The Origins of Separation

When Ananda saw the Buddha, he prostrated himself at His feet, weeping bitterly and saying that, since the time without beginning, though he had heard much about the Dharma, he still could not acquire the transcendental power of the Tao.

Earnestly he asked the Buddha to teach the preliminary expedients in the practice of Samatha, Samapatti and Dhyana which led to the enlightenment of all Buddhas in the ten directions. There was also present a great number of Bodhisattvas, as countless as sand grains in the Ganges, and great Arhats and Pratyeka-Buddhas who had come wishing to hear about the Dharma. They all waited silently and reverently for the holy Teaching.

The Buddha said to Ananda: You and I are close relatives. Tell me what you saw in the assembly when you made up your mind to give up all worldly feelings of affection and love to follow me?

Ananda replied: I saw the thirty-two excellent characteristics and the shining crystal-like form of the Buddha’s body. I thought that all this could not be the result of desire and love, for desire creates foul and fetid impurities like pus and blood which mingle and cannot produce the wondrous brightness of His golden-hued body, in admiration of which I shaved my head to follow Him.

The Buddha said: Ananda and all of you should know that living beings, since the time without beginning, have been subject continuously to birth and death because they do not know the permanent True Mind whose substance is, by nature, pure and bright. They have relied on false thinking which is not Reality so that the wheel of Samsara turns. Now if you wish to study the unsurpassed Supreme Bodhi to realize this bright nature, you should answer my questions straightforwardly. All Buddhas in the ten directions trod the same path to escape from birth and death because of their straightforward minds, with the same straightforwardness of mind and speech from start to finish without a trace of crookedness. Ananda, when you developed that mind because of the Buddha’s thirty-two excellent characteristics, tell me what saw and loved them.

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, my love came from the use of my mind, my eyes seeing and my mind admiring them, so that it was set on relinquishing birth and death.

The Buddha continued: As you just said, your love was caused by your mind and eyes but if you do not know where your mind and eyes really are, you will never be able to destroy delusion. For instance, when the country is invaded by bandits, the king, before sending his soldiers to destroy them, should first know where they are. That which causes you to transmigrate without interruption, comes from defects in your mind and eyes. Now tell me where your mind and eyes are.

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, all living beings born in the world through the ten types of birth hold that this knowing mind is in the body. As I look at the lotus-blue eyes of the Buddha, I see that they are on His face. Hence my understanding that my eyes are on my face, whereas my knowing mind is in my body.

The Buddha asked: Now as you sit in this hall, where do you see Jetavana park?

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, this great hall is in Jetavana park which is, therefore, outside the hall.

The Buddha asked: What do you see first in this hall?

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, in this hall, I see first the Tathagata, then the assembly, and only when looking outside do I see the park.

The Buddha asked: When you see the park, what causes you to do so?

Ananda replied: It is because the doors and windows are open that I, though sitting in this hall, see the park outside.

The Buddha then extended His golden-hued arm and touched Ananda’s head with His hand, saying: There is a Samadhi called the all-embracing Supreme Surangama, a gateway through which all Buddhas in the ten directions attained to the wondrous Majestic Path. Ananda, listen now attentively.

Ananda prostrated himself at the Buddha’s feet and knelt to receive the holy instruction.

The Buddha said: If you are right that, while sitting in this hall, you see the park outside through open doors and windows, would it be possible for someone sitting here to see only things outside without seeing the Buddha within.

Ananda replied: One cannot see the grove and stream outside without seeing the Buddha here.

The Buddha said: Ananda, it is the same with you; if your mind is not deluded, it will be clear about all this. However, if your knowing mind was really in your body, you should first be clear about everything inside it. You should, therefore, see everything in your body before seeing things outside it; even if you cannot see your heart, liver, spleen, and stomach, at least you should be clear about your growing nails and hair, about that which moves along your nerves and the pulsing of your veins. Why are you not clear about all this? If you do not see things within, how can you see those outside? Therefore, your contention that your knowing mind is inside your body is groundless.

