Surangama Sutra of the Great Buddha's Crown, Ten Thousand Practices, Volume 1
能脫欲誰名？一根既返源，
What is freed, and who would name it? When one faculty returns to the source,
六根成解脫。見、聞如幻翳，
The six faculties are liberated. Seeing and hearing are like illusory film over the eye,
三界若空花。聞復翳根除，
The three realms are like flowers in the sky. When hearing is restored and the film over the faculty removed,
塵銷覺圓淨；淨極光通達，
The dust dissolves and awakening is perfectly pure; when purity reaches its limit, light penetrates,
寂照含虛空。卻來觀世間，
Still illumination contains empty space. Then looking back on the world,
猶如夢中事。摩登伽在夢，
It is like matters in a dream. Matangi is in the dream,
誰能留汝形？如世巧幻師，
Who can hold your form? Like a skilled worldly illusionist,
幻作諸男女，雖見諸根動，
Who conjures up men and women, though one sees all the faculties moving,
要以一機抽。息機歸寂然，
They are drawn by a single mechanism. When the mechanism stops and returns to stillness,
諸幻成無性。六根亦如是，
The illusions are all without nature. The six faculties are also like this,
元依一精明，分成六和合，
Originally relying on one bright essence, divided into six unions,
一處成休復，六用皆不成。
When one place is brought to rest and return, all six functions fail to arise.
塵垢應念銷，成圓明淨妙，
Dust and dirt vanish with each thought, and one becomes perfectly bright, pure and wondrous,
餘塵尚諸學，明極即如來。
Though remaining dust is still studied, when brightness reaches its limit, that is the Tathagata.
大眾及阿難！旋汝倒聞機，
Great assembly and Ananda! Turn your mechanism of hearing around,
反聞聞自性，性成無上道，
Turn back and hear your own nature in hearing, and the nature becomes the unsurpassed Way,
圓通實如是。此是微塵佛，
Perfect interpenetration is truly so. This is the Buddhas as numerous as dust motes,
一路涅槃門。過去諸如來，
The one road, the gate of nirvana. The Tathagatas of the past,
斯門已成就；現在諸菩薩，
Have accomplished this gate; the Bodhisattvas of the present,
今各入圓明；未來修學人，
Are now each entering perfect brightness; those who will cultivate and study in the future,
當依如是法。我亦從中證，
Should rely on this method. I too have realized it within this,
非唯觀世音。誠如佛世尊，
Not only Avalokiteshvara. Truly, as the Buddha, the World-Honored One,
詢我諸方便，以救諸末劫，
Asks me about the skillful means for saving those in the final kalpas,
求出世間人。成就涅槃心，
Who seek to leave the world. To accomplish the mind of nirvana,
觀世音為最。自餘諸方便，
Avalokiteshvara is the best. The other skillful means,
皆是佛威神。即事捨塵勞，
Are all the Buddha's majestic power. Dealing with matters, letting go of the dust of toil,
非是長修學，淺深同說法。
Are not a matter of long cultivation; shallow and deep are taught alike.
頂禮如來藏，無漏不思議，
I bow to the Tathagatagarbha, free of outflows and inconceivable,
願加被未來，於此門無惑。
May it bless the future, so that they have no doubt about this gate.
方便易成就，堪以教阿難，
The skillful means is easy to accomplish, fit to teach Ananda,
及末劫沈淪，但以此根修，
And those sunk in the final kalpas, who need only cultivate this faculty,
圓通超餘者，真實心如是。」
Perfect interpenetration surpasses the rest; this is the true mind."
於是阿難及諸大眾，身心瞭然，得大開示，觀佛菩提及大涅槃；猶如有人，因事遠遊未得歸還，明瞭其家所歸道路。普會大眾，天龍八部、有學二乘、及諸一切新發心菩薩，其數凡有十恆河沙，皆得本心，遠塵離垢，獲法眼淨。性比丘尼聞說偈已，成阿羅漢。無量眾生，皆發無等等阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。
Then Ananda and the whole great assembly became clear in body and mind, received a great revelation, and beheld the Buddha's bodhi and great nirvana; like a person who has traveled far on business and not yet returned home, and who now clearly knows the road home. The entire assembly, the devas, nagas and eight kinds of beings, the learners of the two vehicles, and all the newly aspiring Bodhisattvas, in number ten Ganges' sands in all, attained their original mind, left the dust and defilements far behind, and gained the purity of the Dharma eye. The bhikkhuni Prakriti, having heard the verse, became an arhat. Countless beings all gave rise to the mind of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (meaning "unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening," the perfect enlightenment attained by the Buddha).
