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 36, 24 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)  

Chapter One—Buddhaverse

They had shut off all doors to evil inclinations. They manifested in the five rebirth realms as great healers who remedy the ailments of sentient beings and thereafter, convinced them to follow. They attained immeasurable merit, purifying and dignifying countless buddhaverses. They benefitted all those who see and hear them, and their actions were never in vain. In this way, they were fully endowed with all merits.

Now, we will talk about the Vimalakirti Sutra:

They had shut off all doors to evil inclinations. They manifested in the five rebirth realms…

We will go through this paragraph quickly as there are no special terms here. The great bodhisattvas have eradicated all their karma, leaving no more bad karma. Why? Because they have shut off all doors to evil inclinations. What are evil inclinations? They are greed, anger, and delusion, and they are all evil.

The great bodhisattvas are never greedy because they know that there is nothing to gain. What is there to be greedy about? There is nothing you can truly own in this saha world, so why are you greedy for anything? Do not be greedy! Once you comprehend this [wisdom], you will know that there is nothing to gain.

The president of our Lotus Light Charity Society is very wealthy. I heard she bought many branded watches almost every day back then, yet she was still unhappy. She found life to be lackluster and dull. She bought many expensive watches but was still unhappy. Do you know why? They were meaningless. Because a watch is a watch—as long as it works, one good watch is enough. She just couldn’t be happy.

However, when she started doing charity, she found happiness in giving. She is very rich, but strictly speaking, she hasn’t gained anything, particularly not happiness. Perhaps one is happier with less money. Seriously! That’s why there is no need to desire anything. The great bodhisattvas understand that there is nothing to have.

It is the same with looks—it is not truly yours either! You may be beautiful now, but look again when you are over fifty years old. Appearances change quickly with time.

Let me share a story. There was a visiting disciple from Las Vegas, along with dharma brother and dharma sister Mu from the True Buddha California E-Rooh Society. The three sat together at the main table for a meal offering. Did you see the old lady? How did she look? Old. Did she look beautiful? Not at all, you say? But let me tell you, when she was young, she was a real beauty! But seeing her now, we could not even recognize who she was. See, looks are not yours.

You cannot keep good looks or appearances forever. There is no such thing! Likewise, this is true with fame and reputation. Fame, title, recognition, and reputation are all empty. Wealth, beauty, and fame are all nothing—empty!

Hence:

They had shut off all doors to evil inclinations.

Even the evil inclinations are all empty. Anger, greed, and delusion are empty! Drinking alcohol, being intoxicated, gambling, lust, etc. are all empty! However, evil interests create a lot of problems. For example, obsessive mobile phone usage can lead to isolation and anti-social behavior. You neither sleep nor eat, you’re just constantly on your phone. There are just too many evil inclinations, and I cannot list them all. But the great bodhisattvas know that evil interests, too, will become empty. Thus, they shut them off.

They manifested in the five rebirth realms to deliver sentient beings. They manifested in the five, instead of six, rebirth realms—human, asura, hell, hungry ghosts, and animal. The heavenly beings are already blessed with enjoyments in the heavenly realms. Due to their vows, the great bodhisattvas manifest themselves at will to deliver the beings in these realms. It is not because of their karmic retributions. Instead, they come to fulfill their vows to deliver sentient beings, and they are willingly reborn in the five rebirth realms.

The great bodhisattvas let go of their attainment and identity as great bodhisattvas and forsake what they could have enjoyed. Instead, they come to the saha world and suffer like sentient beings, so they know how to save them. That’s how great bodhisattvas are!

… as great healers who remedy the ailments of sentient beings.

They are like healers who provide treatments. Or they can be real medical doctors in this world. They know the habitual tendencies of sentient beings and they choose to live together with them to deliver them.

Do you know which human sense is the sharpest? It’s hearing. That’s why dharma is spoken. For humans, hearing is the keenest sense. For sharks, it is smell—an open wound will surely attract sharks and prompt an attack, for they can smell blood from a great distance. It’s the same with ants: Simply drop some sugar and they will come.

