Chapter Six, Shurangama Sutra

Chapter Six



Then Ananda arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha, "Now that we who are dull and slow, who are fond of erudition but have not sought to stop the outflows of our minds, have received the Buddha’s compassionate instructions and have attained the proper means to become infused with cultivation, we experience joy in body and mind and obtain tremendous benefit. World Honored One, for one who cultivates in this way and is certified as having attained the Buddha’s samadhi, but who has not yet reached nirvana, what is meant by the Level of Dry Wisdom? What are the Forty-four Minds? What is the sequence in which one cultivates to reach one’s goal? What place must one reach to be said to have entered the grounds? And what is meant by a Bodhisattva of Equal Enlightenment?"

Having said this, he made a full prostration, and then the great assembly singlemindedly awaited the sound of the Buddha’s compassionate voice as they gazed up unblinkingly with respectful admiration.

At that time the World Honored One praised Ananda, saying, "Good indeed, good indeed, that for the sake of the entire great assembly and those beings in the final age who cultivate samadhi and seek the Great Vehicle, you ask to have the unsurpassed proper path of cultivation that takes one from the level of an ordinary person to final parinirvana explained and revealed. Listen attentively, and I will speak about it for you."

Ananda and everyone in the assembly placed their palms together, cleansed their minds, and silently waited to receive the teaching.

The Buddha said, "Ananda, you should know that the wonderful nature is perfect and bright, apart from all names and attributes. Basically there is no world, nor are there any beings. Because of falseness, phenomena come into being. Because phenomena come into being, they also cease to be. Even the terms ‘coming into being’ and ‘ceasing to be’ are false. When the false ceases to be, that is known as truth. This is called the Tathagata’s Unsurpassed Bodhi and Great Nirvana: These names refer to two kinds of turning around. Ananda, you now wish to cultivate true samadhi and arrive directly at the Tathagata’s Parinirvana. First, you should recognize the two upside-down causes of living beings and the world. The non-arising of upside-downness is the Tathagata’s true samadhi.

"Ananda, what is meant by the upside-downness of beings? Ananda, our nature endows the mind with understanding because the nature itself is the perfection of understanding. By adding understanding, another nature comes into being, and from that false nature, views arise. From absolute nothingness comes ultimate existence. All that exists comes about in that way.

The cause is not an actual cause. Subjective reliance on objective appearances is basically groundless. Thus, the very basis for the existence of the world and beings is fundamentally unreliable.

"Confusion about one’s basic, perfect understanding results in the arising of falseness. Falseness itself is devoid of substance; it is not something which can be relied upon. One may wish to return to the truth, but that wish for the truth is already a falseness. The real nature of True Suchness is not a truth that one can seek to return to. By doing so one misses the mark. What basically does not arise, what basically does not dwell, what basically is not the mind, and what basically are not dharmas come into being in turn. As they arise more and more strongly, they form the propensity to create karma. Similar karma sets up a mutual stimulus. Because of the karma thus generated, there is mutual production and mutual extinction. That is the reason for the upside-downness of beings.

"Ananda, what is the upside-downness of the world? All that exists and pertains to existence falsely arises in sections and shares. The world is based on that, but this cause is not an actual cause. Everything that is dependent has nothing on which it is dependent, and so it shifts and slides ceaselessly. Because of this, the world of the three periods of time and four directions come into being. Their union and interaction bring about changes which result in the twelve categories of beings.

"That is why, in this world, movement brings about sounds, sounds bring about forms, forms bring about smells, smells bring about contact, contact brings about tastes, and tastes brings about awareness of dharmas. The random false thinking resulting from those six creates karma, and this continuous revolving becomes the cause of twelve different categeories. And so, in the world, sounds, smells, tastes, contact, and the like, are each transformed throughout the twelve categories to make one complete cycle.

"Based on that continuously revolving process involving upside-down phenomena, those born from eggs, those born from wombs, those born from moisture, and those born by transformation; beings with form, those without form, those with thought, and those without thoughtt; beings not totally endowedwith form, those not totally lacking form, those not totally endowed with thought, and those not totally lacking thought come into being in this world.

