Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Not to be confused with Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra.

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Chinese: 首楞嚴經; pinyin: Shou-leng-yen ching, Sūtra of the Heroic March) (Taisho no. 945) is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra that has been especially influential on Korean Buddhism (where it remains a major subject of study in Sŏn monasteries) and Chinese Buddhism (where it was a regular part of daily liturgy during the Song).^[1][2][3] It was particularly important for Zen/Chan Buddhism.^[3] The doctrinal outlook of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is that of Buddha-nature, Yogacara thought, and esoteric Buddhism.

Chinese edition of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, 1401 CE.

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra was widely accepted as a sutra in East Asian Buddhism, where it has traditionally been included as part of Chinese-language Tripitakas. In the modern Taisho Tripitaka, it is placed in the Esoteric Sutra category (密教部).^[4] The sutra's Śūraṅgama Mantra is widely recited in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam as part of temple liturgies.^[5][6]

Most modern academic scholars (including Mochizuki Shinko, Paul Demieville, Kim Chin-yol, Lü Cheng 呂澂, Charles Muller and Kogen Mizuno), argue that the sutra is a Chinese apocryphal text that was composed in literary Chinese and reveals uniquely Chinese philosophical concerns.^[3][1] However, some scholars such as Ron Epstein argue that the text is a compilation of Indic materials with extensive editing in China.^[7]

The sutra was translated into Tibetan during the late eighth to early ninth century and other complete translations exist in Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu languages (see Translations).

Title

Śūraṅgama means "heroic valour",^[8] "heroic progress", or "heroic march" in Sanskrit. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra is not to be confused with the similarly titled Śūraṅgama Samadhi Sutra (T. 642 首楞嚴三昧經; Shǒuléngyán Sānmèi Jīng) which was translated by Kumārajīva (344-413).

The complete title preserved in Chinese 大佛頂如來密因修證了義諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經 means:

The Sūtra on the Śūraṅgama Mantra that is spoken from above the Crown of the Great Buddha's Head and on the Hidden Basis of the Tathagata's Myriad Bodhisattva Practices that lead to their Verifications of Ultimate Truth.^[9]

An alternate translation of the title reads:

The Sutra of the Foremost Shurangama at the Great Buddha's Summit Concerning the Tathagata's Secret Cause of Cultivation His Certification to the Complete Meaning and Bodhisattvas' Myriad Practices^[10]

The title in different languages

A common translation of the sutra's name in English is the "Heroic March sutra" (as used e.g. by Matthew Kapstein, Norman Waddell, and Andy Ferguson), or the "scripture of the Heroic Progress" (as used e.g. by Thomas Cleary). The Sanskrit title preserved in the Chinese Tripitaka is Mahābuddhoṣṇīṣa-tathāgataguhyahetu-sākṣātkṛta-prasannārtha-sarvabodhisattvacaryā-śūraṅgama-sūtra, rendered by Hsuan Hua as "Sutra of the Foremost Shurangama at the Great Buddha's Summit Concerning the Tathagata's Secret Cause of Cultivation, His Certification to Complete Meaning and All Bodhisattva's Myriad Practices".

The full title of the sutra also appears as traditional Chinese: 大佛頂如來密因修證了義諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經; ; pinyin: Dà Fódǐng Rúlái Mìyīn Xiūzhèng Liǎoyì Zhū Púsà Wànxíng Shǒuléngyán jīng; Korean: 대불정여래밀인수증료의제보살만행수릉엄경; Vietnamese: Đại Phật đỉnh Như Lai mật nhân tu chứng liễu nghĩa chư Bồ Tát vạn hạnh thủ-lăng-nghiêm kinh.

It is also known by abbreviated versions of the title such as traditional Chinese: 大佛頂首楞嚴經; ; pinyin: Dà Fódǐng Shǒuléngyán jīng; Korean: 대불정수릉엄경; Vietnamese: Đại Phật Đảnh Thủ-Lăng-Nghiêm Kinh or simply and more commonly traditional Chinese: 楞嚴經; ; pinyin: Léngyán jīng; Korean: 릉엄경; Vietnamese: Lăng-Nghiêm Kinh.

Authorship

An original Sanskrit version of Śūraṅgama Sūtra is not known to be extant and the Indic provenance of the text is in question - it is arguably apocryphal. A Sanskrit language palm leaf manuscript consisting of 226 leaves with 6 leaves missing which according to the introduction "contains the Śūraṅgama Sūtra" was discovered in a temple in China and now resides at Peng Xuefeng Memorial Museum. But scholars have not yet verified if this is the same text or some other sutra (like the Śūraṅgama Samadhi Sūtra).^[11]

The first catalogue that recorded the Śūraṅgama Sūtra was Zhisheng (Chinese: 智昇), a monk in Tang China. Zhisheng said this book was brought back from Guangxi to Luoyang during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He gave two different accounts in two different books, both of which were published in 730 CE.

1. According to the first account found in The Kaiyuan Era Catalog of the Buddhist Tripitaka (Chinese: 開元釋教錄) the Śūraṅgama Sūtra was translated in 713 CE by a Ven. Master Huai Di (Chinese: 懷迪) and an unnamed Indian monk.^[a][b]
2. According to the second account, in his later book Continuation to the History of the Translation of Buddhist Sutras Mural Record (續古今譯經圖記), the Śūraṅgama Sūtra was translated in May 705 CE by Śramaṇa Pāramiti from central India, who came to China and brought the text to the province of Guangzhou. The text was then polished and edited by Empress Wu Zetian's former minister, court regulator, and state censor Fang Yong (Chinese: 房融) of Qingho.^[c] The translation was reviewed by Śramaṇa Meghaśikha from Oḍḍiyāna, and certified by Śramaṇa Huai-di (Chinese: 懷迪) of Nanlou Monastery (南樓寺) on Mount Luofu (羅浮山).^[d]

Traditional views

Traditionally there have been questions regarding the translation of this sutra as it was not sponsored by the Imperial Chinese Court and as such the records regarding its translation in the early eighth century were not carefully preserved. However, it has never been classified as apocrypha in any Chinese-language Tripitakas including the Taisho Tripitaka where it is placed in the Esoteric Sutra category (密教部).^[4]

Dispute about this text arose in 8th century in Japan, so Emperor Kōnin sent Master Tokusei (Hanyu Pinyin: Deqing; Japanese: 徳清) and a group of monks to China, asking whether this book was a forgery or not. A Chinese upasaka or layperson told the head monk of the Japanese monastic delegation, Master Tokusei that this was forged by Fang Yong.^[e] Zhu Xi, a 12th-century Neo-confucian who was opposed to Buddhism, believed that it was created during the Tang Dynasty in China, and did not come from India.^[7]

The Qianlong Emperor and the Third Changkya Khutukhtu, the traditional head tulku of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia, believed in the authenticity of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra.^[12] They later translated the Śūraṅgama Sūtra into the Manchu language, Mongolian and Tibetan. (see translations)

In favor of full Chinese composition

Hurvitz claims that the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is "a Chinese forgery".^[13] Faure similarly claims that it is "apocryphal."^[14]

