 Dearest Friends @ CAS,
We are awfully glad to be bringing
to you, this jewel amongst the oceanic nectar of the Buddha's
holy Teachings: The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra ~~
Vimalakirti is the name of a
great Bodhisattva, manifesting in the form of a powerful lay,
householder during the Buddha's time.
The scene unfolds with Vimalakirti
displaying illness. ( He, as an Enlightened Bodhisattva, is
not really ill but merely exhibiting sickness to create the
right conditions for the sutra to be expounded ~~ )
The Buddha attempted to dispatch
His seniormost disciples to Vimalakirti to offer His blessings
and regards but all of whom side-stepped the Buddha's request
on this or that grounds ..... till , in the end, the
Crown Prince of the Dharma, Lord Manjushri, who valiantly
took upon the task --
What ensues are some of the most
extraordinary exchanges cum teachings ever expounded in the Buddha's
teaching career, exceptional, deeply profound, moving and illuminating
~~
The Buddha's seniormost student,
the Elder Shariputra, speaketh thus about this sutra:
"Those
living beings who understand correctly this teaching of the
Dharma will obtain the treasury of the jewels of the Dharma. "Those
who study correctly this teaching of the Dharma will become
the companions of the Tath¡§¡égata. Those who honor and serve
the adepts of this doctrine will be the true protectors of the
Dharma. Those who write, teach, and worship this teaching of
the Dharma will be visited by the Tath¡§¡égata in their homes.
Those who take pleasure in this teaching of the Dharma will
embrace all merits. Those who teach it to others, whether it
be no more than a single stanza of four lines, or a single summary
phrase from this teaching of the Dharma, will be performing
the great Dharma-sacrifice. And those who devote to this teaching
of the Dharma their tolerance, their zeal, their intelligence,
their discernment, their vision, and their aspirations, thereby
become subject to the prophesy of future Buddhahood!" [ The sutra is available for download
at http://www.casotac.
a translation by Prof Robert Thurman
]
____________
CASonline Audio and Video Library
launched ( !! )
It is of great auspiciousness and
virtue to kick-start CAS's audio and video library with
a teaching by one of our precious Teachers, the "Wish-Fulfilling
Gem" ( as the sacred prophecies call Him !! ), the Katok
Khenchen Lhoga Rinpoche, the 84th Throne-Holder of the Katok Monastery.
This teaching was recently delivered
at the Nyingma Kathok Buddhist Centre, Singapore:
"How
to have good fortune and happiness in life ??"
Along with us in our life
of good fortune and happiness, not so far away, nestled in masses
of light and glory, is the Holy Mother Tara:
see Her birth ...... in the
library !!
THE library: http://www.casotac.
____________
Do dedicate for everything good
to come from all works...... !!
bb & other people
@ CAS of Thousand Arm Chenrezig____________
The Vimalakirti Nirdesa
Sutra
( In Chinese: "Wei
Mo Jie Jing" )
An Excerpt:
"The Inconceivable Liberation"
( Chp. 6 )
 Lord Manjushri
with Vimalakirti
( Kyoto Museum - 13th centruy )
____________
Then,
the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the crown prince, Manjusri,
"Manjusri, you have already been in innumerable hundreds of
thousands of Buddha-fields throughout the universes of the ten
directions. In which Buddha-field did you see the best lion-thrones
with the finest qualities?" Manjusri
replied, "Noble sir, if one crosses the Buddha-fields to the
east, which are more numerous than all the grains of sand of
thirty-two Ganges Rivers, one will discover a universe called
Merudhvaja. There dwells a Tath¡§¡égata called Merupradiparaja.
