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Before the great assembly, the Buddha extended His golden arm to circle His palm on Ananda’s head and said: ❝ There is a Samadhi called ‘The King of the Foremost Surangama Transmitted from the Crown of the Buddha’s Head’; it is the perfection of the myriad practices, a wondrous and magnificent path, the single portal through which all the Tathagatas of the ten directions gained transcendence. You must now all listen attentively. ❞ Ananda humbly bowed and waited for the Buddha’s compassionate instruction.
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The Surangama Sutra 《大佛頂首楞嚴經》, a detailed and thorough direction for spiritual practice, has been considered one of the most important Buddhist scriptures, especially in the Chan Buddhism tradition. To be more precise, it is the principal lighthouse for all practitioners, no matter what Buddhism denomination one chooses to follow. Relying on its comprehensive guidance, one may confidently embark on a voyage of discovery and realization, until ultimately reaching the shore of true awakening.
There is even a Chinese saying 「自從一讀楞嚴後，不看人間糟粕書」– “Once you have read (and realized) the teachings of Surangama Sutra, all other books on Earth appear to be a waste of time”. In other words, if you had to choose one book/sutra to read, the Surangama Sutra would be the one.
Moreover, the Buddha has foreseen that in the Dharma Ending Age, the Surangama Sutra would be the first to disappear. Which means it is every Buddhist disciple’s responsibility to study, safeguard, and spread the Sutra. As long as the Sutra lives, the Proper Dharma Age prevails.
Therefore, I decided to spend time combing through the English translation, one section at a time, making it as stress-free as possible to read. It would be too much an unfortunate loss, if we’re intimidated by the ancient Chinese text and gave up making efforts to appreciate it.
There is a story about how the Surangama Sutra was first transmitted to China from India: In the Tang dynasty, the Sutra was regarded as a national treasure in India and prohibited to leave the borders. Aspiring to spread the Dharma into China, Pramiti (般剌密諦), a legendary Buddhist monk, copied the Sutra on an extremely fine cloth, then cut his own arm open and sewed the Sutra in it, thus successfully passed through the customs and made the teachings available to people outside of India. To honor such incredible endeavors, the least we can do now is to read the Sutra and try our best to practice accordingly, isn’t it?
In the process of sorting out a more understandable version of translation (at least for myself), I am certainly awestruck by the omnipotent powers of the Buddha Wisdom, meanwhile constantly feeling so powerless that all we ordinary people can use to appreciate such impossible Intelligence are a mundane mind and some worldly languages.
So rudimentary our understanding, so inept our languages! They’re only capable of seeing things from conceptualized views, spreading small-minded opinions, stirring up unhelpful dualistic notions, and eventually skewing any true meaning off its original track. How could our earthly minds and languages possibly convey the Buddha’s supreme, sublime, subtle, unmatched, foremost, and ultimate teachings accurately and precisely?
Grand Master Lian Chi (蓮池大師, 1535 – 1615, the Eighth Patriarch of the Pure Land Tradition) likened his own commentary of the Sutra to ‘a blind man feeling the elephant’. If even Grand Master said that, what chance do the rest of us have as the completely unawakened ones who are totally in the dark? Yet one thing for sure is, if we didn’t even do what we can now trying our best to learn, we would forever remain in the dark!
Therefore, at this point, we have to make do with whatever tools at hands, however primitive and improper they are. Hopefully, through studying and practicing, one day we might uplift ourselves to higher dimensions and could then become truly skillful and helpful.
The translation shared herein is an integrated version, mainly using the following sites for references (inclusive yet non-exhaustive – there’re a few other sites I must have come across at some point but regretfully lost track of): https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/surangama.pdf and https://culture.pkstate.com/jingshu/534.html, as well as the wonderful version presented by Buddhist Text Translation Society – 00-FM final.indd… All rights, credits, and thanks entirely belong to them!
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Opening Verse for the Sutra
It is the greatest fortune to encounter
This supreme, subtle, most sophisticated Dharma!
Having gone through countless lifetimes in ignorance,
Finally, now I have such blessings to receive it and to practice it!
Delightfully, I shall strive to realize the Truth in the Buddha’s sublime teachings!
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Chapter One – The Nature and Location of the Mind
Section 1: The Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment
Section 2 – (1) Is the Mind Inside or Outside the Body?
Section 2 – (2) Is the Mind in the Eyes?
Section 2 – (3) Does the Mind Come into Being in Response to Conditions?
Section 2 – (4) Is the Mind in the Middle?
Section 2 – (5) Or Perhaps the Mind Has No Specific Location?
