i_rabbit

    • 1/15/2008

    How to Eliminate Obstructions

    Filed under: __/|\__ — rabbit @ 12:21 pm

    A friend asked the other day what enlightenment was exactly and I had to consult with my Spiritual Guide who referred me to the back of Joyful Path To Good Fortune, where it is stated that enlightenment occurs when any being eliminates the two obstructions of delusion and the karmic imprints of delusion - saṃskāra. But how to remove them specifically?

    “Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, Ananda. Don’t be heedless. Don’t later fall into regret. This is our message to you all. (MN 152: Indriya-bhavana Sutta)”

    These teachings form the basis of the Shurangama Sutra which gives the most detailed explanation of the Buddha’s teachings concerning the mind. It is said that once when Buddha was preaching the Dharma that Ananda arose halfway through and gave praise to Buddha because he understood clearly and Purnamaitreyaniputra - who was apparently a more advanced practitioner - asked why it was that a Ananda could understand while he could not, and so Buddha explained the two kinds of obstructions - based on affliction and doubt - that must be cleansed for full enlightenment. This is also taught as the selflessness of person and the selflessness of phenomena.

    The Bodhisattva Nagarjuna is said to have preserved these teachings and they later made their way to China where they were translated in 705 by an unknown Indian bhiksu (some say his name was Shramana Paramiti) as “The Summit of the Great Buddha, The Final Meaning of Verification though Cultivation of the Secret Cause of the Tathagatas, and [Foremost] Shurangama of All Bodhisattvas’ Ten Thousand Practices Sutra.”

    It is said by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua that;

    “In Buddhism all the sutras are very important, but the Shurangama Sutra is even more important. Wherever the Shurangama Sutra is, the Proper Dharma abides in the world. When the Shurangama Sutra is gone, that is a sign of the Dharma Ending Age. In the Extinction of the Dharma Sutra it says that in the Dharma Ending Age, the Shurangama Sutra will become extinct first. Then gradually the other Sutras will also become extinct. The Shurangama Sutra is the true body of the Buddha; the sharira [relics] of the Buddha; the stupa of the Buddha.” [1]

    The (many) obstructions are also discussed in greater detail in the Prajna Paramita Sutra and the Heart Sutra where the great Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara explains the emptiness of all things and phenomena quite eloquently.

    See also: http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/Shurangama/Shurangama.htm

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