Chapter One—Buddhaverse

They understood the profundity of the origination of causes and conditions, and cut off all wrong views. They do not lean toward existentialism or nihilism, and had no more traces of habitual tendencies. They displayed the fearlessness of a lion’s roar in their speech which resonated like thunder. They had transcended immeasurability and measurability.

We will now talk about the Vimalakirti Sutra. Let’s recap the phrase we talked about yesterday:

They do not lean toward existentialism or nihilism, and had no more traces of habitual tendencies.

This phrase means that the great bodhisattvas do not lean toward either existentialism or nihilism and have purified all habitual tendencies. I am unsure how others interpret this, but that’s my explanation. As for the next phrase:

They displayed the fearlessness of a lion’s roar which resonated like thunder.

I have seen some interpretations of this phrase that went like this: When a great bodhisattva preaches, they hold their head high and they stand tall and straight because they are confident and self-assured, so their speech is likened to a lion’s roar. “Roar!” and such sound resonates like a big bell. Why is a bodhisattva fearless in their speech? Being righteous, they are bold and roar like a lion. That’s all there is in their explanations.

However, Grandmaster’s explanation is different. What is a lion’s roar? It has been mentioned in the Vimalakirti Sutra that silence is thunderous. When Vimalakirti does not speak, it resonates like thunder.

There is also the phrase, “Manjusri shuts his mouth—when Manjusri closes his mouth, light gloriously radiates far and wide. When Vimalakirti speaks no words, it is like a lion’s roar. And when Manjusri closes his mouth, radiant light shines forth in resplendence.

This aligns with Sakyamuni Buddha, where the Buddha held a flower and smiled without saying a word. That was the lion’s roar! If you understand the Buddha, you understand him even if he has not spoken, only holding a flower, smiling. Silence speaks the loudest. Even when Vimalakirti does not utter a word, or when Manjusri Bodhisattva shuts his mouth, that remains akin to a lion’s roar.

You need to understand the profound meaning of displaying dharma fearlessly. Everything is dharma; it is dharma when you speak, and it is also dharma when you don’t—and this kind of dharma is very profound and full of dharma taste.

When the Buddha held a flower, smiling, Mahakasyapa understood and instantly received the transmission of lineage and became the first patriarch of Zen Buddhism. He received the lineage transmission from the Buddha who was merely holding a flower and smiling. As such, we should not say that the lion’s roar only refers to when the great bodhisattvas speak dharma. Of course, it is fine to describe it as a lion’s roar, because when lions roar, all beasts become tamed.

We all saw the photos taken during the Life Essence Burial Ceremony earlier. You might not see it with your naked eyes, but Grandmaster saw the lights as well as the buddhas and bodhisattvas. If you had not seen them in the photos, you might not believe what I’m telling you. [This time,] the marvelous lights were captured in the photos. That was a kind of spiritual response. Look at them—the rainbow light illuminated from Grandmaster’s crown, and all those lights were extremely beautiful. The amazingly beautiful light shone forth from Grandmaster’s crown, and a five-colored light rose from the ground where the burial was. Yet, this is none other than a natural phenomenon.

I explain this phrase as: The great bodhisattvas fearlessly demonstrate the dharma. There is nothing to fear, just like the roar of a lion. Speaking or not, any movement he makes is like a lion’s roar. This explanation is unlike that of others.

Why are they fearless? Because they have embodied the three virtues, of which the first is the virtue of prajna. Having the wisdom of the buddha, the great bodhisattvas have eradicated all afflictions and have no worries at all since they know there is nothing to worry about. They know everything returns to emptiness in the end, so what is there to worry about? Whether it is love or not, beautiful or not, good or not, all will eventually return to emptiness.

You see, those beauties are very proud. Pride and arrogance are also habitual tendencies. Knowing she is beautiful and being the center of attention, she becomes conceited. This is a bad habitual tendency. Will she still be beautiful in her eighties? How about in her nineties? Even if she were, she would be a smelly beauty! She will have all kinds of problems all over her body—pain here, pain there, and pain all over. The inner organs will degenerate, and her vital energy will be stinky!