Ananda bowed and said: After hearing the Buddha’s Dharma-voice, I now understand that my mind is really outside my body. For instance a lamp should light up everything in a room before the courtyard outside through the open door. If I do not see what is in my body but see things outside it, this is like a lamp placed outside a room which cannot light what is in it. This being so clear that there can be no doubt, am I still wrong about what the Buddha means?

The Buddha said: All the Bhiksus followed me to Sravasti to beg for food and have now returned to Jetavana park. I have taken my meal but as one Bhiksu is still eating, is the whole community well-fed?

Ananda replied: No, World Honoured One, though they are Arhats, they have not the same body or life span, then how can one by eating cause all the others to satisfy their hunger?

The Buddha said: If your knowing mind is outside your body, the two are separate. Thus when your mind knows something, your body should not feel it and when your body feels something, your mind should not be aware of it. Now as I show you my hand, when your eyes see it, does your mind discern it?

Ananda replied: Yes, World Honoured One, my mind discerns it.

The Buddha said: If so, how can your mind be outside your body? Therefore, your contention that your knowing and discerning mind is outside your body is groundless.

Ananda said: World Honoured One, as you have said, if my mind does not see what is in my body, it is not within it, and if my body and mind know each other, they are not separate and my mind is, therefore, not outside my body. Now after thinking about this, I know where my mind is.

The Buddha asked: Where is it?

Ananda replied: Since my knowing mind does not see what is in my body but can see things outside, I think it is hidden in my sense organ. For instance, if one covers one's eyes with a crystal bowl, the latter does not obstruct this sense organ which simply follows the faculty of seeing to distinguish all things seen. Thus if my knowing mind does not see what is in my body, it is because it is in the sense organ, and if it sees clearly what is outside without being obstructed, it is because it is hidden in that organ.

The Buddha asked: As you just said, the mind is hidden in the same way that the eyes are covered by the crystal bowl: now when one so covers them and sees the mountain and river, does one also see the bowl?

Ananda replied: Yes, World Honoured One, one also sees the bowl.

The Buddha said: If your mind is like the crystal bowl, when you see the mountain and river, why do you not see your own eyes? If you do they should be outside and should not follow your faculty of seeing. If they cannot be seen, how can you say that this knowing mind is hidden in the sense organ, like the eyes covered by the crystal bowl? Therefore, your contention that the knowing mind is hidden in the sense organ is groundless.

Ananda asked: World Honoured One, I now think of the bowels concealed in the body and of the apertures on its surface. Therefore, where there is concealment there is darkness and where there are openings there is light. As I am now before the Buddha, I open my eyes and see clearly and this is called outward seeing, and when I close them, I see only darkness and this is called inward seeing. What does the Buddha think of this?

The Buddha said: When you close your eyes and see darkness, is this darkness opposite to your eyes or not? If it is, it is in front of them, then how can this be inward seeing? Even if there is really such inward seeing, when you sit in a dark room without the light of the sun, moon or a lamp, this darkness should also be in your bowels. If it is not opposite to your eyes, how can there be any seeing? Now let us forget your so-called outward seeing and assume that there is inward seeing, then when you close your eyes and see only darkness, which you call seeing what is in your body, why when you open them and see clearly, do you not see your face? If you do not, there is no such inward seeing. Now assuming that you can see your face, your knowing mind and organ of sight should be in the air, and then how can there be inward seeing? If they were in the air, they should not belong to your body, and the Buddha who now sees your face, should be your body as well. Thus when your eyes see something, your body should have no feeling. If you insist that both body and mind have separate feelings, there should be two separate perceptions and then your body should one day become two Buddhas. Therefore, your contention that to see darkness is inward seeing is groundless.

Ananda said: I have always heard the Buddha when teaching monks, nuns and male and female devotees say: When the mind stirs all sorts of things are created and then all kinds of mind appear. I now think that the substance of my thinking is the nature of mind which arises when it unites with externals and which is neither within nor without nor in between.

