This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. So welcome to... This is class number three in the Vimalakirti Sutra class. And... You don't have to have been to the previous ones, or neither are you committing to going to... There's going to be one more, actually. And looking at the calendar, I realized it's not going to be realistic, feasible, to do another class before the director and I go to be visiting teachers in Houston, Texas... And then when I come back, there's going to be some other classes.

[01:02]

We'll have a visiting teacher here, Richard Jaffe, an academic, who I'm very excited about having him visit, teaching a two-day seminar. And it looks like I'll teach the fourth and last class on the day we have the puppet show. Just happened to work out that way. August 1st. August 1st, that will be the Dharma event. I'm a little nervous about saying this is definitely going to happen, but I think it's all happening. I do believe that, actually. August 1st will be the fourth and last class. People have been responding well to this story time format. And we're up to Chapter 6, The Inconceivable Liberation. I talked a little bit about both this chapter and the chapter on the goddess in my last Dharma talk, but never mind, you know, if you're at the Dharma talk.

[02:08]

Anyway, it was a little bit mixed up in the Dharma talk, and in this case, we're just going to go through the sutra in a more linear fashion. So, I do want to recap a little bit. People who were here for the first two classes, why is Vimalakirti Sutra important for the Zen school? Go. You've got the responses of the bodhisattvas to compassionate response, but then lack thereof. I was only in the first class. Yeah? Yes? Vimalakirti, his persona is a strong representation of Nagarjuna's two truths. And so we often see how he is both very worldly and spiritual, you could say.

[03:10]

So, for example, he goes to the brothels, but just to liberate the people there, or to the casinos, but just... Or Sophie says. Or, you know, he has all of these wives, but is never... He's chased. ...inappropriate with them. So there's this long list of all these different ways that he lives in both worlds. So you could say reconciliation of dichotomies is a phrase that comes up a lot. Yes, that. And also, he is a layperson. That's significant because the Dharma is for everyone. Vimalakirti is a bodhisattva, but he's not an ordained person. In fact, he's a businessman. He's a very successful, prosperous businessman and a family man and a householder. So this is the universality of the Mahayana, the great vehicle.

[04:16]

spoke very much to Chinese Buddhism and the Chan school. So, we got up to Chapter 6, The Inconceivable Liberation. Coming up to Chapter 6 is kind of, well, a lot of scene setting, and we're introduced to Vimalakirti, as Steph said, you know, what a guy, he does all these things, he's in the world but not of the world. and he moves freely through all different realms. At one point, the Bodhisattva Maitreya is... Anyway, the important thing is he pretends to be sick, or he makes himself sick. He's sick in order to get the Buddha to inquire about his health, in order to set up a situation where the Dharma could be expounded.

[05:16]

And that's what happens. So that's another reason why it's very important to the Zen school, because it's a big emphasis, just like Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra, on upaya, skill and means, skill in liberative techniques. So Vimalakirti is all about skill and means, upaya. So he's sick, and the Buddha sends all these people to call on him. First, the Theravadan Arhats, the elders, the Shravakas, ten of them, I believe it was, if we were counting, one by one, the most famous ones, and each one, whatever they're most famous for, Vimalakirti makes them look like doofuses, one by one, by just being... better than they are in Dharma discourse.

[06:19]

And then, after that, the Buddha sends some bodhisattvas. They have similar luck. None of them, excuse me, the Buddha doesn't send them. He asks them to go, and they all say no, because they've all had these experiences with Vimalakirti, and they're like, I don't want to talk to that guy. He's... You made me look like a doofus, so I'm not going. Finally, Manjushri says yes. And so Manjushri goes, and that's this picture I finally got. I was talking about this magnificent stele in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. If you go, if you find yourself in Manhattan, definitely go. And now after this class, you'll be able to walk around and say, oh yeah, that's what's happening here. Anyway, that is a scene of Manjushri coming to inquire about Vimalakirti's health.

