The Sun Analogy

  In Surangama Sutra, the analogy of the sun is used to describe how what one experiences is merely a reflection, and not some kind of solid "reality" that is true for everyone. In elaborating on the analogy, Master Sheng Yen remarks,

Imagine the sun in the sky on a bright day. Two men standing together by a river see its reflection. Then one man walks east; the other west. Each sees the sun in the water accompanying him as he walks. A foolish man will believe that the sun he sees is the real sun. A wise man understands that it is a reflection, an appearance. There are two people in the sutra's analogy, each of whom sees a sun. But if there were a thousand people, they would see a thousand suns, all different (p.95-96).

The way I relate to this analogy of the sun is that each person's way of seeing the world is based on specific reference points in space and time. In examining others, there is often this underlying assumption that everyone is looking at exactly the same thing, when in fact what they see is based on the previous conditioning as well as their respective positions. Does this mean, however, that one should commit to a kind of moral relativism and assume that everyone has their own way of seeing things that cannot be evaluated by other frameworks?

I think that this analogy is designed to lessen people's attachment to the self and individual notions of perception, ability, intelligence, and so on. A very astute person might have a strong grasp of a specialized area of study, such as physics, which allows them to see the speed of a moving object in a different way from others. However, even this specialized knowledge does not give that person privy knowledge of everything imaginable about the situation. Not knowing everything is an invitation to be more curious about the worlds that others inhabit, as well as to preserve and foster diverse experiences rather than ignoring those perspectives altogether.

Biodiversity is a very good example of looking at the different reflections of the sun and respecting the many forms in which life takes. Yesterday, I walked through a nature trail where a plaque showed the remnants of an old historical farm, now covered over with grass and a lot of vegetation. The message I got from this experience is that human habitation is only one very fragile link in the natural world, which is subject to birth and decay just as all the natural elements would. When I see that even my own life experience is only one reflection of the sun, I have a much wider perspective which is not limited to my own self absorbed world or experiences. This allows me to make choices or think in a way that respects the entire natural world and to want to commit to preserving all its forms.

Far from being an isolationist view ("I have my dream, you have yours"), I wonder if the analogy of the sun's reflection might encourage people to be more curious about the dreams of others, as well as let go of attachment to their "own" dreams.

Sheng Yen, Until We Reach Buddhahood: Lectures on the Shuramgama Sutra, Volume Two. Elmhurst: Dharma Drum Publications