"Ananda, through a continuous process of falseness, the upside-down state of movement occurs in this world. It unites with energy to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts that either fly up or dive down. From that eggs come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles, so that their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of defilement, the upside-down state of desire occurs in this world. It unites with stimulation to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts that are either erect or horizontal. From that embroyos in wombs come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as human beings, animals, dragons, and immortals until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of attachment, the upside-down state of inclination occurs in this world. It unites with warmth to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts that are vacillating and inverted. From that organisms in moisture come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as insects and crawling invertebrates, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of change, the upside-down state of borrowing occurs in this world. Based on upside-downness, it unites with contact to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of new and old. From that, organisms that undergo transformations come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as forms of metamorphic flying and crawling creatures, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of restraint, the upside-down state of obstruction occurs in this world. It unites with attachment to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of refinement and brilliance. From that animate entities that possess form come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as auspicious and inauspicious creatures, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of annihilation and dispersion, the upside-down state of delusion occurs in this world. It unites with darkness to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of obscurity and hiding. From that, animate entities that are formless come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as empty, dispersed, annihilated, and submerged beings until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of illusory imaginings, the upside-down state of shadows occurs in this world. It unites with memory to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts that are hidden and bound up. From that, animate entities endowed with thought, come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as spirits, ghosts, and devious beings, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of dullness and slowness, the upside-down state of stupidity occurs in this world. It unites with obstinacy to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts that are dry and attenuated. From that, animate entities lacking thought, come into being and transmigrate throughout the lands as their vitality and spirit change into earth, wood, metal, or stone, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of parasitic interaction, the upside-down state of simulation occurs in this world. It unites with defilement to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of according and relying. From that, animate entities not actually endowed with form, take on embryonic forms and transmigrate throughout the lands until their kinds abound, as jellyfish that use shrimp for eyes and the like.

"Through a continuous process of mutual enticement, an upside-down state of the nature occurs in this world. It unites with mantras to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of reckoning and summoning. From that animate entities not actually lacking form become formless beings and transmigrate throughout the lands as the hidden beings of mantras and incantations, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of false unity, the upside-down state of transgression occurs in this world. It unites with unlike formations to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of reciprocal interchange. From that animate entities not actually endowed with thought, become beings endowed with thought and transmigrate throughout the lands in such forms as a wasp that turns a different creature into its own species and the like, until their kinds abound.

"Through a continuous process of enmity and harm the upside-down state of killing occurs in this world. It unites with monstrosities to become eighty-four thousand kinds of random thoughts of devouring one’s father and mother. From that, animate entities not actually lacking thought become beings that lack thought and transmigrate throughout the lands, until their kinds abound in such forms as the owl which hatches its young from clods of dirt, and the pou jing bird, which incubates a poisonous fruit to create its young whereupon the young of each eat the parents and the like, until their kinds abound. These are the twelve categories of beings."

"Ananda, each of these categories of beings is replete with all twelve kinds of upside-down states, just as pressing on one’s eye produces a variety of flower-like images. With the inversion of wonderful perfection, pure understanding of the true mind becomes glutted with false and random thoughts. Now, as you cultivate towards certification to the samadhi of Buddha, you will go through three gradual stages in order to get rid of the basic cause of these random thoughts. They work in just the way that hot water mixed with the ashes of incense clease a vessel that has held poisonous honey. Afterwards, such a vessel can be used to store sweet dew.

"What are the three gradual stages? The first is to correct one’s habits by getting rid of the aiding causes; the second is to truly cultivate to cut out the very essence of karmic offenses; the third is to increase one’s vigor to prevent the manifestation of karma.

"What are aiding causes? Ananda, the twelve categories of beings in this world are not in complete in themselves, but depend on four kinds of eating; that is, eating by portions, eating by contact, eating by thought, and eating by consciousness. Therefore, the Buddha said that all beings must eat to live.

"Ananda, all beings can live if they eat what is fresh, and they will die if they take poison. Beings who seek samadhi should refrain from eating five pungent plants of this world. If these five are eaten cooked, they increase one’s sexual desire; if they are eaten raw, they increase one’s anger. Therefore, even if people in this world who eat pungent plants can expound the twelve divisions of the Sutra canon, the gods and immortals of the ten directions will stay far away from them because they smell so bad. However, after they eat these things the hungry ghosts will hover around and kiss their lips. Being always in the presence of ghosts, their blessings and virtue will dissolve as the days go by, and they will experience no lasting benefit. People who eat pungent plants and also cultivate samadhi will not be protected by the Bodhisattvas, gods, immortals, or good spirits of the ten directions; therefore, the tremendously powerful demon kings, able to do as they please, will appear in the body of a Buddha and speak Dharma for them, denouncing the precepts and praising lust, rage, and delusion. When their lives end, these people will join the retinue of demon kings. When they use up their blessings as demons, they will fall into the unintermittent hell. Ananda, those who cultivate for Bodhi should never eat the five pungent plants. This is the first of the gradual stages of cultivation.

