Today’s show celebrates the birthday of the Worshipped Quan Yin Bodhisattva (vegan), also known as Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
We are pleased to present selections from “Meditation on the Organ of Hearing,” in the Surangama Sutra translated by Upsaka Lu K’uan Yu, where Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva expounds on the benefits of Sound meditation and Her vow to liberate living beings.
Meditation on the organ of hearing
“Thereupon Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva rose from Her seat, prostrated Herself with Her head at the feet of the Buddha and declared:
‘I still remember that long before numbers of aeons countless as the sand grains in the Ganges, a Buddha […] appeared in the world. When I was with Him, I developed the Bodhi Mind and, for my entry into Samadhi, I was instructed by Him to practice meditation by means of the organ of hearing.
At first by directing the organ of hearing into the stream of meditation, this organ was detached from its object, and by wiping out (the concept of) both sound and stream-entry, both disturbance and stillness became clearly non-existent. Thus advancing step by step both hearing and its object ceased completely, but I did not stop where they ended. When the awareness of this state and this state itself were realized as non-existent, both subject and object merged into the void, the awareness of which became all-embracing. With further elimination of the void and its object both creation and annihilation vanished giving way to the state of Nirvana which then manifested.
Suddenly I leaped over both the mundane and supramundane, thereby realizing an all-embracing brightness pervading the ten directions, and acquired two unsurpassed (merits). The first was in accord with the fundamental Profound Enlightened Mind of all the Buddhas high up in the ten directions and possessed the same merciful power as the Tathagata. The second was in sympathy with all living beings in the six realms of existence here below in the ten directions and shared with them the same plea for compassion.
World Honored One, as I (followed and) made offerings to the Tathagata, He taught me to use my illusory hearing and sublimate it to realize the Diamond (Vajra) Samadhi which gave me the same power of mercy of all Buddhas and enabled me to transform myself into thirty-two bodily forms for the purpose of visiting all countries in samsara (to convert and liberate living beings).
World Honored One, if there are Bodhisattvas who practice Samadhi to attain the transcendental (Mean), when there is a chance for them to realize absolute Wisdom, I will appear as a Buddha to teach them the Dharma to liberate them.
If there are solitary students seeking (only) self-enlightenment, who practice the stillness of Nirvana, when there is a chance for them to realize it, I will appear as a teacher of self-enlightenment to teach them the Dharma to liberate them.
If there are students of the Four Noble Truths who, after realizing the unreality of suffering and its accumulation, tread the Path leading to the extinction of passions, when there is a chance for them to achieve this, I will appear as a hearer (sravaka) to teach them the Dharma to liberate them.
If there are living beings who realize (the harmfulness of) desire in the mind and abstain from all worldly cravings to achieve purity of body, I will appear as Brahma to teach them the Dharma to liberate them.
If there are living beings who desire to be lords of devas to rule over the realms of the gods, I will appear as Sakra to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to roam freely in the ten directions, I will appear as Isvaradeva to teach them the Dharma to that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to fly freely in empty space, I will appear as Mahesvara to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to be lords of ghosts and spirits to protect their countries, I will appear as a great warrior to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to rule over the world to protect all its inhabitants, I will appear as a deva king of the four quarters to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to be reborn in the palace of devas to command ghosts and spirits, I will appear as a son of the deva king of the four quarters to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to be kings of human beings, I will appear as a king to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to be heads of clans to enjoy the respects of their clansmen, I will appear as a respectable elder (grhapati) to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who enjoy discussing well-known sayings and practice pure living, I will appear as a respectable scholar to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who wish to govern cities and towns, I will appear as a magistrate to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are living beings who delight in practicing mysticism for self-welfare, I will appear as a Brahmin to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are men who are keen on study and learning and leave home to practice the rules of morality and discipline, I will appear as a bhiksu to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are women who are eager to study and learn and leave home to observe the precepts, I will appear as a bhiksun! to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are men who observe the five precepts, I will appear as a upasaka to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.
If there are women who observe the five precepts, I will appear as an upasika to teach them the Dharma so that they reach their goals.’”
