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 34, 17 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued) 

Chapter One—Buddhaverse 

Proficient in all profundities of the supreme dharma, they were the guiding teachers of an ocean of dharma treasures. They knew full well the coming and going of sentient beings—their motives, minds, and actions. They nearly equaled the self-mastery^[1] of wisdom, the ten powers,^[2][the four] fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations^[3]of the unequaled^[4]buddhas.  

Now, we will get to the main topic. In my opinion, this next phrase is the hardest to explain.

They nearly equaled the self-mastery, the ten powers, [the four] fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the unequaled buddhas.

Allow me to interpret this sentence for you. The spiritual cultivation of these great bodhisattvas has almost reached buddhahood; they are awaiting buddhahood at the tenth ground of bodhisattvahood, called the Ground of the Dharma Cloud. At this level, they are called Awaiting Awakening.[5] The “buddha” means the Awakened One, at the level of the Sublime Perfect Awakening.[6]

These bodhisattvas are almost equivalent to a buddha, like how an almost well-done steak is still a little bit raw; these bodhisattvas are almost buddhas. Therefore, they have gained the self-mastery of wisdom, the ten powers, [the four] fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the buddhas. This description of having ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen distinctive cultivations is applicable at the causal ground, but not so clearly defined at the resultant ground.

The buddhas have the ten powers, [the four] fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations. What are they? Buddhist dictionaries and glossaries can easily provide definitions.

Let me talk about the four fearlessnesses first. The buddhas’ four fearlessnesses are different from those of the bodhisattvas. They are part of the buddhas’ self-mastery of wisdom at the causal ground. They are:

      1. fearlessness due to wisdom

      2. fearlessness toward suffering

      3. fearlessness toward afflictions

      4. fearlessness toward hindrances

During our spiritual cultivation, we encounter many hindrances [and become afflicted by them]; however, the great bodhisattvas are not afraid of those hindrances and afflictions because they are fearless. This is fearlessness toward hindrances and fearlessness toward afflictions. Fearlessness due to wisdom is derived from their attainment of the Wisdom of True Emptiness, the Wisdom of Discernment, and the All-Embracing Wisdom of the tathagata. As for fearlessness toward suffering, they are not afraid of suffering of any sort.

There are many situations at the causal ground in which the buddhas’ self-mastery of wisdom involves the four fearlessnesses. For example, my left knee was in much pain when I injured it from jumping forcefully during my vajra fist exercise. I jumped twice but not very high, unlike in my youth. Back then, I could easily jump like an arrow soaring through the air. It is different now. I hurt my knee joint trying to jump and injured two of the four ligaments of my knee. Doctor Jack Hung told me to be patient since healing will take time.

Was that suffering? Oh, my! Amitabha! Do you know how difficult it was to wear pants? It was so painful that I could barely lift my leg. Getting into bed was a big hassle because any movement or the mere touching of the knee would trigger excruciating pain. So, instead of climbing, I learned to sit on the bed and gradually scoot over to lie down.

Sitting down on the toilet was so awkward as I had difficulty lowering myself to sit on the low toilet seat. Luckily, Hanifa bought a tall toilet cushion, and now I could sit on the toilet! It helped a lot. Sitting high up made me think of a kid trying to poop over a ditch while holding on to sticks, with water flowing underneath. Pooping that way was quite a pleasant experience back then. Now, sitting so high and comfortably, I had to be careful not to fall asleep and fall. I also used something to step on. But then, it was painstaking to wipe my bottom. Since I could not rely on anybody to wipe it for me, I had to find a way. It was so painful that I had a cold sweat. Was it suffering? Yes, absolutely!

I asked Vimalakirti, “So would you consider that suffering?” He replied, “Yes, it is suffering.” Then I asked, “Are you afraid of it?” Vimalakirti replied, “In a human body, I would be scared of it too.” I asked again, “But you are not afraid of it?” He said, “Because we have no physical body, we don’t get sick.” If you have no skin, how could you grow hair on your body? There is a saying, “There is no hair without skin.” [Likewise, there is no illness without a physical body.] If you can become incorporeal, then you have no illness. Due to their physical bodies, humans suffer pain. But mentally, we should transcend it. Know this!

