●[宣化老和尚开示 Venerable Master Hsuan Hua's Talks]《楞严经》是伪经吗？ Is the Shurangama Sutra an Inauthentic Sutra?
《楞严经》是伪经吗？
Is the Shurangama Sutra an Inauthentic Sutra?
《楞严经》无法不备，无机不摄，是一代法门的精髓，成佛作祖之正印。
Every dharma is found within the Shurangama Sutra, so there are no potentials it fails to attract. It is the essential Dharma for all generations: It is the right seal for becoming a Buddha or a Patriarch.
憨山大师曾经说过这样的两句话：「不读《法华》，不知如来救世之苦心；不读《楞严》，不知修心迷悟之关键。」的确是这样的情形，因为《楞严经》无法不备，无机不摄，乃是一代法门的精髓，成佛作祖之正印。所以参禅打坐的人，必须要熟读研究这部经，才能明悉「五十种阴魔」的境界，不会上魔王的圈套。否则，境界认识不清，不管什么境界来临，就执着它，便容易入魔境，成为魔王的眷属。这是一件十分危险的事！
The Great Master Han Shan (Silly Mountain) once said: "Unless you read the Lotus Sutra, you won't know of the pains the Thus Come One took to save the world. Unless you read the Shurangama Sutra, you won't know the key to cultivating the mind and awakening from confusion." This says it exactly right, because every dharma that exists is found within the Shurangama Sutra, so there are no potentials it fails to attract. It is the essential Dharma for all generations: It is the right seal for becoming a Buddha or a Patriarch. A Chan cultivator must thoroughly master this text and understand the Fifty Skandha-demon States that it explains, in order to escape the snares of the demon-kings. Otherwise, he won't recognize states when they arise, and he will become attached to them and join the retinue of demons. This is extremely dangerous!
不但〈楞严咒〉要背得出来，就是《楞严经》也要背熟。所谓「熟能生巧」，到时候便有无穷的受用，有不可思议的感应。凡是研究中国文学的人，《楞严经》是必读之书，因为此经文辞优美，义理丰富，是一部最理想的经典。
We want to be able to recite the Shurangama Mantra from memory, and we also want to memorize the Shurangama Sutra. As the saying goes, "Familiarity leads to expertise." When the time comes, we will gain infinite advantages and inconceivable responses. Anyone who studies Chinese literature simply must read the Shurangama Sutra. The literary quality of this Sutra is excellent, and its meanings are profound; it is the most perfect Sutra.
有些自命不凡的学者，对于佛学未曾深入研究，就认为自己是佛学专家、佛学权威，似是而非，不彻底了解佛教的真谛，乱加批评，贸然提出《楞严经》是伪经的谬论。别有用心的人，就随声附和；这是盲从，实在可怜！
There are some pretentious scholars who possess no deep understanding of Buddhism and yet consider themselves experts in the field. They see themselves as authorities when they are not. Without a thorough grasp of the principles of Buddhism, they freely criticize the Shurangama Sutra, recklessly asserting that it is an inauthentic Sutra. Still others who may be more conscientious, nonetheless, parrot the false claims of the scholars, like the blind following the blind. The situation is truly pathetic!
为什么有人说，《楞严经》不是释迦牟尼佛所说的法门呢？因为这部经所说的道理太真实了，把人的毛病说得太彻底了，令妖魔鬼怪、牛鬼蛇神，无法横行，原形毕露。所以他们要故意破坏，宣传是伪经，令大家不相信《楞严经》，他们才有生存的机会。如果承认是佛说的法，他们做不到。第一、对「四种清净明诲」不能守，第二、对「二十五圣圆通」的法门不能修，第三、不敢面对「五十种阴魔」的境界。
Why would anybody claim that the Shurangama Sutra was not spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha? It's because the principles explained in this Sutra are simply too true. They thoroughly describe people's problems, thus preventing the goblins, demons, "cow-faced ghosts," and "snake-bodied spirits" from running amok and exposing them for what they are. That's why certain individuals defame the Sutra by claiming that it is fraudulent, destroying people's faith in the Shurangama Sutra so that they themselves have a chance to survive. If they acknowledged that the Sutra was, in fact, spoken by the Buddha, they would have no way to follow its Dharma. First, they cannot uphold the Four Unalterable Aspects of Purity. Second, they cannot cultivate the Dharma-doors of Perfect Penetration of the Twenty-five Sages. Third, they cannot face the Fifty States of the Skandha-demons.
如果人人读《楞严经》，明白《楞严经》，外道的神通则失去灵光，毫无效用，使人不再相信他有神通。所以天魔外道只好妄言破坏，大肆宣传，说《楞严经》是伪经。
If everyone reads the Shurangama Sutra and understands it, then the spiritual powers of the externalists will lose their magical gleam; they will seem powerless and people will no longer believe that they possess spiritual powers. That's why the celestial demons and externalists have no recourse but to slander the Shurangama Sutra and circulate the spurious claim that it is an unauthentic text.
