Category Archives: The Śūrańgama Sūtra

The Surangama Mantra

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda bowed at the Buddha’s feet and said, “After I left the home-life, I relied on the Buddha’s affectionate regard. Because I sought erudition, I still have not been certified to the unconditioned. read more

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Dharma Tools for Silencing the Skandhic Demons

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Vajragoni

Of course the most meritorious means for dispelling the effects of the Skandhic Demons is The Heart Sutra. Chanted daily by millions in the Buddhist milieu it serves as a mantra that diurnally reminds one of the efficaciousness of the very heart of Noble Wisdom: read more

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The Demons of Mortal Consciousness

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda, when that good person, in cultivating samadhi, has put an end to the formations skandha, the subtle, fleeting fluctuations – the deep, imperceptible, pivotal source and the common foundation from which all life in the world springs – are suddenly obliterated. In the submerged network of the retributive karma of the pudgala, the karmic resonances are interrupted. read more

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The Demons of Volition

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda, when the good person who is cultivating samadhi has put an end to the thinking skandha, he is ordinarily free of dreaming and idle thinking, so he stays the same whether in wakefulness or in sleep. His mind is aware, clear, empty, and still, like a cloudless sky, devoid of any coarse sense impressions. He contemplates everything in the world – the mountains, the rivers, and the earth – as reflections in a mirror, appearing without attachment and vanishing without any trace; they are simply received and reflected. He does away with all his old habits, and only the essential truth remains. read more

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The Demons of Thought

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda, when the good person who is cultivating samadhi has put an end to the feeling skandha, although he has not achieved freedom from outflows, his mind can leave his body the way a bird escapes from a cage. From within his ordinary body, he already has the potential for ascending through the Bodhisattvas’ sixty levels of sagehood. He is now able to use his mind to create a spiritual-body and can roam freely without obstruction. read more

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The Demons of Sensation

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Vajragoni

“Ananda, when the good person who is cultivating samadhi and shamatha has put an end to the form skandha, he can see the mind of all Buddhas as if seeing an image reflected in a clear mirror. read more

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The Demons of Form

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Vajragoni

 

“Ananda, you should know that as a cultivator sits in the Bodhimanda, he is doing away with all thoughts. When his thoughts come to an end, there will be nothing on his mind. This state of pure clarity will stay the same whether in movement or stillness, in remembrance or forgetfulness. read more

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They’re Here….

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Vajragoni

At that time, the Tathagata was preparing to leave the Dharma seat. From the lion throne, he extended his hand and placed it on a small table wrought of the seven precious things. But then he turned his body, which was the color of purple golden mountains, and leaned back, saying to everyone in the assembly and to Ananda: “Those of you with More to Learn, those Enlightened by Conditions, and those who are Hearers have now turned your minds to pursue the attainment of supreme Bodhi the unsurpassed, wonderful enlightenment. I have already taught you the true method of cultivation. read more

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Sans Skandhas, Part 2

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Vajragoni

In the Sutra, Ānanda continues to equate Mind’s essence with transient discrepancies. The Tathagata even jokingly says at one point, “Now where is it???” Ānanda actually goes through “seven locations” wherein Mind can be positioned until he reaches the logical end of assuming that Mind is equivalent of total “non-attachment” to anything in the created order of existence; the Tathagata here as well, shatters his last assumption, indicating that in itself, non-attachment is equivalent to being separate from some-thing that apparently exists within the scope of the skandhic hemisphere, and hence has some kind of solid location. All in all, any form of temporal “location” is skandhic-dependent. The Pure Dharma-Mind is not dependent upon any temporal and environmental “dharmas”, but rather radiates from the imageless plane of the Dharmatā—or the deathless and Luminous Realm of the Dharmakaya.  Ānanda was relying exclusively upon the Skandhic-Mind, thus being sequestered in the dark forest of illusions and isolating himself from the unsoiled Realization of the Nirvanic Mind. read more

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Sans Skandhas, Part 1

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Vajragoni

In the midst of the great assembly, the World Honored One then extended his golden arm, rubbed Ananda’s crown, and said to Ananda and the great assembly, “There is a samadhi called the King of the Foremost Shurangama at the Great Buddha’s Summit Replete with the Myriad Practices; it is a path wonderfully adorned and the single door through which the Tathagatas of the ten directions gained transcendence. You should now listen attentively.” Ananda bowed down to receive the compassionate instruction humbly. read more

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