For some species, the keenest sense is hearing, while it is eyesight for others. Eagles, while flying in the sky, can spot a fish in water from high above, then dive down and catch the fish in no time. While some have incredible vision, others may have incredible hearing, smell, or taste. The great bodhisattvas know how to deal with them all. They manifest as great healers who alleviate ailments, and they are very good at it. They know what the ailments are, and which parts need treatments.

Some people are narrow-minded, some are antisocial, and some are depressed. We ask depressed people to watch Stephen Chow’s comedies. When they laugh, they’d feel better. You need to know these methods. As great healers, you treat all kinds of illnesses appropriately.

As a spiritual cultivator, it is easy to get depressed when you find everything to be empty and meaningless. Then you just get by in life and you don’t put in the effort. This condition is also an illness!

You live and learn. You live and be happy! Otherwise, you will age very quickly. There is a famous saying that goes, “Why do you feel old? Because you stop learning and stop being happy!” If you enjoy life and are always happy, then you will not feel old.

Grandmaster never feels old! I may be old in age, but I always think and feel youthful. However, when I exercised the other day, I found my joints could not handle jumps anymore. At my age, I maintain a happy lifestyle that prevents me from feeling old, while caring for my health. You don’t want to injure yourself.  

The great bodhisattvas treat according to the ailments. When Morgan got a stroke, he was provided two drugs by the doctor. The first was aspirin, a common drug that dilutes your blood so that it can flow through the blood vessels easily. The other was to lower his cholesterol to prevent blockage in his blood vessels. While you may have low cholesterol, your blood vessels might be too narrow, or perhaps you have very thick blood. Avoid getting another stroke! It was quite difficult to save Morgan from his first stroke, and it took two tries before I eventually saved him.

A doctor should know what medication to prescribe. Grandmaster’s talismans are very effective and do wonders! I give the appropriate talisman to remedy whatever is needed. Shimu, who generally sleeps two to three hours every night, can sleep for six hours each time she takes Grandmaster’s talisman. Master Lian Yu ensures that Shimu takes it every night. When she forgot, Shimu slept for only two or three hours. Whenever she takes the talisman, she sleeps longer. Now, she takes the talisman every night. 

Talismans are very effective! Grandmaster administers talismans to alleviate ailments as appropriate. The key is great bodhisattvas can effectively remedy the ailments of sentient beings—the right remedies for the problems.

They have attained immeasurable merit, purifying and dignifying countless buddhaverses.

Due to their immeasurable merits, the great bodhisattvas dignify themselves as well as the buddhaverses.

They benefitted all those who see and hear them…

Anyone who sees the great bodhisattvas and hears the dharma spoken by the great bodhisattvas benefits from it. They benefit all sentient beings.

…and none of their actions were ever in vain.

The great bodhisattvas have performed innumerable merits, and none of them were ever wasted. It means that “no effort goes in vain.”

In this way, they were fully endowed with all merits.

The great bodhisattvas have all kinds of merits, as it says here.

We started with:

                They had shut off all doors to evil inclinations.

The great bodhisattvas had shut off all evil inclinations and cut off all evil interests and bad habits.

They manifested in the five rebirth realms as great healers who remedy the ailments of sentient beings and thereafter, convinced them to follow.

They then manifested in the five rebirth realms to deliver sentient beings. They manifested as great healers to help sentient beings alleviate their ailments by giving the appropriate remedies. Giving the appropriate talismans to heal ailing beings is an example.

…They have attained immeasurable merit…

Their acts of giving had come to fruition.

                …purifying and dignifying countless buddhaverses…

The great bodhisattvas were magnificent and adorned the buddhaverses.

                They benefitted all those who see and hear them…

All those who had seen and heard the great bodhisattvas speaking dharma benefitted from it.

                …and none of their actions were ever in vain.

None of their actions were in vain and they never wasted any of the tremendous merits they gained.

                In this way, they were fully endowed with all merits.

They were fully endowed with all merits. That’s all the explanation for this paragraph.

Om mani padme hum. 

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 37, 25 September 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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

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Full webcast of 2022.09.24 Avalokitesvara Group Practice (Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Redmond, USA) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/jdTdN0hAHNI