The Buddha said: You have just said that because phenomena are created, all kinds of mind appear when uniting with them. So this mind has no substance and cannot unite with anything. If that which has no substance can unite with externals, this is union of the nineteenth realm of sense with the seventh sense datum. This is sheer nonsense. If the mind has substance, when your hand grasps your body, does your mind feeling this touch come from within or without? If from within, you should see what is in your body and if from without, you should see your face.

Ananda said: It is the eyes that see and the mind that knows is not the eyes: to say that it sees is wrong.

The Buddha said: If the eyes can see, when you are in a room, do you see the door outside? Those who are dead and still have eyes, should see things if they still see, how can they be dead? Ananda, if your knowing mind has substance, is that substance single or manifold? As it is in your body, does it spread to every part of it or not? If it is one substance, when you grasp a limb, all four should feel that they are grasped; if so there would be no grasping of any particular limb. If there is, the contention of a single substance does not hold good. If it is a manifold substance there should be many persons; then which substance is yours if it spreads to every part of your body, this is the same as in the previous case of grasping. If it does not spread, then when you touch your head and foot at the same time, while your head feels that it is touched; your foot should not, but this is not so. Therefore, your contention that the mind arises where there is union with externals is groundless.

Ananda said: World Honoured One, I have heard the Buddha discuss Reality with other sons of the King of the Law i.e. Bodhisattvas; He also said that the mind is neither within nor without. I now deduce that if the mind is in the body, it does not see anything within and if it is outside, they both cease to feel each other. To say that it is within is wrong for it does not know anything in the body. To say that it is without is also faulty since body and mind can perceive each other. As they do so and since nothing is seen in the body, the mind should be between the two i.e. the inside and outside.

The Buddha said: If your conception of a mind in between is correct, it implies a position for it. Now according to your inference, where is this intermediate position? Do you mean that it is in or on the body? If it is on the surface of the body, it cannot be in its center, and the conception of a mind in the center is no different from that of a mind in the body (which was refuted earlier). Moreover is its position manifest or not? If it is not, it does not exist. If it is, it is not fixed. Why? For instance, if a stake is driven into the ground to mark a center, when seen from the east it is in the west and when seen from the south it is in the north. As this stake can only lead to confusion, so is your conception of a mind in between completely chaotic.

Ananda said: The intermediate position that I mentioned is not these two. As the World Honoured One has said, the eyes and form are causes from which sight-perception arises. While the eyes can distinguish, form does not follow anything and perception lies between them; hence the mind arises.

The Buddha said: If the mind lies between sense organs and sense data, does it include both or not? If it does, its substance and what is outside will be mixed up together, and since the mind perceives while its objects do not, two opposites will be set up; then how can there be an intermediate position? If it is not inclusive, that is if it is independent of the sense organs and sense data, being neither the knower (subject) nor the known (object), it has no substance; then what is this intermediate? Therefore, your contention that it is in between is groundless.

Ananda said: World Honoured One, previously when I saw the Buddha, with His four chief disciples, Maha-Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, Purnamaitrayaniputra and Sariputra, turn the Wheel of the Law, He always said that the nature of the knowing and discriminating mind is neither within nor without nor between the two, exists nowhere and clings to nothing, hence it is called mind. Is that which does not cling to things called mind?

The Buddha replied: You just said that the nature of the knowing and discriminating mind exists nowhere. Now in this world, all things in the air, in water and on the ground, including those that fly and walk, make the existing whole. By that which does not cling to anything, do you mean that it exists or not? If it is not, it is just the hair of a tortoise or the horn of a hare, then how can there be this extra non-clinging? If it is it cannot be said not to exist. That which is not is simply non-existent and that which is should have a position; then how can there be no clinging? Therefore, your contention that that which does not cling to anything is the knowing mind is groundless.

Thereupon Ananda rose from his seat, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt upon his right knee, reverently joined the palms of his hands and said to the Buddha: I am the Tathagata's youngest cousin and because of His great affection, I have been allowed to be His disciple, but I have presumed on His compassion. And so although I have heard much of His preaching, I have failed to avoid the worldly and have been unable to overcome the magic which has turned me round, causing me to visit a house of prostitution. All this is because I failed to reach the region of Reality. May the World Honoured One be compassionate enough to teach us the path of Samatha for the benefit of those lacking faith and holding perverted views.

