The Teaching of Vimalakīrti

Toh 176
Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a.
Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman.
First published 2017
Current version v 1.45.6 (2021)
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Table of Contents
Summary
While the Buddha is teaching outside the city of Vaiśālī, a notable householder in the city—the great bodhisattva Vimalakīrti—apparently falls sick. The Buddha asks his disciple and bodhisattva disciples to call on Vimalakīrti, but each of them relates previous encounters that have rendered them reluctant to face his penetrating scrutiny of their attitudes and activities. Only Mañjuśrī has the courage to pay him a visit, and in the conversations that ensue between Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, and several other interlocutors, Vimalakīrti sets out an uncompromising and profound view of the Buddha’s teaching and the bodhisattva path, illustrated by various miraculous displays. Its masterful narrative structure, dramatic and sometimes humorous dialogue, and highly evolved presentation of teachings have made this sūtra one of the favorites of Mahāyāna literature.
Acknowledgments
Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman and first published, under the title The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture, by the Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park and London, in 1976.
This electronic edition for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, with an abridged introduction and notes, and lightly edited under the supervision of Professor Thurman, is published by his kind permission as the copyright holder.
From the Preface to the original edition:
I sincerely thank my friend and benefactor, Dr. C. T. Shen, both for his sponsorship of the work and for his most helpful collaboration in the work of comparing the Tibetan and Chinese versions. We were sometimes joined in our round-table discussions by Drs. C. S. George, Tao-Tien Yi, F. S. K. Koo, and T. C. Tsao, whose helpful suggestions I gratefully acknowledge. My thanks also go to Ms. Yeshe Tsomo and Ms. Leah Zahler for their invaluable editorial assistance, and to Ms. Carole Schwager and the staff of The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Preface to this electronic edition:
I earnestly thank Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche for his great efforts in creating the 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha project, to present in English the many great works of the Buddha’s teachings freely to the world.
I also thank John Canti, of 84000, for his careful, creative, and very learned translating and editorial work on this electronic edition, without which this improved translation would not have materialized. I thank Mr. Patrick Alexander, of the Penn State University Press, who was the one who informed me that the copyright to my original translation done for the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions had reverted to me upon the termination of that Institute, to which I had previously conveyed my rights.
I intend to publish in print form a further update of that original version at a future time. Since there have been a number of free-floating electronic forms of this text on the internet for some years now, I am happy that the sūtra in its current revision is now available in the 84000 Reading Room, among the many other translations on that site.
Sarva maṅgalam!
Introduction
Among Buddhist sūtras, The Teaching of Vimalakīrti stands out like a masterfully faceted diamond, so located between the heaps of gold, silver, and pearls of the Transcendent Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) Sūtras and the array of sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other gems of the Buddha Garland (Buddhāvataṃsaka), or Inconceivable Liberation (Acintyavimokṣa) Sūtras as to refract the radiances of all, beaming them forth to the beholder in a concentrated rainbow-beam of diamond light.
Purification of the Buddhafield
[F.175.a] Reverence to all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, noble disciples, and pratyekabuddhas, in the past, the present, and the future.
Thus did I hear on a single occasion. The Lord Buddha was in residence in the garden of Āmrapālī, in the city of Vaiśālī, attended by a great gathering. Of bhikṣus there were eight thousand, all arhats. They were free from impurities and afflictions, and all had attained self-mastery. Their minds were entirely liberated by perfect knowledge. They were calm and dignified, like royal elephants. They had accomplished their work, done what they had to do, cast off their burdens, attained their goals, and totally destroyed the bonds of existence. Their true knowledge had made their minds entirely free. They all had attained the utmost perfection of every form of control over their minds.14
Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
At that time, there lived in the great city of Vaiśālī a certain Licchavi, Vimalakīrti by name. Having served the ancient buddhas, he had generated the roots of virtue by honoring them and making offerings to them. He had attained tolerance as well as eloquence. He played with the great superknowledges. He had attained the power of retention and the fearlessnesses. He had conquered all demons and opponents. He had penetrated the profound way of the Dharma. He was liberated through the transcendence of wisdom. Having integrated his realization with skill in liberative art, he was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of living beings. Knowing the strength or weakness of their faculties, and being gifted with unrivaled eloquence, he taught the Dharma appropriately to each. Having applied himself energetically to the Mahāyāna, he understood it and accomplished his tasks with great finesse. He lived with the deportment of a buddha, and his superior intelligence was as wide as an ocean. He was praised, honored, and commended by all the buddhas and was respected by Indra, Brahmā, and all the Lokapālas. In order to develop living beings with his skill in liberative art, he lived in the great city of Vaiśālī.
The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti
Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti thought to himself, “I am sick, lying on my bed in pain, yet the Tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly accomplished Buddha, does not consider me or take pity upon me, and sends no one to inquire after my illness.”
The Lord knew this thought in the mind of Vimalakīrti and said to the venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, go to inquire after the illness of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti.”