In China during the early modern era, the reformist Liang Qichao claimed that the sutra is apocryphal, writing, "The real Buddhist scriptures would not say things like Surangama Sutra, so we know the Surangama Sutra is apocryphal.^[f] In the same era, Lü Cheng (Chinese: 呂澂) wrote an essay to claim that the book is apocryphal, named "One hundred reasons about why Shurangama Sutra is apocryphal" (Chinese: 楞嚴百偽).^[1]

According to James Benn, the Japanese scholar Mochizuki Shinko's (1869-1948) Bukkyo kyoten seiritsu shiron "showed how many of the text's doctrinal elements may be traced to sources that already existed in China at the beginning of the eighth century, and he also described he early controversy surrounding the text in Japan."^[1]

Charles Muller and Kogen Mizuno also hold that this sutra is apocryphal (and is similar to other apocryphal Chinese sutras). According to Muller, "even a brief glance" through these apocryphal works "by someone familiar with both indigenous sinitic philosophy and the Indian Mahāyāna textual corpus yields the recognition of themes, terms and concepts from indigenous traditions playing a dominant role in the text, to an extent which makes it obvious that they must have been written in East Asia."^[3] He also notes that apocryphal works like the Śūraṅgama contain terms that were only used in East Asia:

...such as innate enlightenment (本覺 pen-chüeh) and actualized enlightenment (始覺 chih-chüeh) and other terms connected with the discourse of the tathāgatagarbha-ālayavijñāna problematik (the debate as to whether the human mind is, at its most fundamental level, pure or impure) appear in such number that the difference from the bona fide translations from Indic languages is obvious. Furthermore, the entire discourse of innate/actualized enlightenment and tathāgatagarbha-ālayavijñāna opposition can be seen as strongly reflecting a Chinese philosophical obsession dating back to at least the time of Mencius, when Mencius entered into debate with Kao-tzu on the original purity of the mind. The indigenous provenance of such texts is also indicated by their clear influence and borrowing from other current popular East Asian works, whether or not these other works were Indian or East Asian composition.^[3]

Muller also writes that the Śūraṅgama shows evidence of being influenced by the metaphysical framework of the Ch'i-hsin lun (Awakening of Faith), another apocryphal treatise composed in China.^[3]

James A. Benn notes that the Śūraṅgama also "shares some notable similarities with another scripture composed in China and dating to the same period", that is, the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment.^[1] Indeed, Benn states that "One might regard the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, which has only one fascicle, as opposed to the Śūraṅgama's ten, as a precis of the essential points of the Śūraṅgama."^[1] Benn points out several passages which present uniquely Chinese understandings of animal life and natural phenomena that are without Indic precedent (such as the "Jelly fish with shrimp for eyes" and the "wasps, which take the larvae of other insects as their own") but that are found in earlier Chinese literature.^[1]

James A. Benn also notes how the Śūraṅgama even borrows ideas that are mostly found in Taoist sources (such as the Baopuzi), such as the idea that there are ten types of "immortals" (仙 xiān) in a realm located between the deva realm and the human realm. The qualities of these immortals include common ideas found in Taoism, such as their "ingestion of metals and minerals" and the practice of "movement and stillness"(dongzhi, which is related to daoyin).^[1] Benn argues that the Śūraṅgama's "taxonomy" of immortals was "clearly derived" from Taoist literature.^[1] In a similar fashion, the Śūraṅgama's "ten types of demons" (鬼 gui), are also influenced by Taoist and Confucian sources.^[1]

After the critiques of the Śūraṅgama from Lyu Cheng and Liang Qichao, Shi Minsheng (釋愍生) established a rigorous response to them, criticizing the misinterpretations that both Lyu and Liang made for understanding the Śūraṅgama. In Shi Minsheng's Arguments Against Lyu Cheng'critiques (辯破楞嚴百偽)^[15],Shi Minsheng listed 100 arguments that corresponded to Lyu Cheng's 100 critiques, showing accurate evidence that is traceable in Buddhist scriptures.

In favor of the sutra being based on Indian originals

Ron Epstein gives an overview of the arguments for Indian or Chinese origin, and concludes:^[7]

Preliminary analysis of the internal evidence then indicates that the Sutra is probably a compilation of Indic materials that may have had a long literary history. It should be noted though, that for a compilation, which is also how the Sutra is treated by some traditional commentators, the Sutra has an intricate beauty of structure that is not particularly Chinese and which shines through and can clearly be distinguished from the Classical Chinese syntax, on which attention has usually been centered. Thus one of the difficulties with the theory that the Sutra is apocryphal is that it would be difficult to find an author who could plausibly be held accountable for both structure and language and who would also be familiar with the doctrinal intricacies that the Sutra presents. Therefore, it seems likely that the origin of the great bulk of material in the Sutra is Indic, though it is obvious that the text was edited in China. However, a great deal of further, systematic research will be necessary to bring to light all the details of the text's rather complicated construction.

A number of scholars have associated the Śūraṅgama Sūtra with the Buddhist tradition at Nālandā.^[16][17]

Epstein thinks that certain passages in the sutra do show Chinese influence, such as the section on the Taoist immortals, but he thinks that this "could easily represent an adaptive Chinese translation of Buddhist tantric ideas. The whole area of the doctrinal relationship between the Taoist nei-tan, or so-called "inner alchemy", and early Buddhist tantra is a murky one, and until we know more about both, the issue probably cannot be resolved adequately."^[7] Epstein further writes regarding uniquely Chinese influences found in the text: "As to things Chinese, there are various short references to them scattered throughout the text, but, just as well as indicating the work's Chinese origin, they also could be an indication of a translation style of substitution of parallel items, which would fit right in with the highly literary Chinese phraseology."^[7]

In arguing for an Indic origin, Epstein gives three main reasons:

1. He argues many Sanskrit terms which appear in the text, "including some not often found in other Chinese translations. Moreover, the transliteration system does not seem to follow that of other works."^[7]
2. Epstein also notes that the general doctrinal position of the sūtra (tantric tathagatagarbha teachings) does indeed correspond to what is known about the Buddhist teachings at Nālandā during this period.^[7]
3. Large sections "definitely seem to contain Indic materials. Some passages could conceivably have been constructed from texts already translated into Chinese, although given the bulk and complexity of the material, to account for much of the text in that way would mean that the task of authorship would have had to have been an enormous one. About other portions of the work, such as the bodhimanda and mantra, there can be no doubt about their direct Indic origin."^[7]

Similarly, Rounds argues for an Indic source by pointing out "two indisputably Indian elements" in the sutra: the text's reliance on the Buddhist science of reasoning (hetuvidya) and the Śūraṅgama mantra.^[18]

Non-Chinese Translations

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra was translated into Tibetan probably during the late eighth to early ninth century.^[19][20][21] However possibly because of the persecution of Buddhism during King Langdarma's reign (ca. 840-841), only a portion of Scroll 9 and Scroll 10 of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra are preserved in the surviving two ancient texts.^[22][23][24] Buton Rinchen Drub Rinpoche mentioned that one of the two texts was probably translated from Chinese; thereby suggesting the second text may have possibly been translated from another language.^[25]

The entire Śūraṅgama Sūtra was translated in 1763 from Han Chinese into the Manchu language, Mongolian and Tibetan languages and compiled into a four language set at the command of the Qianlong Emperor.^[26][27] The third Changkya Khutukhtu Rölpé Dorjé or 若必多吉 or Lalitavajra (1716–1786) convinced the Qianlong Emperor to engage in the translation.^[28] The third Changkya Khutukhtu supervised (and verified) with the help of Fu Nai the translation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra.^[29][30] The complete translation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra into Tibetan is found in a supplement to the Narthang Kangyur.^[31][32]

English translations

There are a few English translations:

• The Surangama Sutra, published in A Buddhist Bible, translated by Dwight Goddard and Bhikshu Wai-tao.
• Charles Luk, 1967, Shurangama Sutra
• The Shurangama Sutra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua. Volumes 1 to 8. Buddhist Translation Society, 2nd edition (October 2003).
• Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, A New Translation, p. 267. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org.