阿難整衣服，於大眾中合掌頂禮。心跡圓明，悲欣交集，欲益未來諸眾生故，稽首白佛：「大悲世尊！我今已悟成佛法門，是中修行得無疑惑，常聞如來說如是言：『自未得度先度人者，菩薩發心；自覺已圓能覺他者，如來應世。』我雖未度，願度末劫一切眾生。世尊！此諸眾生去佛漸遠，邪師說法如恆河沙，欲攝其心入三摩地，云何令其安立道場，遠諸魔事？於菩提心得無退屈？」
Ananda straightened his robes, pressed his palms together and bowed in the great assembly. His mind and conduct were perfectly bright, and he felt both sorrow and joy; wishing to benefit all beings of the future, he bowed his head and said to the Buddha: "Greatly Compassionate World-Honored One! I have now awakened to the Dharma gate of attaining Buddhahood, and in this practice I have no doubt. I have often heard the Tathagata say: 'One who, not yet saved himself, first saves others is the Bodhisattva's aspiration; one whose own awakening is complete and who can awaken others is the Tathagata responding to the world.' Though I have not yet been saved, I vow to save all beings in the final kalpas. World-Honored One! These beings are gradually farther from the Buddha, and wrong teachers expounding the Dharma are as many as the Ganges' sands. If I wish to gather their minds and lead them into samadhi, how should I help them establish the place of practice and stay far from the works of demons, so that their bodhi mind does not retreat or fail?"
爾時，世尊於大眾中，稱讚阿難：「善哉！善哉！如汝所問安立道場，救護眾生末劫沈溺。汝今諦聽，當為汝說。」阿難、大眾，唯然奉教。
At that time, the World-Honored One praised Ananda in the great assembly: "Excellent! Excellent! It is as you ask, about establishing a place of practice and protecting beings sunk in the final kalpas. Listen carefully now, and I will explain it for you." Ananda and the assembly respectfully accepted the instruction.
佛告阿難：「汝常聞我毘奈耶中，宣說修行三決定義，所謂攝心為戒、因戒生定、因定發慧，是則名為三無漏學。
The Buddha said to Ananda: "You have often heard me, in my Vinaya (the monastic discipline), proclaim the three decisive principles of cultivation, namely gathering the mind is precept, from precept arises concentration, and from concentration arises wisdom; these are called the three studies free of outflows.
「阿難！云何攝心我名為戒？
(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! How do I call gathering the mind precept?
「若諸世界六道眾生，其心不婬，則不隨其生死相續。汝修三昧本出塵勞，婬心不除，塵不可出。縱有多智，禪定現前，如不斷婬，必落魔道：上品魔王，中品魔民，下品魔女。彼等諸魔亦有徒眾，各各自謂成無上道。我滅度後，末法之中多此魔民，熾盛世間。廣行貪婬，為善知識，令諸眾生落愛見坑，失菩提路。汝教世人修三摩地，先斷心婬，是名如來先佛世尊第一決定清淨明誨。
(The Buddha continued:) "If beings of the six paths in all worlds have minds free of lust, they will not follow the continuation of birth and death. You cultivate samadhi in order to leave the dust of toil, but if the lustful mind is not removed, the dust cannot be left. Even with much wisdom and with meditative concentration manifest, if lust is not cut off, one will surely fall into the path of demons: the highest grade become demon kings, the middle grade demon people, and the lowest grade demon women. Those demons also have followers, and each claims to have attained the unsurpassed Way. After my extinction, in the Dharma-ending age, there will be many such demon people flourishing in the world. They will widely practice greed and lust and pose as good teachers, causing beings to fall into the pit of craving and wrong views and lose the road to bodhi. You should teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi by first cutting off lust in the mind; this is called the first decisive, pure and clear instruction of the Tathagatas, the former Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones.
