TREELAF PODCAST: VIMALAKIRTI SUTRA SERIES

[Tairin]

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Anchi]

[Bion]

New podcast episode available

The September Zazenkai talk episode, marking the commencement of our Ango, is now available

HERE

Jundo says ...

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Today's Talk will reflect on Passages from the Vimalakirti Sutra ...

First, a little history (a little tip of the hat to various sources, including the description of Burton Watson's translation which we will mainly be using, sometimes checking Dr. Thurman's translation):

One of the most popular Asian classics for roughly two thousand years, the Vimalakirti Sutra stands out among the sacred texts of Mahayana Buddhism [because unlike] most sutras, its central figure is not a Buddha but a wealthy townsman, who, in his mastery of doctrine and ... practice, epitomizes the ideal lay [practitioner]. For this reason, the sutra has held particular significance for men and women of the laity in Buddhist countries of Asia, assuring them that they can reach levels of spiritual attainment fully comparable to those accessible to monks and nuns of the monastic order.

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-vimalakirti-sutra/9780231106566

...

Some other facts from various sources: The Vimalakīrti Sūtra (sometimes called the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, or "The Sutra of Vimalakirti's Instructions") teaches, among other subjects, about the meaning of nondualism, the nature of emptiness (śūnyatā) the true body of the Buddha, the Mahāyāna perspective that the appearances of the world are as illusions, all as voiced by the upāsaka (lay practitioner) Vimalakīrti who guides both lay and ordained, including even various mythological Deities, famous Arhats (those who already have achieved nirvana in early Buddhism) and the Highest Bodhisattvas. He does so while lying in his sick bed, although this is actually just a ploy (expedient means) to gather visitors who have come to wish him well and inquire about his health, wherein he lectures about true health which is more than just the body. Vimalakīrti, as a lay figure active in family, social and business life, explains how a Bodhisattva is able to function in the world, engaging in life fully, even to the point of partaking of its pleasures, passions, and defilements [with wisdom, avoiding excess and harm], without being overly attached to them, imprisoned by them, or ultimately corrupted by them. The text has been especially cherished in the Zen world.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vimalakirti-Sutra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimalakirti_Sutra

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From Chapter II -

... Desiring to save others, he employed the excellent expedient of residing in [the busy commercial city of] Vaishali. His immeasurable riches he used to relieve the poor, his faultless observation of the precepts served as a reproach to those who would violate prohibitions. Through his restraint and forbearance he warned others against rage and anger, and his great assiduousness discouraged all thought of sloth and indolence. Concentrating his single mind in quiet meditation, he suppressed disordered thoughts; through firm and unwavering wisdom he overcame all that was not wise.

Though dressed in the white robes of a layman, he observed all the rules of pure conduct laid down for monks, and though he lived at home, he felt no attachment to the threefold world. One could see he had a wife and children, yet he was at all times chaste in action; obviously he had kin and household attendants, yet he always delighted in withdrawing from them. Although he wore jewels and finery, his real adornment was the auspicious marks; although he ate and drank like others, what he truly savored was the joy of meditation.

If he visited the gambling parlors, it was solely to bring enlightenment to those there; if he listened to the doctrines of other religions, he did not allow them to impinge on the true faith. Though well versed in secular writings, his constant delight was in the Buddhist Law. Respected by everyone, he was looked on as foremost among those deserving of alms; embracing and upholding the correct Dharma, he gave guidance to old and young. In a spirit of trust and harmony he conducted all kinds of business enterprises, but though he reaped worldly profits, he took no delight in these. ... He entered houses of ill fame [bordellos] to teach the folly of fleshly desire, entered wine shops in order to encourage those with a will to quit them.

...

In this way the rich man Vimalakirti employed immeasurable numbers of expedient means in order to bring benefit to others. Using these expedient means, he made it appear that his body had fallen prey to illness. Because of his illness, the king of the country, the great ministers, rich men, lay believers, ... numbering countless thousands, all went to see him and inquire about his illness.

Vimalakirti then used this bodily illness to expound the Law to them in broad terms: "Good people, this body is impermanent, without durability, without strength, without firmness, a thing that decays in a moment, not to be relied on. It suffers, it is tormented, a meeting place of manifold ills.

"Good people, no person of enlightened wisdom could depend on a thing like this body This body is like a cluster of foam, nothing you can grasp or handle. This body is like a bubble that cannot continue for long. This body is like a flame born of longing and desire. ... This body is like a dream, compounded of false and empty visions ... in the end it must crumble and fade. This body is plague-ridden, beset by a hundred and one ills and anxieties. ...

"Good people, a thing like, this is irksome and hateful, and therefore you should seek the Buddha body. Why? Because the Buddha body is the Dharma body. It is born from immeasurable merits and wisdom. It is born from precepts, meditation, wisdom, emancipation, and the insight of emancipation. It is born from pity, compassion, joy, and indifference. It is born of the various paramitas such as almsgiving, keeping of the precepts, forbearance and gentleness, assiduousness in religious practice, meditation, emancipation and samadhi, wide knowledge and wisdom. ... The body of the Thus Come One is born of immeasurable numbers of pure and spotless things such as these. Good people, if you wish to gain the Buddha body and do away with the ills that afflict all living beings, then you must set your minds on attaining anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [supreme unsurpassed enlightenment]."




���� Sat Today lah

[Bion]

Hello everyone!

Most of you know we have the TREELEAF PODCAST available, that includes the monthly zazenkai talks. This series of talks looks at the Vimalakirti Sutra. We will be updating whenever a new episode is available, so I encourage you to subscribe here if you'd like to stay up to date with the podcast.

🙏🏼 Sat Today lah