A Detailed Exposition of the Vimalakirti Sutra 

by Grandmaster Lu, Living Buddha Lian Sheng of the True Buddha School 

Translated into English by the True Buddha School Vimalakirti Translation Team 

Discourse 3, 28 May 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)  

Chapter One—Buddhaverse^[1]

Thus have I heard: At one time, the Buddha was in the Amra Garden near the city of Vaisali, accompanied by eight thousand great bhikkus, thirty-two thousand bodhisattvas, and the assembly of virtuous and knowledgeable spiritual practitioners. 

Now, we will talk about Vimalakirti Sutra’s Chapter One—Buddhaverse. I will continue last Sunday’s talk at the Rainbow Temple about the great bhikkus. For a monk to be called a great bhikku, they must satisfy a few criteria. Last Sunday, I said that a great bhikku must completely abide by the precepts determined by the Buddha. They must strictly uphold and observe the precepts of purity, which is inherently quite difficult. Additionally, being a great bhikku has other implications beyond strictly observing the precepts. 

The precepts were established by Sakyamuni Buddha. During his era in ancient India, everybody went for alms, so it is implied that a great bhikku also goes asking for alms. Thailand is one of the few countries that retains most of Sakyamuni Buddha’s traditions. Thai monks still go for alms begging. What about other countries? Most others don’t follow such tradition anymore.

Nowadays, say, in America, if you as a monk or nun carry an alms-bowl and go door-to-door asking for alms, people would not have any idea what you’re doing. In fact, they’d wonder what it is all about. How different it is now. Can you imagine me carrying this [singing] bowl and going to ask for alms in Redmond? I’d go to someone’s door, and what I’d get probably is a gunshot. They’d think, “What are you doing trespassing my property? And what is that thing you are carrying?” A shooting occurs because of it. [laughter] I suppose it’s best not to take the risk.

A great bhikku must go asking for alms because they are not allowed to cook for themselves. To be addressed as a great bhikku implies that he goes asking for alms. All the great bhikkus did. They can choose to go to an affluent area to get better food or, conversely, to a poor area. Ananda and Subhuti chose wealthier households. Ananda especially went for alms from the wealthiest, while Mahakasyapa from the poorest. So, Ananda became very heavy—as heavy as Master Lian Yang—because of all the good food he got from the rich households. On the contrary, Mahakasyapa looked like Lian Xu—very skinny and bony—because poor families don’t have much to offer. One eats too well while the other eats very poorly. Ananda and Mahakasyapa differed greatly.

Then, they encountered Vimalakirti, who told Mahakasyapa, “You’re wrong!” and also told Ananda, “You’re wrong!” Why? Because they both had a mind of discrimination. A spiritual cultivator should go with the flow and eat whatever is given. There is no need to go out of your way, even with the intent to give blessings to the poor.

Mahakasyapa specifically went to the poor people to dedicate the merit of his ordination, and by making an offering to him, the poor would become rich in the future. On the other hand, Ananda’s reasoning for going to the wealthy was because it wouldn’t be a burden for them, whereas if he were to beg from the poor, the poor would become even poorer.

In any case, Vimalakirti stated that their minds still revolved around discrimination, so they’re both wrong. You should go for alms, naturally and spontaneously following affinity. Wherever you end up today, that is your affinity. You can’t deliberately go for the wealthy or the poor. When one goes for alms, one should do it naturally following the affinity. This anecdote is mentioned in the Vimalakirti Sutra. This is a significant implication of being a great bhikku. A bhikku is also referred to as an alms-begging monk or a mendicant monk.

Nowadays, it has changed. The monks and nuns have their own personal food at the Seattle Lei Tsang Temple and Rainbow Lei Tsang Temple. I heard that someone has a fridge in their room exclusively for themselves. Some have two or even three personal fridges. They must have money, eh! They even cook and eat their own food. 

However, as ordained people, we live in a community and have a community dining hall. So, you should go there to eat. This is the rule! You violate the precepts if you buy and cook your own food and eat for yourself. This should not be allowed! We shall have stricter rules in the future: Everybody should eat in the dining hall.

Alcohol is also prohibited. You cannot drink alcohol, especially if you get drunk—for that is a severe violation of the precepts. The precepts set by the Buddha were very strict: You cannot drink any alcohol at all. If you were to serve someone alcohol, you would be without hands for 500 lifetimes. This is the teaching of the Buddha. Time has changed. Nowadays, Grandmaster allows a little bit of drinking for medicinal purposes, for health, or to help people sleep. 

However, you must eat or drink alcohol at the right times. You eat at the scheduled mealtimes and not otherwise. You cannot eat while watching TV or snack while doing something. The rules are very strict. And a great bhikku follows this rule. This is one of the criteria for a great bhikku. 

Another precept they must follow concerns the elimination of their afflictions. Great bhikkus must uproot their afflictions—this is an important criterion for a great bhikku. In ordination, all four elements are emptied. While our hair is shaved, we chant, “From now on, we shave away all our afflictions.” This means you shall be freed from all afflictions from the moment you are ordained. In reality, it is not the case.

A great bhikku has eliminated all their afflictions, as all afflictions can be destroyed. How does he break such afflictions? Afflictions are considered a kind of mara. There are four kinds of maras. Strictly speaking, there are many kinds of maras. We categorize them into four types: mara of death (Mrityu Mara), mara of afflictions (Klesa Mara), the celestial mara (Devaputra Mara), and mara of the five aggregates (Skandha Mara). The five aggregates—forms, perceptions, thoughts, actions, and consciousness—involve your desires. All your behaviors, too, are afflictions.