His body measures eighty-four hundred thousand leagues in height,
and the height of his throne is sixty-eight hundred thousand
leagues. The bodhisattvas there are forty-two hundred thousand
leagues tall and their own thrones are thirty-four hundred thousand
leagues high. Noble sir, the finest and most superb thrones
exist in that universe Merudhvaja, which is the Buddha-field
of the Tath¡§¡égata Merupradiparaja. At
that moment, the Licchavi Vimalakirti, having focused himself
in concentration, performed a miraculous feat such that the
Lord Tath¡§¡égata Merupradiparaja, in the universe Merudhvaja,
sent to this universe thirty-two hundred thousand thrones. These
thrones were so tall, spacious, and beautiful that the bodhisattvas,
great disciples, Sakras, Brahmas, Lokapalas, and other gods
had never before seen the like. The thrones descended from the
sky and came to rest in the house of the Licchavi Vimalakirti.
The thirty-two hundred thousand thrones arranged themselves
without crowding and the house seemed to enlarge itself accordingly.
The great city of Everything
else appeared just as it was before. Then,
the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the young prince Manjusri,
"Manjusri, let the bodhisattvas be seated on these thrones,
having transformed their bodies to a suitable size!" Then,
those bodhisattvas who had attained the super-knowledge?¡¥ The
Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the venerable Shariputra, "Reverend
Shariputra, take your seat upon a throne." He
replied, "Good sir, the thrones are too big and too high, and
I cannot sit upon them." Vimalakirti
said, "Reverend Shariputra, bow down to the Tath¡§¡égata Merupradiparaja,
and you will be able to take your seat." Then,
the great disciples bowed down to the Tath¡§¡égata Merupradiparaja
and they were seated upon the thrones. Then,
the venerable Shariputra said to the Licchavi Vimalakirti, "Noble
sir, it is astonishing that these thousands of thrones, so big
and so high, should fit into such a small house and that the
great city of Vaisali, the villages, cities, kingdoms, capitals
of Jambudvipa, the other three continents, the abodes of the
gods, the nagas, the yakshas, the gandharvas, the asuras, the
garudas, the kimnaras, and the mahoragas - that all of these
should appear without any obstacle, just as they were before!" The
Licchavi Vimalakirti replied, "Reverend Shariputra, for the
Tath¡§¡égatas and the bodhisattvas, there is a liberation called
'Inconceivable. Only
those beings that are destined to be disciplined by miracles
see and understand the putting of the king of mountains, Sumeru,
into the mustard seed; that, reverend Shariputra is an entrance
to the domain of the inconceivable liberation of the bodhisattvas. "Furthermore,
reverend Shariputra, the bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable
liberation can pour into a single pore of his skin all the waters
of the four great oceans, without injuring the water-animals
such as fish, tortoises, crocodiles, frogs, and other creatures,
and without the nagas, yakshas, gandharvas, and asuras even
being aware of where they are. And the whole operation is visible
without any injury or disturbance to any of those living beings. "Such
a bodhisattva can pick up with his right hand this billion-world- "Furthermore,
reverend Shariputra, there are beings who become disciplined
after an immense period of evolution, and there are also those
who are disciplined after a short period of evolution. The bodhisattva
who lives in the inconceivable liberation, for the sake of disciplining
those living beings who are disciplined through immeasurable
periods of evolution, can make the passing of a week seem like
the passing of an aeon, and he can make the passing of an aeon
seem like the passing of a week for those who are disciplined
through a short period of evolution. The living beings that
are disciplined through an immeasurable period of evolution
actually perceive a week to be the passing of an aeon, and those
disciplined by a short period of evolution actually perceive
an aeon to be the passing of a week. "Thus,
a bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable liberation can
manifest all the splendors of the virtues of all the Buddha-fields
within a single Buddha-field. Likewise, he can place all living
beings in the palm of his right hand and can show them with
the supernatural speed of thought all the Buddha-fields without
ever leaving his own Buddha-field. He can display in a single
pore all the offerings ever offered to all the Buddhas of the
ten directions, and the orbs of all the suns, moons, and stars
of the ten directions. He can inhale all the hurricanes of the
cosmic wind-atmospheres of the ten directions into his mouth
without harming his own body and without letting the forests
and the grasses of the Buddha-fields be flattened. He can take
all the masses of fire of all the supernovas that ultimately
consume all the universes of all the Buddha-fields into his
stomach without interfering with their functions. Having crossed
Buddha-fields as numerous as the sands of the "Thus,
a bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable liberation can
magically transform any kind of living being into a universal
monarch, a Lokapala, a Sakra, a Brahma, a disciple, a solitary
sage, a bodhisattva, and even into a Buddha. The bodhisattva
can transform miraculously all the cries and noises, superior,
mediocre, and inferior, of all living beings of the ten directions,
into the voice of the Buddha, with the words of the Buddha,
the Dharma, and the Sangha, having them proclaim, 'Impermanent!
