文殊師利法王子 奉佛慈旨 即從座起 頂禮佛足 承佛威神 說偈對佛 覺海性澄圓 圓澄覺元妙 元明照生所 所立照性亡 迷妄有虛空 依空立世界 想澄成國土 知覺乃衆生 空生大覺中 如海一漚發 有漏微塵國 皆依空所生 漚滅空本無 況復諸三有 歸元性無二 方便有多門 聖性無不通 順逆皆方便 初心入三昧 遲速不同倫 此方眞教體 清淨在音聞
wén shū shī lì fǎ wáng zǐ fèng fó cí zhǐ jí cóng zuò qǐ dǐng lǐ fó zú chéng fó wēi shén shuō jì duì fó jué hǎi xìng chéng yuán yuán chéng jué yuán miào yuán míng zhào shēng suǒ suǒ lì zhào xìng wáng mí wàng yǒu xū kōng yī kōng lì shì jiè xiǎng chéng chéng guó tǔ zhī jué nǎi zhòng shēng kōng shēng dà jué zhōng rú hǎi yī ōu fā yǒu lòu wēi chén guó jiē yī kōng suǒ shēng ōu miè kōng běn wú kuàng fù zhū sān yǒu guī yuán xìng wú èr fāng biàn yǒu duō mén shèng xìng wú bù tōng shùn nì jiē fāng biàn chū xīn rù sān mèi chí sù bù tóng lún cǐ fāng zhēn jiào tǐ qīng jìng zài yīn wén
Key Message
The nature of returning to the source is one, but the gates of skillful means are many. In this world, turning hearing back to listen to one's own nature is the most excellent practice.
▸Volume Six is the climax of the entire Śūraṃgama Sūtra — the scene in which Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva comparatively evaluates the twenty-five methods of perfect penetration and selects Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's method of perfect penetration through the ear faculty (耳根圓通) as the most excellent practice for the Sahā world.
Volume Six is the climax of the entire Śūraṃgama Sūtra — the scene in which Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva comparatively evaluates the twenty-five methods of perfect penetration and selects Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's method of perfect penetration through the ear faculty (耳根圓通) as the most excellent practice for the Sahā world. Mañjuśrī's verse (偈頌) is a masterpiece of literary prose that compresses the entire philosophy of the Śūraṃgama Sūtra: 'the ocean of enlightenment' (覺海) is originally clear and perfectly round; the perfect roundness and clarity are the wondrous origin of enlightenment. The key line, 'the nature of returning to the origin is not two; the gates of skillful means are many' (歸元性無二 方便有多門), means 'the nature of returning to the source is not dual, but the gates of skillful means are many' — this encapsulates the central message of the Śūraṃgama Sūtra. Mañjuśrī concludes that of all these methods, the perfect penetration through the ear faculty — practice through sound — is most suitable for the beings of the Sahā world.