Teachings

 

Stele with words from Shurangama Mantra, Beijing Rock Carving Art Museum

Doctrinal orientation

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra contains teachings from Yogācāra, Buddha-nature, and Vajrayana.^[7][33] It makes use of Buddhist logic with its methods of syllogism and the catuṣkoṭi "fourfold negation" first popularized by Nāgārjuna.^[34]

Main themes

One of the main themes of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is how knowledge of the Buddha's teaching (Dharma) is worthless unless it is coupled with the power of samādhi (meditative absorption), as well as the importance of moral precepts as a foundation for the Buddhist practice.^[7] Also stressed is the theme of how one effectively combats delusions and demonic influences that may arise during meditation.^[7][g]

According to Ron Epstein, a key theme of the sutra is the "two types of mind", furthermore, "also contained in the work are a discussion of meditational methodology in terms of the importance of picking the proper faculty (indriya) as a vehicle for meditation, instructions for the construction of a tantric bodhimanda, a long mantra, a description of fifty-seven Bodhisattva stages, a description of the karmic relationship among the destinies (gati), or paths of rebirth, and an enumeration of fifty demonic states encountered on the path."^[7]

Ron Epstein and David Rounds have suggested that the major themes of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra reflect the strains upon Indian Buddhism during the time of its creation.^[36] They cite the resurgence of non-Buddhist religions, and the crumbling social supports for monastic Buddhist institutions. This era also saw the emergence of Hindu tantrism and the beginnings of Esoteric Buddhism and the siddha traditions.^[36] They propose that moral challenges and general confusion about Buddhism are said to have then given rise to the themes of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, such as clear understanding of principles, moral discipline, essential Buddhist cosmology, development of samādhi, and how to avoid falling into various delusions in meditation.^[36]

Two types of mind

A key theme found in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is the distinction between the true mind and the discriminating mind.^[18] The discriminating worldly mind is the ordinary quotidian mind that becomes entangled in rebirth, thinking, change and illusion. But, according to the Śūraṅgama, there is also "an everlasting true mind, which is our real nature, and which is the state of the Buddha."^[18] According to the Śūraṅgama, the worldly mind "is the mind that is the basis of death and rebirth and that has continued for the entirety of time...dependent upon perceived objects."^[18]

This worldly mind is mistaken by sentient beings as being their true nature. Meanwhile, the "pure enlightened mind" is the underlying nature of all dharmas (phenomena). It is the ultimate reality which is also enlightenment, which has no beginning. It is the original and pure essence of nirvana.^[18] The true awakened mind is an unchanging awareness that remains still and independent of all sense objects, even while the discriminating mind changes.^[18] The pure mind then is the essential nature of awareness, not the ordinary awareness which is distorted and diseased.^[18]

This theme of the everlasting true mind which is contrasted with the samsaric mind is also a common theme of the Mahayana Awakening of Faith treatise.^[3]

Buddha-nature

The "everlasting true mind" is associated with the Mahayana teaching of tathāgatagarbha or buddha-nature. Rounds and Epstein explain the Śūraṅgama's conception of the tathāgatagarbha, the "Matrix of the Thus Come One", as follows:^[37]

Fundamentally, everything that comes and goes, that comes into being and ceases to be, is within the true nature of the Matrix of the Thus-Come One, which is the wondrous, everlasting understanding — the unmoving, all-pervading, wondrous suchness of reality.

[The Buddha] shows one by one that each of the elements of the physical world and each of the elements of our sensory apparatus is, fundamentally, an illusion. But at the same time, these illusory entities and experiences arise out of what is real. That matrix from which all is produced is the Matrix of the Thus-Come One. It is identical to our own true mind and identical as well to the fundamental nature of the universe and to the mind of all Buddhas.

Thus, according to the Śūraṅgama Sūtra the "buddha-womb" or "buddha-essence" is source of mind and world.^[18] This buddha nature is originally pure enlightenment, however, due to the deluded development of a subject-object separation, the whole world of birth and death arises.^[18]

Meditation practices

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra teaches about the Śūraṅgama Samādhi (the "meditative absorption of the heroic march"), which is associated with complete enlightenment and Buddhahood. This samādhi is also featured extensively in the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra. It is equally praised in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, where it is explained by the Buddha that this samādhi is the essence of the nature of the Buddha and is indeed the "mother of all Buddhas."^[38] The Buddha also comments that the Śūraṅgama Samādhi additionally goes under several other names, specifically Prajñāpāramitā ("Perfection of Wisdom"), the Vajra Samādhi, the Siṃhanāda Samādhi ("Lion's Roar Samādhi"), and the Buddha-svabhāva.^[38]

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra contains various explanations of specific meditation practices which help one cultivate samadhi, including a famous passage in which twenty five sages discuss twenty five methods of practice. The main intent of these various methods is to detach one's awareness of all sense objects and to direct awareness inward, to the fundamental true nature. This leads to the experience of the disappearance of everything and finally to illumination.^[18]

The most well known part of this passage is the meditation taught by bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the last of these sages to teach. Avalokiteshvara describes their method as follows:^[39]

I began with a practice based on the enlightened nature of hearing. First I redirected my hearing inward in order to enter the current of the sages. Then external sounds disappeared. With the direction of my hearing reversed and with sounds stilled, both sounds and silence ceased to arise. So it was that, as I gradually progressed, what I heard and my awareness of what I heard came to an end. Even when that state of mind in which everything had come to an end disappeared, I did not rest. My awareness and the objects of my awareness were emptied, and when that process of emptying my awareness was wholly complete, then even that emptying and what had been emptied vanished. Coming into being and ceasing to be themselves ceased to be. Then the ultimate stillness was revealed. All of a sudden I transcended the worlds of ordinary beings, and I also transcended the worlds of beings who have transcended the ordinary worlds. Everything in the ten directions was fully illuminated, and I gained two remarkable powers. First, my mind ascended to unite with the fundamental, wondrous, enlightened mind of all Buddhas in all ten directions, and my power of compassion became the same as theirs. Second, my mind descended to unite with all beings of the six destinies in all ten directions such that I felt their sorrows and their prayerful yearnings as my own. World-Honored One, because I had made offerings to the Thus-Come One Who Hears the Cries of the World, I received from that Thus-Come One a hidden transmission of a vajra-like samādhi such that my power of compassion became the same as the Buddhas'. I was then able to go to all lands and appear in thirty-two forms that respond to what beings require

Ethics and traditional practices

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra also focuses on the necessity of keeping traditional ethical precepts, especially the five precepts and the monastic vinaya.^[40][41][42] These precepts are said to be the basis to samadhi which in turn leads to wisdom.^[43][44] The Buddha describes the precepts as clear and unalterable instruction on purity which transverse time and place. If one breaks them (by killing, stealing, lying etc.) one will never reach enlightenment, no matter how much one meditates.^[45][18]

