Complde Enlightenment Zen comments on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment Ch'an Master Sheng-yen Foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh r 7) "With this fine new translation of, and penetrating contemporary commen- tary on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, Master Sheng-yen, a teacher of superb qualifications, has kindly shared his lucid teachings with us. The resulting book is learned and compassionate, wise and practical. It is sure to benefit all who, in these complete times, earnestly seek to tread the Buddha's Way." —Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen and The Zen of Living and Dying "There has not been enough attention in the West given to the contempo- rary Ch'an [Zen] tradition. This fine book should correct that oversight. It includes the first published translation of The Complete Enlightenment Sutra, an important text for Chinese Buddhism, with a down-to-earth yet philo- sophically subtle commentary by Master Sheng-yen, a leading teacher in the renaissance of contemporary Ch'an. The reader will be delighted, as I was, by Master Sheng-yen's commonsense surefooted ness with the teach- ings and his homespun style." —Norman Fischer, co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and author o/Jerusalem Moonlight "With skill and authority, Master Sheng-yen's new commentary uses the sutra as a means of elucidating the essentials of Ch'an practice. His commentary bears eloquent witness to the vitality of Ch'an tradition in our day. It is an excellent place to begin for anyone who wishes to learn what that tradition is all about." —Peter N. Gregory, Professor ofBuddhist Studies, University of Illinois "This book stands out from the mountain of books on spiritual growth. It is a wonderful translation and a rare, authoritative commentary on an ancient sutra from one of the most prominent Cha'n masters of our day." —Saukok Kan, Editor, Harvard International Review r Complete Enlightenment Translation and Commentary on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment Ch'an Master Sheng-yen Foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh Shambhala Boston & London 1999 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 http://www.shambhala.com Published by arrangement with Dharma Drum Publications, Elmhurst, New York. ©1997 by Dharma Drum Publications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 987654321 Printed in the United States of America This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 Standard. Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sheng-yen. Complete enlightenment/by Ch'an Master Sheng-yen; foreward by Thich Nhat Hanh p. cm Includes translation of ancient Chinese sutra: Yuan chiieh ching. Includes index. ISBN 1-57062-400-3 (paper) 1. Tripitaka. Sutrapitaka. Mahavaipulyapurna buddhasutraprasannarthsutra—Commentaries. I. Tripitaka. Sutrapitaka. Mahavaipulyapurnabuddha sutraprasannarthsutra. II. Title BQ2237.S54 1998 294.3'85—dc21 98-4306 CIP Contents Foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh 1 Introduction by Master Sheng-yen 3 Translator's Foreword 9 Translation The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment 1 5 Notes 65 Commentary Prologue 75 Bodhisattva Manjusri 83 Bodhisattva Samantabhadra 103 Bodhisattva of Universal Vision 113 Bodhisattva Vajragarbha 163 Bodhisattva Maitreya 183 Bodhisattva of Pure Wisdom 207 Bodhisattva at Ease in Majestic Virtue 223 Bodhisattva Cleansed of All Karmic Obstructions 237 Bodhisattva of Universal Enlightenment 257 Bodhisattva of Complete Enlightenment 275 Bodhisattva Foremost in Virtue and Goodness 287 Glossary 293 Acknowledgments The author would like to thank the following people for their work on the original edition of this book, published by Dharma Drum Publi- cations: Venerable Guo-gu Bhikshu, managing editor and translator; Pei-gwang Dowiat, Ming-yee Wang, and Paul Kennedy, translators; Peter Gregory, editorial advisor; Chris Marano and Lindley Hanlon, editors; Lisa Commager, Susan Curran, Ernest Heau, and Xiujue Zhu, editorial assistants; Trish Ing, production; and Chih-chin Lee, cover design. Dharma Drum also thanks Mr. Chin-shiang Lin for his generous donation in support of this project through the Lin Pan Cultural and Educational Foundation. Foreword In the true teaching of Lord Buddha, Complete Enlightenment is made of incomplete enlightenments. This means that in the heart of your daily mindful actions, thoughts, and speech, Complete En- lightenment is already there, and you should not strive to look for Complete Enlightenment anywhere else. Suppose you are on the road between Boston and New York. Looking in one direction is Boston; looking in the other direction is New York. If you want to go to Boston, you should turn in the di- rection of Boston. Once you have turned in the direction of Boston, Boston