[07:21]

So finally, one of the bodhisattvas says, yes, I'll do it. And then everybody, everybody who's anybody, not just bodhisattvas and arhats, but also nagas and shravakas and devas and all kinds of beings, hear about it, they all want to go. And Vimalakirti is in this tiny little sick room. It's like in Japanese tradition, I don't think I've said this yet, the... As I understand it, we call the abbot the Hojo-san. Hojo. And the Hojo is the room where the abbot lives. Well, some hojos are actually quite palatial. We've been to Japan. We saw some hojos that were like, wow, nice digs. But it's supposed to be a three tatami room. That's what it means. The hojo is a three tatami room, little room.

[08:21]

Then that is supposed to be a kind of homage to or refers to Vimalakirti's sick room. Vimalakirti's big deal in Zen. So, yeah, as I understand it, that's where that... that expression, hojo, comes from. The hojo is a reference to Vimalakirti's cyclone. All these people come, and Shariputra looks around, and he says, there's not even a single chair in this house. Where are these disciples and bodhisattvas going to sit? The Lichavi Vimalakirti read the thought of the Venerable Shariputra and said, Reverend Shariputra, Did you come here for the sake of the Dharma? Or did you come here for the sake of a chair? Poor Shariputra. He just comes in for it over and over again in this sutra. You know, Shariputra represents the lesser vehicle, the Hinayana.

[09:24]

We don't say Hinayana because it's mean to say Hinayana, lesser vehicle. We say Theravada. But anyway, Shariputra is kind of the fall guy for... what, from the Mahayana perspective, is a limited viewpoint or a limited approach to practice, a very dualistic approach to practice. So, Shariputra says, I came for the sake of the Dharma, not for the sake of a chair. Okay. Vimalakirti says, Reverend Shariputra, he who is interested in the Dharma is not interested even in his own body, much less in a chair. And he goes on and on and on. Vimalakirti gives him this big lecture. He says later, he's not attached to anything, even to liberation. Well, that's pretty Zen. That's pretty Zen. You're not attached to anything, not even liberation.

[10:25]

We're just practicing. What are you doing? I'm just practicing. What are you attached to? Nothing. Not even liberation. I can't say, well... So, then the next miracle, as I said before, there's many miracles in the sutra sort of serve to, well, in multiple purposes. They're entertaining as all get out. They're fun to read about. And they kind of... shake us up in our thinking. So, he's preaching the inconceivable liberation, the image of the inconceivable liberation that's most famous. When Shariputra asks about the inconceivable liberation, Vimalakirti says, the Bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable liberation can put the king of mountains, Sumeru,

[11:36]

which is so high, so great, so noble, and so vast, into a mustard seed. He can perform this feat without enlarging the mustard seed and without shrinking Mount Sumeru. How do you do that? How are you going to perform such a trick? Yeah. And how is that achieved? Can you say more? The miracles and this kind of poetic imagery... Put Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed without changing the shape of the mustard seed or Mount Sumeru.

[12:41]

How do you do that? Let go of your views. Let go of your rigid thinking. Such a bodhisattva can pick up with his right hand this billion world galactic universe as if it were a potter's wheel and spinning it round, throw it beyond universes as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, without the living beings therein knowing their motion or its origin, and he can catch it and put it back in its place without the living beings suspecting their coming and going, and yet the whole operation is visible. All right, that's a pretty good trick. And the living beings who are disciplined through an immeasurable period of evolution actually perceive a week to be the passing of an eon, and those disciplined by a short period of evolution actually perceive an eon to be the passing of a week. This is just like Tassajara, right? That's exactly... I'm not kidding. That is exactly like Tassajara. I'm here for a week in guest season and do one week of work practice, and it's like life-changing.

[13:49]

It can be an eon. It can be amazing. And you can live here for 11 years, and it seems like a week. Amazing. Just like Tassajara. So... the Bodhisattva, Vimalakirti, has a solution for Shariputra's problem. He creates these lion thrones, these amazing seats. How many? He says 3200,000 thrones. Elsewhere, In the blue clip record it says 32,000. This is 3,200,000. But anyway, it's a lot. It's a lot of thrones. And all the thrones, all the seats are like size of skyscrapers.

