Surangama Sutra — Summation
Manjushri’s Summation
Thereupon the Blessed Lord, sitting upon his throne in the midst of the Tathagatas and highest Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas from all the Buddha-lands, manifested his Transcendent Glory surpassing them all.
From his hands and feet and body radiated supernal beams of light that rested upon the crowns of each Tathagata, Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, and Prince of the Dharma, in all the ten quarters of all the universes, in number more numerous than the finest particles of dust. Moreover, from the hands and feet and bodies of all the Tathagatas, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and Princes of the Lord’s Dharma, in all the ten quarters of the universes, went forth rays of glorious brightness that converged upon the crown of the Lord Buddha and upon the crowns of all the Tathagatas, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and Arhats present in the assembly. At the same time all the trees of the Jeta Park, and all the waves lapping on the shores of its lakes, were singing the music of the Dharma, and all the intersecting rays of brightness were like a net of splendor set with jewels and overarching them all. Such a marvelous sight had never been imagined and held them all in silence and awe. Unwittingly they passed into the blissful peace of the Surangama Samadhi and upon them all there fell like a gentle rain the soft petals of many different colored lotus blossoms — blue and crimson, yellow and white — all blending together and being reflected into the open space of heaven in all the tints of the spectrum. Moreover, all the differentiations of mountains and seas and rivers and forests of the Saha World blended into one another and faded away leaving only the flower-adorned unity of the Primal Cosmos, not dead and inert but alive with rhythmic life and light, vibrant with transcendental sounds of songs and rhymes, melodiously rising and falling and merging and then fading away into silence.
Then the Lord Tathagata addressed Manjushri, Prince of the Dharma, saying: Manjushri! You have now heard what these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of greatest and highest attainments have testified regarding the expedient means that were involved, and the results seen in spiritual graces and powers of Samapatti, that followed in their devout lives and practices. Each one stated that the beginning was seen in the perfect accommodation of some one mental sphere in contact with its sense object, and from that followed the perfect accommodation of all the spheres of mentation and the attainment of Samadhi, Samapatti, and the perfect awareness of their Intuitive and Essential Mind. So we see that their devotions and practices, in spite of their variations, all eventuated in the same good result irrespective of their attainments and the times involved.
I want Ananda to fully understand and realize these different attainments of enlightenment and note which of them is adapted to him. And I wish, also, that after my Nirvana, as future disciples of this world wish to attain highest Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, that from these experiences they may know which door of expedient means appears to each most easily entered.
Having listened to the kind instruction of the Blessed Lord, Manjushri, Prince of the Lord’s Dharma, rose from his seat, bowed down to the Lord Buddha and, sobered by the influence of the Lord’s profound dignity, uttered the following stanzas:
The Nature of Enlightening Intuition — wide as the oceans — is perfectly limpid and accommodating, and this Enlightening Intuition of perfect accommodation is profound and inconceivably mysterious.
As soon as this original and perfectly limpid and all embracing Enlightening Intuition becomes reflected upon objects, it becomes illusive and loses its true Nature. Then as differentiations are manifested, space fantastically appears and by means of space, whole universes come into manifestation. Arbitrary conceptions seem to corroborate the existence of the universes and finally, that which becomes perceptive and sensible of the universe becomes regarded as a sentient being having an ego-personality.
The conception of empty space as existing in the Enlightening Nature of Mind Essence is but foam tossed about by the waves of a great sea. As it is under the conditions of this transient foam that the innumerable conceptions of universes and all that appertains to them which belongs to the intoxicant nature of sentient beings exists, as soon as this foam disappears, there is no more space and hence no more universes and all the three realms of sentient life, body, mind and ego-personality, vanish into nothingness.
As sentient beings wish to return to their origin where their nature will be in perfect unity there are many different ways that may be used as expedient means for attaining it. But there is one way, no matter what the conditions for practicing it may be — difficult or not difficult — that is available to all, that is accommodating to all, that, though the period of practicing may vary with different disciples, is sure to bring them to the goal. It is the Noble Path of the Blessed One that leads to the perfect Intuition of Samadhi.
Since the perception of sight and the arbitrary conceptions of sight in the novice’s mind are entangled with the phenomena of objects of sight, he can seldom see things clearly and truly no matter how comprehensive and bright his thinking mind may be. It will always be difficult for him to seek perfect accommodation through the sense of sight.