After saying this, he prostrated himself with knees, elbows and head on the ground. Then he stood up in reverent silence, with the whole assembly keenly awaiting the Teaching.

By the Buddha’s transcendental power, all sorts of rays of light, as brilliant as hundreds and thousands of suns, shone from His forehead, illuminating all the Buddha-lands which shook with six kinds of quake. Thus a number of worlds, uncountable as the dust, appeared simultaneously and by the same power united into a single world wherein each of the great Bodhisattvas, while staying in his own realm, brought his palms together to listen to the Dharma.

The Buddha said: Since the time without beginning, all living beings have given rise to all sorts of inversion because of the karmic seed of ignorance which is like the Aksa shrub.

This is why seekers of the Truth fail to realize Supreme Enlightenment but achieve only the states of Sravakas, Pratyeka-Buddhas, heretics, devas and demons, solely because they do not know the two basic inversions, thereby practising wrongly like those who cannot get food by cooking sand in spite of the passing of aeons as countless as the dust. What are these two basic inversions?

Ananda, the first is the basic root of birth and death caused, since the time without beginning, by the wrong use of a clinging mind which people mistake for their own nature, and the second is their attachment to causal conditions, which screen, the basically bright essence of consciousness which is the fundamentally pure and clean substance of Nirvanic Enlightenment. Thus they ignore this basic brightness and so transmigrate through illusory realms of existence without realizing the futility of their wrong practice. Ananda, as you have enquired about the Samatha Gateway through which to escape from birth and death, I must ask you a question.

The Buddha then held up His golden hued arm and bent His fingers, saying: Ananda, do you see this?

Ananda replied: Yes.

The Buddha asked: What do you see?

Ananda replied: I see the Buddha raise His arm and bend His fingers, showing a shining fist that dazzles my mind and eyes.

The Buddha asked: How do you see it?

Ananda replied: I and all those here use the eyes to see it.

The Buddha asked: You say that I bend my fingers to show a shining fist that dazzles your mind and eyes; now tell me, as you see my fist, what is that mind which perceives its brightness?

Ananda replied: As the Tathagata asks about the mind and since I am using my own to search for it exhaustively, I conclude that that which searches is my mind.

The Buddha said: Hey! Ananda, this is not your mind.

Ananda stared with astonishment, brought his two palms together, rose from his seat and asked: If this is not my mind, what is it?

The Buddha replied: Ananda, this is your false thinking which arises from external objects, deludes your true nature and deceives you into mistaking, since the time without beginning, a thief for your own son, thereby losing sight of that which is basically permanent; hence the round of birth and death.

Ananda said: I am the Buddha’s beloved youngest cousin whose mind so admired Him that I left home to serve and make offerings to the Tathagata and to all Buddhas and enlightened teachers in lands as countless as sand grains in the Ganges. If I am determined to do all difficult Dharma duties, it is because I use this mind, and even if I now slander the Dharma, causing my excellent qualities to weaken for ever, it is also because of this mind. If it was not mind, I would have no mind and would be like the earth or a log for nothing exists beyond what I feel and know. Why does the Buddha now say that it is not mind? This frightens me and also this assembly and not one of us here can avoid being doubtful and suspicious about it. Will you be so compassionate as to enlighten us?

From His lion seat the Buddha in order to teach Ananda and the assembly so that they could all achieve the Patient Endurance of the Uncreate (Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti), held out His hand to touch Ananda’s head, saying: The Tathagata has always said that all phenomena are manifestations of mind and that all causes and effects including all things from the world to its dust, take shape solely because of the mind. Ananda, if we look at all the worlds and all existing things including even grass and leaves, and investigate their roots, they are all made of matter and have qualities, and even the empty void has its name and appearance; then how can the pure and clean profound Bright Mind which is the underlying nature of every discriminating mind be without its own substance? If you grasp firmly the knowledge which comes from your discrimination between feeling and seeing as your true mind, it should have its own nature independent of all sense-data such as form, smell, taste and touch. As you now listen to my sermon on the Dharma, you differentiate because you hear my voice. Even if you succeed in putting an end to all seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing, and so preserve inner quiet, the shadow of your differentiation of things (Dharma) still remains. I do not want you to hold that this is not mind, but you should examine it carefully and minutely: that which continues to possess discerning nature even in the absence of sense-data is really your mind; on the other hand if this discerning nature ceases with sense-data, this is merely the shadow of your differentiation of them, for they are not permanent and when they cease to exist, so does this so-called mind, like the hair of a tortoise and the horns of a hare. If your Dharmakaya can so easily cease to be, who will then practise and realize the patient endurance of the Uncreate?

