Surangama Sutra & Mantra

[Nicholas Weeks]

I did not look at all pages here, so if this important sutra & mantra have been mentioned before, my apologies.

Here is a little introduction to this Mantra of compassion, wisdom & power:

The City of 10,000 Buddhas - The Shurangama Mantra: The Efficacious Language of Heaven and Earth

At the top of the page are buttons to the Shurangama Sutra & commentary.

Here is a new one volume translation of the sutra, with some commentary from Bodhisattva Hsuan Hua:

The Surangama Sutra - With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (New edition)

For over a thousand years, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra — the “Sūtra of the Indestructible”— has been held in great esteem in the Mahāyāna Buddhist countries of East and Southeast Asia. In China the Sūtra has generally been considered as important, and has been as popular as the Lotus Sūtra, the...

www.buddhisttexts.org

 

[Nicholas Weeks]

Master Hsuan Hua on the importance of the Shurangama Mantra:

Among the Buddha's teachings, the Shurangama Mantra is considered to be the king of mantras because it is the longest and most important. The flourish or demise of Buddhism rests entirely with the Shurangama Mantra. It is the efficacious phrases of the Shurangama Mantra that keep heaven and earth from being destroyed. It is the efficacious phrases of the Shurangama Mantra that keep the world from coming to an end. That is why I often tell you that as long as a single person can recite the Shurangama Mantra, the world cannot be destroyed, nor can Buddhism. But when there is no longer anyone who can recite the Shurangama Mantra, then very quickly the world will be destroyed, because the Proper Dharma no longer abides.

 

[Nicholas Weeks]

EDIT 2023 - The new 2009 translation of the sutra is available:

https://bodhibass.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/surangama_new_translation.pdf

From the Introduction:
“For over a thousand years, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra — the “Sutra of the Indestructible”1 — has been held in great esteem in the Mahāyāna Buddhist countries of East and Southeast Asia... The appeal of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra lies in the broad scope of its teachings and in the depth and clarity of its prescriptions for contemplative practice. Because of its wealth of theoretical and practical instruction in the spiritual life, it was often the first major text to be studied by newly ordained monks, particularly in the Chan school. Many enlightened masters and illustrious monastic scholars have written exegetical commentaries on it. To this day, for both clergy and laity in the Chinese Buddhist tradition, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra continues to be the object of devout study, recitation, and memorization.”

Excerpt From: BTTS. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra
With Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsüan Hua.

 

[Nicholas Weeks]

Here is the entire 2002 edition of Sutra with Master Hua's commentary:

http://www.cttbusa.org/shurangama1/shurangama_contents.asp.html

Part of Master's Exhortation:

Exhortation to Protect and Propagate

Within Buddhism, there are very many important sutras. However, the most important Sutra is the Shurangama Sutra. If there are places which have the Shurangama Sutra, then the Proper Dharma dwells in the world. If there is no Shurangama Sutra, then the Dharma Ending Age appears. Therefore, we Buddhist disciples, each and every one, must bring our strength, must bring our blood, and must bring our sweat to protect the Shurangama Sutra. In the Sutra of the Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma, it says very, very clearly that in the Dharma Ending Age, the Shurangama Sutra is the first to disappear, and the rest of the sutras disappear after it. If the Shurangama Sutra does not disappear, then the Proper Dharma Age is present. Because of that, we Buddhist disciples must use our lives to protect the Shurangama Sutra, must use vows and resolution to protect the Shurangama Sutra, and cause the Shurangama Sutra to be known far and wide, reaching every nook and cranny, reaching into each and every dust-mote, reaching out to the exhaustion of empty space and of the Dharma Realm. If we can do that, then there will be a time of Proper Dharma radiating great light.