[14:50]

They're huge. They're really, really huge. Now this is an interesting thing because in esoteric Buddhism, in usual deal, for example, we have a Dharma talk and the person sits on the high seat and everyone else sits below. That's how it was with the Buddha. And that's the usual deal. But in certain empowerment ceremonies, the disciple may sit in a higher seat in esoteric Buddhism. And this is what's happening here. And yet, Chariputra Can't get into a seat. It's too high. He can't get up there. He's very distressed. Poor Shari Poochra. What happens? What happens? Uh... Good sir, the thrones are too big and too high.

[16:04]

I cannot sit upon them. And Vimalakirti says, Just make a prostration to the Tathagata Merupradiparaja, and you will be able to take your seat. Then the great disciples, the Shravakas, bowed down to the Tathagata, and then they were able to be seated upon the thrones. All these thrones... fitting into Vimalakirti's little room without any problem. So Vimalakirti goes on to continue to preach the inconceivable liberation that I talked about some already. Towards the end, he says, what could the entire host of Maras ever do to one who is devoted to this inconceivable liberation?

[17:06]

What could the entire host of maras ever do to one who is devoted to this inconceivable liberation? Reverend, this now, he's having a dialogue with one of the Shravakas, Mahakasyapa, who's actually the second Zen ancestor after Shaktamuni Buddha. when we chant the lineage of male ancestors, Mahakasyapa, his second Zen ancestor, he says to Mahakasyapa, Reverend Mahakasyapa, the Maras who play the devil in the innumerable universes of the Ten Directions are all bodhisattvas dwelling in the inconceivable liberation, who are playing the devil in in order to develop living beings through their skill in liberative technique. So all these maras, all these troublemakers are actually bodhisattvas.

[18:10]

They're just for our benefit. Does that remind you of anything? They're a practice opportunity. Yay! But you don't have to roll your eyes when you say that. Whoa, say more. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And he was able to come back from that and then he knew what he needed to do. Devil was doing him a big favor, turns out. Yeah. Yes. I think it's called the Tori Zenji vow. I think it's called the Tori Zenji vow that says something like that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. How those who... and I think of Suzuki Roshi who said about a bazillion times we should be grateful for our problems how many times did Suzuki Roshi say that we should be grateful for our problems we should be grateful to Mara we should be grateful for

[19:29]

Difficulty. Because that is liberative technique when you engage with it. When you don't try to make it go away. When you can be present for it. Yes. Three poisons. Sorry. Three poisons. Three... Moving on. Yes. What are seeds symbols? What are seeds symbols? Oh, the seeds. Oh, empowerment. For me, the seeds symbolize empowerment. So, yeah, it's very interesting that the Shravakas, the Arhats,

[20:30]

were not able to sit in the seats until they did a prostration. So I spoke a little bit about that in my Dharma talk. It's an expression of humility that allows them to receive the empowerment. The goddess. This chapter 7 is called The Goddess. And she makes an entrance a little ways into the chapter. First, there's some more discourse between Manjushri and Vimalakirti. Remember, Manjushri has come to inquire about Vimalakirti's illness. And in the meantime, there's this big Dharma. This is really more or less the rest of the sutra.

[21:33]

is this big discourse between Manjushri and Vimalakirti, with other people chiming in and various interesting things happening. So Manjushri asks Vimalakirti, how should a bodhisattva regard all living beings? And Vimalakirti gives this long speech about... We should regard living beings like the sound of an echo, like a mass of clouds in the sky, like the previous moment of a ball of foam. The previous moment of a ball of foam. Whoa. And one I underline that I like is, as magicians regard men created by magic. So if you're a magician and you're looking at a magic trick, You're in on it, right?

[22:35]

You're in on the trick. You see behind the surface. We should regard living beings as magicians who are in on the trick, as magicians regard men created by magic. So, see below the surface. See beyond what's apparent. And then, Manjitri asks further, like much further on. Noble Sir, if a Bodhisattva considers all living beings in such a way, how does she generate the great love toward them? And this is a really fine translation, Robert Thurman, Uma's dad. Great love is totally apt. Other translations, I might say benevolence or goodwill. Mahamaitri. Remember, Maitreya Buddha, the loving one, Maitri means love. I mean, just, that's the most apropos translation, as far as I'm concerned.

[23:39]

Maha Maitri, great love. And Vimalakirti says, basically, when a bodhisattva considers all living beings in this way, it's easier to generate the great love that is truly a refuge for all living beings. He goes, long sermon about love that is amazing. He references the six paramitas in here, the six noble activities, liberative activities of Bodhisattva. We all know these, right? Six paramitas. In order, please. Number one. Very good. Number two. Ethical discipline. Yes, I'm looking for the Sanskrit and the English. Thank you. Shila or ethics? Shanti. Very good. Four.

[24:39]

Very effort. Five. Zen. Jhana. Actually, Jhana. Paramita. Zen. And six. One we chant every day. Wisdom. Prajnaparamita. The love that is giving because it bestows the gift of Dharma free of the tight fist of a bad teacher. Why does a bad teacher have a tight fist? They're holding on. They're withholding, actually. A bad teacher has got something they're hiding from you. They're not freely bestowing the Dharma. That's an image. comes up in Buddhism a lot, the closed fist of a teacher. Sometimes, in Zen tradition, sometimes it's apropos. Sometimes you might discover in some koan or some story, he has closed fist.

[25:46]

Come back later. Come back later. I'm not ready to talk to you right now. The love that is giving because it bestows the gift of Dharma free of the tight fist of a bad teacher. The love that is morality because it improves immoral living beings. The love that is tolerance because it protects both self and others. The love that is effort because it takes responsibility for all living beings. The love that is contemplation because it refrains from indulgence in tastes. The love that is wisdom because it causes attainment at the proper time. on and on, such Manjushri is the great love of a bodhisattva. Then there's a sort of dialogue back and forth between Vimalakirti and Manjushri. And then, thereupon, a certain goddess who lived in that house, having heard this teaching of the Dharma of the great heroic bodhisattvas, and being delighted, pleased, and overjoyed,

[26:48]

manifested herself in a material body and showered the great spiritual heroes, the bodhisattvas, and the great disciples with heavenly flowers. So this is the next miracle. A, where did this goddess come from? She's just there. All of a sudden. Turns out she's been there the whole time. Kind of hiding out. Kind of not revealing herself. But she's been there the whole time. listening in. And then she decides to reveal herself, actually manifest in a physical form, in a material body. And she showers them all with flowers. Okay, what happens next? I'll tell you. The flowers don't stick to the bodhisattvas, but they stick to the arhats. The arhats, the flowers that are falling stick to the arhats.

[27:52]

They get stuck. They're covered with flowers. And Shariputra, poor Shariputra, he gets very upset. When they fell on the bodies of the great disciples, they stuck to them and did not fall. When the flowers fell on the bodies of the bodhisattvas, they fell off on the floor. But when they fell on the bodies of the great disciples, they stuck to them and did not fall. The great disciples shook the flowers and even tried to use their magical powers, but still the flowers would not shake off. Then the goddess said to the venerable Shariputra, Reverend Shariputra, why do you shake these flowers? Shariputra replied, goddess, these flowers are not proper for religious persons. And so we are trying to shake them off. Why not proper? Because... He's a monk. He's trying to be a good monk. Maybe trying too hard. They're not supposed to have decoration.

[28:54]

They're not supposed to adorn their bodies. So, Shariputra is very distressed. And the goddess says, Reverend Shariputra, in propriety... For one who has renounced the world for the discipline of the rightly taught dharma consists of constructual thought and discrimination. Yet the elders are full of such thoughts. Because you're trying so hard to shake these flowers off, you're stuck. You're stuck to the flowers as bad as the flowers are stuck to you. You're stuck to the idea of, I shouldn't have these flowers! And he's not renouncing anything. He's totally caught. see how these flowers do not stick to the bodies of these great spiritual heroes, the bodhisattvas. This is because they have eliminated constructual thoughts and discriminations. They don't care. Flowers, fine. And then the venerable Shariputra said to the goddess, goddess, how long have you been in this house?

