Many Chan masters held the Shurangama Sutra in high esteem.
Tips
history
Its full title runs to twenty characters. Tradition says the Indian monk Paramiti translated it in Guangzhou in 705, but many scholars think it was written in China. Its ten scrolls teach how the mind, misled by the senses, can return to its true nature, and describe fifty states of delusion that can trap a meditator.
culture
Its mantra, the 楞严咒, is chanted every morning in Chinese monasteries. The idiom 现身说法 'to teach from one's own experience' grew out of its picture of bodhisattvas taking on many forms to preach. 楞 is read léng in this title.