"What is the essence of karmic offenses? Ananda, beings who want to enter samadhi must first firmly uphold the pure precepts. They must sever thoughts of lust, not partake of wine or meat, and eat cooked rather than raw foods. Ananda, if cultivators do not sever lust and killing, it will be impossible for them to transcend the Triple Realm. You should look upon lustful desire as upon a poisonous snake or a resentful bandit. First hold to the Hearers’ Four or Eight Parajikas in order to control your physical activity; then cultivate the Bodhisattva’s pure regulations in order to control your mental activity. When the precepts are successfully upheld, one will not create karma that leads to mutual rebirth and mutual killing in this world. If one does not steal, one will not be indebted, and one will not have to pay back past debts in this world. If people who are pure in this way cultivate samadhi, they will naturally be able to contemplate the extent of the worlds of the ten directions with the physical body given them by their parents; without need of the Heavenly Eye, they will perceive the Buddhas speaking Dharma and receive in person the sagely instruction. Obtaining great spiritual penetrations, they will roam through the ten directions, gain clarity regarding past lives, and will not encounter difficulties and dangers. This is the second of the gradual stages of cultivation.

"What is the manifestation of karma? Ananda, such people as these, who are pure and who uphold the precepts, do not have thoughts of greed and lust, and so they do not become dissipated in the pursuit of the six external defiling sense-objects. Because they do not pursue them, they turn around to their own source. Without the conditions of the defiling objects, there is nothing for the sense-organs to match themselves with, and so they reverse their flow, become one unit, and are no longer confined to six individual functions. All the lands of the ten directions then become as brilliantly clear and pure as a moon suspended in crystal. Their bodies and minds are blissful as they experience the equality of wonderful perfection, and they attain great peace. The secret perfection and pure wonder of all the Tathagatas appear before them. These people then obtain Patience with the Non-existence of Beings and Dharmas. They thereupon gradually cultivate according to their practices, until they reside securely in the sagely positions. This is the third of the gradual stages of cultivation.

"Ananda, these good people’s emotional love and desire are withered and dry, the sense-organs and sense objects no longer mesh, and so the residual habits do not continue to arise. Recognizing that the attachments of the mind are false, they use only wisdom. That wisdom shines throughout the ten directions, and this initial wisdom is called the Stage of Dry Wisdom. Although the habits of desire are initially dried up, they still have not merged with Dharma-water that flows from the Tathagatas.

"Then, with this mind centered on the middle, they enter the flow where wonderful perfection reveals itself. From the truth of that wonderful perfection there repeatedly arise wonders of truth. They always dwell in the wonder of faith, until all false thinking is completely eliminated and the Middle Way is totally true. This is called the Mind that Resides in Faith.

"When true faith is clearly understood, then perfect penetration is total, and the three aspects of skandhas, places, and realms are no longer obstructions. Then all their habits throughout innumerable eons of past and future, during which they abandon bodies and receive bodies, appear to them now in the present moment. These good people can remember everything and forget nothing. This is called the Mind that Resides in Mindfulness.

"When the wonderful perfection is completely true, that essential true brings about a transformation. They go beyond the beginningless habits to reach the one essential brightness. Relying solely on this essential brightness, they progress toward true purity. This is called the Mind of Vigor.

"The essence of the mind reveals itself as total wisdom; this is called the Mind that Resides in Wisdom.

"As the wisdom and brightness are held steadfast, a profound stillness pervades everywhere. The stage at which the majesty of this stillness becomes constant and solid is called the Mind that Resides in Samadhi.

"The light of samadhi emits brightness. When the essence of the brightness enters deeply within, they only advance and never retreat. This is called the Mind that is Irreversible.

"When the progress of their minds is secure, and they hold their minds and protect them without loss, they connect with the life-breath of the Tathagatas of the ten directions. This is called the Mind that Protects the Dharma.

"Protecting their light of enlightenment, they can use this wonderful force to return to the Buddha’s light of compassion and to come back to stand firm with the Buddha. It is like two mirrors that are set facing one another, so that between them the exquisite images inter-reflect and enter into one another layer upon layer. This is called the Mind that Makes Transferences.

"With this secret interplay of light, they obtain the Buddha’s eternal solidity and unsurpassed wonderful purity. Dwelling in the unconditioned, they know no loss or dissipation.

This is called the Mind that Resides in Precepts.

