nor have they become fully awake, because they are confused by afflictions that are like visitors and like dust. What in particular, at that time, caused the five of you to awaken and become sages?”
Then Ājñātakauṇḍinya stood up and said respectfully to the Buddha, “Of all the elders here in this great assembly, I was the one who was given the name ‘Ajñāta,’ meaning ‘one who understands,’ because I had come to realize what ‘visitor’ and ‘dust’ signify. It was in this way that I became a sage.
“World-Honored One, suppose a visitor stops at an inn for a night or for a meal. Once his stay is ended or the meal is finished, he packs his bags and goes on his way. He’s not at leisure to remain. But if he were the innkeeper, he would not leave. By considering this example of the visitor, the one who comes and goes, and the innkeeper, the one who remains, I understood what the visitor signifies. He represents transience.
“Again, suppose the morning skies have cleared after a rain. Then a beam of pure light from the rising sun may shine through a crack in a door to reveal some motes of dust obscuring the air. The dust moves, but the air is still. Thus by consideration of this example — the dust, which as it moves obscures the air, and the air, which itself remains still — I understood what the dust may signify. It represents motion.”
The Buddha said, “So it is.”
When the sun has just come up, early on a clear fresh morning, a morning after rain, the sun shines though a crack in the door or perhaps a crack in the wall, and it displays the fine bits of dust bobbing up and down in space, moving all around in the sunshine. If the sun doesn’t shine in the crack, you can’t see the dust, although there is actually a lot of dust everywhere. But while the dust moves, bobbing up and down, space is still. It doesn’t move. The ability to see the dust in the light that pours through the crack represents the attainment of the light of wisdom. When you reach the first stage of an Arhat and overcome the eighty-eight kinds of deluded awareness, you have the light of wisdom. Then you can see your ignorance, which moves like the dust in sunlight and which causes as many afflictions as there are sand-grains in the River Ganges. You will also see the unmoving stillness of your essential nature. (II, 17–8)
Thereupon the Thus-Come One, before the assembly, made a fist with his wheel-lined fingers, and having made the fist, he opened his hand again. Once his hand was open, he made the fist again and said to Ānanda, “What did you see just now?”
Ānanda said, “I saw the Thus-Come One, before the assembly, open and close his hand over his resplendent wheel-lined palm.”
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “You saw me here before the assembly open and close my hand. Was it my hand that opened and closed, or did your visual awareness open and close?”
Ānanda said, “It was the World-Honored One’s resplendent hand that opened and closed before the assembly. Although I saw his hand open and close, my visual awareness neither opened nor closed.”
The Buddha said, “What moved and what was still?”
Ānanda said, “The Buddha’s hand moved, but my awareness is beyond even stillness; how could it have moved?”
The Buddha replied, “So it is.”
Then from his wheel-lined palm the Buddha sent forth a ray of resplendent light that flew past Ānanda to his right. Ānanda immediately turned his head and glanced to the right. Then the Buddha sent a ray of light to Ānanda’s left. Ānanda turned his head again and glanced to the left. The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Why did you turn your head just now?”
Ānanda said, “I saw the Thus-Come One send forth a wondrous ray of shining light which flew past me on my right; then another ray flew past me on my left. My head moved as I looked to the right and to the left.”
“Ānanda, when you glanced at the Buddha’s light and moved your head to the right and left, was it in fact your head that moved, or else was it your visual awareness that moved?”
“World-Honored One, it was my head that moved. The nature of my visual awareness is beyond even stillness; how then could it have moved?”
The Buddha said, “So it is.”
Stillness comes from movement. If there isn’t any movement, then there isn’t any stillness. So it is said that there is no emerging from the Great Śūraṅgama Samādhi and no entering it. That’s the principle here.... Thus Ānanda said that his visual awareness, by which he sees the Buddha... is beyond the characteristics of movement and of stillness, its opposite. Without movement, there is no stillness; both are gone. They are fundamentally unattainable and nonexistent; they cannot be found. Then how could his awareness not be at rest? (II, 21–2)
Then the Thus-Come One told everyone in the assembly, “All beings need to understand that whatever moves is like the dust and, like a visitor, does not remain. Just now you saw that it was Ānanda’s head that moved, while his visual awareness did not move. It was my hand that opened and closed, while his awareness did not open or close. How can you take what moves to be your body and its environment, since they come into being and perish in every successive thought? You have lost track of your true nature, and instead you act out of delusion. Therefore, because you have lost touch with your mind’s true nature by identifying yourself with the objects you perceive, you keep on being bound to the cycle of death and rebirth.”4
Here the Buddha scolds the great assembly. He tells them that they are unable to discern their own true awareness. They take their physical bodies and their bodies’ environment to be real.... They cling tenaciously to the body and mind.... Yet every thought of the conscious mind is subject to coming into being and perishing. One thought arises and perishes, and then the next thought arises and perishes.... People concentrate their efforts exclusively on the realm of coming into being and perishing and have no real understanding of the true nature of their awareness. (II, 25–6)
Because you conduct yourselves in confused ways, your true nature and your mind do not work together, and thus you lose track of your true nature. You mistake external states for your real selves. You take that inn of yours as your self. You shouldn’t think of that inn as you. That would be to consider yourself a mere object. You create all kinds of attachments. You fail to see through things. You aren’t clear about truth. And because of that, you cling to death and rebirth. If you weren’t so confused, if you stopped mistaking a burglar for your own child by mistaking objects for yourself, you would be able to end death and rebirth.
To end death and rebirth is easy. All you need to do is turn yourself around. If you go forward, you head right down the path of death and rebirth. If you turn around and go the other way, you end death and rebirth. It’s not that difficult, but it’s up to you to do it. You simply turn around; you turn your head and pivot your body. That’s all that’s needed. It is said, “The sea of suffering is boundless; a turn of the head is the other shore.” (II, 26–7)