「是故阿難！若不斷婬修禪定者，如蒸沙石欲其成飯，經百千劫秖名熱沙。何以故？此非飯本，石沙成故。汝以婬身求佛妙果，縱得妙悟皆是婬根。根本成婬，輪轉三途必不能出。如來涅槃何路修證？必使婬機身心俱斷，斷性亦無；於佛菩提斯可希冀。如我此說，名為佛說；不如此說，即波旬說。
(The Buddha continued:) "Therefore, Ananda, if one does not cut off lust and cultivates meditative concentration, it is like steaming sand and stones in hope of making rice; even after a hundred thousand kalpas it is only called hot sand. Why? Because it is not the root of rice, but made of stones and sand. You seek the Buddha's wondrous fruit with a lustful body; even if you gain wondrous awakening, it is all a root of lust. With the root becoming lust, you will turn through the three evil paths and surely not escape. By what road could you cultivate and realize the Tathagata's nirvana? You must cut off the mechanism of lust in body and mind so that even the nature of cutting off does not exist; only then may you hope for the Buddha's bodhi. What I say here is called the Buddha's teaching; whoever does not say it so speaks the words of Papiyas (the demon king).
「阿難！又諸世界六道眾生，其心不殺，則不隨其生死相續。汝修三昧本出塵勞，殺心不除，塵不可出。縱有多智、禪定現前，如不斷殺，必落神道：上品之人為大力鬼，中品即為飛行夜叉、諸鬼帥等，下品當為地行羅剎。彼諸鬼神亦有徒眾，各各自謂成無上道。我滅度後末法之中，多此神鬼熾盛世間，自言食肉得菩提路。阿難！我令比丘食五淨肉，此肉皆我神力化生，本無命根。汝婆羅門地多蒸濕，加以沙石，草菜不生；我以大悲神力所加，因大慈悲假名為肉，汝得其味。奈何如來滅度之後，食眾生肉，名為釋子？汝等當知是食肉人，縱得心開似三摩地，皆大羅剎，報終必沈生死苦海，非佛弟子。如是之人，相殺、相吞、相食未已，云何是人得出三界？汝教世人修三摩地，次斷殺生；是名如來先佛世尊第二決定清淨明誨。
(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Again, if beings of the six paths in all worlds have minds free of killing, they will not follow the continuation of birth and death. You cultivate samadhi in order to leave the dust of toil, but if the mind of killing is not removed, the dust cannot be left. Even with much wisdom and with meditative concentration manifest, if killing is not cut off, one will surely fall into the path of spirits: the highest grade become mighty ghosts, the middle grade flying yakshas and ghost commanders, and the lowest grade earth-walking rakshasas. Those ghosts and spirits also have followers, and each claims to have attained the unsurpassed Way. After my extinction, in the Dharma-ending age, there will be many such spirits and ghosts flourishing in the world, saying that eating meat is a road to bodhi. Ananda! I allowed bhikkhus to eat the five kinds of pure meat, but this meat was all transformed by my spiritual power and originally had no life-root. Your land of the brahmins is hot and damp, and in addition has sand and stones, so that grass and vegetables do not grow; by the spiritual power of my great compassion I added to it, and because of great kindness it was provisionally called meat, and you obtained its taste. How can anyone, after the Tathagata's extinction, eat the flesh of beings and still be called a disciple of Shakya? You should know that those who eat meat, even if their minds open and seem like samadhi, are all great rakshasas, and when their retribution ends they will surely sink into the sea of birth-and-death suffering, and are not my disciples. Such people kill one another, devour one another and eat one another without end, so how could they leave the three realms? You should teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi by next cutting off killing; this is called the second decisive, pure and clear instruction of the Tathagatas, the former Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones.
「是故阿難！若不斷殺修禪定者，譬如有人自塞其耳，高聲大叫求人不聞，此等名為欲隱彌露。清淨比丘及諸菩薩，於岐路行不踏生草，況以手拔？云何大悲，取諸眾生血肉充食？若諸比丘不服東方絲綿絹帛，及是此土靴履裘毳、乳酪醍醐，如是比丘於世真脫，酬還宿債，不遊三界。何以故？服其身分皆為彼緣。如人食其地中百穀，足不離地。必使身心，於諸眾生若身、身分，身心二途不服不食，我說是人真解脫者。如我此說，名為佛說；不如此說，即波旬說。
(The Buddha continued:) "Therefore, Ananda, if one does not cut off killing and cultivates meditative concentration, it is like a person who plugs his own ears and shouts loudly, hoping others will not hear; this is called wishing to hide and instead revealing more. Pure bhikkhus and Bodhisattvas, walking on a forked road, do not step on living grass, so how could they pull it up with their hands? How can one with great compassion take the blood and flesh of beings to fill his stomach? If bhikkhus do not wear silk, floss or fine silk of the eastern lands, nor boots, shoes, furs and woolens of this land, nor use milk, cream, ghee and clarified butter, such bhikkhus are truly free in the world, repay their old debts, and do not wander in the three realms. Why? Wearing parts of their bodies creates a connection with them. Like a person who eats the hundred grains from the earth, his feet do not leave the earth. If, in body and mind, with regard to beings, whether their bodies or parts of their bodies, one neither wears nor eats them in both body and mind, I say this person is truly liberated. What I say here is called the Buddha's teaching; whoever does not say it so speaks the words of Papiyas.