You must defeat the four maras, especially the mara of afflictions because if you are afflicted, it’s impossible for you to enter meditation. If you still have afflictions, that means you don’t have enough wisdom. Ordinary people have afflictions, but ordained people should not have any afflictions. If you’re still afflicted, then you’re not qualified to be called a great bhikku. 

Strictly speaking, a master—especially if they are ordained—should not have any afflictions at all. If you were married before your ordination, are you still worried about your children? If you’re still worried about your loved ones or children—all of which are afflictions—then you have not eliminated your afflictions. 

A great bhikku must have realization, gain enlightenment, and attain emptiness—anuttara samyaksambodhi. All that they focus on is the realization of empty nature. 

All great bhikkus are ordained. Why do you enter a monastic sangha? If you are still afflicted, you might as well live a secular life. If you have afflictions, what are you afflicted about? Money? Money is none of your concern. Fame and name? None of your concern. Looks? Are you still getting your eyebrows tattooed or your cheeks?

We had a master who went to Brazil for a blush tattoo so that her face is always reddish. Someone asked her, “How come your face always looks flushed?” She replied, “It’s due to my spiritual cultivation.” But the fact is, she went to Brazil to get a blush tattoo so red that it looked like a monkey’s butt. She said the same thing when she visited Malaysia and met Reverend Lianshui. Who is she trying to deceive?! Do you know which master I am talking about? It’s XX, the Ghost Witch. In Brazil, she had Bi Zhiyi tattoo some colors onto her cheeks and then told her not to tell anybody. As it turned out, Bi told some people anyway, so we all know now. XX deceived people! She broke the precepts by lying. By all means, never behave like that! 

A great bhikku has no afflictions. Wealth, looks, fame, food, and sleep—the five major desires of the world—do not concern him. All the five aggregates—forms, perceptions, thoughts, actions, and consciousness—have been eliminated. All afflictions have been uprooted. A great bhikku is never concerned about his father, mother, loved ones, or children. 

Grandmaster does not concern himself with his children and grandchildren. We are here just to help and provide guidance based on our experience. They each will have their own destinies and walk their own paths. It is none of my concern whether Fo-Ching and Fo-Chi will go to heaven or hell. It is the same case for my closest ones, too.

The saying goes, “The husband reaps what he sows, while the wife reaps what she sows.” And another saying, “A husband and wife are birds of the same flock, but when disaster strikes, they each go their separate ways.” You fly your way while I fly my way—totally unrelated to each other. Everything around you is irrelevant to you; it is none of your concern.

The key is to focus on maintaining the luminosity of your own heart. Only a great bhikku is as such; he has no afflictions whatsoever.

Money and wealth—gold, silver, properties—are only for use in this world—you can’t always have them with you. So, nothing to be afflicted about. What about name and reputation? What will happen to True Buddha School in the future? Aren’t you concerned about it? No, True Buddha School is unrelated to you or me. It’s true that I founded the True Buddha School, but I don’t care what will happen to it in the future. It is just a venue for me to provide guidance and for people to learn and practice. But whether you do or not, it is irrelevant to me. I don’t care if you come or not. You may live nearby, yet you don’t come and listen to the dharma teaching. I don’t care whether you come or go. If you come, I welcome you to take a seat. If you go, have it your way. It’s like this for a great bhikku.

A great bhikku implies that he has eliminated all kinds of afflictions. He lives with self-mastery. A great bhikku observes the pure precepts and rises above all his afflictions. This is the only way to attain arhatship.

Otherwise, you are merely a mundane being and might as well live a mundane life. Even if all of you decide to return to mundane lives, that’s none of my business. If you want to become a monk, you can come. If you want to return to secular life, that’s none of my concern. 

There’s not a single thing that is of concern to me. I just mind my own luminous buddhanature. You want to learn to be like this, and only a great bhikku is this way. 

One significance about a great bhikku is that he has destroyed all four kinds of maras. I have just explained the mara of afflictions. As for the mara of death, it shouldn’t be of concern to you. Why not? Because every single person will die, there is no exception. Why are you afraid of death? Are you still scared of dying? Let the mara of death come and go naturally. 

Another is the mara of the five aggregates, which relate to your desires, behaviors, and conduct. By maintaining the radiance of your self-nature, all desires will disappear. 

Next is the celestial mara belonging to the heavenly realms; they are very difficult to defeat as they obstruct and interfere and can destroy your wisdom life.[2] How do you defeat them? Using emptiness: by realizing everything is inherently empty. The celestial mara themselves are also of empty nature and devoid of any self. All maras become nonexistent by applying emptiness to them; maras are emptiness too.

One time, Milarepa returned to the cave where he practiced. He noticed a mara inside the cave, and he used all kinds of ways to get rid of the mara unsuccessfully. Eventually, he remembered his guru Marpa’s words that mara is also emptiness. Then he entered his cave, and the mara disappeared.

Being a great bhikku implies the following. First, he goes asking for alms. Second, he conquers all afflictions. Third, he defeats maras. Fourth, he abides by the pure precepts. Such are great bhikkus or great monks! 

Om mani padme hum. 

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 4, 29 May 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

Previous discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 2, 22 May 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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Full webcast of 2022.05.28 Mahacundi Buddha Mother Group Practice (Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Redmond, USA) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/A1LRm5pDABw