Notes Beside the Bamboo Window — Third Collection, Part 40
Continuing the Third Collection (三筆). Answering a real doctrinal puzzle — why the Śūraṅgama Sutra names Avalokiteśvara's ear-faculty method as supreme, and yet the whole world instead follows Buddha-recitation — Zhuhong argues the two teachings serve different scopes entirely, one suited only to beings capable of hearing in this single world, the other suited to beings across every possible realm.
117. 楞嚴圓通 — Perfect Penetration in the Śūraṅgama Sutra
Answering a real doctrinal puzzle — why the Śūraṅgama Sutra names Avalokiteśvara's ear-faculty method as supreme among twenty-five methods, and yet the whole world instead follows Buddha-recitation — Zhuhong argues the two teachings serve entirely different scopes: one suited to beings capable of hearing within this single world, the other suited to beings across every conceivable realm, using the analogy of regional versus universal curricula to make the point vivid.
問曰：「《楞嚴》圓通獨取耳根，念佛法門曾未入選，奈何後世不遵聖語，而普天之下多從念佛也？」答曰：《彌陀疏鈔》已有明辨，而此疑此問關係不小，不厭其煩瀆也，更為子詳言之。子誠娑婆人也，知有娑婆而已，獨不思娑婆而外，有無量、無邊、不可說不可說世界乎？耳根者，透娑婆世界眾生之機；念佛者，透不可說不可說世界眾生之機也。耳根圓通，一方世界之圓通；念佛圓通，十方世界之圓通也。佛出娑婆，姑就娑婆之所宜者示教，故曰「此方真教體，清淨在音聞」，不曰「十方真教體」也。喻如今日國中百千郡邑士子所習，或在一方多習《易》者，或在一方多習《詩》者，或在一方多習《書》者；《春秋》、《禮記》亦復如是。統而論之，通國之中，最多習者則《周易》也。《周易》者，念佛法門之謂也。復次百千郡邑土地所宜，郊野之區多植穀粟，山林之所多栽果實，江海之處多販魚鹽，綾綿珠玉亦復如是。統而論之，通國之中最多尚者，則稻黍菽粟也。稻黍菽粟者，念佛法門之謂也。子居娑婆，自修耳根，誰得而阻之；但不必是此而非彼。如其執耳根而欲掃除念佛，是猶業餘經之士子而欲掃除《周易》，貨餘物之商民而欲掃除穀粟也，豈理也哉？
Someone asked: "In the Śūraṅgama Sutra's account of perfect penetration, only the ear-faculty method was chosen as supreme, and Buddha-recitation was never selected at all — why, then, does the later world disregard the sage's own explicit words, so that the whole world instead overwhelmingly follows Buddha-recitation?"
I answered: my own commentary on the Amitābha Sutra has already addressed this question clearly, but since this doubt bears on matters of real consequence, I will not hesitate to explain it once more here in full detail, at whatever risk of repeating myself. You are, in truth, a being of this Sahā world, and you know only this Sahā world — have you never once considered that beyond it lie countless, boundless worlds too numerous even to describe? The ear-faculty method is suited to the capacities of beings within this one Sahā world; Buddha-recitation is suited to the capacities of beings across all those countless, indescribable worlds. Perfect penetration through the ear-faculty is perfect penetration for a single world alone; perfect penetration through Buddha-recitation is perfect penetration across worlds in every direction. The Buddha, appearing in this Sahā world, naturally taught according to what suited this Sahā world in particular — which is why the sutra says, "In this land, the true substance of the teaching lies in the purity found through sound and hearing," rather than saying, "In every land, the true substance of the teaching lies in this."
Consider an analogy: among the scholars of the hundreds and thousands of prefectures and counties across our own country today, one particular region may specialize chiefly in the Book of Changes, another chiefly in the Book of Odes, another chiefly in the Book of Documents; the same holds true for the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites. But taken as a whole, across the entire country, the text studied by the greatest number of scholars everywhere is the Book of Changes itself. The Book of Changes, in this analogy, corresponds to Buddha-recitation.
Consider, too, what suits the land itself across those same hundreds and thousands of prefectures and counties: open countryside regions mostly grow grain; mountain and forest regions mostly cultivate fruit; river and coastal regions mostly trade in fish and salt; the same holds true for silk, cotton, pearls, and jade. But taken as a whole, across the entire country, what is valued by the greatest number of people everywhere is rice, millet, and grain. Rice, millet, and grain, in this analogy, correspond to Buddha-recitation.
If you yourself live in this Sahā world and wish to cultivate the ear-faculty method for your own practice, who could possibly stand in your way? But there is no need to insist that this method alone is right while all others are wrong. To cling to the ear-faculty method while wishing to sweep away Buddha-recitation entirely would be exactly like a scholar who has mastered some lesser text wishing to sweep away the Book of Changes altogether, or a merchant who deals in some minor good wishing to sweep away the trade in grain itself — how could this possibly be reasonable?
The Śūraṅgama Sutra's twenty-five methods of "perfect penetration," in which Avalokiteśvara's ear-faculty method is singled out by Mañjuśrī as most suited to beings of this world, and the specific line "in this land, the true substance of the teaching lies in the purity found through sound and hearing" are both drawn directly from the sutra's own sixth scroll, already a recurring textual anchor throughout this collection; Zhuhong notes that he had already resolved this exact question in his own major commentary on the Amitābha Sutra, making this entry a condensed, more accessible restatement — using the vivid, homely analogy of regional versus nationwide curricula and crops — of an argument he had first worked out at greater technical length in that earlier scholarly work, a pattern of self-citation and simplification also seen in this collection's earlier discussion of bead-counting in entry 103.