Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
T
he famous holy layman Vimalakirti (5th-6th BCE-??) from the great city of Vaishali was the first incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha into this world. He demonstrated amazing supernormal powers and taught Shakyamuni Buddha’s disciples the Bodhisattva Path of the Mahayana and why it was superior to the Hinayana Path of the Arhat. He focused on the explication of the meaning of nonduality and expounded the doctrine of emptiness or Sunyata in depth--eventually resorting to silence. The sutra also demonstrates that monks should not per se be considered superior to the laity. The Buddha recognized that all four types of disciples--monks, nuns, lay men and lay women--could become accomplished.
This sutra by Vimalakirti was the only writing other than the words of Shakyamuni Buddha that could be considered a true "sutra." Other works, even the so called "Platform Sutra" or the "Sutra of Hui Neng" should be considered commentaries, not sutras as they were not written by a Buddha. The Vimalakirti Sutra is a brief and popular scripture and is considered one of the most profound and literarily excellent of all the Indian Mahayana sutras. It stands out for its conciseness, its vivid and humorous episodes, and its dramatic narratives as well as its profound teachings. This translation is from the Tibetan Canon, but other excellent versions from the Chinese Canon have also been translated into English, Spanish, and other Western languages.
Chapter 1. Purification of the Buddha-Field
Chapter 2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Technique
Chapter 3. The Disciples' Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
Chapter 4. The Reluctance of the Bodhisattvas
Chapter 5. The Consolation of the Invalid
Chapter 6. The Inconceivable Liberation
Chapter 7. The Goddess
Chapter 8. The Family of the Tathágatas
Chapter 9. The Dharma-Door of Non-duality
Chapter 10. The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
Chapter 11. Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
Chapter 12. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathágata Aksobhya
Epilogue: Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma
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Page last updated on
July 20, 2009
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