不但在家人这样诽谤《楞严经》是假的，就是出家人也如是云云。为什么？因为一般出家人所受的教育有限，甚至还有目不识丁的，也看不懂经典，尤其这部《楞严经》，文又深，义又妙，所以更无法了解，无法辨别真伪。有人一说某某经是假的，某某经是伪的，这些人便不加考虑，人云亦云，所以《楞严经》便受到不白之冤。
Not only do laypeople slander the Shurangama Sutra as false, even left-home people perpetuate the rumor. Why? Because most left-home people have received limited education; some are even illiterate and cannot understand the Buddhas' Sutras. This is especially the case with the Shurangama Sutra: its text is deep, its principles are profound, so many cannot understand it or judge its authenticity. Thus, whenever someone claims that a certain Sutra is unauthentic, these ignorant people simply repeat what they hear without giving it any consideration. This is how the Shurangama Sutra has comes to receive its undeserved bad reputation.
古时在印度，《楞严经》被列为国宝，禁止运出国外，凡是出境者，都要严格检查，因为深恐这部经流到国外。所以海关对出境的僧人，都特别注意。
In the past, the rulers of India considered the Shurangama Sutra a national treasure and forbade its being carried out of India. Travellers were stopped at the borders and thoroughly searched, out of fear that the Sutra would circulate. Sangha members who were leaving the country were especially subject to the scrutiny of the border guards.
当时(唐朝时代)印度有位高僧，名叫般剌密谛，他费尽心机，想尽办法，将《楞严经》藏在臂内，瞒过检查人员，带到中国，从广州登陆。当时，有一位被武则天所贬的宰相房融，在广州做太守，房融于是请般剌密谛法师翻译这部经，而他自己为润色，此经遂成为文学的巨著，并献于武则天。因为在当时有《大云经》伪造的风波，所以武则天将此经存在宫中，没有流通。
In those days (during the Tang Dynasty in China) the eminent monk, Master Paramiti of India, after racking his brains and thinking up every possible means, finally hid the Sutra beneath the skin of his arm to fool the customs inspectors so that it could come to China. He arrived in Canton, and met a Prime Minister named Fang Rong, who had been exiled by the Empress Wu Zetian and was serving as a Magistrate in Canton. Magistrate Fang Rong requested the Venerable Paramiti to translate the Sutra. He himself acted as editor and turned out a masterpiece of literature, which he then presented in offering to the Empress Wu Zetian. Just at that time, China was experiencing a scandal regarding the Great Cloud Sutra, a fraudulent text. Empress Wu Zetian concealed the translation in the palace and did not allow it to circulate.
后来神秀禅师为国师时，在宫中受供养，有一天发现此经，神秀大师认为此经对于禅宗有价值，乃将其流通于世。所以这时，中国才流通《楞严经》。据传说，《楞严经》是最后来到中国的经典，但在末法时代，《楞严经》最先毁灭，其他经典，则接着渐渐被毁灭，到最后，只剩下一部《阿弥陀经》。
Later, when Dhyana Master Shenxiu was appointed as National Master, he sat in the palace to receive offerings. One day he discovered the Sutra, realized its value for meditators in the Chan School, and put it into circulation. Only then did the Shurangama Sutra finally become known in China. The Shurangama Sutra is said to be the last of the Buddha's Sutras to reach China, but during the Dharma-ending Age, it will be the first Sutra to disappear into oblivion. Following it, the other Sutras will gradually disappear as well, until only the Amitabha Sutra will be left.
【编按】：宣公上人极力主张《楞严经》是千真万确的诸佛心印。所以上人来到美国之后，就讲《楞严经》。为什么？因为佛法传到美国，拟将末法变成正法。这是上人为续佛慧命，费的一番心血。兹将《楞严经浅释》，在《万佛城金刚菩提海》杂志分期刊出，以供读者研究，中、英单行本，已出版问世，特此告知读友。
Note: The Venerable Master Hua endorses the Shurangama Sutra's absolute authenticity, and strongly asserts that it bears, without question, the "mind-seal" of all Buddhas. Upon arriving in America, the first major Sutra he explained was the Shurangama Sutra. Why did he choose that Sutra? Because when the Dharma is transmitted to America it transforms the Dharma-ending Age into the Proper Dharma Age. It represents the Venerable Master's lifeblood, given for the purpose of carrying on the Buddha's "wisdom-life." The Buddhist Monthly－Vajra Bodhi Sea has been serializing A Brief Explanation of the Shurangama Sutra in Chinese and English, and will continue to offer this text to readers.
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