[29:59]

The goddess replied, I have been here as long as the elder has been in liberation. Shariputra said, then have you been in this house for quite some time? You're supposed to laugh. It's comedy gold. Shariputra is like, he's nervous. He's like really not sure about where he stands, which is probably a good thing. So he's like, so have you been in this house for quite some time? The goddess said, has the elder been in liberation for quite some time? At that, the elder, Shariputra, fell silent. So this is Shariputra's silence. He's dumbfounded. He can't speak. And this contrast, well, we'll get there. The goddess continued, Elder, you are foremost of the wise. Why do you not speak? Now, when it is your turn, you do not answer the question. Shariputra says, Since liberation is inexpressible, goddess, I do not know what to say.

[31:04]

Well, this is interesting. And then... The goddess gives him a little speech about speech. Actually, don't point to liberation by abandoning speech. Why? The holy liberation is the equality of all things, so that should include speech as well. Why not? Shari Putra says, goddess is not liberation, the freedom from desire, hatred, and folly, greed, hate, and delusion. The goddess says, liberation is freedom from desire, hatred, and folly. That is the teaching for the excessively proud, i.e., the ones who had the flowers stuck to them. But those free of pride are taught that the very nature of greed, hate, and delusion is itself liberation. And it turns out, he asks... Eventually, she says... He gets a straight answer. She says, I've been in this house for 12 years. And she talks about how wonderful the house is...

[32:06]

Basically, it's a Buddha field, and there's a little more dialogue between Shariputra and the goddess. And Shariputra asks a question, probably been weighing on his mind for a little while. He says, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state? Right? She's a goddess. And the goddess says, although I have sought my female state for these 12 years, I have not yet found it. Reverend Shariputra, if a magician were to incarnate a woman by magic, would you ask her what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state? No. Such a woman would not really exist. So what would there be to transform? Just so, Reverend Shariputra, all things do not really exist. Now, would you think what prevents one whose nature is that of a magical incarnation from transforming herself out of her female state? Thereupon... The goddess employed her magical power to cause the elder Shariputra to appear in her form and to cause herself to appear in his form.

[33:09]

Then the goddess, transformed into Shariputra, said to Shariputra, transformed into a goddess, Reverend Shariputra, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state? And Shariputra, transformed into the goddess, replied, I no longer appear in the form of a male. My body is changed into the body of a woman. I do not know what to transform. Yeah, he's really distressed. Really distressed. And I tell you why. There's a lot of misogyny in Buddhism. In Lamont's translation, there's a footnote. Yes, I said misogyny. The physical characteristics of male sexuality and of female sexuality appear among the 22 organs enumerated in the sutras. Their reality is not doubted, quite the reverse. Feminine sexuality is an object of execration for Buddhist monks, and the old texts are full of attacks against women. Both vehicles agree in admitting that no woman can ever become either a Buddha or Chakravartan king or Chakra or Mara or Brahma, and he cites all these examples, and then cites examples in Buddhist teachings and folklore where there are other various sex changes.

[34:28]

For the sake of... practice, people with the very bad luck of being born in female state are fortunately, miraculously transformed into male. But this turns it topsy-turvy. And not a moment too soon. So this is really radical. Really, really radical. That the goddess makes Shariputra, I have a sex change. I believe that in the Sakidita conference, this came up. There was a teacher in Indonesia when Linda Gallion went to the Sakidita conference who talked about this, and they talked about transgender issues in Buddhism. Pretty amazing. Pretty good stuff. But it goes all the way back to, what did I say... When did the Vimalakirti Sutra come out? Around the beginning of the Common Era.

