Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra
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The Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra (
History
The Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra was translated from the Sanskrit into Chinese by Kumārajīva probably between 402 and 409 C.E.[1] Sengyou's sutra catalogue entitled Chu sanzang ji ji (出三藏記集), which was produced in 515 CE, credits Lokakṣema with first translating this text considerably earlier in the 2nd century C.E.; however, it was already considered lost at the time of Sengyou's work. It was later translated into Tibetan by Sakyaprabha and Ratnaraksita at the beginning of the 9th century.[1]
Contents
The nature of the Buddha
Professor Lamotte describes the nature of the Buddha in this sutra as follows:
This is Sakyamuni in Heroic Progress, a pure ray of wisdom and power, who manifests himself simultaneously in our little universe of four continents, in the Great Cosmos ... and in all the great cosmic systems ...; there, he is some divinity .... He is the same as the Buddha Vairocana.[2]
Powers of the Buddha
The sutra describes the 100 powers and abilities which the
Amongst the wonders which the Buddha can perform whilst in this state of Śūraṅgama Samādhi are:
- The projection or conjuration of 84,000 other Buddhas, identical replicas of himself and equally real[3]
- Complete purification of individual mind and ability to purify the mind of others
- Universal omniscience
- True knowledge regarding the mechanism of cause and effect without mental obstruction
- Knowledge regarding the dissipation of mental defilement, such as anger and lust
- Elimination of unnecessary mental activity and complete elimination of defilements
- Harmonious renunciation of worldly life
- Being able to access and understand different existential forms
- Being able to change sex at will without mental confusion
- Always knowing the right moral path to proceed
- Placing immense Buddha Paradises (universes) into a single pore of the skin
- Always presiding over the superknowledges (abhijna)
- Always emitting rays of light over all universes without exception
- Being able to speak and understand all languages of all universes
- Completely avoiding all evil paths
- Possessing a knowledge which is profound and unfathomable[4]
Knowledge of the Dharmadhatu
Part of that profound and unfathomable knowledge is that all
A bodhisattva knows that all dharmas rest eternally on the fundamental element (dharmadhatu) without coming or going.[5]
Attributes of a Buddha
The Buddha remarks in the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra that any being who cultivates this samadhi will be able to know through pratyatmajnanam, "through personal experience,"[6] through knowing directly within oneself, all the attributes of a buddha.[6]
Amongst those attributes is sovereignty over all humans and gods. The Buddha states of great bodhisattvas and buddhas who possess this samadhi:
They possess sovereignty over all the gods and mankind, but do not fall into pride.[7]
A bodhisattva who is immersed in this samadhi also rises beyond birth and death. The Buddha comments:
He appears to die, but he is beyond birth, death and passing on.[8]
Blessings
Even the writing down, studying and teaching of this Śūraṅgama Samādhi by a master of Dharma will bestow immense blessings, twenty in number. These include:
- Inconceivable knowledge and wisdom,
- Inconceivable vision of all the buddhas, and
- Inconceivable virtues and sovereign powers.[9]
One of these powers is demonstrated by the future Buddha, Maitreya, who transforms himself into innumerable different types of leading spiritual personages in countless world-systems at the same time.
Commenting on the great qualities of those such as Maitreya who preside over the Śūraṅgama Samādhi, a whole host of great Bodhisattvas declare in the presence of the Buddha:
Bhagavat [Blessed One], just as gold, even if it has gone through the forge, never loses its self-nature [svabhava - essential nature], so these great Satpurusas [True Beings], wherever they may go, manifest everywhere their natures of inconceivable qualities.[10]
Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
This particular samadhi is equally praised in the
The Buddha also comments that the Śūraṅgama Samādhi additionally goes under several other names, specifically:
- Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom)
- Vajra Samadhi (Diamond Samadhi)
- Simhanada Samadhi (Lion's Roar samadhi)
- Buddhasvabhava (Buddha essence).[11]
References
- ^ a b c Lamotte 1998, p. 1.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 3-4.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 4.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 121-125.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 130.
- ^ a b Lamotte 1998, p. 240.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 113.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 131.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 238-239.
- ^ Lamotte 1998, p. 227-228.
- ^ a b Lamotte 1998, p. 36.
Sources
- Curzon Press
- Harrison, Paul; McRae, John, trans. (1998). The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sutra and the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sutra, Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 1-886439-06-0
External links
- Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, The Concentration of Heroic Progress: An Early Mahayana Buddhist Scripture at the Internet Archive
- An English translation by 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha