Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra 

A Detailed Exposition by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu 

Translated into English by the True Buddha School Vimala Sutra Translation Team 

Discourse 50,12 November 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued) 

Chapter One—Buddhaverse 

Brahma Net Bodhisattva,  
Precious Pole Bodhisattva,  
Complete Victory Bodhisattva,  
Magnificent Land Bodhisattva.

Let’s now talk about the Vimalakirti Sutra:

      Brahma Net Bodhisattva.

Brahma is in the Third Dhyana Heaven of the Heavenly Realm of Form. There is a net in that heaven called the Brahma Net. At the center of the Thirty-third Trayastrimsa Heaven is a net of Indra pearls. Both of these are nets.

Why is this bodhisattva called Brahma Net Bodhisattva? Because the way he salvages sentient beings is likened to using the Brahma Net of the Third Dhyana Heaven. Brahma means “pure,” and Net symbolizes “vastness.” By casting a pure net that is very large, he can salvage many sentient beings easily. 

Nets are used to catch fish. As I have mentioned, when you fish using a fishing rod, you can only catch fish one at a time, but if you cast a net, you can harvest many fish in one shot.

We have all heard about the story of Jesus Christ converting the fisherman, Simon Peter, at the Sea of Galilee. Peter just returned from the sea and did not catch any fish. Jesus approached him and asked, “Have you caught any fish today?” To which he replied, “No.” Jesus said, “Listen to me! Cast your net right here, and you will catch many fish.” Peter replied, “We could not catch any fish out in the open sea; how could we possibly catch any fish here at the dock?” Jesus told him to just lower the net. Peter and his fisherman friends laughed, but Jesus insisted. Peter lowered his net, and when he pulled it back up not long after, he found many fish in the net. He was astonished, “That was so strange. We could not catch fish in the open sea, yet we caught so many right here.”

Many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen. Jesus displayed many miracles, enticing people and converting them. Similarly, the Brahma Net Bodhisattva also delivers many sentient beings. 

Once in my youth, I caught fish using a net in Penghu. I was very good at fishing. I fished at Lake Sammamish before. It was difficult for people to catch fish there. Fish there are very smart; they don’t take the bait easily. In America, people typically use artificial baits—plastic and tasteless. Black earthworms are not their favorite either. I used red earthworms that are just the right size, not too thin or too fat, just slightly bigger, placed at the tip of the hook. That day I caught many fish, and they were very tasty. [laughter] Lake Sammamish is not far from here. At that time, the Second and Third brothers [of the Chen Masters] lived by the lake. They said catching fish at Lake Sammamish was hard, but Grandmaster managed to catch them. 

In Taiwan, too, I fished and was very good at it. Before I cast my fishing rod, I would sprinkle some sand mixed with tiny shrimps that were fried and grounded before being mixed with the sand. That fragrant mixture attracted all the fish. Then, I cast my rod and caught fish very quickly.

There is a method of fishing. You use red earthworms because fish like it better than the black ones. That’s how I caught many fish at Lake Sammamish. In Penghu, Taiwan, I fished with nets many times. With the rising tide, water carrying many fish flowed into the net. When the tide recedes, the fish are trapped inside the net. By pulling the net, you get many fish all at once. Right? This is from my experience. 

Brahma Net Bodhisattva has the same experience. Sentient beings are likened to fish, and he salvages many sentient beings by using a net [lifting them from the ocean of suffering]. He uses pure buddhadharma—and marvelous dharma teaching—in his deliverance of sentient beings. This kind of bodhisattva is called Brahma Net Bodhisattva. 

The next one is:

Precious Pole Bodhisattva.

You all know what a pole or kun-staff is, right? The one I often play with for my exercises, spinning it around back and forth. Synclaire [an eleven-year-old girl disciple] can also do it well; it showed that she practiced. I taught her how to perform martial art exercises using a kun-staff and she followed it really well.

But this Precious Pole does not refer to the kun-staff we use. Instead, it refers to the pole used to carry things or buckets of water on your shoulders. It means this bodhisattva carries the dharma work of the Tathagata. “Carrying the work of the Tathagata using a pole on the shoulders” is an idiom early Buddhists used to symbolize bearing the work of the Tathagata, which is to deliver sentient beings. Such a bodhisattva is called the Precious Pole Bodhisattva.

All he does is the work of the Tathagata and nothing else. His career is the work of the Tathagata—always teaching buddhadharma to deliver sentient beings, like the Protestant pastors and the Catholic priests who bear the work of God or Jesus Christ. In our case, Buddhist [monastics] shoulder the work of the Tathagata, and we fully dedicate ourselves to propagating dharma. Our work is dharma work. Such a bodhisattva is called the Precious Pole Bodhisattva. This is what it means.

The next one is:

Complete Victory Bodhisattva.

Although the Chinese character of the name is “wu,” meaning “no” or “none,” here it means “complete.” Chinese is a very difficult language to master. This bodhisattva is extraordinary at debates and nobody can win against him. 

Back then, during the Guge Kingdom, King Wisdom Light (Yeshe Ö) and King Bodhi Light (Jangchub Ö) went to India to invite a sage—the Venerable Atisa—to come to Tibet to continue spreading buddhadharma there. That was the start of the Latter Dissemination of Buddhism into Tibet. 

When they got there, not knowing how to find Atisa, they asked many people. At first, they thought Atisa must be someone with great virtue and high conduct. But then someone eventually told them that the Venerable Atisa was the one with many keys hanging on his chest. So, why did he have so many keys? Because they are the keys to the temples he won in debates. He was first and foremost in debates on buddhadharma.

People loved to debate in ancient India. A debate about buddhadharma are called sutra debate, and this tradition spread to Tibet. The Tibetans love to debate with each other after mastering a certain sutra, for example. One of them asks a question, and immediately, the other person should answer; back and forth, like in boxing. 

The Venerable Atisa was undefeated. It was the custom that the loser gave his temple, took refuge, and followed the winner. The winner also received a parasol for it. Thus, Atisa had many keys on his chest and many parasols over his head. That’s how the kings finally found him. The Venerable Atisa followed them back to Tibet, which was the start of the Latter Dissemination of Buddhism into Tibet.

Guru Padmasambhava led the Early Dissemination of Buddhism into Tibet, whereas Guru Atisa led the latter period. Atisa stayed in Tibet for a long time. When he was about to return to India, there happened to be a war in Nepal, so he couldn’t go. He also had a place near Lhasa. Later, the Venerable Atisa died in Tibet.

The Venerable Atisa was amazing, and nobody could win over him in debates on buddhadharma and the sutras. Such a bodhisattva is called Complete Victory Bodhisattva. He is first and foremost in teaching and discussing buddhadharma, and no one can exceed him in debates. Now, do you understand?

The next one is:

Magnificent Land Bodhisattva.

Magnificent Land Bodhisattva adorns the purelands and the buddhaverses with his wisdom and merit. The entire Vimalakirti Sutra talks about this—why can a bodhisattva adorn the purelands?

In sum, Magnificent Land Bodhisattva is the one who adorns the buddhaverses using his own merit and accumulated wisdom. The Complete Victory Bodhisattva is like the Venerable Atisa. 

Today we explained the following:

Brahma Net Bodhisattva,

Precious Pole Bodhisattva,

Complete Victory Bodhisattva,

Magnificent Land Bodhisattva.

Om mani padme hum.

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 51, 13 November 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

Previous discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 49, 6 November 2022 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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Full webcast of 2022.11.12 Amitabha Buddha Group Practice (Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Redmond, USA) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/LkBWgDDkUJw 

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