[35:32]

All the way back then. And so this has been going on for a long time. Dogen wrote his famous fascicle, Raihai Tokuzui, bowing to the attainment of the marrow, supporting women to practice, and the equality of opportunities to practice. So there's been this tension, which... Still goes on to the present day, by the way. But maybe we've made some gains. And their dialogue goes on. Oh, she takes pity on him. She changes him back. And maybe she didn't feel like looking like Sharaputa for very long, too. And... Coming to the end of the chapter, there's this sort of summing up between the dialogue between the goddess and Shariputra. And she says, The Buddhas of the past, present, and future is a conventional expression made up of a certain number of syllables.

[36:40]

The Buddhas are neither past nor present nor future. Their enlightenment transcends the three times. But tell me, elder, have you attained sainthood? And now here, Shariputra, who's supposed to be foremost of the wise... Actually, I don't know, the goddess has worked him over so much at this point, he demonstrates some Zen wisdom, some non-dual wisdom, because Shariputra says, it is attained because there is no attainment. And the goddess improves. She says, just so, there is perfect enlightenment because there is no attainment of perfect enlightenment. This is Musotoku Mind. If you were in my Fukanza Zenki class, we talked about no gaining idea. Mushotoku mind. Very important in Zen training. Don't practice with the gaining idea. There's perfect enlightenment because there's no attainment of perfect enlightenment.

[37:44]

Chapter 8. The family of the Tathagatas. So... This chapter is pretty interesting. There's a lot of beautiful verse that I'm not going to read at all, actually. But who, I ask you, who is the family of the Tathagoras? Any guesses? All living beings? We are! Yeah! Thank you very much. Yes, we are. We are the family of the Tathaganas. It sounds very lofty, doesn't it?

[38:49]

It sounds like, well, it must be talking about some beings who live in Tushita heaven. The family of the Tathagadas. They're, you know, some very probably cosmic Buddhas. Oh, we are the family of the Tathagadas. The Sangha is the family of the Tathagadas. And the... This is an interesting thing. Kind of like the world that I do with it. page of class notes that I haven't been looking at this whole time. So, the beginning of this chapter, continuing the dialogue between Manjushri and Vimalakirti, Manjushri says to Vimalakirti, noble sir,

[39:55]

How does the Bodhisattva follow the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha? Vimalakirti replied, Manjushri, when the Bodhisattva follows the wrong way, he follows the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha. Okay? Everybody on board with that? When the Bodhisattva follows the wrong way, he follows the wrong way. There's a... Well, anyway, the Sanskrit word, according to Mr. Lamotte, Monsieur Lamotte, is not exactly wrong. Agati does not mean absence of movement, staying still, but a movement that is not one, a false movement. Just as avidya does not mean absence of knowledge, but false knowledge.

[40:58]

Monsieur Lamott, or Sarah Boyne actually, translated it from the French. She calls it the roundabout ways of a bodhisattva. The roundabout ways. It's not so simple. Anyway, there's another... long sermon from Vimalakirti. Even should she go into hells, she remains free of alternative passions. Even should she go into the states of the animals, she remains free of darkness and ignorance. When she goes into... She may follow the ways of desire, yet she stays free of attachment to the enjoyments of desire. This is kind of like... You know, in the beginning, when we were talking about Vimalakirti and what kind of person he was and all these things, like Steph was talking about, he goes into the brothels, but he's only going there to preach the Dharma.

[42:04]

This sort of passage about the roundabout way of the Bodhisattva or the wrong way, what it brings up for me is everybody's way-seeking mind talk that I ever heard. You know about way-seeking mind talks, right? In the practice period, if you're a new, if you're a Tangario monk, you give a little talk about what brought you to practice. Every way-seeking mind talk, I've never heard a way-seeking mind talk where somebody said, I was born, my life was perfect in every way, I heard about the Dharma, and I thought, well, that would be even more perfect. I'll study the Dharma. I'll take up practice, because then it will be even better. No. No, I've never heard a way-seeking mind talk like that. They usually involve some element of suffering, confusion,

[43:17]

Yeah? That's okay. That's the message here. In fact, not only okay, but necessary. This is the roundabout way of the Bodhisattva. Why? Because, noble sir, flowers like the blue lotus the red lotus the white lotus the water lily and the moon lily do not grow on the dry ground in the wilderness but do grow in the swamps and mud banks just so the buddha qualities do not grow in living beings certainly destined for the uncreated you know that imaginary way seeking mind talk that i've never heard yet but do grow in those living beings who are like swamps and mud banks of passions That's us, you know.

