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 35, 18 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 continue talking about the Vimalakirti Sutra:

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

What is “equal to the unequaled one?” We often chant the great wisdom mantra, the great spiritual mantra, the supreme mantra, and lastly, the unequaled mantra. What is “equal to the unequaled one (asamasama)”? It refers to a buddha. Equal to the Unequaled One is [an epithet for] a buddha.

                They nearly equaled… the unequaled buddhas.

The great bodhisattvas are nearly equal to the unequaled ones, meaning they are near to becoming buddhas. Their cultivation is almost within reach of buddhahood; that’s why they possess the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata. This is the usual explanation of this phrase. They are very close to becoming a buddha. A buddha is the Awakened One, with Sublime Perfect Awakening.

I asked Master Lian Qi this morning to give me a list of the ten powers and the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata. These are specific Buddhist terms.

The ten powers include:

1.      The wisdom power of knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate

2.      The wisdom power of knowing karma of the past, present, and future lifetimes

3.      The wisdom power of knowing the true experience of liberation and samadhi

4.      The wisdom power of knowing the spiritual capacities of sentient beings

5.      The wisdom power of knowing the aspirations of sentient beings

6.      The wisdom power of knowing various realms of sentient beings

7.      The wisdom power of knowing the karma and rebirth realms of sentient beings

8.      The wisdom power of knowing everything in past lives

9.      The wisdom power of knowing life and death

10.    The wisdom power due to exhaustive outflow

We might not immediately understand what those terms mean, so I will explain these terms briefly. A detailed exposition of each term would take too much time.

1.      The wisdom power of knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate

A buddha has the wisdom to know the state of every being depending on the karma they have created. You will receive the retribution of your karma and stay in the appropriate realm. Like us, why are we born as human beings? Because we have done partly good and partly bad. A buddha has the power to know.

By doing good and creating many merits, you will be in the heavenly realm. If you are too deluded and greedy, you will fall to hell. If you have too much anger and hatred, you will be reborn in the animal or hungry ghost realms. If you are too ignorant and foolish, you will be reborn in the animal realms because animals are typically very ignorant and unable to cultivate spiritually. What you have done will determine which realms you are or will be in, and the buddha knows. This is the wisdom power of knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate.

      2.       The wisdom power of knowing karma of the past, present, and future lifetimes

Similar to the first wisdom power, a buddha knows the past, present, and future of sentient beings. Why is that? Because they know karma and its retribution. They know all kinds of karmic retributions and what will happen after a certain karma has been created.

3.      The wisdom power of knowing the true experience of liberation and samadhi

A tathagata knows how to become liberated and be in samadhi/meditation. A buddha is always unhindered, liberated, and in meditation. Like what Vimalakirti said, we need to be always in a meditative state and a state of liberation. When you have attained buddhahood, you are in meditation and liberation at every moment.

4.      The wisdom power of knowing the spiritual capacities of sentient beings

A tathagata also knows the spiritual roots of sentient beings due to their cultivation. With a single look, they can tell if someone has superior, middling, or inferior spiritual capacity. Like when I visited the Jade Emperor Temple, Golden Mother told me that I would be delivering sentient beings in the future. How did she know? She knew because she is a tathagata, a buddha. She knows if someone is destined to deliver sentient beings. And she told me, to which I replied that I knew nothing about it. But you can see what I am doing now, teaching dharma and delivering sentient beings. A tathagata has such power.

Many people consulted me about the career that would suit them best. I looked at their face and body shape, and I can determine which element they belong to—water, earth, wood, fire, or metal, and thereby determine the appropriate career. For instance, construction, finance, medicine, law… depending on their spiritual roots, too. Someone came in once, and I told him that butchering pigs would be most suitable for him. He denied it and said that he slaughters chickens and not pigs. Hey, but the two are close enough! This is the power of knowing the spiritual capacities of sentient beings.

5.      The wisdom power of knowing the aspirations of sentient beings

A tathagata knows and understands the desires and wishes of all beings. They know who is good and who is bad. As I said last night, I know immediately that a person will be reborn in the pureland if they have a virtuous face and not if they have an evil face. If you show me someone’s photo and ask for bardo deliverance, with one look, I can tell you whether this person will be reborn in a pureland or require much effort before they can even be bardo delivered.