Moreover, since the novice is easily attached to the sound of words, to a refined style of composition and speaking, to nice distinctions of meaning, he will find it difficult to realize the principle that one intrinsic unity embraces all phenomena, so how can he hope to attain by the sound of words, the essential nature of perfect accommodation?
The phenomena of fragrance and the smelling sensation are perceived by means of the conception of smelling so when the sensation and the perception are separated there can be no conception of fragrance. Since the novice does not realize the permanency of his intrinsic smelling nature, it will be difficult for him to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation through the sense of smelling.
The quality of taste is not lasting, it exists only as we use it. So long as the novice makes distinctions of taste and does not realize the permanency of his intrinsic tasting nature, there is little ground for him to hope to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by means of his sense of taste.
Feeling arises from the contact of the body with something; when there is no contact there is no feeling. Since the novice finds it difficult to keep his mind unperturbed by contacts and does not realize the permanency of his intrinsic feeling nature, there is little ground for him to expect to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by means of the feeling faculty.
As soon as one admits conceptions of objects into his mind, there is the assumption that the objects exist. Since the novice does not realize that both cause and effect of existence go along with his discriminating nature, so there is little ground for him to hope to attain the nature of perfect accommodation by means of discriminative thinking.
Every novice has seen his essential nature but has not realized it. It is as though he saw the front only and failed to see the back, thus seeing only one half of the universe. There is little ground for him to expect to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by looking at the appearance of things.
Breathing is a spontaneous activity of the organism but it is conditioned by moods and emotions. The novice has not attained to a refined state of in and out breathing because the mind and the breathing are not yet united into an evenly balanced state of tranquillity which is difficult to attain so it will be difficult for him to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by merely concentrating his mind on his in and out breathing.
As the tongue of a novice is just like that of any other human being his sense of taste lasts only as long as he experiences the taste and when the taste disappears his consciousness of it dependent upon the tongue disappears with it, hence there is little ground for him to hope to attain the nature of perfect accommodation by means of the sense of taste.
As the novice develops his sense of feeling when in contact with something consciousness is dependent upon the body and disappears when separated from it. Consequently the feeling and not-feeling of his body do not belong to the Intuition of Perfect Accommodation, because the sphere of feeling and not-feeling and the capacity to feel can not be abstracted for separate realization. So there is no ground for one to hope to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by means of the sense of touch.
As the organ of the discriminating mind is filled with conflicting thoughts, the novice cannot know his own transparent and tranquil mind, and since his conflicting thoughts cannot entirely be gotten rid of, there is no ground for him to hope to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by means of his thinking mind.
As the consciousness dependent upon the eyes exists by means of the eye-organ, its sensations, and its consciousness of sight, when we come to examine its originality, there is no ground for confidence in it. And since the novice cannot prove to himself its validity, there is no ground for hope from the sense of sight for him to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation.
The hearing nature of the Essential Mind reaches to all the ten quarters of the universes and is the source of some of the great Transcendental Powers, but since the novice has not attained to these transcendental powers, there is no ground for him to hope to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by means of his hearing nature.
In the practice of Dhyana, many novices seek concentration of mind by fixing attention on the tip of the nose, but as this is only a temporary means that is useful to some drifting and confused minds, it can never be relied upon as a permanent means for attaining the nature of perfect accommodation.
If a novice reflects upon the Four Great Elements beginning with Earth, his mind will always think of hardness and impenetrability which is simply conditional reflection and not enlightenment from his intuitive mind, so there is no reason for him to seek to attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by that means.
If a novice disciple meditates upon the Element of Water, his mind will always be thinking of fluidity and impermanence which are simply relational reflections and not enlightenment from his intuitive mind, and since he is not free from the nature of water himself, it can not be the expedient means for him to practice concentration upon it expecting thereby that he will attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation.
If the novice meditates upon the Element of Fire, he simply comes to regard it with disgust and tries to avoid it. Since he is not free from the nature of fire himself, it can not be the expedient means for him to practice concentration upon it expecting that thereby he will attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation.
If the novice disciple meditates upon the universal nature of the Element of Wind, his reflections can not be free from thoughts of the relativity of motion and rest; as his mind is occupied by thoughts of these relations, it cannot be supreme Enlightenment. How can it be that he can attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by such means?
If a novice disciple meditates upon the notion of pure Space, his reflections will naturally become thin and hazy. Such reflections can not be of the nature of Enlightenment. How can it be said that he can attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by such means?
If the novice disciple meditates upon the nature of consciousness, his reflections will partake of the nature of impermanence as his thoughts rise and pass away and become unreal and fantastic. How can it be said that he can attain to the essential nature of perfect accommodation by such means?