[44:19]

That's us, the family of the tautogotus. Noble sir, through these considerations, one can understand that all passions constitute the family of the tautogotus. What a relief. Does this mean that we should just, like, do whatever? Party all the time? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll? What do you think? That's why I'm here. We got one, that's why I'm here. I've muttered, that would be nice. It has started. Yeah, it is. It began when you fell out of the cradle. It's been going on all this time. right up to the present moment. When are we ever not exposed to greed, hate, and delusion?

[45:28]

That's the medium that we move through. That's the muddy soil that the lotus flower blossoms in. Well, we should not worry. And then, like I said, the latter part of the chapter is this beautiful sort of verse, I think possibly meant to be sung. And it goes into all these family relations. Like, of the true bodhisattvas, the mother is the transcendence of wisdom, the father is the skill in liberative technique. So that's the sutra right there. and Upaya, wisdom and skill and means. Steve Weintraub once gave a Dharma talk and he said, I've written a poem. His poem was, wisdom ain't worth a hill of beans unless you got skill and means.

[46:38]

Pretty good, huh? Their wife is the joy of the dharma. Love and compassion are their daughters. The dharma and the truth are their sons. And their home is deep thought on the meaning of voidness. Etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. On and on and on. Although they recognize the deeds of maras, they can get along, even with these maras. For even such activities may be manifested in by those perfected in liberative technique. So, if you're willing to practice, you can get along with maras. You can practice with your problems. You can be okay, whatever, your state of mind, afflicted, pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, that's just what you're practicing with.

[47:43]

You can get along with, even with these maras. On and on and on. Chapter 9. We're going to do this. Chapter 9. Woohoo. Okay. Then the Lichavi Vimalakirti asked these bodhisattvas. This is kind of the... If this were a work of music, this would be the crescendo. This would be a sort of building up to the climax. And then... There's more sutra. We've got another class. If we're going to get through the whole sutra, there's another class coming. But this is kind of the crescendo. The Lichavi Vimalakirti asked these bodhisattvas, Good sirs, please explain how the bodhisattvas enter the Dharma door of non-duality. So this is what the whole sutra is about. The reconciliation of dichotomies, samsara, nirvana,

[48:46]

Same thing. Wisdom, skill and means. How do you enter the Dharma door of non-duality? Is there a question? Yeah, I want you to repeat the question again. The Lichavi Vimalakirti asked those bodhisattvas, all the bodhisattvas in the room, I forget how many there are, a lot, all sitting on their thrones, Good sirs, please explain how the bodhisattvas enter the Dharma door of non-duality. And then, a lot of bodhisattvas are named by name, who haven't been named before, and one by one, I'm not going to read them all, but one by one, and it goes on and on and on, they all give an explanation, and all these explanations are darn good. Really, they're good. It's kind of like the exchange between... It's a lot like the exchange between Bodhidharma and his disciples.

[49:55]

You have my skin. You have my flesh. You have my bones. You have my marrow. All those answers were good. All these answers are good. Take my word for it and read the sutra. You will appreciate it. All these explanations for how you enter into non-duality are darn good. And there's just one after another, after another, after another. When the bodhisattvas had given their explanations, they all addressed the crown prince, Manjushri. Remember Manjushri? It's the bodhisattva of wisdom, 16-year-old boy. Got it going on. Manjushri, what is the bodhisattva's entrance into non-duality? Manjushri replied, good sirs, you have all spoken well. That's true. Nevertheless, all your explanations are themselves dualistic. To know no one teaching, to express nothing, to say nothing, to explain nothing, to announce nothing, to indicate nothing, and to designate nothing, that is the entrance into non-duality.