Indeed, according to the Śūraṅgama:

No matter how much you may practice samādhi in order to transcend the stress of entanglement with perceived objects, you will never transcend that stress until you have freed yourself from thoughts of killing. Even very intelligent people who can enter samādhi while practicing meditation in stillness are certain to fall into the realm of ghosts and spirits upon their rebirth if they have not renounced all killing.^[46]

Similarly, the sutra also claims that unless one frees oneself from sensual desire, sexual activity, meat eating (which it associated with killing), stealing or lying, one will not reach enlightenment.^[18][47] According to the Śūraṅgama, even though one may have some wisdom and meditative absorption, one is certain to enter bad rebirths, even the hells, if one does not cease lust, killing, stealing and making false claims.^[47]

The Śūraṅgama also warns against heterodox teachers who practice meditation without being properly prepared and then fall under the influence of demons. These teachers then begin to spout heterodoxies, such as the idea that practitioners should stop revering stupas and temples, wishing to destroy sutras and Buddha statues and engaging in sex while saying that "the male and female organs are the true abodes of bodhi and nirvana".^[1] James A. Benn notes that the first teaching may be a reference to certain radical Chan masters of the time, while the second one may refer to certain esoteric Buddhist practices which made use of ritual sex.^[1]

Diet, lifestyle and ascetic practice

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra argues for strict dietary rules, including vegetarianism and the avoidance of the five pungent roots (radish, leek, onion, garlic, asafoetida).^[1] The sutra argues that these dietary choices "drive away bodhisattvas, gods, and xian [immortals], who protect the practitioner in this life, and attracts instead hungry ghosts."^[1] The sutra also states that eating meat can have dire consequences:

You should know that those who eat meat, although their minds maybe opened and realize a semblance of samadhi, will become great raksasas (demons). When that retribution is over, they will sink back into the bitter ocean of samsara and will not be able to be disciples of the Buddha.^[1]

The Śūraṅgama goes even further with its ascetic injunctions, recommending the avoidance of animal products such as silk, leather, furs, milk, cream, and butter and arguing that this abstention can be a cause of enlightenment:^[1]

Bodhisattvas and pure monks walking on country paths will not even tread on living grasses, much less uproot them. How then can it be compassionate to gorge on other beings' blood and flesh? Monks who will not wear silks from the East, whether coarse or fine; who will not wear shoes or boots of leather, nor furs, nor birds' down from our own country; and who will not consume milk, curds, or ghee, have truly freed themselves from the world. When they have paid their debts from previous lives, they will roam no longer through the three realms. "Why? To wear parts of a being's body is to involve one's karma with that being, just as people have become bound to this earth by eating vegetables and grains. I can affirm that a person who neither eats the flesh of other beings nor wears any part of the bodies of other beings, nor even thinks of eating or wearing these things, is a person who will gain liberation.^[48]

The sutra also teaches the practice of the burning of the body as an offering to the Buddhas.^[1]

The White Parasol Crown Dhāraṇī

 

A statue of Usnisasitatapatra, the protective deity of the Śūraṅgama Mantra, Inner Mongolia. 18th century

 

Illustration of the Śūraṅgama Mantra's "Heart Mantra" (hṛdaya): Oṃ anale anale viśade viśade vīra vajradhare bandha bandhani vajrapāṇi phaṭ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā.

In addition to the sūtra's doctrinal content, it also contains a long dhāraṇī (chant, incantation) which is known in Chinese as the Léngyán Zhòu (楞嚴咒), or Śūraṅgama Mantra. It is well-known and popularly chanted in East Asian Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the dhāraṇī is known as the Sitātapatra Uṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇī (Ch. 大白傘蓋陀羅尼). This is sometimes simplified in English to White Canopy Dhāraṇī or White Parasol Dhāraṇī. In Tibetan traditions, the English is instead sometimes rendered as the "White Umbrella Mantra." The dhāraṇī is extant in three other translations found in the Chinese Buddhist canon^[h], and is also preserved in Sanskrit and Tibetan.

This dhāraṇī is often seen as having magical apotropaic powers, as it is associated with the deity Sitātapatra, a protector against supernatural dangers and evil beings.^[49] The Śūraṅgama Sūtra also states that the dhāraṇī can be used as an expedient means to enter into the Śūraṅgama samadhi.^[18] According to Rounds, the sutra also "gives precise instructions on the construction and consecration of a sacred space in which a practitioner can properly focus on recitation of the mantra."^[18]

The Śūraṅgama Mantra is widely recited in China, Korea and Vietnam by Mahayana monastics on a daily basis and by some laypersons as part of the Morning Recitation Liturgy.^[5][6] The mantra is also recited by some Japanese Buddhist sects.

Realms of rebirth, bodhisattva stages and Demons

 

The influence of Māra is a major theme of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra also contains various explanations of Buddhist cosmology and soteriology. The sutra outlines various levels of enlightenment, the fifty five bodhisattva stages. It also contains explanations of the horrible sufferings that are experienced in the hells (narakas) as well as explanations of the other realms of rebirth.^[18]

Another theme found in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is that of various Māras (demonic beings) which are manifestations of the five skandhas (aggregates).^[2] In its section on the fifty skandha-māras, each of the five skandhas has ten skandha-māras associated with it, and each skandha-māra is described in detail as a deviation from correct samādhi. These skandha-māras are also known as the "fifty skandha demons" in some English-language publications. Epstein introduces the fifty skandha-māras section as follows:^[50]

For each state a description is given of the mental phenomena experienced by the practitioner, the causes of the phenomena and the difficulties which arise from attachment to the phenomena and misinterpretation of them. In essence what is presented is both a unique method of cataloguing and classifying spiritual experience and indication of causal factors involved in the experience of the phenomena. Although the fifty states presented are by no means exhaustive, the approach taken has the potential of offering a framework for the classification of all spiritual experience, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist.

Influence

 

The Surangama pagoda of Jinding Temple (金顶寺; 金頂寺; 'Gold Summit Temple')

James A. Benn, while arguing that the text is a Chinese composition, also writes that, "no crude fake, the Śūraṅgama is elegantly constructed and beautifully written, a text that we might easily rank among the masterpieces of medieval Chinese literature. It today remains a widely read text, much appreciated,and seriously studied by Chinese Buddhists. Its insights continue to inform the lives and practices of both monastics and laypeople. That it is not a translation of an Indian original by no means discredits its spiritual value. Buddhism from its origins was adaptable to local circumstances, and the Śūraṅgama is but another example of that missionary spirit."^[1]

Mainland East Asia

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra has been widely studied and commented on in China. Ron Epstein has "found reference to 127 Chinese commentaries on the Sutra, quite a few for such a lengthy work, including 59 in the Ming dynasty alone, when it was especially popular".^[7]

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra is one of the seminal texts of Chán Buddhism. It is held to have been first transmitted by Yuquan Shenxiu,^[51] the original sixth patriarch and the seminal figure of the Northern school. The Śūraṅgama was particularly influential during the Song Dynasty, where it was used in a ritual called the Śūraṅgama assembly which "was held semi-annually during monastic retreats, and there the participants chanted the long magical spell (dharani) contained in the sutra. The dharani was also recited at memorial services for Chan abbots and patriarchs."^[1] The sūtra is cited in various Chan Buddhist texts, like the Blue Cliff Record (case 94).^[52][i] The Śūraṅgama Sūtra also influenced the work of several Song intellectuals, like Su Shi (1037-1101) and Su Zhe (1039-1112).^[1]

