Shurangama Sutra

bohiruci SG

"The objects are not eternal, and when they pass out of existence, such a mind would be like fur on a tortoise or horns on a rabbit. In that case your Dharma-body would come to an end along with it. Then who would be left to cultivate and attain patience with the non-existence of beings and dharmas?"
At that point Ánanda and everyone in the great assembly was speechless and at a total loss.
The Buddha said to Ánanda, "There are cultivators in the world who, although they realize the nine successive stages of samadhi, do not achieve the extinction of outflows or become Arhats, all because they are attached to birth and death and false thinking and mistake these for what is truly real. That is why now, although you are highly erudite, you have not realized sage hood."
When Ánanda heard that, he again wept sorrowfully, placed his five limbs on the ground, knelt on both knees, put his palms together and said to the Buddha. "Since I followed the Buddha and left home, I have relied on the Buddhas awesome spirit. I have often thought, There is no reason for me to toil at cultivation expecting that the Tathagata would bestow samadhi upon me. I never realized that he could not stand in for me in body or mind. Thus, I lost my original mind and although my body has left the home-life, my mind has not entered the Way. I am like the poor son who renounced his father and roamed around.
Therefore, today I realize that although Im greatly learned, if I do not cultivate, it amounts to having not learned anything; just as someone who only speaks of food will never get full."
"World Honored one, now we all are bound by two obstructions and as a consequence do not perceive the still, eternal nature of the mind. I only hope the Tathágata will empathize with us poor and destitute ones, disclose the wonderful bright mind, and open our Way-eyes."

bohiruci SG

Then from the swastika "myriad" on his chest, the Thus Come One poured forth gem-like light. Radiant with hundreds of thousands of colors, this brilliant light simultaneously pervaded throughout the ten directions to Buddha-realms as many as fine motes of dust, anointing the crowns of every Tathágata in all these jeweled Buddha lands of the ten directions. Then it swept back to Ánanda and all the great assembly.
The Buddha said to Ánanda, "I will now erect the great Dharma banner for you, to cause all living beings in the ten directions to obtain the wondrous subtle secret, the pure nature, the bright mind, and to attain those pure eyes.

Shurangama Sutra

bohiruci SG

Volume 2

"Ánanda, you have told me that you saw my fist of bright light. How did it take the form of a fist? How did the fist come to emit light? How was the fist made? By what means could you see it?"
Ánanda replied, "The body of the Buddha is born of purity and cleanness, and therefore, it assumes the color of Jambu river gold with deep red hues. Hence, it shone as brilliant and dazzling as a precious mountain. It was actually my eyes that saw the Buddha bend his five-wheeled fingers to form a fist which was shown to all of us."
The Buddha told Ánanda, "Today the Thus Come One will tell you the truth: all those with wisdom are able to achieve enlightenment through the use of examples. Ánanda, take, for example, my fist: If I didnt have a hand, I couldnt make a fist. If you didnt have eyes, you couldnt see. If you apply the example of my fist to the case of your eyes, is the principle the same?"
Ánanda said, "Yes, World Honored One. Since I cant see without my eyes, if one applies the example of the Thus Come Ones fist to the case of my eyes, the principle is the same."

bohiruci SG

The Buddha said to Ánanda, "You say it is the same, but that is not right.
"Why? If a person has no hand, his fist is gone forever. But one who is without eyes is not entirely devoid of sight. "Why not? Try consulting a blind man on a street: What do you see? Any blind person will certainly answer, Now I see only darkness in front of my eyes. Nothing else meets my gaze. "The meaning is apparent: If he sees dark in front of him, how could his sight be considered lost?"
Ánanda said, "The only thing blind people see in front of their eyes is darkness. How can that be called seeing?"
The Buddha said to Ánanda, "Is there any difference between the darkness seen by blind people, who do not have the use of their eyes, and the darkness seen by someone who has the use of his eyes when he is in a dark room?"
"Stated in that way, World Honored One, there is no difference between the two kinds of blackness, that seen by a person in a dark room and that seen by the blind."
"Ánanda, if the person without the use of his eyes who sees only darkness were suddenly to regain his sight and see all kinds of forms, and you say it is his eyes which see, then when a person in a dark room who sees only darkness suddenly sees all kinds of forms because a lamp is lit, you should say it is the lamp which sees.
"If the lamp did the seeing, it would be endowed with sight. But then we would not call it a lamp anymore. Besides, if the lamp were to do the seeing, what would that have to do with you?

bohiruci SG

Therefore you should know that while the lamp can reveal forms, the eyes, not the lamp, do the seeing. And while the eyes can reveal forms, the seeing-nature comes from the mind, not the eyes."
Although Ánanda and everyone in the great assembly had heard what was said, their minds had not yet understood, and so they remained silent. Hoping to hear more of the gentle sounds of the Thus Come Ones teaching, They put their palms together, purified their minds, and stood waiting for the Thus Come Ones compassionate instruction.
Then the World Honored One extended his bright hand that is as soft as tula cotton, opened his five webbed fingers, and told Ánanda and the great assembly, "When I first accomplished the Way I went to the Deer Park, and for the sake of Ajnatakaundinya and all five of the Bhikshus, as well as for you of the four-fold assembly, I said, It is because beings are impeded by transitory defilements and afflictions that they do not realize Bodhi or become Arhats. At that time, what caused you who have now realized the various fruitions of sage hood to become enlightened?"