"Abiding in the precepts with self-mastery, they can roam throughout the ten directions, going anywhere they wish. This is called the Mind that Resides in Vows.

"Ananda, these good people use proper expedients to bring forth those ten minds. The essence of these minds becomes dazzling, and their ten functions interconnect to a point of single-mindedness. That is called the Dwelling of Bringing Forth the Resolve.

"The discoveries made by that mind are like pure crystal within which can be seen pure gold. Based on those previous wonderful minds, they step up to this level called the Dwelling of the Ground of Regulation.

"When the mind on that ground connects with wisdom, both become bright and comprehensive. Traversing the ten directions then without obstruction is called the Dwelling of Cultivation.

"When their conduct is the same as the Buddhas’ and they connect with the Buddha’s spirit, then, like the body-between-skandhas searching for a father and mother, they penetrate the darkness with a hidden communication and enter the lineage of the Tathagata. That is called the Dwelling of Noble Birth.

"Since they ride in the womb of the Way, they are heirs to enlightenment just as a mature fetus has developed all human features. That is called the Dwelling that is Endowed with Skill-in-Means.

"Their physical appearances become those of Buddhas and their minds the same as well. That is called Dwelling in the Proper Mind.

"United in body and mind, they grow and mature day by day. That is called Dwelling in Irreversibility.

"With the efficacious appearance of ten bodies, which are simultaneously perfected, they are Dwelling as a Pure Youth.

"Completely developed, they leave the womb and become sons of the Buddha. That is Dwelling as a Dharma Prince. Reaching the fullness of adulthood, they are like a chosen prince to whom a mighty king turns over the affairs of state. Eventually that eldest son of the kshatriya king will be ceremoniously anointed on the crown of the head. That is called Dwelling in Anointing the Crown of the Head.

"Ananda, after these good men have become sons of the Buddha, they are replete with the limitlessly many wonderful virtues of the Tathagatas, and they comply and accord with beings throughout the ten directions. That is called the Conduct of Happiness.

"Being well able to accommodate all beings is called the Conduct of Benefiting.

"Enlightening themselves and enlightening others without putting forth any resistance is called the Conduct Free of Anger.

"Then they undergo birth in various forms continuously to the bounds of the future. Practicing that equally throughout the three periods of time and pervading the ten directions is called the Conduct Continued Endlessly.

"When everything is equally in accord, one never makes mistakes among the various Dharma doors. That is called ‘he Conduct of Freedom from Deluded Confusion.

"Then within what is identical, myriad differences appear.

Yet within the different appearances, an identity can be perceived.

That is called the Conduct of Wholesome Manifestation.

"That continues until it includes all particles of dust that fill up empty space throughout the ten directions. In each and every mote of dust there appear the worlds of the ten directions. And yet the appearance of dust motes and the appearance of worlds do not interfere with one another. That is called the Conduct of Non-Attachment.

"Everything that appears before one becomes a foremost paramita. That is called the Conduct of Veneration.

"With such perfect fusion, one can model oneself after all the Buddhas of the ten directions. That is called the Conduct Based on Wholesome Dharmas.

"As each and every one of those becomes pure and without outflows, they merge into a singular truth, unconditioned, that is the essence of the nature. That is called the Conduct of Reality.

"Ananda, when these good men replete with spiritual penetrations have done the Buddha’s work and are totally pure and absolutely true, they can remain distant from obstacles and calamities. Then they take beings across without being attached to the idea of taking them across. They direct the unconditioned mind toward the path of Nirvana. That is called the Transference of Saving and Protecting Living Beings, while apart from the Appearance of Living Beings.

"Destroying what should be destroyed and remaining far removed from what should be left behind is called the Transference of Indestructibility.

"Fundamental Enlightenment is profound indeed, an enlightenment on a level with the Buddhas’ enlightenment. That is called the Transference of Sameness with All Buddhas.

"When absolute truth is discovered, their level is like the level of Buddhas. That is called the Transference of Reaching all Places.

"Worlds and Tathagatas include one another without any obstruction. That is called the Transference of a Treasury of Inexhaustible Merit and Virtue.

"Since their level is like the Buddhas’, each and every cause they create at that level is pure. Based on the dispersing of such causes, they go straight down the path to Nirvana. That is called the Transference of the Good Roots of Following what is Basically Identical.

"When true roots are set down, then all beings in the ten directions are my own nature. Not a single being is lost, as this nature is successfully perfected. That is called the Transference of Following the Impartial Contemplation of all Beings.