Miserable! Empty! Selfless!' And he can cause them to recite
the words and sounds of all the teachings taught by all the
Buddhas of the ten directions. "Reverend
Shariputra, I have shown you only a small part of the entrance
into the domain of the bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable
liberation. Reverend Shariputra, to explain to you the teaching
of the full entrance into the domain of the bodhisattva who
lives in the inconceivable liberation would require more than
an aeon, and even more than that." Then,
the patriarch Maha-Kasyapa, having heard this teaching of the
inconceivable liberation of the bodhisattvas, was amazed, and
he said to the venerable Shariputra, "Venerable Shariputra,
if one were to show a variety of things to a person blind from
birth, he would not be able to see a single thing. Likewise,
venerable Shariputra, when this door of the inconceivable liberation
is taught, all the disciples and solitary sages are sightless,
like the man blind from birth, and cannot comprehend even a
single cause of the inconceivable liberation. Who is there among
the wise that, hearing about this inconceivable liberation,
does not conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment?
As for us, whose faculties are deteriorated, like a burned and
rotten seed, what else can we do if we do not become receptive
to this great vehicle? We, all the disciples and solitary sages,
upon hearing this teaching of the Dharma, should utter a cry
of regret that would shake this billion-world- When
the patriarch Maha-Kasyapa had uttered this discourse, thirty-two
thousand gods conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Then
the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the patriarch Maha-Kasyapa,
"Reverend Maha-Kasyapa, the Mara?¡¥s who play the devil in the
innumerable universes of the ten directions are all bodhisattvas
dwelling in the inconceivable liberation, who are playing the
devil in order to develop living beings through their skill
in liberative technique. Reverend Maha-Kasyapa, all the miserable
beggars who come to the bodhisattvas of the innumerable universes
of the ten directions to ask for a hand, a foot, an ear, a nose,
some blood, muscles, bones, marrow, an eye, a torso, a head,
a limb, a member, a throne, a kingdom, a country, a wife, a
son, a daughter, a slave, a slave-girl, a horse, an elephant,
a chariot, a cart, gold, silver, jewels, pearls, conches, crystal,
coral, beryl, treasures, food, drink, elixirs, and clothes -
these demanding beggars are usually bodhisattvas living in the
inconceivable liberation who, through their skill in liberative
technique, wish to test and thus demonstrate the firmness of
the high resolve of the bodhisattvas. Why? Reverend Maha-Kasyapa,
the bodhisattvas demonstrate that firmness by means of terrible
austerities. Ordinary persons have no power to be thus demanding
of bodhisattvas, unless they are granted the opportunity. They
are not capable of killing and depriving in that manner without
being freely given the chance. "Reverend
Maha-Kasyapa, just as a glowworm cannot eclipse the light of
the sun, so reverend Maha-Kasyapa, it is not possible without
special allowance that an ordinary person can thus attack and
deprive a bodhisattva. Reverend Maha-Kasyapa, just as a donkey
could not muster an attack on a wild elephant, even so, reverend
Maha-Kasyapa, one who is not himself a bodhisattva cannot harass
another bodhisattva, and only a bodhisattva can tolerate the
harassment of another bodhisattva. Reverend Maha-Kasyapa, such
is the introduction to the power of the knowledge of liberative
technique of the bodhisattvas who live in the inconceivable
liberation." |
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