The Consolation of the Invalid
Then, the Buddha said to the crown prince, Mañjuśrī, “Mañjuśrī, [F.198.a] go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”
Mañjuśrī replied, “Lord, it is difficult to attend upon the Licchavi Vimalakīrti. He is gifted with marvelous eloquence concerning the law of the profound. He is extremely skilled in full expressions and in the reconciliation of dichotomies. His eloquence is inexorable, and no one can resist his imperturbable intellect. He accomplishes all the activities of the bodhisattvas. He penetrates all the secret mysteries of the bodhisattvas and the buddhas. He is skilled in civilizing all the abodes of devils. He plays with the great superknowledges. He is consummate in wisdom and liberative art. He has attained the supreme excellence of the indivisible, nondual sphere of the ultimate realm. He is skilled in teaching the Dharma with its infinite modalities within the uniform ultimate. He is skilled in granting means of attainment in accordance with the spiritual faculties of all living beings. He has thoroughly integrated his realization with skill in liberative art. He has attained decisiveness with regard to all questions. Thus, although he cannot be withstood by someone of my feeble defenses, still, sustained by the grace of the Buddha, I will go to him and will converse with him as well as I can.”
The Inconceivable Liberation
Thereupon, the venerable Śāriputra had this thought: “There is not even a single chair in this house. Where are these disciples and bodhisattvas going to sit?”
The Licchavi Vimalakīrti read the thought of the venerable Śāriputra and said, “Reverend Śāriputra, did you come here for the sake of the Dharma? Or did you come here for the sake of a chair?”
The Goddess
Thereupon, Mañjuśrī, the crown prince, addressed the Licchavi Vimalakīrti: “Good sir, how should a bodhisattva regard all living beings?”
Vimalakīrti replied, “Mañjuśrī, a bodhisattva should regard all living beings as a wise man regards the reflection of the moon in water or as magicians regard men created by magic. He should regard them as being like a face in a mirror; like the water of a mirage; like the sound of an echo; like a mass of clouds in the sky; [F.208.b] like the previous moment of a ball of foam; like the appearance and disappearance of a bubble of water; like the core of a plantain tree; like a flash of lightning; like the fifth great element; like the seventh sense-medium; like the appearance of matter in an immaterial realm; like a sprout from a rotten seed; like a tortoise-hair coat; like the fun of games for one who wishes to die; like the egoistic views of a stream-winner; like a third rebirth of a once-returner; like the descent of a nonreturner into a womb; like the existence of desire, hatred, and folly in an arhat; [F.209.a] like thoughts of avarice, immorality, wickedness, and hostility in a bodhisattva who has attained tolerance; like the instincts of afflictions in a tathāgata; like the perception of color in one blind from birth; like the inhalation and exhalation of an ascetic absorbed in the meditation of cessation; like the track of a bird in the sky; like the erection of a eunuch; like the pregnancy of a barren woman; like the unproduced afflictions of an emanated incarnation of the Tathāgata; like dream-visions seen after waking; like the afflictions of one who is free of conceptualizations; like fire burning without fuel; like the reincarnation of one who has attained ultimate liberation. [F.209.b]
The Family of the Tathāgatas
Then, the crown prince Mañjuśrī asked the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “Noble sir, how does the bodhisattva follow the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha?”
Vimalakīrti replied, “Mañjuśrī, when the bodhisattva follows the wrong way, he follows the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha.”
Mañjuśrī continued, “How does the bodhisattva follow the wrong way?”
Vimalakīrti replied, “Even should he enact the five deadly sins, he feels no malice, violence, or hate. Even should he go into the hells, he remains free of all taint of afflictions. Even should he go into the states of the animals, he remains free of darkness and ignorance. When he goes into the states of the asuras, he remains free of pride, conceit, and arrogance. When he goes into the realm of the lord of death, he accumulates the stores of merit and wisdom. When he goes into the states of motionlessness and immateriality, he does not dissolve therein.
The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti asked those bodhisattvas, “Good sirs, please explain how the bodhisattvas enter the Dharma-door of nonduality!”177
The bodhisattva Dharmavikurvaṇa declared, “Noble sir, production and destruction are two, but what is not produced and does not occur cannot be destroyed. Thus the attainment of the tolerance of the birthlessness of things is the entrance into nonduality.”
The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
Thereupon, the venerable Śāriputra thought to himself, “If these great bodhisattvas do not adjourn before noontime, when are they going to eat?”185
The Licchavi Vimalakīrti, aware of what the venerable Śāriputra was thinking, spoke to him: “Reverend Śāriputra, the Tathāgata has taught the eight liberations. You should concentrate on those liberations, listening to the Dharma with a mind free of preoccupations with material things. Just wait a minute, reverend Śāriputra, and you will eat such food as you have never before tasted.”
Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
Meanwhile, the area in which the Lord was teaching the Dharma in the garden of Āmrapālī expanded and grew larger, and the entire assembly appeared tinged with a golden hue. Thereupon, the venerable Ānanda asked the Buddha, “Lord, this expansion and enlargement of the garden of Āmrapālī and this golden hue of the assembly—what do these auspicious signs portend?”
The Buddha declared, “Ānanda, these auspicious signs portend that the Licchavi Vimalakīrti and the crown prince Mañjuśrī, attended by a great multitude, are coming into the presence of the Tathāgata.”
Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya
Thereupon, the Buddha said to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “Noble son, when you see the Tathāgata, how do you view him?”
Thus addressed, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti said to the Buddha, “Lord, when I see the Tathāgata, I view him by not seeing any Tathāgata. Why? I see him as not born from the past, not passing on to the future, and not abiding in the present time. Why? He is the essence that is the reality of matter,202 but he is not matter. He is the essence that is the reality of sensation, but he is not sensation. He is the essence that is the reality of intellect, but he is not intellect. He is the essence that is the reality of performance, yet he is not performance. He is the essence that is the reality of consciousness, yet he is not consciousness. Like the element of space, he does not abide in any of the four elements. Transcending the scope of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, he is not produced in the six sense-media. [F.231.b] He is not involved in the three worlds, is free of the three defilements, is associated with the triple liberation, is endowed with the three knowledges, and has truly attained the unattainable.
Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma
Then Śakra, the king of the gods, said to the Buddha, “Lord, formerly I have heard from the Tathāgata and from Mañjuśrī, the crown prince of wisdom, many hundreds of thousands of teachings of the Dharma, but I have never before heard a teaching of the Dharma as remarkable as this instruction in the entrance into the method of inconceivable transformations.206 Lord, those living beings who, having heard this teaching of the Dharma, accept it, remember it, read it, and understand it deeply will be, without a doubt, true vessels of the Dharma; [F.235.a] there is no need to mention those who apply themselves to the yoga of meditation upon it. They will cut off all possibility of unhappy lives, will open their way to all fortunate lives, will always be looked after by all buddhas, will always overcome all adversaries, and will always conquer all devils. They will practice the path of the bodhisattvas, will take their places upon the seat of enlightenment, and will have truly entered the domain of the tathāgatas. Lord, the noble sons and daughters who will teach and practice this exposition of the Dharma will be honored and served by me and my followers. To the villages, towns, cities, states, kingdoms, and capitals wherein this teaching of the Dharma will be applied, taught, and demonstrated, I and my followers will come to hear the Dharma. I will inspire the unbelieving with faith, and I will guarantee my help and protection to those who believe and uphold the Dharma.”
Colophon
It has 1,800 ślokas in six fascicles, and was translated, edited, and established by Bandé Chönyi Tsultrim.
Abbreviations
Ch. | Chinese |
---|---|
K | Kumārajīva’s Ch. translation |
X | Xuanzang’s Ch. translation |
Notes
Bibliography
Tibetan and Sanskrit sources
’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryavimalakīrtinirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh. 176, Degé Kangyur, vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175b–239a.
’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryavimalakīrtinirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 60, pp. 476–635.
Study Group on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. 梵文維摩經 : ポタラ宮所蔵写本に基づく校訂. Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, A Sanskrit Edition Based upon the Manuscript Newly Found at the Potala Palace. Tokyo: Institute for Comprehensive Studies of Buddhism, Taishō Daigaku Shuppankai, 2006.
Translations of this text
Lamotte, Étienne. L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa). Louvain: Université de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste, 1962. [Translated from Tib. and Xuanzang’s Chinese].
Luk, Charles (tr.). The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra. Berkeley and London: Shambhala, 1972. [Translated from Kumārajīva’s Chinese].
McRae, John R. (tr.). The Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004. [Translated from Kumārajīva’s Chinese].
Canonical references
Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra. Sanskrit text: see Lamotte 1935. Tibetan text: ’phags pa dgongs pa nges par ’grel pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Toh 106, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 1b–55b. English translation: see Buddhavacana Translation Group.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh106.html
Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. Sanskrit text: see Vaidya 1960, Wogihara et al. 1934-1935. Tibetan text: dpal dam chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Toh 113, Degé Kangyur, vol. 51 (mdo sed, ja), folios 1b–180b. English translations: see Kern 1884; Roberts, 2018.
Guhyasamājatantra. Sanskrit text: see Bagchi 1965. Tibetan text: de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs kyi gsang chen gsang ba ’dus pa zhes bya ba brtag pa’i rgyal po chen po, Toh 442, Degé Kangyur vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), folios 89b–148a.
Candrakīrti. Prasannapadānāmamūlamadhyamakavṛtti. Sanskrit text: see La Vallée Poussin 1903-1912. Tibetan text: dbu ma rtsa ba’i ’grel pa tshig gsal ba, Toh 3860, Degé Tengyur vol. 102 (dbu ma, ’a), folios 1b–200a.
Nāgārjuna. Prajñanāmamūlamādhyamakakārikā. Sanskrit text and translation: see Inada 1970. Tibetan text: dbu ma rtsa ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa shes rab, Toh 3824, Degé Tengyur vol. 96 (dbu ma, tsa), folios 1b–19a.
Śāntideva. Śikṣāsamuccaya. Sanskrit text: see Vaidya, 1961. Tibetan text: bslab pa kun las btus pa, Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3a–194b. English translation: see Goodman 2016.
Editions and translations of works referenced
Bagchi, S. (ed.). Guhyasamājatantra. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 9. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1965.
Buddhavacana Translation Group. The Sūtra Unravelling the Intent (Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, Toh 106). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh106.html
Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. 1932. Reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.
Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣā-samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Inada, K. Nāgārjuna. Buffalo, N.Y., 1970.
Kern, H. (ed.). Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka, or Lotus of the True Law. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXI. Oxford: Clarendon, 1884.
Lamotte, Étienne (tr.). Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra: L’Explication des mystères. [Tib. text and French translation]. Louvain: Université de Louvain; and Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve, 1935.
La Vallée Poussin, L. de (ed.). Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā, commentaire de Candrakīrti . Bibliotheca Buddhica IV. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des sciences, 1903-1913.
Roberts, Peter (tr.). The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, Toh 113). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018 (read.84000.co).
Sakaki (ed.). Mahāvyutpatti, Skt.-Tib. lexicon. Kyoto, 1916-1925.
Vaidya, P. L. (ed.) Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960.
———(ed.). Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 11. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1961.
Wogihara, Unrai and Tsuchida, Chikao. Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtram: Romanized and Revised Text of the Bibliotheca Buddhica publication by consulting a Sanskrit Ms. & Tibetan and Chinese translations. Tōkyō: Seigo-Kenkyūkai, 1934–1935.
Glossary
Abhidharma
- chos mngon pa
- ཆོས་མངོན་པ།
- Abhidharma
Conventionally, the general name for the Buddhist teachings presented in a scientific manner, as a fully elaborated transcendental psychology. As one of the branches of the Canon, it corresponds to the discipline of wisdom (the Sūtras corresponding to meditation, and the Vinaya to morality). Ultimately the Abhidharma is “pure wisdom, with its coordinate mental functions” (Prajñāmalā sānucārā), according to Vasubandhu.
Abhidharmakośa
- chos mngon pa’i mdzod
- ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད།
- Abhidharmakośa
An important work written by Vasubandhu, probably in the fourth century, as a critical compendium of the Abhidharmic science.
Abhirati
- mngon par dga’ ba
- མངོན་པར་དགའ་བ།
- Abhirati
Lit. “Intense Delight.” The universe, or buddhafield of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya, lying in the east beyond innumerable galaxies, whence Vimalakīrti came to reincarnate in our Sahā universe.
Absence of self
- bdag med pa
- བདག་མེད་པ།
- anātmatā
- nairātmya
This describes actual reality, as finally there is no enduring person himself or thing itself, since persons and things exist only in the relative, conventional, or superficial sense, and not in any ultimate or absolute sense. To understand Buddhist teaching correctly, we must be clear about the two senses (conventional/ultimate, or relative/absolute), since mistaking denial of ultimate self as denial of conventional self leads to nihilism, and mistaking affirmation of conventional self as affirmation of ultimate self leads to absolutism. Nihilism and absolutism effectively prevent us from realizing our enlightenment, hence are to be avoided.
Absorption
- snyom ’jug
- སྙོམ་འཇུག
- samāpatti
“Absorption” has been translated as “meditation,” “contemplation,” “attainment,” etc., and any of these words might serve. The problem is to establish one English word for each of the important Sanskrit words samāpatti, dhyāna, samādhi, bhāvanā, etc., so as to preserve a consistency with the original. Therefore, I have adopted for these terms, respectively, “absorption,” “contemplation,” “concentration” and “realization” or “cultivation,” reserving the word “meditation” for general use with any of the terms when they are used not in a specific sense but to indicate mind-practice in general.
Affliction
- nyon mongs
- ཉོན་མོངས།
- kleśa
Desire, hatred and anger, dullness, pride, and jealousy, as well as all their derivatives, said to number 84,000. Also translated “passions.”
Aggregate
- phung po
- ཕུང་པོ།
- skandha
This translation of skandha is fairly well established, although some prefer the monosyllabic “group.” It is important to bear in mind that the original skandha has the sense of “pile,” or “heap,” which has the connotation of utter lack of internal structure, of a randomly collocated pile of things; thus “group” may convey a false connotation of structure and ordered arrangement. The five “compulsive” (upādāna) aggregates are of great importance as a schema for introspective meditation in the Abhidharma, wherein each is defined with the greatest subtlety and precision. In fact, the five terms rūpa, vedanā, samjñā, saṃskāra, and vijñāna have such a particular technical sense that many translators have preferred to leave them untranslated. Nevertheless, in the sūtra context, where the five are meant rather more simply to represent the relative living being (in the realm of desire), it seems preferable to give a translation—in spite of the drawbacks of each possible term—in order to convey the same sense of a total categorization of the psychophysical complex. Thus, for rūpa, “matter” is preferred to “form” because it more concretely connotes the physical and gross; for vedanā, “sensation” is adopted, as limited to the aesthetic; for samjñā, “intellect” is useful in conveying the sense of verbal, conceptual intelligence. For samskāra, which covers a number of mental functions as well as inanimate forces, “motivation” gives a general idea. And “consciousness” is so well established for vijñāna (although what we normally think of as consciousness is more like samjñā, i.e., conceptual and notional, and vijñāna is rather the “pure awareness” prior to concepts) as to be left unchallenged.
Aids to enlightenment
- byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos
- བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།
- bodhipakṣikadharma
Akaniṣṭha
- ’og min
- འོག་མིན།
- Akaniṣṭha
The highest heaven of the form-world, where a buddha always receives the anointment of the ultimate wisdom, reaching there mentally from his seat of enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree.
Akṣayamati
- blo gros mi zad pa
- བློ་གྲོས་མི་ཟད་པ།
- Akṣayamati
A bodhisattva in the assembly at Vimalakīrti’s house, often figuring in other Mahāyāna sūtras, especially Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra.
Akṣobhya
- mi ’khrugs pa
- མི་འཁྲུགས་པ།
- Akṣobhya
Buddha of the universe Abhirati, presiding over the eastern direction; also prominent in tantric works as one of the five dhyāni buddhas, or tathāgatas (see Lamotte, pp. 360-362, n. 9).
Amitābha
- snang ba mtha’ yas
- སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས།
- Amitābha
The Buddha of boundless light; one of the five Tathāgatas in Tantrism; a visitor in Vimalakīrti’s house, according to the goddess’s report.
Anantaguṇaratnavyūha
- yon tan rin chen mtha’ yas bkod pa
- ཡོན་ཏན་རིན་ཆེན་མཐའ་ཡས་བཀོད་པ།
- Anantaguṇaratnavyūha
Lit. “infinite array of jewel-qualities.” A universe of Buddha Ratnavyūha, also mentioned in the Lalitavistarasūtra.
Anārambaṇadhyāyin
- dmigs pa med pa’i bsam gtan
- དམིགས་པ་མེད་པའི་བསམ་གཏན།
- Anārambaṇadhyāyin
Anikṣiptadhura
- brtson pa mi ’dor ba
- བརྩོན་པ་མི་འདོར་བ།
- Anikṣiptadhura
Aniruddha
- ma ’gags pa
- མ་འགགས་པ།
- Aniruddha
A śrāvaka disciple and cousin of the Buddha who was famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. See also n.78.
Arhat
- dgra bcom pa
- དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
- arhat
According to Buddhist tradition, one who has conquered his enemy passions (kleśa-ari-hata) and reached the supreme purity. The term can refer to buddhas as well as to those who have reached realization of the Disciple Vehicle.
Āryadeva
- ’phags pa lha
- འཕགས་པ་ལྷ།
- Āryadeva
One of the great masters of Indian Buddhism. The main disciple of Nāgārjuna, he lived in the early a.d. centuries and wrote numerous important works of Mādhyamika philosophy.
Āryāsaṅga
- ’phags pa thogs med
- thogs med
- འཕགས་པ་ཐོགས་མེད།
- ཐོགས་མེད།
- Āryāsaṅga
- Asaṅga
This great Indian philosopher lived in the fourth century and was the founder of the Vijñānavāda, or “Consciousness-Only,” school of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Asura
- lha ma yin
- ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
- asura
Titan .
Auspicious signs and marks
- mtshan dang dpe byad bzang po
- མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་བཟང་པོ།
- lakṣaṇānuvyañjana
The thirty-two signs and the eighty marks of a superior being.
Avalokiteśvara
- spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug
- སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག
- Avalokiteśvara
A bodhisattva emblematic of the great compassion; of great importance in Tibet as special protector of the religious life of the country and in China, in female form, as Kwanyin, protectress of women, children, and animals.
Avataṃsaka
- phal po che
- ཕལ་པོ་ཆེ།
- Avataṃsaka
This vast Mahāyāna sūtra (also called the Buddhāvataṃsaka) deals with the miraculous side of the Mahāyāna. It is important in relation to the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, since the latter’s fifth chapter, “The Inconceivable Liberation,” is a highly abbreviated version of the essential teaching of the former.
Bad migrations
- ngan song
- ངན་སོང་།
- durgati
The three bad migrations are those of (1) denizens of hells, (2) inhabitants of the “limbo” of the pretaloka, where one wanders as an insatiably hungry and thirsty wretch, and (3) animals, who are trapped in the pattern of mutual devouring (Tib. gcig la gcig za).
Basic precepts
- bslab pa’i gzhi rnams
- བསླབ་པའི་གཞི་རྣམས།
- sikṣāpada
These basic precepts are five in number for the laity: (1) not killing, (2) not stealing, (3) chastity, (4) not lying, and (5) avoiding intoxicants. For monks, there are three or five more; avoidance of such things as perfumes, makeup, ointments, garlands, high beds, and afternoon meals.
Bhaiṣajyarāja
- sman gyi rgyal po
- སྨན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Bhaiṣajyarāja
Lit. “King of Healers.” In the story of Śākyamuni’s former life in this sūtra, he is the tathāgata of the universe Mahāvyūha, during the eon called Vicaraṇa, who taught Prince Candracchattra about Dharma-worship. In later Buddhism, this buddha is believed to be the supernatural patron of healing and medicine.
Bhāvaviveka
- legs ldan ’byed
- ལེགས་ལྡན་འབྱེད།
- Bhāvaviveka
(c. a.d. 400). A major Indian philosopher, a master of the Mādhyamika school of Buddhism, who founded a sub-school known as Svātantrika.
Bhikṣu
- dge slong
- དགེ་སློང་།
- bhikṣu
Lit. “beggar.” Buddhist mendicant monk; bhikṣuṇī is the female counterpart.
Billion-world galaxy
- stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams
- སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།
- trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu
Lit. “three-thousand-great-thousand-world realm.” Each of these is composed of one thousand realms, each of which contains one thousand realms, each of which contains one thousand realms = one thousand to the third power = one billion worlds.
Birthlessness
- mi skye ba
- མི་སྐྱེ་བ།
- anutpādatva
This refers to the ultimate nature of reality, to the fact that, ultimately, nothing has ever been produced or born nor will it ever be because birth and production can occur only on the relative, or superficial, level. Hence “birthlessness” is a synonym of “voidness,” “reality,” “absolute,” “ultimate,” “infinity,” etc.
Bodhisattva
- byang chub sems dpa’
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
- bodhisattva
A living being who has produced the spirit of enlightenment in himself and whose constant dedication, lifetime after lifetime, is to attain the unexcelled, perfect enlightenment of Buddhahood.
Brahmā
- tshangs pa
- ཚངས་པ།
- Brahmā
Creator-lord of a universe, there being as many as there are universes, whose number is incalculable. Hence, in Buddhist belief, a title of a deity who has attained supremacy in a particular universe, rather than a personal name. For example, the Brahmā of the Aśoka universe is personally called Śikhin, to distinguish him from other Brahmās. A Brahmā resides at the summit of the realm of pure matter (rūpadhātu), and is thus higher in status than a Śakra.