「阿難！又復世界六道眾生，其心不偷，則不隨其生死相續。汝修三昧本出塵勞，偷心不除，塵不可出。縱有多智、禪定現前，如不斷偷，必落邪道：上品精靈，中品妖魅，下品邪人、諸魅所著。彼等群邪亦有徒眾，各各自謂成無上道。我滅度後末法之中，多此妖邪熾盛世間。潛匿姦欺，稱善知識，各自謂己得上人法。詃惑無識，恐令失心，所過之處，其家耗散。我教比丘循方乞食，令其捨貪，成菩薩道。諸比丘等不自熟食，寄於殘生，旅泊三界，示一往還去已無返。云何賊人假我衣服、禆販如來？造種種業，皆言佛法。卻非出傢俱戒比丘，為小乘道。由是疑誤無量眾生，墮無間獄。若我滅後，其有比丘發心決定修三摩提，能於如來形像之前，身然一燈，燒一指節，及於身上爇一香炷，我說是人無始宿債一時酬畢，長挹世間，永脫諸漏。雖未即明無上覺路，是人於法已決定心。若不為此捨身微因，縱成無為，必還生人酬其宿債。如我馬麥，正等無異。汝教世人修三摩地，後斷偷盜；是名如來先佛世尊第三決定清淨明誨。
(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Again, if beings of the six paths in the world have minds free of stealing, they will not follow the continuation of birth and death. You cultivate samadhi in order to leave the dust of toil, but if the mind of stealing is not removed, the dust cannot be left. Even with much wisdom and with meditative concentration manifest, if stealing is not cut off, one will surely fall into the wrong paths: the highest grade become sprites, the middle grade goblins, and the lowest grade wicked people possessed by various goblins. Those wicked groups also have followers, and each claims to have attained the unsurpassed Way. After my extinction, in the Dharma-ending age, there will be many such demons and wicked ones flourishing in the world. They secretly hide, cheat and deceive, call themselves good teachers, and each claims to have gained the dharma of superior beings. They bewilder the ignorant, frightening them into losing their minds, and wherever they pass, the family is ruined. I taught bhikkhus to go begging for food along the way so that they would give up greed and accomplish the Bodhisattva path. Bhikkhus do not cook food for themselves, but depend on leftover life, lodging in the three realms, showing that they go once and do not return. How can thieves borrow my robes and peddle the Tathagata, creating all kinds of karma while calling it all the Buddha's teaching? They are not bhikkhus who have left home and received the precepts, but follow the lesser vehicle. In this way countless beings are misled and fall into the Avici hell. After my extinction, if there is a bhikkhu who resolves firmly to cultivate samadhi and, before the image of the Tathagata, burns a lamp on his body, burns off a finger joint, or burns a stick of incense on his body, I say this person's old debts from beginningless time are repaid all at once, he bids the world a long farewell, and is forever free of all outflows. Though he has not yet at once understood the road of unsurpassed awakening, this person has already a resolute mind toward the Dharma. If not for this small cause of giving up the body, even if he accomplished the unconditioned, he would surely be reborn as a human to repay his old debts. It is just as with my eating of horse fodder and wheat, exactly the same. You should teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi by cutting off stealing in turn; this is called the third decisive, pure and clear instruction of the Tathagatas, the former Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones.
「是故阿難！若不斷偷修禪定者，譬如有人水灌漏巵，欲求其滿，縱經塵劫終無平復。若諸比丘，衣缽之餘分寸不畜，乞食餘分施餓眾生，於大集會合掌禮眾，有人捶罵同於稱讚。必使身心二俱捐捨，身肉骨血與眾生共。不將如來不了義說迴為己解，以誤初學。佛印是人，得真三昧。如我所說，名為佛說；不如此說，即波旬說。
(The Buddha continued:) "Therefore, Ananda, if one does not cut off stealing and cultivates meditative concentration, it is like a person pouring water into a leaking vessel, hoping to fill it; even after kalpas as many as dust motes it will never be filled. If bhikkhus keep not an inch beyond their robe and bowl, give the remainder of begged food to hungry beings, bow with palms joined in the great assemblies, and treat being beaten and scolded as the same as being praised, they must give up both body and mind, and share their flesh, bones and blood with beings. They do not turn the Tathagata's provisional teachings into their own interpretation, to mislead beginners. The Buddha seals such a person as having attained true samadhi. What I say here is called the Buddha's teaching; whoever does not say it so speaks the words of Papiyas."
