Table Of Content“With skill and authority, Master Sheng Yen’s new commentary
uses the sutra as a means of elucidating the essentials of Ch’an
practice. His commentary bears eloquent witness to the vitality
of Ch’an tradition in our day. It is an excellent place to begin for
anyone who wishes to learn what that tradition is all about.”
—Peter N. Gregory, Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of
Illinois
ABOUT THE BOOK
Complete Enlightenment is the first authoritative translation and
commentary on The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, a central
text that shaped the development of East Asian Buddhism and
Ch’an (Chinese Zen). The text is set in the form of a
transcription of discussions between the Buddha and the twelve
enlightened beings (bodhisattvas), who question him on all
aspects of spiritual practice.
This new translation preserves all the liveliness and nuance of
the text in the original Chinese. The sutra’s ancient wisdom is
brought to life by the commentaries of Master Sheng Yen, one of
the most revered living Buddhist masters in the Ch’an lineage.
This is truly a manual for the spiritual journey toward complete
enlightenment, providing the key to the deep, poetic, and
practical meanings of the scripture.
CH’AN MASTER SHENG YEN (1930–2009) was a widely
respected Taiwanese Ch’an master who taught extensively in
the West during the last thirty-one years of his life, with twenty-
one centers throughout North America, as well as dozens of
others throughout the world. He co-led retreats with the Dalai
Lama, and he is the author of numerous books in Chinese and
English, including Song of Mind , The Method of No-Method ,
and his autobiography, Footprints in the Snow .
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Complete Enlightenment
Zen Comments on the Sutra of Complete
Enlightenment
Ch’an Master Sheng Yen
Foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh
Shambhala
Boston & London
2013
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
www.shambhala.com
Published by arrangement with Dharma Drum Publications, Elmhurst, New York.
©1997 by Dharma Drum Publications
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sheng Yen.
Complete enlightenment/by Ch’an Master Sheng Yen; foreword by Thich Nhat
Hanh
p. cm
Includes translation of ancient Chinese sutra: Yüan chüeh ching. Includes index.
eISBN 978-0-8348-2909-1
ISBN 1-57062-400-3 (paper)
1. Tripiṭ aka. Sū trapiṭ aka. Mahā vaipulyapū rna-buddhasū traprasannā rthsū tra—
Commentaries. 1. Tripiṭ aka. Sū trapiṭ aka. Mahā vaipulyapū rnabuddha-sū
traprasannā rthsū tra. II. Title
BQ2237.S541998
294.3′85—dc21 98-4306
CIP
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh
Introduction by Master Sheng Yen
Translator’s Foreword
Translation
The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment
Notes
Commentary
Prologue
Bodhisattva Manjusri
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
Bodhisattva Universal Vision
Bodhisattva Vajragarbha
Bodhisattva Maitreya
Bodhisattva Pure Wisdom
Bodhisattva at Ease in Majestic Virtue
Bodhisattva Cleansed of All Karmic Obstructions
Bodhisattva of Universal Enlightenment
Bodhisattva of Complete Enlightenment
Bodhisattva Foremost in Virtue and Goodness
Glossary
Index
E-mail Sign-Up
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the following people for their work
on the original edition of this book, published by Dharma Drum
Publications: Venerable Guo Gu Bhikshu, managing editor and
translator; Pei-gwang Dowiat, Ming-yee Wang, and Paul Kennedy,
translators; Peter Gregory, editorial advisor; Chris Marano and
Lindley Hanlon, editors; Lisa Commager, Susan Curran, Ernest
Heau, and Xiujue Zhu, editorial assistants; Trish Ing, production; and
Chih-chin Lee, cover design. Dharma Drum also thanks Mr. Chin-
shiang Lin for his generous donation in support of this project
through the Lin Pan Cultural and Educational Foundation.
Foreword
In the true teaching of Lord Buddha, Complete Enlightenment is
made of incomplete enlightenments. This means that in the heart of
your daily mindful actions, thoughts, and speech, Complete
Enlightenment is already there, and you should not strive to look for
Complete Enlightenment anywhere else.
Suppose you are on the road between Boston and New York.
Looking in one direction is Boston; looking in the other direction is
New York. If you want to go to Boston, you should turn in the
direction of Boston. Once you have turned in the direction of Boston,
Boston is already in you. But if you turn in the direction of New York,
Boston is lost. Lost, but it is still there for you, if you know how to turn
around. Every point of the road contains Boston. And any point of
the road contains New York. Complete Enlightenment and Complete
Ignorance are exactly the same. They contain each other.
In our practice, we listen to the Dharma, we participate in Dharma
discussions to deepen our understanding, and we find ways to apply
the Dharma in our daily life: sitting, standing, walking, eating,
drinking, cleaning, cooking. . . . The Sutra of Complete
Enlightenment is a Dharma discussion between the Buddha and
several great bodhisattvas in the presence of a large Sangha. If you
know how to be there and how to listen, you will be able to actually
participate in it. It is still going on. And if you do well, you will not get
caught in words (like samatha, samapatti , and dhyana!), sentences,
and ideas. Many people just enjoy ideas, even great ideas, and are
not able to put them into practice. This is something the Buddha
does not want us to do.
We should also not be caught in the idea whether such or such
sutra was truly spoken directly by the Buddha or by one of his
disciples, right in the time of the Buddha or hundreds of years later. If
a disciple of the Buddha practices well, and gets the true insight,
then his or her words will be the same as the words of the Buddha. If
you bear this in mind, you will learn and profit greatly from this well-
known sutra.
Ch’an Master Sheng Yen is a great teacher and I have great
confidence in his scholarship and wisdom. I feel privileged to be his
friend, and admire what he has been doing for the Buddhadharma in
the East as well as in the West. These few lines, written as the
foreword to this book, are a wholehearted dedication to that
friendship. Please enjoy this beautiful translation of the sutra and
also the valuable commentaries and instructions offered by this great
and rare teacher.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Plum Village
December 6, 1996