Brahmajāla
- tshangs pa’i dra ba
- ཚངས་པའི་དྲ་བ།
- Brahmajāla
Buddha
- sangs rgyas
- སངས་རྒྱས།
- buddha
Lit. “awakened one.” Title of one who has attained the highest attainment possible for a living being. “The Buddha” often designates Śākyamuni because he is the buddha mainly in charge of the buddhafield of our Sahā universe.
Buddha Gaya
- Buddha Gaya
Ancient name for the town in Bihar province, where the Buddha attained his highest enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree. Modern name, Bodhgaya.
Buddhafield
- sangs rgyas kyi zhing
- སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།
- buddhakṣetra
Roughly, a synonym for “universe,” although Buddhist cosmology contains many universes of different types and dimensions. “Buddhafield” indicates, in regard to whatever type of world-sphere, that it is the field of influence of a particular Buddha. For a detailed discussion of these concepts, see Lamotte, Appendice, Note I.
Buddhapālita
- sangs rgyas bskyang
- སངས་རྒྱས་བསྐྱང་།
- Buddhapālita
(c. fourth century). A great Mādhyamika master, who was later regarded as the founder of the Prāsaṅgika sub-school.
Cakravāḍa
- khor yug
- ཁོར་ཡུག
- Cakravāḍa
A mountain in this sūtra and many others; but, in systematized Buddhist cosmology, the name of the ring of mountains that surrounds the world.
Candracchattra
- zla gdugs
- ཟླ་གདུགས།
- Candracchattra
(1) Chief of the Licchavi. (2) Son of the king Ratnacchattra, mentioned in the former-life story told by the Buddha to Śakra in Chapter 12.
Candrakīrti
- zla ba grags pa
- ཟླ་བ་གྲགས་པ།
- Candrakīrti
(c. sixth century). The most important Mādhyamika philosopher after Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, he refined the philosophical methods of the school to such a degree that later members of the tradition considered him one of the highest authorities on the subject of the profound nature of reality.
Canon of the bodhisattvas
- byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྡེ་སྣོད།
- bodhisattvapiṭaka
The collection of the Vast (vaipulya) Sūtras of the Mahāyāna, supposed to have been collected supernaturally by a great assembly of bodhisattvas led by Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, and Vajrapāṇi. There is a Mahāyāna sūtra called Bodhisattvapiṭaka, but the word more usually refers to the whole collection (piṭaka) of Mahāyāna sūtras, to distinguish them from the Three Collections (Tripiṭaka) of the Hinayāna.
Ch’an
- —
- —
Chinese word for dhyāna, which was adopted as the name of the school of Mahāyāna practice founded by Bodhidharma, and later to become famous in the west as Zen.
Chönyi Tsültrim
- chos nyid tshul khrims
- ཆོས་ཉིད་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
Tibetan translator of this sūtra in the ninth century, also well known for his collaboration in compiling the Mahāvyutpatti (Skt.-Tib. dictionary).
Cittamātra
- sems tsam
- སེམས་ཙམ།
- Cittamātra
A name of the Vijñānavāda school of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy.
Conception of the spirit of enlightenment
- byang chub kyi sems bskyed pa
- བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་བསྐྱེད་པ།
- bodhicittotpāda
This can also be rendered by “initiation of…” because it means the mental event occurring when a living being, having been exposed to the teaching of the Buddha or of his magical emanations (e.g., Vimalakīrti), realizes simultaneously his own level of conditioned ignorance, i.e., that his habitual stream of consciousness is like sleep compared to that of one who has awakened from ignorance; the possibility of his own attainment of a higher state of consciousness; and the necessity of attaining it in order to liberate other living beings from their stupefaction. Having realized this possibility, he becomes inspired with the intense ambition to attain, and that is called the “conception of the spirit of enlightenment.” “Spirit” is preferred to “mind” because the mind of enlightenment should rather be the mind of the Buddha, and to “thought” because a “thought of enlightenment” can easily be produced without the initiation of any sort of new resolve or awareness. “Will” also serves very well here.
Conceptualization
- rnam par rtog pa
- རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ།
- vikalpa
This brings up another important group of words that has never been treated systematically in translation: vikalpa, parikalpa, samāropa, adhyāropa, kalpanā, samjñā, and prapāñca. All of these refer to mental functions that tend to superimpose upon reality, either relative or ultimate, a conceptualized reality fabricated by the subjective mind. Some translators have tended to lump these together under the rubric “discursive thought,” which leads to the misleading notion that all thought is bad, something to be eliminated, and that sheer “thoughtlessness” is “enlightenment,” or whatever higher state is desired. According to Buddhist scholars, thought in itself is simply a function, and only thought that is attached to its own content over and above the relative object, i.e., “egoistic” thought, is bad and to be eliminated. Therefore we have chosen a set of words for the seven Skt. terms: respectively, “conceptualization,” “imagination,” “presumption,” “exaggeration,” “construction,” “conception” or “notion,” and “fabrication.” This does not mean that these words are not somewhat interchangeable or that another English word might not be better in certain contexts; it only represents an attempt to achieve consistency with the original usages.