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra was also a required text for Korea's monastic examination system during the Joseon period.^[1] The Śūraṅgama remains one of the most influential sources in the advanced curriculum of Korean Sŏn monasteries, along with the Awakening of Faith and the Vajrasamadhi sutra.^[3]

The Śūraṅgama was also said to have been "connected with the enlightenment" of Changshui Zixuan from the Song dynasty and Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) from the Ming.^[7]

The contemporary Chán-master Venerable Hsu Yun wrote a commentary on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. Venerable Hsuan Hua was a major modern proponent of and commentator on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. According to Hsuan Hua:

In Buddhism all the sutras are very important, but the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is most important. Wherever the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is, the Proper Dharma abides in the world. When the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is gone, the Dharma Ending Age is before one's eyes. (In the Extinction of the Dharma Sutra it says that in the Dharma Ending Age, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra will become extinct first. Then gradually the other sutras will also become extinct.)^[54] The Śūraṅgama Sūtra is the true body of the Buddha; the śarīra (relics) of the Buddha; the stūpa of the Buddha. All Buddhists must support with their utmost strength The Śūraṅgama Sūtra ^[55]

Japan

The Japanese Zen Buddhist Dōgen held that the sutra was not an authentic Indian text.^[7] But he also drew on the text, commenting on the Śūraṅgama verse "when someone gives rise to Truth by returning to the Source, the whole of space in all ten quarters falls away and vanishes" as follows:

This verse has been cited by various Buddhas and Ancestors alike. Up to this very day, this verse is truly the Bones and Marrow of the Buddhas and Ancestors. It is the very Eye of the Buddhas and Ancestors. As to my intention in saying so, there are those who say that the ten-fascicle Shurangama Scripture is a spurious scripture, whereas others say that it is a genuine Scripture: both views have persisted from long in the past down to our very day [...] Even were the Scripture a spurious one, if [Ancestors] continue to offer its turning, then it is a genuine Scripture of the Buddhas and Ancestors, as well as the Dharma Wheel intimately associated with Them.^[56]

Notes

Note: Several notes are Chinese, due to the international character of Wikipedia. Help in translation is welcome.

1. The Kaiyuan Era Catalog of the Buddhist Tripitaka said, "Venerable Huai Di (Chinese: 懷迪), a native of Xún zhōu (循州) [located in parts of today's Guangdong Province], lived in Nanlou Monastery (南樓寺) on Mount Luofu (羅浮山). Mount Luofu is where many ṛsi lived and visited. Ven. Huai Di studied Buddhist sutras and sastras for a long time, and achieved profound erudition. He was also proficient in a wide range of knowledge. Here close to the coast, there are many Indian monks who come here. Ven. Huai Di learned how to say and read their language with them. When Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra was translated to Chinese, Bodhiruci invited Huai Di to verify the translation. After the translation was finished, he returned to his hometown. Once he came to Guangzhou, he met a monk, whose name was unrecorded, from India with a Sanskrit book. He asked Huai Di to translate this book, a total of ten volumes, which was Shurangama Sutra. Ven. Huai Di wrote this book and modified the wording. After the book was translated, the monk left, and no one knows where he went. An official went to southern China, bringing this book back, so it became known here."^[I]
2. In 706 CE, Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra began translation. HuaiDi was invited to Luoyang. The translation was finished in 713 CE. HuaiDi then went back to his hometown. The Shurangama Sutra was translated after 713 CE.
3. The mention of Fang Yong poses a chronological problem. According to the Old Book of Tang Fang Yong was put in prison in January 705 CE because he was involved in a court struggle. He was then exiled from Luoyang to Guangxi Qinzhou in February, where he died.^[II] If the book was translated at 705 CE, the cooperation of Fang Yong might be doubtful. If the text was translated in 713 CE, Fang Yong had no chance to aid in the translation of the text, since he died in 705
4. The Continuation to the History of the Translation of Buddhist Sutras Mural Record said, "Śramaṇa Pāramiti, which is means Quantum, came from Central India. He travel, missionary, arrived china. He stayed at Guangxiao Temple in Guangxi. Because he was very knowledgeable, so many people came to visit him. To help people, so he determined not to keep secret. in May 23 705 CE, He recited a Tantras, which is The Sūtra on the Śūraṅgama Mantra Spoken from Above the Crown of the Great Buddha's Head, and on the Hidden Basis of the Tathagata's Myriad Bodhisattva Practices Leading to Their Verification of the Ultimate Truth. Śramaṇa Meghaśikha from Oḍḍiyāna translated it to Chinese. Fang Yong(Chinese: 房融) of Qingho, the former minister, court regulator, and state censor, wrote it down. Śramaṇa Huai-di (Chinese: 懷迪) of Nanlou Monastery (南樓寺) on Mount Luofu (羅浮山) verify it. After teach it all, he came back to his country. An official went to southern China, bringing this book back, so we see it here. "^[III]
5. in-depth meaning of Three Treatise school said, "(Emperor Kōnin) sent Master Tokusei (Hanyu Pinyin: Deqing; Japanese: 徳清) and other monks to Tang China to find the answer. Upasaka Fa-Xiang (Chinese: 法詳) told Master Tokusei (Hanyu Pinyin: Deqing; Japanese: 徳清) : This Shurangama Sutra is forged by Fang Yong, not a real Buddhavacana. But Zhi-sheng know nothing about it, so he make a mistake to list this book at The Kaiyuan Era Catalog of the Buddhist Tripitaka."^[IV]
6. Liang Qichao, the authenticity of Ancient books and their year, "The real Buddhist scriptures would not say things like Śūraṅgama Sūtra, so we know the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is a Apocrypha."^{[V][citation needed]}
7. D.T. Suzuki gives a detailed overview of the contents of the sutra in Manual of Zen Buddhism.^[35]
8. Taishō Tripiṭaka 944, 976, and 977
9. In the Blue Cliff Record: "In the Surangama Sutra the Buddha says, 'When unseeing, why do you not see the unseeing? If you see the unseeing, it is no longer unseeing. If you do not see the unseeing, it is not an object. Why isn't it yourself?'" This reminds of Nagarjuna's Sunyatasaptati:
   [51] The sense of sight is not inside the eye, not inside form, and not in between. [Therefore] an image depending upon form and eye is false.
   [52] If the eye does not see itself, how can it see form? Therefore eye and form are without self. The same [is true for the] remaining sense-fields.
   [53] Eye is empty of its own self [and] of another's self. Form is also empty. Likewise [for the] remaining sense-fields.^[53]

