The Delusional Series
Compiled according to the teachings of the Master
Author: Fafu
The Delusional Series: Part 10 –22 Inner Journey 7
The sound comes and goes, while the True Nature of Hearing never does:
Sacred Verses from the Fourth Chapter of the Surangama Sutra:
The Buddha said to Ananda, “Though you have studied extensively and heard much, your afflictions remain unquenched. Your mind merely grasps at the causes of delusion, but the true delusion itself, which is now manifest before you, you fail to recognize. Fearing that even your sincere heart may not yet be fully convinced, I shall now employ ordinary worldly examples to dispel your doubts.”
Immediately, the Tathagata commanded Rahula to strike the bell once. He then asked Ananda, “Do you hear it now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “We hear it.” When the sound of the bell ceased, the Buddha asked again, “Do you hear it now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “We do not hear it.”
Rahula struck the bell once more. The Buddha again asked, “Do you hear it now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “We hear it.” The Buddha then asked Ananda, “How is it that you sometimes hear and sometimes do not hear?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “When the bell is struck, we hear it. When the striking ceases and the sound fades away, then there is no hearing.”
The Tathagata then commanded Rahula to strike the bell again. He asked Ananda, “Do you hear a sound now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “Yes, we do.” After a short while, when the sound had ceased, the Buddha asked again, “Do you hear a sound now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “No, we do not.”
After a while, Rahula struck the bell once more. The Buddha again asked, “Do you hear a sound now?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “Yes, we do.” The Buddha asked Ananda, “How is it that you sometimes hear a sound and sometimes do not?” Ananda and the assembly replied, “When the bell is struck, there is a sound. When the striking ceases and the sound fades away, then there is no sound.”
The Buddha said to Ananda and the assembly, “How is it that you now contradict yourselves with your words?” Ananda and the assembly asked the Buddha, “How have we contradicted ourselves?” The Buddha replied, “When I asked if you heard, you said you heard. When I asked if there was a sound, you said there was a sound. Your answers about hearing and sound are inconsistent. How is this not a contradiction?”
Ananda, when the sound ceased and there was no longer any noise, you said you heard nothing. If truly you heard nothing, then your faculty of hearing would have ceased, becoming like a dead tree without sensation. When the bell was struck again, how did you know that there was a sound? Since you claimed to hear nothing, you should have no way of knowing. The knowing of both sound and no sound is itself a product of the sound-dust, arising and ceasing. How can your faculty of hearing be said to be either present or absent? If you truly claim that there is no hearing, then who is it that knows that there is no sound?
Therefore, Ananda, the arising and ceasing of sound occur within the faculty of hearing. It is not your faculty of hearing that causes the sound to arise and cease. Rather, it is the sound itself that causes your faculty of hearing to appear as having or not having. Since you are deluded, mistaking sound for hearing, it is no wonder that you are confused, taking what is permanent for what is impermanent.