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 59, 22 January 2023 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)  

Chapter One—Buddhaverse 

“And ever generous to all in giving dharma wealth.

You can discern all dharma phenomena,

Stay unmoved amid the ultimate truth, and

Have self-mastery in all situations.

Thus, we pay homage to this dharma king!

You speak about existence and non-existence,

Everything arises due to causes and conditions,

There are no subject, no conception, and no object.

Only karma is ever present—good or bad.”

Let’s now talk about the Vimalakirti Sutra.

“And ever generous to all in giving dharma wealth”

Let me use dharma wealth to tell you all. Dharma consists of worldly dharma and beyond-worldly dharma, both of which are called dharma wealth. Giving dharma wealth is giving buddhadharma or dharma treasures to all sentient beings, similar to the way one gives money. And the Buddha is generously giving dharma wealth to all beings. Giving includes giving money and material things, giving dharma wealth, and giving fearlessly.

“You can discern all dharma phenomena”

What are all dharma phenomena? They are the true phenomena—true reality. There are two kinds of dharma phenomena: the fundamental wisdom and the wisdom of discernment.

To deliver sentient beings, one must have the wisdom of discernment. If a person loves money dearly, then you teach them the wealth deity practice. If one is very lustful—so much that he’d rather die beneath a peony flower (a beautiful lady) and remain so as a ghost—then you teach him the dual body (consort) practice. If someone loves fame, then you teach them Mahasthamaprapta’s dharma or the magnetizing dharma to gain love and respect. With great love and resp ect from the masses, they can occupy a high position. If they are popular, they’ll win their election. Peach Blossom Luck does not just refer to romance between a man and a woman. All powerful people have good peach blossom luck that garners a lot of fans and supporters. This is a great magnetism, meaning their “peach blossoms” are big and many, as compared to the small or few “peach blossoms” between a man and a woman—maybe they have one or two peach blossoms. Grandmaster must have five million peach blossoms. So having peach blossom luck is not necessarily a bad thing.

Peach blossom luck also means you encounter people who favor you and want to help and support you. At work, if you have peach blossom luck, your boss will like you right away. He favors you, gives you a raise, and promotes you even when you are not as competent as others. That means that you are the peach blossom of your boss. You would be the one who gets promoted and becomes the envy of the capable ones. They don’t have peach blossom luck, so they are not favored and perhaps even laid off. Many capable people get frustrated because of this.

By discerning all dharma phenomena, we know what dharma teachings are appropriate for various sentient beings. As mentioned in the Vimalakirti Sutra, you entice them by fulfilling their desires first, and then guide them onto the Buddhist path.

Once you truly comprehend the fundamental wisdom, you will see true reality. Once you understand the wisdom of discernment, then you can deliver sentient beings. This is what it means to discern all dharma phenomena.

“Stay unmoved amid the ultimate truth”

What is the ultimate truth? The fundamental wisdom is the Ultimate Truth. Once you have seen the true reality and you are non-regressing, then you stay unmoved amid the ultimate truth. 

The ultimate truth is the true reality. Once you see the true reality, you will see the clear light radiance of your own buddhanature. You not only comprehend the true reality, but also confirm it, and you see the clear light radiance of your buddhanature. Once the clear light radiance manifests, you will know what future buddha you will be. You will see the “you” inside the prajna light; you will be inside the prajna light. When you see the true reality—the ultimate truth—you will never regress from your spiritual cultivation. This is called unmoved. Unborn Endurance is at the Immovable Ground, which is the eighth ground of bodhisattvahood.

“Have self-mastery in all situations”

By having a total understanding of all buddhadharma, one can have self-mastery in all their activities. They understand a great deal, unlike Sariputra back then; he was just a little arhat and not a big deal. As written in the Vimalakirti Sutra, a flower fell on his body, and he had the itch to get rid of it immediately because he felt that an arhat should not have any flowers on their body; this was according to Sakyamuni Buddha’s precepts. He tried desperately to remove the flower, but he could not. Only one flower, and yet he was already so scared of it.

Then how about the “flowers” of the dance halls and the“flowers” of the bars? What kind of flowers are they? If you are afraid of them, then how can you deliver sentient beings? Are you afraid of them?

The Buddha’s ten main disciples were all arhats—they have reached arhatship—but they were afraid of flowers attaching to their bodies. Nevertheless, a true buddha is fearless and not afraid of anything and any circumstances. Only then, you are a buddha. If you still have fear, then how can you be called a buddha? Instead, you would just be a rice-eating buddha.

You have self-mastery and are at ease in any situation. Once you have attainment, you have self-mastery even when you go to dance clubs or when you sing. Talking about singing, now I would like to sing:

[Song title: “My Happiness Is Missing You”]

My happiness is missing you.

My heart beats for you, waiting to meet you again.