Chinese texts

1. 《開元釋教錄》：「沙門釋懷迪，循州人也，住本州羅浮山南樓寺。其山乃仙聖遊居之處。迪久習經論，多所該博，九流七略，粗亦討尋，但以居近海隅，數有梵僧遊止；迪就學書語，復皆通悉。往者三藏菩提流志譯寶積經，遠召迪來，以充證義。所為事畢，還歸故鄉。後因遊廣府遇一梵僧 (未得其名) ， 齎梵經一夾，請共譯之，勒成十卷，即《大佛頂萬行首楞嚴經》是也。迪筆受經旨，緝綴文理。其梵僧傳經事畢，莫知所之。有因南使，流經至此。」
2. 《舊唐書》卷七中宗紀云：「神龍元年正月…鳳閣侍郎韋承慶，正諫大夫房融，司禮卿韋慶等下獄……二月甲寅…韋承慶貶高要尉，房融配欽州。」《新唐書》〈中宗紀〉：「神龍元年二月甲寅......貶韋承慶為高要尉，流房融於高州。」新唐書卷139房琯傳：「父融，武后時以正諫大夫同鳳閣台平章事。神龍元年貶死高州。」《通鑑》卷208神龍元年：「二月乙卯正諫大夫同平章事房融除名流高州。」
3. 《續古今譯經圖記》：「沙門般刺蜜帝，唐云極量，中印度人也。懷道觀方，隨缘濟度，展轉游化，達我支那。(印度國俗呼廣府為支那名帝京為摩訶支那) 乃於廣州制旨道場居止。眾知博達，祈请亦多。利物為心，敷斯秘賾。以神龍元年龍集乙巳五月己卯朔二十三日辛丑，遂於灌頂部中誦出一品名《大佛頂如来密因修證了義、諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經》一部（十卷）。烏萇國沙門彌迦釋迦（釋迦稍訛，正云鑠佉，此曰雲峰）譯語，菩薩戒弟子、前正諫大夫、同中書門下平章事、清河房融筆受，循州羅浮山南樓寺沙門懷迪證譯。其僧傳經事畢，汎舶西歸。有因南使，流通於此。」
4. 玄睿《大乘三論大義鈔》：「遣德清法師等於唐檢之。德清法師承大唐法詳居士：《大佛頂經》是房融偽造，非真佛經也。智昇未詳，謬編正錄。」
5. 梁啟超《古書真偽及其年代》：「真正的佛經並没有《楞嚴經》一類的話，可知《楞嚴經》一書是假書。」