6.      The wisdom power of knowing various realms of sentient beings

A tathagata knows the levels and realms of sentient beings, and their spiritual capacities and cultivation. A tathagata can tell what realm they are in. For instance, the boundary protection of Golden Mother’s Pureland cannot easily be trespassed. It’s like the three-thousand-fold “water” that is almost impossible to pass through. You wouldn’t be able to reach it even if you wanted to. You would sink in that water boundary protection even if you were as light as a feather. In addition, there is also the astral wind as sharp as razor blades. A mundane being would be sliced through, leaving not a single bone left. Such is the boundary protection of the Jade Pond Pureland. It is nearly impossible to pass through. Only one person made it there—King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty who rode on eight golden celestial horses that took him there.

7.      The wisdom power of knowing the path and rebirth realms of sentient beings

There are flaws and leakages in the sixth rebirth realms. If you still have leakages and flaws, you will be reborn in the six rebirth realms. Only when you have eradicated all your karma will you reach the exhaustive outflow (non-leakage). By then, all flaws and impurities will be nonexistent. Then you can go to the four sagely realms.

8.      The wisdom power of knowing past, present, and future lifetimes

This essentially is the transcendent power of knowing past, present, and future lifetimes, and it includes divine eyes, divine ears, and mind-reading. I can read your mind and know what you are thinking—this is the transcendent power of knowing the minds of others. In the Vimalakirti Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha knew what Sariputra was thinking, and Vimalakirti knew it too. The Buddha and Vimalakirti both know the realms of Sariputra and all the great arhats.

9.      The wisdom power of knowing life and death

This is knowing life and death, for one life, or continuously for hundreds, thousands, millions, or more lifetimes. We often read about knowing five hundred past and five hundred future lifetimes [five hundred refers to many]. One goes through the transmigration of life and death, death and life, life and death, endlessly for infinity, … unless you cultivate spiritually until you completely eradicate all your karma and reach the exhaustive outflow of all leakages [due to karma, flaws, afflictions, impurities]. When karma is exhausted, and afflictions are emptied, you can then go to the four sagely realms. Only such a case is considered true attainment (siddhi) of spiritual cultivation.

10.  The wisdom power of exhaustive outflow

This is the last of the ten powers. Buddhas are never confused or uncertain. They have no habitual tendencies at all. If a buddha still gambles at the casino on Exit 27 off the I-90, it must be just for play—once or twice. A buddha is there just to take a look and will not attach their heart or mind to it. Habitual tendencies such as gambling, the bad habit of drinking, sexual desires, etc., have all been eradicated completely. None of those will be left. Only then is it called everlasting life, because all your habitual tendencies, afflictions, and attachments have been cut off. This is called the wisdom power of exhaustive outflow of all leakages.

As for the Eighteen Distinctive Cultivations (of tathagata), let me go through the list and provide some brief explanation of the terms:

1.   Flawless body: the same as non-leaking body. 

2.   Flawless speech: non-leaking speech.

3.   Flawless mind: non-leaking mind.

4.   Mind free from aberrant thoughts: having no other thoughts.

5.   Mind perpetually in meditation: always in meditation.

6.   Mind of constant generosity: always giving.

7.   Undiminishing aspiration: the aspiration to deliver sentient beings never stops.

8.   Undiminishing diligence: always diligent, steadfast, never lazy.

9.   Undiminishing mindfulness: impossible to regress.

10. Undiminishing wisdom: having all wisdom that will never diminish or disappear.

11. Undiminishing liberation: eternal liberation free from transmigration in the six rebirth realms.

12. Undiminishing wisdom of liberation: the understanding and wisdom of liberation will never diminish.

13. Bodily actions in compliance with wisdom: all actions of the physical body are full of wisdom.

14. Speech in compliance with wisdom: all spoken words are the language of wisdom.

15. Thoughts in compliance with wisdom: the mind and all thoughts are mere wisdom.

16. Wisdom of knowing past lives with no hindrances: knowing about all of one’s past lives without any hindrances. Like Grandmaster knows what he did in past lifetimes, and all of them are very vivid.

17. Wisdom of knowing future lives with no hindrances: likewise, knowing all future lives without any hindrances at all.

18. Wisdom of knowing present lives with no hindrances: similarly for the present life, they have the wisdom to know it all with no hindrances.

The above is a brief explanation of each of the eighteen distinctive cultivations of the tathagata.