What is this fearlessness toward suffering? Great bodhisattvas develop this fearlessness by knowing that pain and suffering occur from having a physical body and that everyone experiences the same thing.

Suffering is an experience everyone has, so you must transcend it. I have experienced my suffering. Have you? Many people have. If you have, then you know what suffering is. The pain in my left knee stopped me from bending it. Bent ninety degrees is fine, but if I try to bend it more or make my lower leg touch the upper leg, ouch! Normally, one should be able to do that. A mere minor ailment can cause suffering. You need to know that you experience suffering because of a physical body. In addition, you are not the only one experiencing it; everyone experiences suffering: bone spurs, spinal disc dislodging, pelvic joint displacement, joint pain, disc herniation, lower back pain, upper back pain, nerve pinch… In old age, sneezing can break rib bones. These things happen.

I might say this, “Oh, God! When you created humans, you should have created a strong and robust body! This fragile body creates much suffering for everyone. What kind of God are you? You should have created a strong, healthy, and durable body.” A human body breaks easily. Say, if you are rear-ended when you drive, you might receive a whiplash injury that would take a long time to heal. The cervical spine, vertebrae discs, pelvic bones, and joints are not strong!

Look at Lian Yin. He is a martial artist; he flew across the lawn, sprained his ankle, and cracked his toe. Master Lian Chuan was taking a photo and, out of nowhere, sprained herself. You can sprain yourself while taking a photo! I was performing the vajra fist exercise, and I hurt my knee jumping. You always exclaim that I am eighteen, so I thought I was only eighteen, hah!

Did I suffer? I certainly did from this joint pain! I then applied the wisdom of equal nature, thinking everyone is the same. Experiencing suffering makes you realize that the physical body is very fragile and insubstantial. So you know to be diligent in your spiritual cultivation. If you want to go to a better realm and not fall into the three lower realms, you must be diligent in your spiritual cultivation. You realize how perilous our bodies are from suffering; thus, you maintain your diligence. You should not fear suffering. Instead, develop fearlessness toward suffering! This is important. A great bodhisattva should have fearlessness toward suffering.

About the fearlessness toward afflictions, what is there to be afflicted about? Why are you afflicted? It is like the joke I told earlier: When you are famished, you only have one affliction—food to eat! But when you have a full tummy and nothing to do, you have a host of afflictions. You are afflicted because you don’t have money, don’t win the lottery, or don’t get what you want. If you don’t ask for it, you won’t be troubled by it. There is no need to be afflicted! It is no use, as you know that everyone is in the same boat. Essentially, nothing can truly be gained in this world; by the same token, there is nothing to lose. You will never lose your buddhanature, and that is all that matters! Remember that, inherently, there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose! Being mindful of this, you cut off your afflictions and develop fearlessness toward afflictions.

Fearlessness due to wisdom is having all wisdom: the fundamental wisdom of true emptiness, the wisdom of discernment, and the all-embracing wisdom. The wisdom of discernment allows you to know the different spiritual capacity of sentient beings and helps you observe. Grandmaster knows if someone will be reborn in the pureland or the lower realms by looking at their photo, face, or subtle vital energy. One’s afflictions also show on their face. At a glance, Grandmaster can tell if someone is a sage with a pure and empty mind or a mundane being with myriad thoughts. The wisdom of discernment allows you to recognize all kinds of differences.

Having attained all wisdom—the all-embracing wisdom, the wisdom of true emptiness, and the wisdom of discernment—you are free from any fear; you are not afraid of what you say on the dharma throne, as whatever you say is full of wisdom. This is called the fearlessness due to wisdom.

Lastly, the fearlessness toward hindrances. Do you have any hindrances? No. Are there any hindrances in the world? None whatsoever. Yet, some people say they have karmic hindrances and that people create obstacles here and there, this and that... Are they there? No! All hindrances will be removed once you have all wisdom.

