The Original Text of the Fourth Fascicle of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 富楼那。又汝问言。地水火风。本性圆融。周遍法界。疑水火性不相陵灭。又征虚空。及诸大地。俱遍法界。不合相容。富楼那。譬如虚空。体非群相。而不拒彼诸相发挥。所以者何。富楼那。彼太虚空。日照则明。云屯则暗。风摇则动。霁澄则清。气凝则浊。土积成霾。水澄成映。于意云何。如是殊方诸有为相。为因彼生。为复空有。若彼所生。

富楼那。且日照时。既是日明。十方世界。同为日色。云何空中。更见圆日。若是空明。空应自照。云何中宵云雾之时。不生光耀。当知是明。非日非空。不异空日。观相元妄。无可指陈。犹邀空花。结为空果。云何诘其相陵灭义。观性元真。唯妙觉明。妙觉明心。先非水火。云何复问不相容者。真妙觉明。亦复如是。

汝以空明。则有空现。地水火风。各各发明。则各各现。若俱发明。则有俱现。云何俱现。富楼那。如一水中。现于日影。两人同观水中之日。东西各行。则各有日。随二人去。一东一西。先无准的。不应难言。此日是一。云何各行。各日既双。云何现一。宛转虚妄。无可凭据。

Explanation: This passage from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is a dialogue between the World-Honored One and Pūrṇa. The gist of the premise is as follows: Pūrṇa deliberately asked the World-Honored One, saying: The four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind are by nature harmoniously fused and pervade the entire Dharma realm, so why do water and fire not tolerate each other—water can extinguish fire, fire can evaporate water, and earth can obstruct empty space?

The World-Honored One replied: This principle is like the analogy of empty space. The essence of empty space is not any of the various material forms, yet empty space does not obstruct the existence of those forms. Because within great empty space, when the sun shines, empty space is bright; when clouds gather, empty space is dark; when the wind blows, empty space has the mark of movement; when the rain stops, the sky becomes clear; when vapors condense, the air becomes turbid; when earth piles up, small hills form; and when water settles and clarifies, it can reflect objects.

What do you think, Pūrṇa? These various different conditioned dharma-marks, such as brightness, darkness, wind movement, and clear skies—were they produced by the sun, clouds, wind, rain, earth, rivers, and so forth, or were they produced by empty space? If they were produced by the sun and such things, then when the sun shines, the brightness is produced by the sun, and the worlds of the ten directions all have brightness, so they should all be sunlight—why then do the worlds of the ten directions not have the sun, but only see brightness? (The meaning here is that brightness is not produced by the sun; it is produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Worlds without the sun still have brightness.)

If brightness were produced by empty space, then empty space should have brightness at all times and should never be dark. Therefore, brightness is not produced by the sun, nor is it produced by empty space—it is produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Yet brightness also does not exist apart from the sun and empty space; the sun and empty space are the supporting conditions for the tathāgatagarbha to produce brightness.

Observing these marks, one finds that they are all false and unreal, yet one still tries to gather those flowers in empty space and form them into empty fruits—this is even more impossible and even more illusory. Therefore, water and fire have no phenomenon of extinguishing each other; the arising and ceasing of water and fire are both due to the tathāgatagarbha, not due to each other. The great earth and empty space are likewise so, all because of the tathāgatagarbha.

Therefore, upon observing the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, it is found to be true and not false; the nature of all dharmas is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, all being the wondrous awakened luminosity of the tathāgatagarbha. Yet the wondrous awakened luminosity of the tathāgatagarbha has no nature of water or fire—why then say that water and fire do not tolerate each other?

The wondrous awakened luminosity of the true mind is also like this—it is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. When your mind wishes to perceive empty space, empty space appears; when your mind wishes to perceive earth, water, fire, and wind, they will appear one by one. If you wish for these dharmas to appear simultaneously, then these dharmas will appear simultaneously.

How do they appear simultaneously? Pūrṇa, for example, in a body of water, the reflection of the sun appears. Two people observe the sun in the water together, and then the two each walk off to the east and the west; there will then be a sun following each of the two people as they go, one to the east and one to the west. You should not object by saying: the reflection of the sun was originally one, so why have two now appeared, each following one of the two people to their respective places? The two people's suns together make two, so why did only one sun's reflection appear in the water at first? No matter how you think about it, it is all illusory, and no evidence can be found to account for these phenomena. In fact, no matter how many sun reflections there are in the water, all are conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha; even the sun in the sky is conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha. Do not think that these sun reflections have any real existence, and then speculate about them, saying: clearly there was one sun, so why did it become two, three, or many? When conditions exist, the tathāgatagarbha produces the myriad phenomena; when conditions do not exist, the tathāgatagarbha does not produce them. Such is the pattern of the Dharma realm.