Conscious awareness
- bag yod pa
- བག་ཡོད་པ།
- apramāda
This denotes a type of awareness of the most seemingly insignificant aspects of practical life, an awareness derived as a consequence of the highest realization of the ultimate nature of reality. As it is stated in the Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchāsūtra (Toh 156): “He who realizes voidness, that person is consciously aware.” “Ultimate realization,” far from obliterating the relative world, brings it into highly specific, albeit dreamlike, focus.
Cosmic wind-atmosphere
- rlung gi dkyil ’khor
- རླུང་གི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།
- vātamaṇḍalī
The ancient cosmology maintained that the cosmos was encircled by an atmosphere of fierce winds of impenetrable intensity (see Lamotte, p. 255, n. 15).
Decisiveness
- nges par sems pa
- ངེས་པར་སེམས་པ།
- nidhyapti
Analytic concentration that gains insight into the nature of reality, synonymous with “transcendental analysis,” vipaśyana (q.v.).
Dedication
- yongs su bsngo ba
- ཡོངས་སུ་བསྔོ་བ།
- pariṇāmana
This refers to the bodhisattva’s constant mindfulness of the fact that all his actions of whatever form contribute to his purpose of attaining enlightenment for the sake of himself and others, i.e., his conscious deferral of the merit accruing from any virtuous action as he eschews immediate reward in favor of ultimate enlightenment for himself and all living beings.
Definitive meaning
- nges don
- ངེས་དོན།
- nītārtha
This refers to those teachings of the Buddha that are in terms of ultimate reality; it is opposed to those teachings given in terms of relative reality, termed “interpretable meaning,” because they require further interpretation before being relied on to indicate the ultimate. Hence definitive meaning relates to voidness, etc., and no statement concerning the relative world, even by the Buddha, can be taken as definitive. This is especially important in the context of the Mādhyamika doctrine, hence in the context of Vimalakīrti’s teachings, because he is constantly correcting the disciples and bodhisattvas who accept interpretable expressions of the Tathāgata as if they were definitive, thereby attaching themselves to them and adopting a one-sided approach.
Dependent origination
- rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
- རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
- pratītyasamutpāda
See also “relativity.”
Destined for the ultimate
- yang dag pa nyid du nges pa
- ཡང་དག་པ་ཉིད་དུ་ངེས་པ།
- samyaktvaniyata
This generally describes one who has reached the noble path, either in Disciple Vehicle or Mahāyāna practice (see Lamotte, p. 115, n. 65).
Destiny for the ultimate
- nges pa la zhugs pa
- ངེས་པ་ལ་ཞུགས་པ།
- niyāmāvakrānti
This is the stage attained by followers of the Hinayāna wherein they become determined for the attainment of liberation (nirvāṇa, i.e., the ultimate for them) in such a way as never to regress from their goals, and by bodhisattvas when they attain the holy path of insight.
Deva
- lha
- ལྷ།
- deva
General term for all sorts of gods and deities.
Devarāja
- lha’i rgyal po
- ལྷའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Devarāja
Dharma-door
- chos kyi sgo
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྒོ།
- dharmamukha
Certain teachings are called “Dharma-doors” (or “doors of the Dharma”), as they provide access to the practice of the Dharma.
Dharma-eye
- chos kyi mig
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་མིག
- dharmacakṣu
One of the “five eyes,” representing superior insights of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The five eyes consist of five different faculties of vision: the physical eye (māṃsacakṣu), the divine eye (dīvyacakṣu), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣu), the Dharma-eye (dharmacakṣu), and the Buddha-eye (buddhacakṣu).
Dharmaketu
- chos kyi tog
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཏོག
- Dharmaketu
Dharmeśvara
- chos kyi dbang phyug
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག
- Dharmeśvara
Divine eye
- lha’i mig
- ལྷའི་མིག
- divyacakṣu
One of the six “superknowledges” (q.v.) as well as one of the “five eyes,” this is the supernormal ability to see to an unlimited distance, observe events on other worlds, see through mountains, etc. The five eyes consist of five different faculties of vision: the physical eye (māṃsacakṣu), the divine eye (dīvyacakṣu), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣu), the Dharma-eye (dharmacakṣu), and the Buddha-eye (buddhacakṣu).
Egoistic views
- ’jig tshogs la lta ba
- འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།
- satkāyadṛṣṭi
This consists of twenty varieties of false notion, consisting basically of regarding the temporally impermanent and ultimately insubstantial as “I” or “mine.” The five compulsive aggregates are paired with the self, giving the twenty false notions. For example, the first four false notions are that (1) matter is the self, which is like its owner (rūpaṃ ātmā svāmivat); (2) the self possesses matter, like its ornament (rūpavañ ātmā alaņkāravat); (3) matter belongs to the self, like a slave (ātmīyaṃ rūpaṃ bhṛtyavat); and (4) the self dwells in matter as in a vessel (rūpe ātmā bhajanavat). The other four compulsive aggregates are paired with the self in the same four ways, giving sixteen more false notions concerning sensation, intellect, motivation, and consciousness, hypostatizing an impossible relationship with a nonexistent, permanent, substantial self.