After hearing this, Ananda and all those present were completely bewildered.

The Buddha said: Practising students, even after they have realized the nine successive states of Dhyana, still cannot step out of the stream of transmigration and so fail to become Arhats, because they cling to this Samsaric false thinking which they mistake for Reality. This is why, though you have heard much of my Dharma, you have failed to win the holy fruit.

After hearing this, Ananda, in bitter tears, prostrated himself with his head, knees and elbows on the ground, knelt and brought his two palms together, saying: After I left home to follow the Buddha, I merely relied on His transcendental power and always thought that I could dispense with practice since He would bestow Samadhi upon me. I did not know that He could not be my substitute and so lost sight of my fundamental Mind. This is why, though I joined the Order, my mind was unable to enter the Tao. I was like a destitute son running away from his father. I only realize now that, in spite of much listening to the Dharma, if I do not practise it, I shall come to nothing as if I had not heard it, like a man who cannot satisfy his hunger by merely speaking of food. World Honoured One, I am caught by the two hindrances because I do not know the real nature of the still and permanent Mind. May the Tathagata be compassionate enough fully to reveal to me that wondrous Bright Mind and so open my Tao eye.

Thereupon the Tathagata, from the Sauvastika on His chest, sent out a radiant multi-coloured precious Light which illuminated the Buddha lands in the ten directions as countless as the dust and which, after shining on the heads of all Buddhas everywhere, veered to Ananda and the assembly.

The Buddha then said to Ananda: I now hoist the banner of Great Dharma so that you and all living beings in the ten directions can realize the pure and bright Mind of your profound and subtle Nature and so win the Eye that is pure and clear. Ananda, a moment ago you said that you saw my shining fist; tell me, how did its brightness come about, what caused it to take the form of a fist and with what did you see it?

Ananda replied: The Buddha’s golden hued body is like a precious hill and manifests the state of purity and cleanness, so that the fist shone. It was really my eyes that saw Him bend the fingers and form a fist which was shown to all of us.

The Buddha said: In truth wise people should be awakened by examples and analogies. Ananda, if I had no hand I would have no fist and if you had no eyes, you would have no faculty of seeing. Is there any connection between your organ of sight and my fist?

Ananda replied: Yes, World Honoured One. If I had no eyes, I would have no faculty of seeing; so there is an analogy between my organ of sight and the Buddha’s fist.

The Buddha said: Your reasoning is incorrect. For instance, a handless man has no fist, but a man without eyes still has his faculty of seeing. When you meet a blind man and ask him what he sees, he will tell you there is nothing but darkness in front of him. Therefore, though things may be screened from view the faculty of seeing continues. Ananda said: If a blind man sees nothing but darkness before him, how can this be called seeing?

The Buddha asked: Is there any difference between the darkness seen by a blind man in front of him and that seen by a man who is not blind when he is in a dark room?

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, there is no difference.

The Buddha said: Ananda, when a blind man who used to see only darkness suddenly recovers his sight and sees every thing clearly, if you say that it is his eyes which see, then when a man who saw darkness in a dark room suddenly lights a lamp which enables him to see what is there, you should say that it is the lamp that sees. If a lamp can see things, it should have the faculty of seeing and should not be called a lamp; if it really sees, it has no relation to you. Therefore, you should know that while the lamp can reveal form, seeing comes from the eyes but not from the lamp. Likewise, while your eyes can reveal form, the nature of seeing comes from the mind but not from the eyes.