If you cultivate until you reach the causal ground of buddhahood, you will be free from any fear of sufferings, hindrances, and afflictions. And because you have embodied the wisdom of true emptiness, the wisdom of discernment, and the all-embracing wisdom of the tathagata, you know everything. Thus, all hindrances are no hindrances, and you gain the four fearlessnesses.

Think about it! In life, there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Everything is no big deal. What have you gained? Grandmaster drives a Rolls-Royce and a Maserati. I would never buy them on my own, but Hanifa made the offerings, so I drive them. But can I drive them to Sukhavati? No! Everything I eat, wear, use, and live in is given by other people. I never spend any money except for gas and water when I am in Taiwan. My underwear and underpants were given by Morgan. These watches were also given by a rich mainland Chinese person—a diamond-studded Piaget in gold and platinum. But can I bring these or move my house to Sukhavati? No!

There are much better things in Sukhavati! There are magnificent pagodas and pavilions with seven tiers of railings, seven layers of nettings, and seven rows of trees that are all made of the seven precious jewels. Golden sand lines the eight bodies of meritorious water where all ailments will disappear as soon as you dip in it. There is no sickness there. You live in palaces filled with the splendor of seven precious jewels and instantaneously have whatever you wish for.

On the contrary, everything in the saha world is temporary. Because of this transient nature, there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Like this watch, I don’t know who will own it in the future. Nothing really belongs to you. So, what have you gained? Nothing is forever.

There is nothing to gain and nothing to lose. The key is that you will never lose your buddhanature. All you need to do is to maintain the clear light radiance in your heart-mind. These are my simple explanations of the four fearlessnesses. 

The Vimalakirti Sutra also mentions the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata. They are sublime and marvelous and exist only at the causal ground. They refer to the spiritual cultivation of the tathagata, such as the non-leaking body, speech, and mind; mind free from aberrant thoughts; body, speech, and mind in compliance with wisdom, and more.  All their thoughts, words, and actions are manifestations of wisdom. These eighteen distinctive cultivations of a tathagata can be summed up as the transcendent power of exhaustive outflow. It means all flaws [or impurities] have been eliminated.

The tathagata’s ten powers refer to ten kinds of observations. They include divine eyes and divine ears—all observing eyes and all hearing ears. They have the transcendent power of knowing the past, present, and future lifetimes and their related karma. They also have the power of knowing the spiritual capacities of sentient beings. They have all sorts of wisdom powers, including knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate within a certain timeframe. This includes moral ethics and customs. 

For example, we had a tradition [in China] to mourn our deceased family for three years. We were talking about it during dinner earlier. But nowadays, if you do that, you will be fired from your job. So what is appropriate is different for different times and places; you must adapt accordingly. What is appropriate back then may be inappropriate now. Once you reach the causal ground of buddhahood, you will know.

The ten powers of the buddha include the transcendent powers of the divine eyes, divine ears, mind-reading, knowing the past, present, and future lives, and astral travel to anywhere in all dharma realms. For example, Vimalakirti can go anywhere, and he can move the Abhirati Pureland of Wonderful Joy to the saha world or move the saha world to Abhirati or any other realms. He can place them all inside his heart, or transform it from big to small, or from small to big, and transform them at will. Of these six transcendent powers, five are common across many different faiths, except the transcendent power of exhaustive outflow, which is unique to the buddhas.

The ten powers are to observe sentient beings. Once you become a buddha, you will have the four fearlessnesses. The eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata can be summed up as the exhaustive outflow of all flaws and faults. So they have no defilements whatsoever.

They nearly equaled the self-mastery of wisdom, the ten powers, [the four] fearlessnesses, and the eighteen uncommon characteristics of the unequaled buddhas. 

You can consult a dictionary to learn more about the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata. That’s all for today. Thank you, everyone.

Om mani padme hum. 

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 35, 18 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

Previous discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 33, 11 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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Full webcast of 2022.09.17 Amitabha Buddha Group Practice (Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Redmond, USA) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/e0lPqFwuCJk