You are my baby, I won’t let you feel wronged.

You are my favorite, nobody can replace you.

Is that right?

[Song title: “Lotus Pond Moonlight”]

I’m like a little fish in your lotus pond.

Waiting to gaze at the bright white moonlight with you.

After swimming across all four seasons, the lotus remains fragrant.

I’m waiting for you to play in the water.

Even when you sing, you are non-regressing. Even when you are longing, you are still non-regressing. That was spoken by Vimalakirti. I also know that longing is empty, and longing is buddhanature. Do you understand?

[Song title: “Day After Day, the Sky Is Blue”]

Day after day, the sky is blue.

It is hard not to think of you.

An innocent child is asking,

“Why are your eyes watering?”

Love is deep,

Desire is intense,

Separation is bitter,

Yet longing is empty!

Lastly, everything will be empty. Emptiness can transform everything.

“Have self-mastery in all situations”

I am at ease and have self-mastery at all times, including when I sing, wherever I go, when I expound the dharma and when I am not. As such, you would be a dharma king.

“Thus, we pay homage to this dharma king!”

[Paying homage as in] “I pay homage and take refuge in the Susiddhi [precepts]. Homage to Maha Cundi Buddha Mother.”

Imagine you are a dharma king, and someone asked you to go to the dance clubs. You refused because you are afraid that the dance girls would become your demise. What kind of dharma king are you then? Perhaps, you are just a mouse king who fears cats.

Is Reverend Lian Yi here? Please stand up so people can see you. Reverend Lian Yi, what did you do in the past? You played music in a band at Yuan Shuai Dance Club, right? Because he saw Grandmaster dancing there, he took refuge in me. He was the one from the dance club whom I converted into a monk. I have also helped and delivered many dance girls whom I met at the dance halls.

When Grandmaster danced, did I touch those girls’ bodies? No. What was the distance between the dance girls and me? [The reverend showed a great distance.] Please be seated. He was the one I brought onto the path from the dance club. Had I refrained from going to the dance clubs, how could I have delivered them? Let me tell you: In Tainan, there was a lady who was in “that” business and I salvaged her. I have salvaged some people in some [demeaning] businesses, as well as many dance girls. And I have witnesses!

“Thus, we pay homage to this dharma king!”

As such, you should join your palms and pay homage to this true dharma king. The Vimalakirti Sutra is out of the ordinary; it mentioned that a dharma king can go anywhere, and whatever he does is pure. The Great Master Vimalakirti was such a person; whatever he did was pure. He had many wives—the Goddess Who Scatters Flowers was one of them, and many goddesses followed him. In fact, he had many concubines whom he salvaged.

Because Vimalakirti was different, he could drink alcohol with a pure mind; thus, he was still pure even after he drank alcohol. He was still pure wherever he went, so he could go anywhere to help and deliver sentient beings there. He had no fear at all. That’s why he was a true dharma king. If you are still fearful, then you are just a mouse king who fears cats.

“You speak about existence and non-existence”

Existence relates to the wisdom of discernment while non-existence relates to the wisdom of true reality. “You speak about existence and non-existence.” In other words, [the Buddha] spoke on the wisdom of discernment and the wisdom of true reality. Existence and non-existence mean having both wisdoms and employing them harmoniously together. Having the phenomena of sentient beings is the same as not having any phenomena of sentient beings. That is called existence and non-existence.

“Everything arises due to causes and conditions”

By employing the wisdom of discernment, [the Buddha] observed the causes and conditions of sentient beings. Knowing the causes and conditions, he applied the appropriate buddhadharma to teach them. Everything arises due to causes and conditions; all buddhadharma arises due to causes and conditions. Sakyamuni Buddha has spoken that everything arises and ceases due to causes and conditions. Buddhadharma arises due to causes and conditions. When you attain the wisdom of true reality and have reached extinction (nirvana), all of your causes and conditions are extinguished. Now, do you understand?

“There are no subject, no conception, and no object”

That’s the wisdom of true reality.

“Only karma is ever present—good or bad”

That’s the wisdom of discernment.

Why do hells, animals, and hungry ghosts exist? Why does the rebirth cycle exist in the six realms of samsara? That is because: Only karma is ever present—good or bad. Karma is ever present in the world of phenomena.

However, once you reach where there are no subject, no conception, and no object, then that is the wisdom of true reality, which is the fundamental wisdom. 

That’s all for today. Om mani padme hum. 

Next discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 60, 28 January 2023 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

Previous discourse on the Vimalakirti Sutra: Discourse 58, 14 January 2023 - Chapter One—Buddhaverse (Continued)

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Full webcast of 2023.1.22 Maitreya Homa Ceremony (Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple) and dharma discourse with English interpretation: https://youtu.be/Xtx0Dx4mBAI

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