If the novice disciple meditates upon the teaching that all things are impermanent, then his reflections will belong to the cycle of deaths and rebirths. Thus the subject of his reflections will not be in conformity with the permanence of True Enlightenment. How can he ever attain the essential nature of perfect accommodation by such means?
There are sermons that are given without the sounds of words that are enlightening to those advanced disciples whose minds have been disciplined in previous lives, but which are useless to novices who are dependent upon words and definitions and style to keep up their interest; the novice can not depend upon them for his attaining the essential nature of perfect accommodation.
The keeping of the Precepts is a necessary part of the practice of Dhyana, but the novice can not depend upon them alone to bring him to the nature of perfect accommodation.
The seeds of Transcendental Powers are planted in previous lives, so the novice cannot attain them in this life. The reason for this is because he is always making discriminations about phenomena in his consciousness dependent upon the thinking mind and as soon as he recollects any phenomena his mind becomes perturbed, so there is no chance of his attaining the es- sence of the nature of perfect accommodation by means of Transcendental Powers.
Just because the discriminating and thinking mind is temporarily peaceful because of fortuitous circumstances, it does not follow that its transient peace is the basic and permanent peace of the perfect accommodation of the pure mind essence.
Then Manjushri addressed the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! Since my Lord has descended from the Deva Realms to this Saha World, he has helped us most by his wonderful enlightening Teaching. At first we receive this Teaching through our sense of hearing, but when we are fully able to realize it, it becomes ours through a Transcendental and Intuitive Hearing. This makes the awakening and perfecting of a Transcendental Faculty of Hearing of very great importance to every novice. As the wish to attain Samadhi deepens in the mind of any disciple, he can most surely attain it by means of his Transcendental Organ of Hearing.
For many a kalpa — as numerous as the particles of sand in the river Ganges — Avalokitasvara Buddha, the hearer and answerer of prayer, has visited all the Buddha-lands of the ten quarters of the universe and has acquired Transcendental Powers of boundless Freedom and Fearlessness and has vowed to emancipate all sentient beings from their bondage and suffering. How sweetly mysterious is the Transcendental Sound of Avalokitasvara! It is the pure Brahman Sound. It is the subdued murmur of the sea-tide setting inward. Its mysterious Sound brings liberation and peace to all sentient beings who in their distress are calling for aid; it brings a sense of permanency to those who are truly seeking the attainment of Nirvana’s Peace.
While I am addressing my Lord Tathagata, he is hearing, at the same time, the transcendental Sound of Avalokitasvara. It is just as though, while we are in the quiet seclusion of our Dhyana practice, there should come to our ears the sound of the beating of drums. If our minds, hearing the sounds, are undisturbed and tranquil, this is the nature of perfect accommodation.
The body develops feeling by coming in contact with something, and the sight of eyes is hindered by the opaqueness of objects, and similarly with the sense of smell and of taste, but it is different with the discriminating mind. Thoughts are rising and mingling and passing. At the same time it is conscious of sounds in the next room and sounds that have come from far away. The other senses are not so refined as the sense of hearing; the nature of hearing is the true great responsiveness that is the genuine means of breaking through illusions to reality.¹
The essence of sound is felt in both motion and silence, it passes from existent to non-existent. When there is no sound, it is said there is no hearing, but that does not mean that hearing has lost its preparedness. Indeed! When there is no sound, hearing is most alert, and when there is sound the hearing nature is least developed. If any disciple can be freed from these two illusions of appearing and disappearing, that is, from death and rebirth, he has attained the true reality of Permanency.
Even in dreams when all thinking has become quiescent, the hearing nature is still alert. It is like a mirror of enlightenment that is transcendental of the thinking mind because it is beyond the consciousness sphere of both body and mind. In this Saha world, the doctrine of intrinsic, Transcendental Sound may be spread abroad, but sentient beings as a class remain ignorant and indifferent to their own Intrinsic Hearing. They respond only to phenomenal sounds and are disturbed by both musical and discordant sounds.
Notwithstanding Ananda’s wonderful memory, he was not able to avoid falling into an evil way. He has been adrift on a merciless sea. But if he will only turn his mind away from the drifting current of thoughts, he may soon recover the sober wiseness of Essential Mind. Ananda! Listen to me! I have ever relied upon the teaching of the Lord Buddha to bring me to the indescribable Dharma Sound of the Surangama Samadhi. Ananda! You have sought the secret lore from all the Buddha-lands without first attaining emancipation from the desires and intoxications of your own contaminations and attachments, with the result that you have stored in your memory a vast accumulation of worldly knowledge and built up a tower of faults and mistakes.