「阿難！如是世界六道眾生，雖則身心無殺、盜、婬，三行已圓；若大妄語，即三摩提不得清淨，成愛見魔，失如來種。所謂未得謂得，未證言證，或求世間尊勝第一。謂前人言：『我今已得須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢道、辟支佛乘、十地、地前諸位菩薩。』求彼禮懺，貪其供養，是一顛迦，銷滅佛種。如人以刀斷多羅木，佛記是人永殞善根，無復知見，沈三苦海，不成三昧。我滅度後，勅諸菩薩及阿羅漢，應身生彼末法之中，作種種形度諸輪轉——或作沙門、白衣居士、人王、宰官、童男、童女，如是乃至婬女、寡婦、姦偷、屠販——與其同事稱歎佛乘，令其身心入三摩地，終不自言『我真菩薩、真阿羅漢』，洩佛密因，輕言未學；唯除命終，陰有遺付。云何是人惑亂眾生，成大妄語？汝教世人修三摩地，後復斷除諸大妄語，是名如來先佛世尊第四決定清淨明誨。
(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Thus, beings of the six paths in the world, though in body and mind they do not kill, steal or indulge in lust, and the three practices are complete, still, if they tell a great lie, their samadhi cannot be pure, they become demons of craving and wrong views, and lose the Tathagata's seed. This means saying one has attained what one has not, claiming realization when one has not realized it, or seeking to be honored as foremost in the world. They say to others: 'I have now attained the fruit of stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner, the arhat path, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, the ten grounds, or the ranks of Bodhisattvas before the grounds.' They seek others' bows and repentance and covet their offerings; this is an icchantika, who destroys the Buddha seed. Like a person who cuts down a tala tree with a knife, the Buddha predicts that this person will forever lose the roots of goodness, have no more right view, sink into the three seas of suffering, and not achieve samadhi. After my extinction, I command Bodhisattvas and arhats to appear in bodily form in that Dharma-ending age and take all kinds of forms to save those in transmigration: some as shramanas, some as lay householders, as kings, officials, boys, girls, and even as prostitutes, widows, thieves and butchers. They join them in their affairs and praise the Buddha vehicle, leading their bodies and minds into samadhi, but never say of themselves 'I am a true Bodhisattva, a true arhat,' revealing the Buddha's secret cause or speaking lightly to the unlearned; except at the end of life, when they leave a secret bequest. How could such a person bewilder beings and commit a great lie? You should teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi and then cut off all great lies; this is called the fourth decisive, pure and clear instruction of the Tathagatas, the former Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones.
「是故阿難！若不斷其大妄語者，如刻人糞為栴檀形，欲求香氣無有是處。我教比丘直心道場，於四威儀一切行中尚無虛假，云何自稱得上人法？譬如窮人妄號帝王，自取誅滅。況復法王，如何妄竊？因地不直，果招紆曲。求佛菩提，如噬臍人慾誰成就？若諸比丘心如直絃，一切真實，入三摩提永無魔事。我印是人，成就菩薩無上知覺。如我是說，名為佛說；不如此說，即波旬說。
(The Buddha continued:) "Therefore, Ananda, if one does not cut off great lies, it is like carving human excrement into the shape of sandalwood and hoping for fragrance; there is no such possibility. I teach bhikkhus to make straightforwardness of mind their place of practice, with no falseness in the four deportments or any conduct; how can they claim to have attained the dharma of superior beings? It is like a poor man falsely claiming to be an emperor, who brings about his own execution. How much more so the King of the Dharma; how can he be falsely usurped? If the causal ground is not straight, the fruit will be crooked and twisted. To seek the Buddha's bodhi in such a way is like biting one's own navel; who can accomplish it? If bhikkhus have minds as straight as a bowstring, and everything is true, they will have no demonic troubles in samadhi. I seal such a person as achieving the Bodhisattva's unsurpassed awakening. What I say here is called the Buddha's teaching; whoever does not say it so speaks the words of Papiyas."