Although Ananda and the assembly had heard these words, they remained speechless. As they did not awaken to the Teaching, they brought their palms together and waited for the Buddha’s further instruction with their minds set on hearing it.

The Buddha then held up His shining hand, straightened His fingers to give further instruction to Ananda and the assembly and asked: After I attained Enlightenment (Bodhi), I went to Mrgadava park where I told Ajnata-kaundinya and his group of five bhiksus as well as you monks, nuns and devotees, that all living beings failed to realize Enlightenment and became Arhats because they were misled by foreign dust which created delusion and distress by entering their minds. What at that time caused you to awaken so that you can now win the holy fruit?

Ajnata-kaundinya then rose from his seat and replied to the Buddha: I am now a senior in the assembly in which I am the only one who has acquired the art of interpreting because I had awakened to the meaning of the expression 'foreign dust', so that I won the holy fruit. World Honoured One 'foreign dust' is like a guest who stops at an inn where he passes the night or eats something and then packs and continues his journey because he cannot stay longer. As to the host of the inn, he has nowhere to go. My deduction is that one who does not stay is a guest and one who stays is a host. Consequently, a thing is 'foreign' when it does not stay. Again, when the sun rises in a clear sky and its light enters the house through an opening, the dust is seen to dance in the ray of light whereas the empty space does not move. I deduce that that which is still is the void and that which moves is the dust. Consequently, a thing is 'dust' when it moves.

The Buddha said: Correct.

The Buddha then bent, straightened and re-bent his fingers and asked Ananda: What did you see?

Ananda replied: I saw the Buddha open and close His fist.

The Buddha asked: You say that you saw my fist open and close; was it my fist or your seeing that opened and closed?

Ananda replied: As the Buddha’s fist opened and closed, I saw that it and not the nature of my seeing did so by itself.

The Buddha asked: Which one moved and which was still?

Ananda replied: The Buddha's hand was not still; as to the nature of my seeing which was already beyond the state of stillness, it could not move.

The Buddha said: Correct.

Thereupon the Buddha sent out from His palm a radiant ray of light to Ananda's right, and the disciple turned to look at it. Then He sent out another ray to Ananda’s left and the disciple turned to look at it. The Buddha then asked: Why did your head move?

Ananda replied: I saw the Buddha send out radiant rays of light to my right and left, I turned to look at them and so my head moved.

The Buddha said: As you turn to the right and left to see the Buddha-light, is it your head or your seeing that moves.

Ananda replied: World Honoured One, it is my head that turns; as to my seeing which is already beyond the state of stillness, how can it move?

The Buddha said: Correct.

The Buddha then declared to the assembly: So every worldly man knows that what moves is dust, and that he who does not stay is a guest. You have seen Ananda whose head moved of itself whereas his seeing was unmoved. You have also seen my fist which opened and closed of itself whereas his seeing neither expanded nor contracted. Why do you still regard the moving as your body and surroundings, and so, from beginning to end, allow your thoughts to rise and fall without interruption, thereby losing sight of your true nature and indulging in backward actions? By missing the True Mind of your nature and by mistaking illusory objects for your Selves, you allow yourselves to be caught in the wheel of Samsara thereby forcing yourselves to pass through transmigrations.

After Ananda and the whole assembly had heard the Buddha’s words, their bodies and minds became calm and composed. They thought that, since the time without beginning, they had lost sight of their own minds by wrongly clinging to the shadows of their differentiated causal conditions and that they had only now awakened to all this, like a hungry baby who had not suckled for some time and suddenly saw its loving mother. They brought their palms together to thank the Buddha and wished to hear His teaching on the dual states of reality and unreality, existence and non-existence and mortality and immortality of body and mind.

~ excerpt from the Surangama Sutra; rendered in Chinese around 705 A.D. by Master Paramiti, of Central North India, at Chih Chih Monastery, Canton, China. Commentary (abridged) by Ch'an Master Han Shan (1546-1623). Translated by Upasaka Lu K’uan Yu (Charles Luk). Download Pdf from Buddhanet