References

1. Benn, James A. Another Look at the Pseudo-Śūraṃgama sūtra. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jun., 2008), pp. 57-89, Harvard-Yenching Institute, JSTOR 40213652
2. Surgangama Sutra (PDF). Translated by Upasaka LuK'uan Yu (Charles Luk).
3. Muller, Charles (1998-01-01), East Asian Apocryphal Scriptures: Their Origin and Role in the Development of Sinitic Buddhism, Bulletin of Toyo Gakuen University, vol. 6 (1998), BRILL, pp. 245–255, doi:10.1163/9789004379060_018, retrieved 2022-06-08
4. Taisho 945 is found in Volume 19 of the Taisho Tripitaka."Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō" 大正新脩大藏經 [Taishō Shinshū Tripitaka]. CBETA 漢文大藏經 (in Chinese). This is an index to the Taisho Tripitaka - nb Volume 19 is listed as 密教部 or Esoteric Sutra Section is where Taisho 945 (Surangama Sutra) is located.
5. Thích, Thiện Thanh (2013). Nghi Thức Tụng Niệm Hằng Ngày [Buddhist Liturgy] (in Vietnamese). Long Beach, California: Chùa Phật Tổ (Buddhist Congregation of the United States). pp. 19–37.
6. Buddhist Association of Canada; Cham Shan Temple of Canada; Young Men's Buddhist Association of America; Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada (2004). 佛會課誦 [The Buddhist Liturgy] (in Chinese and English). Taipei. pp. 4–33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
7. Epstein 1976.
8. Charles Muller (February 19, 2010). "首楞嚴". Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
9. Śūraṅgama Sūtra Translation Committee of the Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2009, p. xxv.
10. The Shurangama Sutra with commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua - New Edition ISBN 0-88139-949-3. http://cttbusa.org/shurangama1/shurangama1.asp
11. Li Xuezhu (李学竹) (2010). "Zhōng guó zàng xué - Zhōng guó fàn wén bèi yè gài kuàng" 中国藏学-中国梵文贝叶概况 [China Tibetan Studies - The State of Sanskrit Language Palm Leaf Manuscripts in China]. Baidu 文库. Vol. 1 No. 90 (in Chinese). pp. 55–56. Retrieved 2017-12-06. '河南南阳菩提寺原藏有1函梵文贝叶经，共226叶，其中残缺6叶，函上写有"印度古梵文"字样，据介绍，内容为 《楞严经》，很可能是唐代梵文经的孤本，字体为圆形，系印度南方文字一种，被国家定为一级文物，现存彭雪枫纪念馆。'(tr to English: Henan Nanyang Bodhi Temple originally had one Sanskrit language manuscript sutra, consisting in total 226 leaves, of which 6 were missing... according to introduction, it contains the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and most probably the only extant Sanskrit manuscript dating from the Tang Dynasty. The letters are roundish and belongs to a type used in South India and has been recognized by the country as a Category 1 cultural artifact. It is now located in the Peng Xuefeng Memorial Museum.
12. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 92. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 然而在乾隆皇帝另一御制序文里也提及了《首楞严经》...于乾隆三十五年（1770）7月25日的藏文《甘珠尔》的文序。...因为汉文本《首楞严经》中包含的经咒，与同一经咒的印度文献完全相同。有印度梵本渊源，因而整部《首楞严经》是真的。...至少可以看出乾隆及三世章嘉的态度即判定《首楞严经》并非伪经。(trans. to English: however in another foreword written by the Qianlong Emperor the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is mentioned...In the foreword to the Tibetan Kangyur from July 25, 1770...because the mantra contained in the Chinese text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is identical to the mantra in an Indian text. (Since) there is an Indian Sanskrit source text (for the mantra), the entire Śūraṅgama Sūtra must be authentic...at the very least, we can see the attitude of the Qianlong Emperor and the Third Changkya Khutukhtu that judge the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is definitely not an apocryphal sutra.)
13. Hurvitz 1967, p. 482.
14. Faure 1991, p. 42, 122 n9, 231, 240.
15. "愍生法師：辨破楞嚴百偽 | 八萬四千法". 不動如來妙喜願海.
16. Humphreys1995, p. 111.
17. Dutt 1962, p. 264. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDutt1962 (help)
18. Rounds, David. Rescuing Ananda - An overview of the Surangama Sutra. Religion East & West, Issue 7, October, 2007.
19. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 95. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 查考藏文资料，可以发现，如今的德格版、北京版、那塘版（藏文大藏经）里都收录有两个古藏文译版在吐蕃世纪三大古目里有记载，布顿大师明著《布頓教法源流》里也有着录… [(If ) we examine the Tibetan language materials, we will discover that within the current Derge Kangyur, Peking (Beijing) Kangyur, Narthang Kangyur (all of the preceding being Tibetan language Buddhist Tripitakas) there are recorded two ancient Tibetan texts (of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra);during the Tubo period, the three great ancient catalogue of sutras (which were compiled prior to King Langdarma's persecution of Buddhism ca. 840-841 CE; therefore the Tibetan Śūraṅgama Sūtra was probably translated ca. late eighth – early ninth century CE) have records of these translations;within Buton Rinchen Drub Rinpoche's Famous History of Buddhism (in India and Tibet) (written ca. 1322) it is also recorded (in the list of sutras)…]
20. Nishioka Soshū (西岡祖秀) (1980). ""Putōn bukkyōshi" mokurokubu sakuin I" 「プトゥン仏教史」目録部索引I [Index to Buton (Rinchen Drub)'s History of Buddhism (Tripitaka) Catalog Part I]. 東京大学文学部·文化交流研究施設研究紀要 (trans. to English: Tokyo University Department of Literature – Annual Report of the Institute for the Study of Cultural Exchange) (in Japanese) (4): 61. プトゥン・リンチェン・ドゥプ Bu ston Rin chen bgrub (1290–1364) によって1322年に著わされた「プトゥン仏教史」．．．(trans. to English : Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Tibet written in 1322 by Buton Rinchen Drub Rinpoche (1290–1364)…)
21. Nishioka Soshū (西岡祖秀) (1980). ""Putōn bukkyōshi" mokurokubu sakuin I" 「プトゥン仏教史」目録部索引I [Index to Buton (Rinchen Drub Rinpoche)'s History of Buddhism (Tripitaka) Catalog Part I]. 東京大学文学部·文化交流研究施設研究紀要 (trans. to English: Tokyo University Department of Literature – Annual Report of the Institute for the Study of Cultural Exchange) (in Japanese) (4): 92. Chapter 1 to 3 are an introduction for the purpose of organizing the catalogue section of (Buton's Tripitaka found in) chapter 4…
22. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 95. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 两本古藏文译本，经笔者与汉文比对，发现确为"残本"，大致对应汉文本的第九卷和第十卷。(trans. to English: When comparing the two ancient Tibetan text with the Chinese text, the author discovered that they are indeed fragmentary texts which corresponds approximately to the Chinese Śūraṅgama Sūtra Scroll 9 and Scroll 10.)
23. von Staël–Holstein, Baron A. (April 1936). "The Emperor Ch'ien-Lung and the Larger Śūraṃgama Sūtra". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 1 (1): 137–138. The larger fragment (Sakurabe No. 902) contains a consecutive translation of a part of the ninth chapter and the entire tenth chapter of the larger Śūraṃgama. The smaller fragment (Sakurabe No. 903) contains numerous passages belonging to the ninth and tenth chapters of the larger Śūraṃgama.
24. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 93. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 乾隆皇帝认为，此经应该是在朗达玛统治时期散失不全…(trans. to English: The Qianlong Emperor supposed this sutra was partially scattered and lost during the rule of King Langdarma…)
25. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 95. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 布顿大师…并提出其中一个译本…翻译自汉文。也就是确实在乾隆之前存有藏文译本，且布顿以为两部中的一部译出自汉文and 两本古藏文是否早在朗达玛灭佛前就自汉文译出，有全译本存在，后损毁不少。还是其一源自汉文，另一部另有所本，都将此序文引出的新的研究议题。(trans. to English: ' Buton Rinpoche also noted that one of the translations of the ancient Tibetan text…was translated from Chinese. This verifies that prior to the Qianlong period there were Tibetan translations (of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra) and furthermore Buton supposed one of the two text was translated from Chinese.' and 'The two ancient Tibetan text may have been translated from Chinese before King Langdarma's persecution of Buddhism and a complete translation existed (before King Langdarma's persecution of Buddhism) afterwards large portions were destroyed; or one of the two (text) was translated from Chinese and the second was based on another text (i.e. translated from another source), (the research on) this foreword has opened up a new research topic for discussion.' )
26. von Staël–Holstein, Baron A. (April 1936). "The Emperor Ch'ien-Lung and the Larger Śūraṃgama Sūtra". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 1 (1): 145. The translation of the sutra were begun in A.D. 1752 and finished in A.D. 1763.
27. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 88. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 乾隆皇帝在位时间，曾将其译成藏、满、蒙、汉文四体合璧本。(tr. into English : During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the Emperor ordered the translation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra into Tibetan, Manchu language and Mongolian and combined with the Chinese into a four language compilation.
28. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 93. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 其次，章嘉国师向乾隆陈述了元代佛学大师布顿（bu ston rin chen grub 1290–1364）所作的授记，即此经"当于后五百年，仍自中国译至藏地。自布顿大师往后推算，乾隆时期与'后五百年'时间上也是暗合的当然。布顿大师的所谓授记，应该是三世章嘉为了劝说乾隆皇帝翻译《首楞严经》所作的附会之辞。(trans. to English: Next, the Changkya Khutukhtu national preceptor tells the Qianlong Emperor the prophecy made by the great Buddhist Master Buton Rinchen Drub Rinpoche (1290–1364) regarding this sutra, namely that five hundred years hence, it will again be translated from China and brought to Tibet. If we calculate from Buton Rinpoche's time to the time period when the Qianlong Emperor reigns, it of course matches by coincidence the five hundred years (predicted by the prophecy). The so-called prophecy of Buton Rinpoche was (made relevant and) used by the third Changkya Khutukhtu to exhort the Qianlong Emperor to translate the Śūraṅgama Sūtra.)
29. Chai Bing (柴冰) (March 2014). "Qián lóng huáng dì 《 yù zhì léng yán jīng xù 》 mǎn、hàn wén běn duì kān jí yán jiū" 内蒙古大学学报(哲学社会科学版）-乾隆皇帝《御制楞严经序》满、汉文本对勘及研究 [Journal of Inner Mongolia University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)- The Qianlong Emperor's "Foreword to The Royal Translation and Compilation of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra": Research and Comparison of the Manchu Language and Chinese Text]. DOC88.COM. Vol. 46 No. 2 (in Chinese). p. 92. Retrieved 2017-12-06. 序中提及的翻译工程的负责人是庄亲王允禄，主要参与者则有三世章嘉呼图克图若必多吉和傅鼐。(Trans. to English: The foreword mentioned the person responsible for the translation was Prince Zhuang Yun Lu, the main participants were the third Changkya Khutukhtu Ruobiduoji (Rölpé Dorjé) and Fu Nai.)
30. von Staël–Holstein, Baron A. (April 1936). "The Emperor Ch'ien-Lung and the Larger Śūraṃgama Sūtra". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 1 (1): 145. Whenever there was the possibility of a doubt [the correct translation] was quickly fixed by advice from the state teacher (or National Preceptor) [8b] Lcan-skya Hu-thog-thu (also known as the Third Changkya Khutukhtu Rölpé Dorjé) and [the question] settled.
31. von Staël–Holstein, Baron A. (April 1936). "The Emperor Ch'ien-Lung and the Larger Śūraṃgama Sūtra". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 1 (1): 146. cf. Footnote 30: (volume KI of the Mdo division of the Narthang Kanjur is of course printed in black letters.) – the Tibetan version of my xylograph seems to be identical with the Tibetan version of the quadralingual edition.
32. Even though von Staël–Holstein call this tripitaka the Narthang Kanjur, I believed it is known as the Peking (Beijing) Kangyur in today's usage. The early print editions of the Peking Kangyur were printed in vermilion ink. Later printings and any supplements would have been printed in black ink. Cf. von Staël–Holstein, Baron A. (April 1936). "The Emperor Ch'ien-Lung and the Larger Śūraṃgama Sūtra". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 1 (1): 146. Prince Fu-ch'üan, the chief editor of the A.D. 1700 Kanjur edition, reports that in preparing the edition, he acted on orders from the emperor K'ang-hsi to complement 補 the Kanjur. The emperor Ch'ien-lung venerated the emperor K'ang-hsi as a model ruler, and followed his grandfather's example whenever possible.
33. Buddhist Text Translation Society 2009, p. xxx-xxxii. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBuddhist_Text_Translation_Society2009 (help)
34. Buddhist Text Translation Society 2009, p. xxxii-xxxiv. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBuddhist_Text_Translation_Society2009 (help)
35. Suzuki 2001.
36. Buddhist Text Translation Society 2009, p. xxxiii-xxxix. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBuddhist_Text_Translation_Society2009 (help)
37. Epstein, Ron; Rounds, David; Hsüan Hua. A New Translation Buddhist Text Translation Society. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua (Kindle Locations 243-249).
38. Lamotte 1998, p. 36. sfn error: no target: CITEREFLamotte1998 (help)
39. Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, A New Translation, pp. 234-235. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org. ISBN 978-0-88139-962-2
40. "City of 10,000 Buddhas - The Shurangama Sutra with Commentary, Volume 6". www.cttbusa.org. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
41. Hsüan Hua (2003). The Shurangama sutra with commentary (1st ed.). Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society. ISBN 0-88139-941-8. OCLC 50803399.
42. "Notes on Ven. Chin Kung's (Jing kong) talks on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra Chapter on Clear and Definitive Admonishments on Pure Conduct" 净空法师《楞严经清净明诲章讲记》 - 净空法师 - 佛弟子文库 [jìng kōng fǎ shī 《 léng yán jīng qīng jìng míng huì zhāng jiǎng jì 》]. www.fodizi.net (in Chinese). Retrieved 2018-06-17.
43. "Sutra 12 Doctrines in Groups of Three". The Canonical Book on the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses Volume II. Taisho No. 1. Translated by Ichimura 市村, Shōhei 承秉. BDK America Inc. 2016. p. 19. "Again, a sevenfold doctrine leads to an evil life course, a second sevenfold doctrine leads to a good life course, and a third sevenfold doctrine leads to nirvana. What are the sevenfold doctrinal items that lead to an evil life course? They are seven evil actions: taking life; taking what is not given;sexual misconduct; false speech; duplicitous speech; harsh speech; and frivolous sycophancy. There are seven good actions: abstinence from taking life; abstinence from taking what is not given; abstinence from sexual misconduct; abstinence from false speech; abstinence from duplicitous speech; abstinence from harsh speech; and abstinence from frivolous sycophancy. What are the seven doctrinal items that lead to nirvana? They are seven auxiliary disciplines of enlightenment. First a bhikṣu practices the discipline of mindfulness on the basis of nondesire and quiescence, distancing [himself] from worldly matters...." Ven. Ichimura Shōhei translated the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit Dīrgha Āgama into English (the Theravada equivalent is the Dīrgha Nikāya in Pali). The original Sanskrit text is from the Dharmaguptaka School of Buddhism and was translated into Chinese by Buddhayaśas (a Kashmiri monk) and Zhu Fonian in 413 CE. Notice the similar emphasis on precepts for the advancement of Buddhist practice. Although this example is from the Dharmaguptaka school, the same emphasis on precepts can be applied to all schools of Buddhism.
44. Also compare the above admonishments with the Pārājika Pāḷi.Ajahn Brahmavamso. "Vinaya The Four Disrobing Offences". BuddhaSasana. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
45. Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). A New Translation Buddhist Text Translation Society. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, p. 264. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org.
46. Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, A New Translation, p. 267. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org.
47. Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, A New Translation, pp. 267-274. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org.
48. Buddhist Text Translation Society (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua, A New Translation, pp. 268-269. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, 4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, California 95482 [phone], bttsonline.org. ISBN 978-0-88139-962-2
49. Shaw, Miranda. Buddhist Goddesses of India. Princeton University Press, Aug 25, 2015.
50. Ron Epstein. "Fifty Skandha Demon States: Foreword".
51. Faure 1991, p. 231, note 3.
52. Sekida 1996, p. 387. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSekida1996 (help)
53. "Nagarjuna - Sunyatasaptati". fodian.net. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
54. "The Buddha Speaks the Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma Sutra". City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Taisho 396. Retrieved 2017-12-04. However, within fifty-two years the Shurangama Sutra and the Pratyutpanna [Standing Buddha] Samadhi, will be the first to change and then to disappear. The twelve divisions of the canon will gradually follow until they vanish completely, never to appear again.
55. 宣化上人 (Hsuan Hua). "Dà fó dǐng shǒu léng yán jīng juàn yi qiǎn shì" 大佛頂首楞嚴經卷一淺釋 [Śūraṅgama Sūtra Scroll One: A Simple Explanation]. Prajñā Library 般若文海 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-12-01. 在佛教裏，所有的經典，都很重要，但是楞嚴經更為重要。凡是有楞嚴經所在的地方，就是正法住世。楞嚴經沒有了，就是末法現前。楞嚴經是佛的真身，楞嚴經是佛的舍利，楞嚴經是佛的塔廟。所有的佛教徒，必須拿出力量，拿出血汗來擁護這部楞嚴經。
56. "Dōgen: On Turning The Wheel" (PDF).