"Being identical with all dharmas yet apart from all phenomena, they are not attached to either the identity or the separation. That is called the Transference of the Appearance of True Suchness.

"That which is thus is truly obtained, and there is no obstruction throughout the ten directions. That is called the Transference of Unfettered Liberation.

"When the virtue of the nature is perfectly realized, the boundaries of the Dharma Realm are destroyed. That is called the Transference of the Limitlessness of the Dharma Realm.

"Ananda, when these good men have completely purified these forty-one minds, they further accomplish Four Kinds of Wonderfully Perfect Aiding Practices.

"The enlightenment of a Buddha is just about to become a function of their own minds. It is on the verge of emerging but has not yet emerged, and so it can be compared to the point just before wood ignites when it is drilled to produce fire. That is called the Level of Heat.

"They continue on with their own minds to tread where the Buddhas tread, as if relying and yet not. It is as if they were climbing a lofty mountain, to the point where their bodies are in space but there remains a slight obstruction beneath them. That is called the Level of the Summit.

"When the mind and the Buddha are two and yet the same, they have well obtained the Middle Way. They are like someone who endures something when it seems impossible to either hold it in or let it go. That is called the Level of Patience.

"When numbers and limits are gone, no such designations as the Middle Way or as confusion and enlightenment are made. That is called the Level of Being First in the World.

"Ananda, these good men have successfully penetrated through to Great Bodhi. Their enlightenment reaches through to the Tathagatas’. They have fathomed the state of Buddhahood. That is called the Ground of Happiness.

"The differences enter into identity; even the notion of identity is gone. That is called the Ground of Leaving Filth.

"At the point of ultimate purity, brightness comes forth. That is called the Ground of Emitting Light.

"When the brightness becomes ultimate, enlightenment is full.

That is called the Ground of Blazing Wisdom.

"No identity or difference can be attained. That is called the Ground of Invincibility.’

"With unconditioned True Suchness, the nature is spotless, and brightness is revealed. That is called the Ground of Manifestation.

"Coming to the farthest limits of True Suchness is called the Ground of Traveling Far.

"The single mind of True Suchness is called the Ground of Immovability.

"Bringing forth the function of True Suchness is called the Ground of Good Wisdom.

"Ananda, all Bodhisattvas beyond this point have completed their cultivation and have perfected their merit and virtue, and so this Ground is called the Level of Cultivation.

"Then a wonderful cloud of compassion hovers over the Sea of Nirvana. That is called ‘the Ground of the Dharma Cloud.

"The Tathagatas counter the flow as the Bodhisattvas thus reach this point through compliance with practice. Their enlightenment is about to meet that of the Buddhas; it is therefore called Equal Enlightenment.

"Ananda, the enlightenment which encompasses the Mind of Dry Wisdom through to the culmination of Equal Enlightenment is awakening within the Varja Mind. That constitutes the Level of Initial Dry Wisdom. Thus there are totals of twelve single and grouped levels. At last they reach Wonderful Enlightenment and accomplish the Unsurpassed Way. At all these levels they use vajra contemplation of Ten Profound Analogies for the ways in which things are like an illusion. In Shamatha they use the Tathagatas’ Vipashyana to cultivate them purely, to be certified to them, and to gradually enter them more and more deeply. Ananda, because they put to use the three means of advancement throughout all of them, they are well able to accomplish the fifty-five stages of the True Bodhi Path"This manner of contemplation is called proper contemplation.

Contemplation other than this is called deviant contemplation."

Then Dharma Prince Manjushri arose from his seat, and in the midst of the assembly he bowed at the Buddha’s feet and said to the Buddha, "What is the name of this Sutra and how should we and all beings uphold it?"

The Buddha told Manjushri, "This Sutra is called Great Buddha at the Crown, Syi Dan Dwo Bwo Da La, the Unsurpassed Precious Seal and Pure, Clear, Ocean-like Eye of the Tathagatas of the Ten Directions.

"It is also called The Cause for Saving a Relative, the Rescue of Ananda and the Bhikshuni Nature, and the Attaining of the Bodhi Mind and Entry into the Sea of Pervasive Knowledge.

"It is also called The Tathagatas’ Secret Cause of Cultivation that Brings Certification to the Complete Meaning.

"It is also called The Great Expansive Means, the Wonderful Lotus Flower King, the Dharani Mantra which is the Mother of all Buddhas of the Ten Directions.

"It is also called The Foremost Shurangama, Sections and Phrases for Anointing the Crown of the Head, and All Bodhisattvas’ Myriad Practices.

"Thus should you respectfully uphold it."