Master Tianru gathered all the commentaries on the Surangama Sutra and came up with a book called Collective Commentaries of the Surangama. Then some folks made such remarks – “It’s only Master Tianru’s version of Surangama, not Sakyamuni Buddha’s Surangama.” While I acknowledge the validity of this statement, however, it is incorrect for beginners to seize upon it as a pretext for completely discarding the commentaries of the older generations.
If all commentaries were discarded and only the Surangama Sutra remained, people would go on saying: “This is Sakyamuni Buddha’s Surangama, not our own Surangama.” You see, the real danger lies in the unfortunate tendency of an unenlightened mind – to give up on all commentaries could easily lead to giving up on all sutras.
Furthermore, if everyone feels entitled to acknowledge that “one’s own Surangama pervades all places,” then worldly writings of all kinds and earthly expressions of all sorts, including country songs or pop music, all may become “Surangama“!
by Grand Master Lian Chi (蓮池大師), the Eighth Patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism
楞嚴 (一) – 錄自明末蓮池大師《竹窗隨筆》(初筆)
天如集楞嚴會解，或曰:「此天如之楞嚴，非釋迦之楞嚴也。」予謂此語雖是，而新學執此，遂欲盡廢古人注疏，則非也。即盡廢注疏，單存白文，獨不曰:「此釋迦之楞嚴，非自己之楞嚴」乎? 則經可廢也，何況注疏! 又不曰:「自己之楞嚴遍一切處」乎? 則諸子百家，乃至樵歌牧唱，皆不可廢也，何況注疏!
Buddha Mind 