The first one is the non-leaking body. What is a non-leaking body? This is a fruition Grandmaster has attained since my forties. One attains a non-leakage of the body when no lightdrops are ever emitted from the body. That’s the very least. If there is still an outflow of lightdrops from your body, you still have a leaking body.

As spoken by the Buddha, you experience downfall with a leaking body. You leak because you still have desire. [In a non-leaking body,] you can experience great bliss without having desire. It is extremely difficult to achieve. So, the first cultivation—the non-leaking body alone is quite difficult. Grandmaster has attained non-leakage of the body, which means I never have any outflow of the lightdrops.

As for the non-leaking speech, it means that all words spoken are full of wisdom. One can tell upon hearing them. It is interesting to note, however, that swearing feels good. The Japanese swear, “bakayarou,” whereas the Taiwanese say, “your mother good!” It was written in Chiang Kai-shek’s biography Yesterdays’ Glitters (Jing Hua Chun Meng), written by Tang Ren, that Chiang often cursed. It was written in the local dialect of Zejiang Province, so I am not sure what the words were.

Grandmaster once met a Mahayana Buddhist nun who told me she had great courage. I asked her what it was all about. She told me that she dared to curse words only spoken by men. Perhaps it was a bad habit hard to break. That’s quite crude, especially for a nun!

When I asked one of True Buddha School’s female masters what work she’s done before, she replied that she’d done everything I could think of. She used to work at nightclubs, so I named her Nightclub Guanyin. I transformed her. Once a group of gangsters were about to leave the premise after eating, drinking, and playing without paying anything, so she threw a huge knife at their table and threatened them. The gangsters paid. She had worked in all kinds of fields. You can ask her yourself if you like.

The non-leaking speech is very important—whatever you say is full of wisdom. The non-leaking mind is also crucial. Regardless of what I do, I offer it to the buddhas and bodhisattvas in my mind. Sometimes, I say aloud what is on my mind, “I make this offering to the Four Guardian Mothers, the dakinis in the eight directions, and all celestial maidens in the twenty heavens. I also offer to White Tara, Green Tara, the goddesses in five different colors, Machig Labdron, the Black Wrathful Dakini, Kurukulla Buddha Mother, Dorje Pagmo, and Vajrayogini.”

Then I transform myself into Guru Padmasambhava and make offerings to Yeshe Tsogyal, Mandarava, Sakyadevi, Kalasiddhi, Tashi Kyidren, Sarasvati, Mahasri, and the rest of the twelve Sridevis, to Durga, Kali, the five longevity goddesses, and those under Golden Mother: Hualin, Meilan, Yaoji, Yuzhi, Shuangcheng, Feiqiong, Qingluan, Shaoluan, and Youluan, including her three thousand attendants, and lastly, the hundred thousand dakinis in the Orgyen Heaven/Pureland. I chant this every time to make offerings accordingly.  

I offer all my chanting of Amitabha Buddha, mantras, and sutras. I offer my mindfulness of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. I also offer my dharma practices, including the Thousand Dharma Vessels Bardo Deliverance. I constantly perform generosity; whatever I do is an offering. In my mind, I transform all my actions into purity. This is the conduct of wisdom.

Every day, a spiritual cultivator can offer everything to the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and all the deities, including our actions, words, thoughts, feelings, food, clothes, homes, vehicles… You use pure minds to offer them to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. This practice will purify your body, speech, and mind. This is the practice of Tantrayana Buddhism.

There is a case called “no karma” where you will not generate any karma. What situation is this? This occurs when you have no dream at all when you sleep at night. This dreamless period is called “unrecorded” and this results in “no karma.” In such a case, you will not generate any karma.

A few disciples told me that they have no dreams. They lay down at night, and when they open their eyes, it’s daybreak. Otherwise, in dreams, people can still create karma; they kill or have desires, anger, delusion, and all of those will be “recorded” and generate karma. Likewise, while awake, everything is “recorded” and generates karma. Although they know that life is a dream and it is illusory, karma still exists!

Remember this!

You cultivate spiritually until you attain the non-leaking body, speech, and mind. Then, you have no more flaws—all karma has been eradicated and all afflictions are emptied. This is the meaning of this phrase.

Om mani padme hum.

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 36, 24 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

Previous discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 34, 17 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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Full webcast of 2022.09.18 Mahabala Heruka Homa Ceremony (Rainbow Temple, North Bend, USA) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/kimUj249xWY