Toh 137The Supreme Samādhi
Pāli / Sanskrit:Samādhyagrottama
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The Sutra of the Supreme Meditation (The Supreme Samādhi)
Background
The Samādhyagrottama Sutra (The Supreme Meditation) is one of the important scriptures of the Northern Transmission canon, selected in the Kangyur, the collection of the principal scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism. This scripture focuses on the highest level of meditation (samādhi) that bodhisattvas and foundational practitioners may attain.
In the Northern Mahāyāna context, “supreme meditation” is not an utterly absolute state, but the lucid harmony of concentration (profound and stable) and wisdom (prajñā, wisdom that transcends discrimination). This is the level of meditation that enables the practitioner to complete the practice of the bodhisattva path within the relative context and thereby benefit sentient beings. This sutra has been transmitted within the context of great scriptures such as the Avataṃsaka, as well as the thought of the Pure Land and meditative investigation.
Main Content
The Samādhyagrottama Sutra teaches a meditation that does not cling to any specific object, but is a state of luminous wisdom that pervades all dharmas. Its distinctive point is that it emphasizes that supreme meditation is not the barrenness of consciousness, but the clear manifestation of the nature of buddhahood in all sentient beings.
The sutra teaches that when practitioners reach this state, they are not isolated from the world. Instead, they perceive the empty interconnection (śūnyatā) of all phenomena. This enables them to act impartially (anutpāda, non-arising), without attachment, because they understand that all dharmas are without inherent nature. Bodhisattvas in this state can teach the Dharma and liberate immeasurable sentient beings without being trapped in notions of “one who is awakened” or “sentient beings who are awakened.”
The sutra also clearly sets forth the signs of supreme meditation: the mind is without fear, is not bound by coarse concepts, does not become lost in forgetfulness, but is always present and supple. This is the Buddha-mind, manifested in human form.
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