Sources

• [1] 2020-11-12 at the Wayback Machine The Śūraṅgama Sūtra Translation Committee of the Buddhist Text Translation Society. (2009). The Śūraṅgama Sūtra: With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua: A New Translation. Ukiah, CA, USA: Buddhist Text Translation Society.ISBN 978-0-88139-962-2.
• Buddhist Text Translation Society (1989), Sagely City of 10,000 Buddhas Daily Recitation Handbook, pp. 3-31, Talmage, CA{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada (1993), The Buddhist Liturgy, pp. 4-33, New York{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Dutt, Sukumar (2008), Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India, Delhi: Motilal Barnasidass
• Epstein, Ronald (1976), The Shurangama Sutra (T. 945): A Reappraisal of its Authenticity
• Faure, Bernard (1991), The Rhetoric of Immediacy. A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
• Humphreys, Christmas (1995), The Wisdom of Buddhism
• Hurvitz, Leon (May 1967), "The Surangama Sutra", Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 482–484
• Lu, K'uan Yu (1966). The Śūraṅgama sūtra (Leng Yen Ching) / Chinese rendering by Master Paramiti; commentary (abridged) by Han Shan. London: Rider.
• Two Zen Classics. Mumonkan, The Gateless Gate. Hekiganroku, The Blue Cliff Records., translated by Katsuki Sekida, New York / Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1996
• Shi, Hsuan Hua (1975), , archived from the original on 2012-03-15
• Suzuki, D.T. (2001), (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-24

External links

•  Religion portal

• The Śūraṅgama Sūtra: With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua: A New Translation (2012). Ukiah, CA, USA: Buddhist Text Translation Society. ISBN 978-0-88139-962-2
• The Śūraṅgama Sūtra in Indonesian translated by Karma Samten
• The Śūraṅgama Sūtra in English with commentaries from Master Han Shan translated by Charles Luk
• The Śūraṅgama Sūtra text with commentaries from Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
• Śūraṅgama Sūtra: Text, Commentaries, and Articles 2010-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Shurangama mantra 2010-05-28 at the Wayback Machine