The shurangama mantra The shurangama mantra | Page 241

【THE SHURANGAMA SUTRA _ EXTRACTION.】
intense investigation as he greedily
seeks for imperceptible spiritual
responses. 8:119
(or my mistress, or my brother). Now
I have come to rescue you again. We
will stay together and go to another
world to make offerings to a certain
Buddha.’ Or he may say, ‘There is a
Heaven of Great Brilliance where a
Buddha now dwells. It is the resting
place of all Tathagatas.’ Ignorant
people believe his ravings and lose
their original resolve. 8:124
”At that time a demon from the
heavens seizes the opportunity it has
been waiting for. Its spirit possesses
another person and uses him as a
mouthpiece to expound the Sutras
and the Dharma. 8:120
”This person, completely unaware
that he is possessed by a demon,
claims he has reached unsurpassed
Nirvana. When he comes to see that
good person who seeks revelations,
he arranges a seat and speaks the
Dharma. He briefly appears to his
listeners in a body that looks a
hundred or a thousand years old.
They experience a defiling love for
him and cannot bear to part with him.
They personally act as his servants,
tirelessly making the Four Kinds of
Offerings to him. Each member of
the assembly believes that this person
is his former teacher, his original
Good and Wise Advisor. They give
rise to love for his Dharma and stick
to him as if glued, feeling they have
obtained something unprecedented.
8:121
”This is a pestilence ghost that in its
old age has become a demon. It
disturbs and confuses the good
person. But when it tires of doing so,
it will leave the other person’s body.
Then both the disciples and the
teacher will get in trouble with the
law. 8:125
”You should be aware of this in
advance and not get caught up in the
cycle of transmigration. If you are
confused and do not understand, you
will fall into the Relentless Hells.
8:125
”Further, in the unhindered clarity
and wonder that ensues after the
feeling skandha is gone, this good
person is untroubled by any deviant
mental state and experiences perfect,
bright concentration. Within samadhi,
his mind craves deep absorption, so
he restrains himself with energetic
diligence and likes to dwell in
secluded places as he greedily seeks
for peace and quiet. 8:126
”The good person is beguiled and
fooled into thinking the other is a
Bodhisattva. Attracted to the other’s
thinking, he breaks the Buddha’s
moral precepts and covertly indulges
his greedy desires. 8:123
”At that time a demon from the
heavens seizes the opportunity it has
been waiting for. Its spirit possesses
another person and uses him as a
”He is fond of saying, ‘In a past life,
in a certain incarnation, I rescued a
certain person who was then my wife
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