Preface to the Essential Explanation of the Shurangama Sutra (Part A, No. 270)

Preface by the Patriarchal Monk Ji'nan, Former Abbot of Fuzhou Shangsheng Chan Cloister

As time passed and the Way declined, those who sought to understand the mind mistakenly clung to perceived objects and were swayed by external things. Doctrinal scholars, proud of their superficial knowledge, failed to embody true spiritual power. Even the most talented and brilliant individuals ended up like those who cook sand in hopes of making rice or who speak of food while remaining hungry. The Śūraṅgama King, foreseeing this, compassionately revealed its secret teachings, striving to rescue beings from their inverted delusions. It refined, awakened, and guided them with unwavering kindness, yet few beginners in the final age could fully comprehend it.

Master Wenling Huanshi, who spent his life in retreat, had no worldly pursuits. Instead, he devoted himself to studying the sacred scriptures, researching widely on his own. Using these teachings as a raft, he explored the Tathāgata's treasury, traveled through the ocean of omniscience, and reached the ultimate ground of all realities. He wished to share these insights with like-minded seekers, thus composing this commentary.

In the past, the bhikṣu Candramukha once asked the Tathāgata Bhaiṣajya about the meaning of Dharma offerings. The Medicine King told him: "The profound scriptures proclaimed by the Buddhas are difficult to believe. They are pure and undefiled, capable of leading beings to perfect enlightenment and freeing them from all demonic influences. If you explain these scriptures skillfully, relying on meaning rather than words, on wisdom rather than conceptual knowledge, on definitive teachings rather than provisional ones, and on the Dharma rather than the person—so that ignorance and samsara utterly cease without leaving a trace of cessation—this is called the supreme Dharma offering."

Inspired by these teachings, Candramukha penetrated the wondrous path and attained unobstructed eloquence. Following the Medicine King's Dharma wheel, he disseminated it freely, guiding millions of beings toward supreme enlightenment, never retreating from it.

Master Huanshi, having realized this wondrous path, looked up to Candramukha. Concerning the Dharma wheel turned by Śākyamuni Buddha—the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in the beginning, the Lotus Sūtra in the end, and this supreme seal of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra—he explained them skillfully and distinctly. His explanations transcended mere words, went beyond mind and consciousness, and adhered only to true meaning. He never relied on personalities but discerned the distortions of illusions—clearing them away without a trace. Toward the pure scriptures, he remained undefiled.

My wish is to circulate this widely, without end. Those transformed by it will be countless—even billions. It is like one lamp lighting a hundred thousand lamps, enabling the blind to see clearly while the light itself never diminishes. Therefore, I write this preface, hoping to support and spread the Dharma, making this offering through countless eons of dust and ink.

*No specific content in the original.*

Shurangama Sutra, Essential Explanation, Volume 1

Explanation by the Monk Jiehuan of Kaiyuan Lotus Temple in Wenling