You have learned the Teachings by listening to the words of the Lord Buddha and then committing them to memory. Why do you not learn from your own self by listening to the sound of the Intrinsic Dharma within your own Mind and then practicing reflection upon it? The perception of Transcendental Hearing is not developed by any natural process under the control of your own volition. Some time when you are reflecting upon your Transcendental Hearing, a chance sound suddenly claims your attention and your mind sets it apart and discriminates it and is disturbed thereby. As soon as you can ignore the phenomenal sound the notion of a Transcendental Sound ceases and you will realize your Intrinsic Hearing.
As soon as this one sense perception of hearing is returned to its originality and you clearly understand its falsity, then the mind instantly understands the falsity of all sense perceptions and is at once emancipated from the bondage of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, for they are all alike illusive and delusive visions of unreality, and all the three great realms of existence are seen to be what they truly are, imaginary blossoms in the air.
As soon as the deceiving perception of hearing is emancipated, then all objective phenomena disappear and your Intuitive Mind of Essence becomes perfectly pure. As soon as you have attained to this Supreme Purity of Mind-Essence, its Intrinsic Brightness will shine out spontaneously and in all directions and, as you are sitting in tranquil dhyana, the mind will be in perfect conformity with Pure Space.
Ananda! As you return to the phenomenal world, it will seem like a vision in a dream. And your experience with the maiden Pchiti will seem like a dream, and your own body will lose its solidity and permanency. It will seem as though every human being, male and female, was simply a manifestation by some skillful magician of a manikin all of whose activities were under his control. Or each human being will seem like an automatic machine that once started goes on by itself, but as soon as the automatic machine loses its motive power, all its activities not only cease but their very existence disappears.
So it is with the six sense organs, which are fundamentally dependent upon one unifying and enlightening spirit, but which by ignorance have become divided into six semi-independent compositions and conformities. Should one organ become emancipated and return to its originality, so closely are they united in their fundamental originality, that all the other organs would immediately cease their activities also. And all worldly impurities will be purified by a single thought and you will attain to the wonderful purity of perfect Enlightenment. Should there remain some minute contamination of ignorance, you should practice the more earnestly until you attain to perfect Enlightenment, that is, to the Enlightenment of a Tathagata.
All the Brothers in this Great Assembly, and you too, Ananda, should reverse your outward perception of hearing and listen inwardly for the perfectly unified and intrinsic sound of your own Mind-Essence, for as soon as you have attained perfect accommodation, you will have attained to Supreme Enlightenment.
This is the only way to Nirvana, and it has been followed by all the Tathagatas of the past. Moreover, it is for all the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of the present and for all in the future if they are to hope for Perfect Enlightenment. Not only did Avalokitasvara attain Perfect Enlightenment in long ages past by this Golden Way, but in the present, I also, am one of them.
My Lord enquired of us as to what expedient means each one of us had employed to follow this Noble Path to Nirvana. I bear testimony that the means employed by Avalokitasvara is the most expedient means for all, since all other means must be supported and guided by the Lord Buddha’s Transcendental Powers. Though one forsake all his worldly engagements, yet he cannot always be practicing by these various means; they are special means suitable for junior and senior disciples, but for laymen, this common method of concentrating the mind on its sense of hearing, turning it inward by this Door of Dharma to hear the Transcendental Sound of his Essential Mind, is most feasible and wise.
Oh Blessed Lord! I am bowing down before my Lord Tathagata’s Intrinsic Womb, which is immaculate and ineffable in its perfect freedom from all contaminations and taints, and I am praying my Lord to extend his boundless compassion for the sake of all future disciples, so that I may continue to teach Ananda and all sentient beings of this present kalpa, to have faith in this wonderful Door of Dharma to the Intrinsic Hearing of his own Mind Essence, so surely to be attained by this most expedient means. If any disciple should simply take this Intuitive Means for concentrating his mind in Dhyana Practice on this organ for Transcendental Hearing, all other sense organs would soon come into perfect harmony with it, and thus, by this single means of Intrinsic Hearing, he would attain perfect accommodation of his True and Essential Mind.
Footnotes:
¹ Substituting “great responsiveness” for Goddard’s use of “Passibility” here, and adding “breaking through” from the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s 2009 translation.
