Surangama Samadhi Sutra

[Nicholas Weeks]

From McRae's Introduction to the BDK edition:

The Surangama Samadhi Sutra is an exquisite religious scripture.
One of the most profound of all Mahayana texts, it depicts a vision of
Buddhism that is thoroughly transcendent and at the same time
uniquely humanistic. Here the Buddha Sakyamuni is no mere historical
personage, but the one eternal cosmic Buddha who is the source
of all other Buddhas. The Dharma Sakyamuni teaches is the Surangama
Samadhi, the meditative concentration of the "heroic march"
to Buddhahood, which is presented in overwhelmingly lavish terms
as the very key to the enlightenment of the Buddhas and all of their
awesome spiritual power. And the prize that awaits those who practice
and achieve mastery of this incredible samadhi is not merely
enlightenment in individual terms, but the insurpassable and perfect
enlightenment of Buddhahood itself. Indeed, this text implies it would
be impossible to remain in any Hinayanist state of enlightened extinction,
since the Surangama Samadhi even gives the Buddha the
power to recall the Pratyekabuddhas (those who are enlightened by
their own efforts and who pass into extinction without teaching others),
and Arhats (those who complete the entire Hinayana path to
achieve total Nirvanic extinction) from their religious comas to
achieve perfect Buddhahood...
This is a magnificent contradiction of the Buddhist doctrinal convention—
explicitly refuted in the text—that entry into Nirvana as a
Pratyekabuddha or Arhat represents a spiritual dead end, a total
extinction from which one cannot return. (The discouragement felt
by some of the Buddha's listeners at the end of the text, already
mentioned above, is actually that they might have to labor mightily
for the achievement of the Surahgama Samadhi yet still get sidetracked
into a lesser enlightenment.) This text simply cannot allow the
Hlnayanist to remain in such a spiritual void, and it does not stop with
merely saying that they are to be retrieved from their extinctions,
but goes on to describe a religious world in which personal identity
may be adopted and manifested at will for teaching purposes. Given
such thoroughgoing fluidity of identity, the earlier doctrinal conventions
about the distinctiveness and irreversibility of different spiritual
paths are not just rejected but thoroughly transformed.

Lamotte's very scholarly 1965 version was rendered into English in 1998 by Boin-Webb.

[Nicholas Weeks]

"Excellent, O World-Honored One! Your supernormal
abilities are immeasurable! You have allowed the many
gods to fulfill their desires!" Seeing the Buddha's divine power,
the gods who had prepared seats for the Tathagata all generated
the aspiration to achieve unsurpassable and perfect enlightenment
on behalf of all sentient beings. In unison, they said to the Buddha:

"O World-Honored One, we have now generated the intention
to achieve unsurpassable and perfect enlightenment on behalf
of all sentient beings in order to make an offering to the Tathagata,
to eradicate all the afflictions of sentient beings, to protect the
True Dharma, and to prevent the Buddha's seed from being eradicated.
We wish to be able to exercise such supernormal powers of
a Buddha in the future, to be able to perform transformations such
as the Tathagata has done now." The Buddha then praised those
gods, saying: "Excellent, excellent! As you have said, out of the
wish to benefit all sentient beings, you have now generated the
aspiration to achieve unsurpassable and perfect enlightenment.
This is the highest offering that can be made to the Tathagata."

Page 14 of BDK version.

[Nicholas Weeks]

Excellent, excellent! Immense is the power
[of the Tathagata] who is able to gratify the desires (asayaparipurand)
of all the devaputras. All the devaputras who have offered a seat to the
Tathagata, having thus witnessed the supernormal might (rddhiprdtihdryd)
of the Buddha, aroused the anuttarasamyaksambodhicitta.
Together they addressed the Buddha and said to him: Bhagavat, it is in
order to pay homage (pujana) to the Tathagata, calm the suffering of all
beings (sarvasattvaduhkhaprasamana), protect the Good Dharma
(saddharmaparigrahana) and not interrupt the lineage of the Buddhas
(buddhavamsdnupaccheda) that we arouse the anuttarasamyak-
sambodhicitta. May we,-in future time (andgate 'dhvani), become
Buddhas gifted with such supernormal might and accomplish wonders
(yikurvana) such as those that the Tathagata accomplished today.
Then the Buddha congratulated (sddhukdram addt) the devaputras:
Excellent, excellent! It is exactly as you say (evam etadyathd vadatha):
to arouse the anuttarasamyaksambodhicitta for the welfare and
happiness of all beings (sarvasattvdndm hitdya sukhdya) is the supreme
homage (paramapujd) rendered to the Tathagata.