bohiruci SG

Then Ajnatakaundinya arose and said to the Buddha, "Of the elders now present in the great assembly, only I received the name "Understanding" because I was enlightened to the meaning of transitory defilements and realized the fruition.
"World Honored One, the analogy can be made of a traveler who stops as a guest at a roadside inn, perhaps for the night or perhaps for a meal. When he has finished lodging there or when the meal is finished, he packs his baggage and sets out again. He does not remain there at his leisure. The host himself, however, does not leave.
"Considering it this way, the one who does not remain is called the guest, and the one who does remain is called the host. The transitory guest, then, is the one who does not remain.
"Again, the analogy can be made to how when the sun rises resplendent on a clear morning, its golden rays stream into a house through a crack to reveal particles of dust in the air. The dust dances in the rays of light, but the empty space is unmoving.
"Considering it is that way, what is clear and still is called space, and what moves is called dust. The defiling dust, then, is that which moves."
The Buddha said, "So it is."

bohiruci SG

Then in the midst of the great assembly the Thus Come One bent his five webbed fingers. After bending them, he opened them again. After he opened them, he bent them again, and he asked Ánanda, "What do you see now?"
Ánanda said, "I see the Thus Come Ones hand opening and closing in the midst of the assembly, revealing his hundred-jeweled wheeled palms."
The Buddha said to Ánanda, "You see my hand open and close in the assembly. Is it my hand that opens and closes, or is it your seeing that opens and closes?"
Ánanda said, "The World Honored Ones jeweled hand opened and closed in the assembly. I saw the Thus Come Ones hand itself open and close while my seeing-nature neither opened nor closed."
The Buddha said, "What moved and what was still?"
Ánanda said, "The Buddhas hand did not remain at rest. And since my seeing-nature is beyond even stillness, how could it not be at rest?"
The Buddha said, "So it is."

bohiruci SG

Then from his wheeled palm the Thus Come One sent a gem-like ray of light flying to Ánandas right. Ánanda immediately turned his head and glanced to the right. The Buddha then sent another ray of light to Ánandas left. Ánanda again turned his head and glanced to the left. The Buddha said to Ánanda, "Why did your head move just now?"
Ánanda said, "I saw the Thus Come One emit a wonderful gem-like light which flashed by my left and right, and so I looked left and right. My head moved by itself."
"Ánanda, when you glanced at the Buddhas light and moved your head left and right, was it your head that moved or your seeing that moved?"
"World Honored One, my head moved of itself. Since my seeing-nature is beyond even cessation, how could it move?"
The Buddha said, "So it is."
Then the Thus Come One told everyone in the assembly, "Normally beings would say that the defiling dust moves and that the transitory guest does not remain.
"You have observed that it was Ánandas head moved; yet his seeing did not move. You also have observed my hand open and close; yet youre seeing did not stretch or bend.
"Why do you continue to rely on your physical bodies which move and on the external environment which also moves? From the beginning to the end, this causes your every thought to be subject to production and extinction.
"You have lost your true nature and conduct yourselves in upside-down ways. Having lost your true nature and mind, you take objects to be yourself,
and so you cling to revolving on the wheel of rebirth."

bohiruci SG

When Ánanda and the great assembly heard the Buddhas instructions, they became peaceful and composed both in body and mind. They recollected that since time without beginning, they had strayed from their fundamental true mind by mistakenly taking the shadows of the differentiations of conditioned defilements to be real. Now on this day as they awakened, they were each like a lost infant who suddenly finds its beloved mother. They put their palms together to make obeisance to the Buddha.
They wished to hear the Thus Come One enlighten them to the dual nature of body and mind, of what is false, of what is true, of what is empty and what is existent, and of what is subject to production and extinction and what transcends production and extinction.
Then King Prasenajit rose and said to the Buddha, "In the past, when I had not yet received the teachings of the Buddha, I met Katyayana and Vairatiputra, both of whom said that this body ends at death, and that this is Nirvana. Now, although I have met the Buddha, I still wonder about that. How can I go about realizing the mind at the level of no production and no extinction? Now all in this Great Assembly who still have outflows also wish to be instructed on this subject."
The Buddha said to the great king, "Lets talk about your body as it is right now. Now I ask you, will your physical body be like vajra, indestructible and living forever? Or will it change and go bad?"
"World Honored One, this body of mine will keep changing until it eventually perishes."
The Buddha said, "Great king, you have not yet perished. How do you know you will perish?"
"World Honored One, although my impermanent, changing, and decaying body has not yet become extinct, I observe it now, as every passing thought fades away. Each new one fails to remain, but is gradually extinguished like fire turning wood to ashes. This ceaseless extinguishing convinces me that this body will eventually completely perish."
The Buddha said, "So it is."
"Great king, at your present age you are already old and declining. How does your appearance and complexion compare to when you were a youth?"

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