is already in you. But if you turn in the direction of New York, Boston is lost. Lost, but it is still there for you, if you know how to turn around. Every point of the road contains Boston. And any point of the road contains New York. Complete Enlightenment and Complete Ignorance are exactly the same. They contain each other. In our practice, we listen to the Dharma, we participate in Dharma discussions to deepen our understanding, and we find ways to apply the Dharma in our daily life: sitting, standing, walking, eat- ing, drinking, cleaning, cooking .... The Sutra of Complete Enlight- enment is a Dharma discussion between the Buddha and several great bodhisattvas in the presence of a large Sangha. If you know how to be there and how to listen, you will be able to actually partici- pate in it. It is still going on. And if you do well, you will not get caught in words (like samadhi, samapatti, and dhyana!), sentences, and ideas. Many people just enjoy ideas, even great ideas, and are not able to put them into practice. This is something the Buddha docs not want us to do. I -^ Complete Enlightenment We should also not be caught in the idea of whether such or such sutra was truly spoken directly by the Buddha or by one of his disciples, right in the time of the Buddha or hundreds of years later. If a disciple of the Buddha practices well, and gets the true insight, then his or her words will be the same as the words of the Buddha. If you bear this in mind, you will learn and profit greatly from this well- known sutra. Ch'an Master Sheng-yen is a great teacher and I have great con- fidence in his scholarship and wisdom. I feel privileged to be his friend, and admire what he has been doing for the Buddhadharma in the East as well as in the West. These few lines, written as the fore- word to this book, are a wholehearted dedication to that friendship. Please enjoy this beautiful translation of the sutra and also the valu- able commentaries and instructions offered by this great and rare teacher. Thich Nhat Hanh Plum Village December 6, 1996 Introduction The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment is an extremely important text in the history of Chinese Buddhism. It was held in high regard by followers of the Hua-yen tradition (a sect based on the teach- ings of the Avatamsaka Sutra). Today it is also highly respected by Ch'an and Zen practitioners. Within the Indian Tathagatagarbha system of Mahayana Bud- dhism, there are numerous representative texts such as the Ratnagotravibhaga (Uttaratantra) Sastra, the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and the Srimala Sutra, which developed with great clarity the Tathagatagarbha system of thought. However, Chinese Mahayana Bud- dhists rarely rely on these texts. Instead, they have adhered almost exclu- sively to The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, The Surangama Sutra, and The Awakening of Mahayana Faith Sastra. Therefore, in order to understand the special flavor of Chinese Buddhism, one must begin with a study of these texts. According to available information, there have been two trans- lations of The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment from Sanskrit into Chinese. The first translation was completed in 647 by a mysteri- ous individual named Luoho Tanjian. We know he was Indian, but the name does not correspond to any known Indian translator. The second translation was by another Indian, Buddhatrata, in 693. His translation is the one commonly used. Buddhatrata's Chinese translation of this sutra appears in one volume. However, numerous exegetical works on The Sutra of Com- plete Enlightenment have been written, the most famous being The Great Exegesis on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment (Yuan juc jing da shu chao), written in 26 fascicles by the prominent Hua-yen [ te Complete Enlightenment and Ch'an master, Zongmi (780-841). Before his commentary, how- ever, there were already four others in existence. To this date, there are dozens of exegeses and commentaries available. However, even now, when people write commentaries on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, they often ignore all exegeses but Master Zongmi's. Master Zongmi also compiled a ritual manual entitled A Manual of Procedures for the Cultivation and Realization of Ritual Practice (Yuan jue jing dao chang xiu zheng yi), based on the elev- enth chapter of The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, where the Buddha taught specific methods of practice for fixed time periods: 120 days, 100 days, and 80 days. Why does The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment hold such an important position in Chinese Buddhism? For one thing, we can- not overlook the impact that Master Zongmi has had on Buddhism. Master Zongmi was highly respected as both a great scholar and a great practitioner.