Lamotte-Boin-Webb's version, pp 116-17. Both Lamotte & McRae use Kumarajiva. Sorry the parenthetical roman Sanskrit does not display well.

[Nicholas Weeks]

At that time the Buddha told Resolute Mind Bodhisattva, "The
Surangama Samadhi cannot be attained by Bodhisattvas of the
first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth
stage. Only Bodhisattvas who are on the tenth stage can attain
this Surangama Samadhi. What is the Surangama Samadhi? (1)
It is to cultivate the mind as if it were like space.

The Kumarajiva version lists 99 more functions of the samadhi, the Tibetan lists more.

[Nicholas Weeks]

22. Drdhamati, this Śuramgamasamādhi is not understood in the light
of a single statement (ekapada), a single object (ekālambana), a single
meaning (ekārtha): all the absorptions (dhyāna), attainments
(samāpatti), liberations (vimoksa), concentrations (samādhi),
superknowledges (abhijñā), supernormal powers (rddhi) and
penetrating knowledges (pratisamvijjñāna) are included (samgrhīta) in
[632a] the Śuramgamasamādhi.
23. Just as springs, streams, rivers, tributaries and water courses flow
into the great sea (mahāsamudra), so all the bodhisattva possesses in
the way of dhyānas and samāpattis is to be found in the
Śuramgamasamādhi.

Lamotte/Boin-Webb, p. 127

[Nicholas Weeks]

Resolute Mind, thus are the teaching of samadhi, the
teaching of meditation, the teaching of discrimination, the teaching
of emancipation, the teaching of dharani, the teaching of supernormal
powers, and the teaching of brilliant emancipation: all
these teachings are contained within the Surangama Samadhi.

Hence when a Bodhisattva practices the Surangama Samadhi, he
practices all the samadhis. Resolute Mind, it is likened to the seven
treasures of the Wheel Turning Sage King, which follow him wherever
he goes. Thus, O Resolute Mind, do all the Dharmas that
contribute to enlightenment follow the Surangama Samadhi. It is
for this reason that this samadhi is called Surangama (heroic march)."

McRae, p. 20

[Nicholas Weeks]

The Buddha said to Drdhamati: The bodhisattva in Suramgamasamadhi
has no need to seek riches (bhoga) to give away. All precious
substances (ratnadravya)... he has majestically at his disposal. They come to him
by reason of his previous merit (purvapunya) and, furthermore, they are voluntarily
created by his supernormal power (rddhibala). Such is the special fruit
(phalavisesa) of the perfection of giving which
characterises the bodhisattva in Suramgamasamadhi.

Lamotte/Boin-Webb, p. 128

[Nicholas Weeks]

The Buddha said to Drdhamati: The bodhisattva in Suramgamasamadhi
cultivates patience (ksantim bhdvayati) to the end and
completely. 'Beings are not born', and thus he cultivates patience.
'Dharmas do not arise', and thus he cultivates patience. 'The mind
(citta) is devoid of shape or colour (samsthanavarna)\ and thus he
cultivates patience. 'There is neither another (para) nor a self (atman)\
and thus he cultivates patience. 'Samsara does not merit attention
(manyana)\ and thus he cultivates patience. 'The self-nature of things
(svabhavata) does not allow of destruction (abhedya)\ and thus he
cultivates patience. While the bodhisattva is thus cultivating patience,
there is nothing that he cultivates and there is nothing that he does not
cultivate.

Lamotte/Boin-Webb 129