[51:07]

Then the crown prince Manjushri said to Vimalakirti, We have all given our own teachings, noble sir. Now, may you elucidate the teaching of the entrance into the principle of non-duality. Thereupon, the Lichavi Vimalakirti kept his silence, saying nothing at all. And this is known as Vimalakirti's thunderous silence. Big contrast to Shariputra's silence when the goddess is pressing him. And this is... I tell you, this sutra is very important to the Zen school. This is the Blue Cliff Record. Probably the most famous collection of koans.

[52:10]

It's case 84. Vimalakirti's Gate of Nonduality. Pointer. Though you say it is, there is nothing which is can affirm. Though you say it is not, there is nothing that is not can negate. When is and is not are left behind, and gain and loss are forgotten, then you are clean and naked, free and at ease. But tell me, What is in front of you and in back of you? If there is a patroa monk who comes forward and says, in front is the Buddha shrine and the main gate, behind is the abbot's sleeping room and private quarters, tell me, does this man have eyes or not? If you can judge this man, I'll allow that you have personally seen the ancients. Case. Vimalakirti asks Manjushri, what is a bodhisattva's entry into the Dharma gate of non-duality? Manjushri said, according to what I think, in all things, no words, no speech, no demonstration, and no recognition, to leave behind all questions and answers.

[53:15]

This is entering the Dharma gate of non-duality. Then Manjushri asked Vimalakirti, we have each already spoken. Now you should tell us, good man, what is a Bodhisattva's entry into the Dharma gate of non-duality? Okay, then the next thing that comes is rather surprising. I don't know if this happens anywhere else in the Blue Cliff Record, but Shweto, the compiler of the Blue Cliff Record and the author of the verses, inserts himself into the koan. Shweto said, what did Vimalakirti say? He also said, completely exposed. So now I ask you, what did Vimalakirti say? I can't read... Well, I think I want to read Shueto's verse as well because it's so much fun.

[54:22]

So here is Shueto's verse commentary on the koan. Bah! To old Vimalakirti! Out of compassion for living beings, he suffers an empty affliction. Lying ill in Vaisali, his whole body withered and emaciated. Manjushri, the teacher of seven Buddhas, comes to the single room that's been swept repeatedly. He asks about the gate of non-duality. Then Vimalakirti leans and falls. He doesn't lean and fall. The golden-haired lion has no place to look. Yuanwu, who wrote all the commentary on the koans and the commentary on the verses, has a lot of fun with it. I can't read you the whole thing.

[55:25]

But, yeah, the Chinese loved Vimalakirti. They loved the sutra. Still do. Still do. What's not to love? Vimalakirti was an ancient Buddha of the past... who also had a family and household. He helped the Buddha Shakyamuni teach and transform. He had inconceivable intelligence, inconceivable perspective, inconceivable supernatural powers, and the wondrous use of them. Thank you, kitchen crew! Inside his own room, he accommodated 32,000 jeweled lion thrones and a great multitude of 80,000, without it being too spacious or too crowded. But tell me, what principle is this? Can it be called the wondrous function of supernatural powers? Don't misunderstand. If it is the Dharma gate of non-duality, only by attaining together and witnessing together can there be common mutual realization and knowledge. I like that a lot. I resonate with that.

[56:31]

That, I feel, is our practice in Tassajara. Only by attaining together. and witnessing together can there be common mutual realization and knowledge. Shwaito said, What did Vimalakirti say? And completely exposed. You tell me, where was the exposure? This little bit has nothing to do with gain or loss, nor does it fall into right and wrong. It's like being up on a ten thousand fathom cliff. If you can give up your life and leap off, you may see Nima Lakirti in person. So I think that's a fun place to end. And if you want to know more, it's Case 84. I made a rhyme. Give me a dime. And like I said, there will be one more class to talk about

[57:35]

chapter 10, 11, and 12 and the epilogue and the Dharma of non-duality in general talk, talk, talk about non-duality but really this morning in Zazen we heard preaching of the non-dual Dharma I hope you heard it I hope you heard it the non-dual Dharma this morning. Zazen. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[58:30]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_94.16