Sūrangama Temple
The Sūrangama Temple is not a temple, nor is it a place or location. So where is the Śūraṅgama Temple, and where do practitioners cultivate? The answer lies in the meaning of the term “Śūraṅgama Temple.”
Śūraṅgama (Śūraṃgama) is a Sanskrit term meaning the strongest and most steadfast among all things. Everything—mountains, rivers, land, houses, people, animals, beings born from wombs, eggs, moisture, or transformation—must be experienced through depth and stability in order to attain the essence of samādhi, the essence of the “secret cause.” When a practitioner attains the “great samādhi” of the “secret cause,” that person becomes proof of the “ultimate meaning.” When a practitioner has realized the ultimate meaning, it means that they have cultivated the six perfections and myriad Bodhisattva practices, and have attained the “great practice.” After attaining the “great practice,” one can then accomplish the ultimate and most indestructible samādhi among all phenomena. This is the “great result,” the greatest result among all results. This is the attainment known as the Great Śūraṅgama Samādhi.
What is “Temple” (Tự)? The word Tự means temple. In English, it is “Temple.” The Dalai Lama explained the meaning of the word Temple as follows:
The mind is the temple, and the temple is the mind. The temple resides within the mind, and within the mind there is a temple. So what is the Śūraṅgama Temple? It is the true mind, which cannot be seen. The heart located within your chest, which you can see, is merely a physical organ whose function is to sustain your life. It is not the true mind. That physical heart certainly cannot lead you to genuine understanding. If the heart in your chest were the true mind, then it should accompany you when you die. Yet after death, your body remains and the heart still lies within it. Therefore, that fleshly heart is not the true mind.
The temples that you visit on pilgrimage are buildings that shelter you from the sun and rain so that you may practice cultivation. They are like your physical heart; their function is to help sustain your life. Such temples require maintenance and care. They are not like the Śūraṅgama Temple, which is indestructible, unborn, and undying. The Śūraṅgama Temple is the true mind, and your true mind is precisely your Buddha-nature. “Then where is the Buddha-nature?”
The Buddha-nature is neither inside, nor outside, nor in between. The scripture explains this principle in great detail. It also explains the “Ten Revelations of the Seeing Nature,” which is the true mind. This is the third reason why the Buddha proclaimed this sutra: to clearly reveal to sentient beings the Ever-Abiding True Mind and the Pure, Bright Essence of