Section 3: The Ordinary Mind and the Original Mind
Chapter Two – The Nature of Visual Awareness
Section 1: It Is the Mind That Sees
Section 2: Visual Awareness Does Not Move
Section 3: Visual Awareness Does Not Perish
Section 4: All Phenomena Returnable to Causes Are Unreal
Section 5: Discriminative Perceptions Are Unreal
Section 6: Eliminating Discrimination and Revealing the Essential Bodhi
Section 7: Visual Awareness Arises Neither on Its Own Nor from Causes
Section 8: The True Visual Awareness
Section 9: Distortions in Visual Awareness Are Due to Karma
Section 10: Eradicating Any Residue of the False
Chapter Three – The Matrix of the Buddha Mind
Section 1: The Five Aggregates
Section 2: The Six Entrances of Illusions
Section 3: The Twelve Ayatana (Six Sense Organs & Six Sense Data)
Section 4: The Eighteen Realms of Perception
Section 5: The Seven Primary Elements
Chapter Four – The Arising of This World of Illusion
Section 1: A Meditative Study of Understanding and Enlightenment
Section 2: The Buddha’s Enlightenment Is Uncreated and Never-ending
Section 3: The Intermingling of the Primary Elements
Section 4: The Parable of Yajnadatta
Chapter Five – Instructions for Self-Enlightenment
Section 1: Five Layers of Cloudiness
Section 2: Choosing One Faculty as the Portal of Meditation
Section 3: Using the Bell’s Sound as Expedient Instruction on the One Mind
Section 4: How to Untie the Six Knots
Chapter Six – Twenty-Five Sages
Section 1: Twenty-Five Sages Share Their Insights About Practice
Section 2: The Bodhisattva of Compassion
Section 3: The Bodhisattva Manjusri Sums It Up
Section 4 (2): The Second Precept: No Killing
Section 4 (3): The Third Precept: No Stealing
Section 4 (4): The Fourth Precept: No False Claims
Chapter Seven – The Surangama Mantra
Section 1: Cultivating a Safe Place for Entering Samadhi
Section 2 (1): The Surangama Mantra
Section 2 (2): The Inconceivable Powers of the Mantra
Section 2 (3): The Whole Assembly Making Vows
Chapter Eight – The Worlds and the Beings
Section 1: How Does the World of Illusion Come into Being?
Section 2: Twelve Categories of Beings
Section 3: Three Steps to Safeguard the Mind
Section 4 (2): Ten Practices and Ten Dedications
Section 4 (3): Four Additional Practices, Ten Grounds and the Name of the Discourse
Section 5 (2): Ten Causes and Six Retributions
Section 10: The Gods (of the Six Heavens of Desire)
Chapter Nine – The Heavens Beyond Desire
Section 5: The Heavens of No Return
Section 6: The Four Heavens of Formlessness
Section 8: All Are the Result of Karma
Section 9 (1): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (1)
Section 9 (2): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (2)
Section 9 (3): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (3)
Section 9 (4): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (4)
Section 9 (5): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (5)
Section 9 (6): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (6)
Section 9 (7): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (7)
Section 9 (8): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (8)
Section 9 (9): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (9)
Section 9 (10): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (10)
Section 9 (11): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (11)
Section 9 (12): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (12)
Section 9 (13): Fifty Demonic States of Mind (13)
Chapter Ten – Other Demonic States, the Skandhas, and the Final Instructions
Section 1 (1): The First of Ten Wrong Paths – Two Fallacies That Deny Causation
Section 1 (2): The Second of Ten Wrong Paths – Four Fallacies About Universal Permanence
Section 1 (4): The Fourth of Ten Wrong Paths – Four Fallacies on Finiteness and Infinity
Section 1 (5): The Fifth of Ten Wrong Paths – Four Fallacies on Existence and Nonexistence
Section 1 (6): The Sixth of Ten Wrong Paths – Speculating that Five Aggregates Exist After Death
Section 1 (7): The Seventh of Ten Wrong Paths – Speculating that No Aggregates Exist After Death
Section 1 (8): The Eighth of Ten Wrong Paths – Speculations on Both Existence and Nonexistence
Section 1 (9): The Ninth of Ten Wrong Paths – Speculations on the Cessation of Existence After Death
Section 1 (10): The Tenth of Ten Wrong Paths – Speculations on Existence After Death
Section 2 (1): The First of Ten Wrong States – Believing That There Is Attainment
Section 2 (2): The Second of Ten Wrong States – Believing That the Self Has Special Ability
Section 2 (3): The Third of Ten Wrong States – Believing That There Is Permanent Abode
Section 2 (4): The Fourth of Ten Wrong States – Believing That There Is Universal Awareness
Section 2 (5): The Fifth of Ten Wrong States – Worshipping the Elements
Section 2 (6): The Sixth of Ten Wrong States – Believing that The Basis of Consciousness Is a Void
Section 2 (7): The Seventh of Ten Wrong States – Pursuing Immortality of the Body
Section 2 (8): The Eighth of Ten Wrong States – Indulging in Worldly Enjoyments
Section 2 (9): The Ninth of Ten Wrong States – Dwelling in the State of Arhat
Section 2 (10): The Tenth of Ten Wrong States – Dwelling in the State of Solitary Sage
Section 3: The Five Skandhas Arise from Delusion
Section 4: Final Instructions on the Merit of Teaching the Surangama Dharma
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Closing Verse
May the merits of this practice
Adorn all Buddhas’ Pure Lands.
Repay the kindness we received,
And relieve the suffering in the worlds.
May anyone who comes across it give rise to wisdom and compassion,
Activate their Buddha Mind and Bodhi Heart.
May all the karmas accumulated over countless lifetimes be purified.
May tranquility and impartiality be restored to our minds.
May we all be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss!
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Buddha Mind 