Eight liberations
- rnam par thar pa brgyad
- རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བརྒྱད།
- vimokṣa
The first consists of the seeing of form by one who has form; the second consists of the seeing of external form by one with the concept of internal formlessness; the third consists of the physical realization of pleasant liberation and its successful consolidation; the fourth consists of the full entrance to the infinity of space through transcending all conceptions of matter, and the subsequent decline of conceptions of resistance and discredit of conceptions of diversity; the fifth consists of full entrance into the infinity of consciousness, having transcended the infinity of space; the sixth consists of the full entrance into the sphere of nothingness, having transcended the sphere of the infinity of consciousness; the seventh consists of the full entrance into the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness, having transcended the sphere of nothingness; the eighth consists of the perfect cessation of suffering, having transcended the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. Thus the first three liberations form specific links to the ordinary perceptual world; the fourth to seventh are equivalent to the four absorptions; and the eighth represents the highest attainment.
Eight perverse paths
- log pa brgyad
- log pa nyid brgyad
- ལོག་པ་བརྒྱད།
- ལོག་པ་ཉིད་བརྒྱད།
- mithyātva
These consist of the exact opposites of the eight branches of the eightfold noble path (aṣṭāṅgikamārga).
Eighteen special qualities of a bodhisattva
- byang chub sems dpa’i chos ma ’dres pa bco brgyad
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།
- aṣṭādaśāveṇikabodhisattvadharma
These consist of the bodhisattva’s natural (uninstructed) possession of generosity, morality, tolerance, effort, meditation, and wisdom; of his uniting all beings with the four means of unification, knowing the method of dedication (of virtue to enlightenment), exemplification, through skill in liberative art, of the positive results of the Mahāyāna, as suited to the (various) modes of behavior of all living beings, his not falling from the Mahāyāna, showing the entrances of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, skill in the technique of reconciliation of dichotomies, impeccable progress in all his lives, guided by wisdom without any conditioned activities, possession of ultimate action of body, speech, and mind directed by the tenfold path of good action, nonabandonment of any of the realms of living beings, through his assumption of a body endowed with tolerance of every conceivable suffering, manifestation of that which delights all living beings, inexhaustible preservation of the mind of omniscience, as stable as the virtue-constituted tree of wish-fulfilling gems, (even) in the midst of the infantile (ordinary persons) and (narrow-minded) religious disciples, however trying they might be, and adamant irreversibility from demonstrating the quest of the Dharma of the Buddha, for the sake of the attainment of the miraculous consecration conferring the skill in liberative art that transmutes all things. (Mvy, nos. 787-804)
Eighteen special qualities of the Buddha
- sangs rgyas kyi chos ma ’dres pa bco brgyad
- སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།
- aṣṭādaśāveṇikabuddhadharma
They are as follows: He never makes a mistake; he is never boisterous; he never forgets; his concentration never falters; he has no notion of diversity; his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration; his will never falters; his energy never fails; his mindfulness never falters; he never abandons his concentration; his wisdom never decreases; his liberation never fails; all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom; all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom; all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom; his knowledge and vision perceive the past without any attachment or hindrance; his knowledge and vision perceive the future without any attachment or hindrance; and his knowledge and vision perceive the present without any attachment or hindrance.
Eightfold noble path
- ’phags pa’i lam gyi yan lag brgyad
- འཕགས་པའི་ལམ་གྱི་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད།
- āryāṣṭāṅgamārga
These are right view (samyagdṛṣṭi), right consideration (samyaksaṃkalpa), right speech (samyakvāk), right terminal action (samyakkarmānta), right livelihood (samyagajiva), right effort (samyagvyāyāma), right remembrance (samyaksmṛti), and right concentration (samyaksamādhi). They are variously defined in the different Buddhist schools. These eight form a part of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment (see entry).
Element
- khams
- ’byung ba chen po
- ཁམས།
- འབྱུང་བ་ཆེན་པོ།
- dhātu
- mahābhūta
Depending on the context, may translate either: (a) Skt. mahābhūta, Tib. ’byung ba chen po, the four “main” or “great” outer elements of earth, water, fire, air, and (when there is a fifth) space; or: (b) Skt. dhātu, Tib. khams, the “eighteen elements” introduce, in the context of the aggregates, elements, and sense-media, the same six pairs as the twelve sense-media, as elements of experience, adding a third member to each set: the element of consciousness (vijñāna), or sense. Hence the first pair gives the triad eye-element (caksurdhātu), form-element (rūpadhātu), and eye-consciousness-element, or eye-sense-element (caksurvijñānadhātu)—and so on with the other five, noting the last, mind-element (manodhātu), phenomena-element (dharmadhātu), and mental-sense-element (manovijñānadhātu).
Emanated incarnation
- sprul pa
- སྤྲུལ་པ།
- nirmāṇa
This refers to the miraculous power of the Buddha and bodhisattvas of a certain stage to emanate apparently living beings in order to develop and teach living beings. This power reaches its culmination in the nirmāṇakayā, the “incarnation body,” which is one of the three bodies of buddhahood and includes all physical forms of all buddhas, including Śākyamuni, whose sole function as incarnations is the development and liberation of living beings.
Emptiness
- stong pa nyid
- སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
- śūnyatā
This Skt. term is usually translated by “voidness” because that English word is more rarely used in other contexts than “emptiness” and does not refer to any sort of ultimate nothingness, as a thing-in-itself, or even as the thing-in-itself to end all things-in-themselves. It is a pure negation of the ultimate existence of anything or, in Buddhist terminology, the “emptiness with respect to personal and phenomenal selves,” or “with respect to identity,” or “with respect to intrinsic nature,” or “with respect to essential substance,” or “with respect to self-existence established by intrinsic identity,” or “with respect to ultimate truth-status,” etc. Thus emptiness is a concept descriptive of the ultimate reality through its pure negation of whatever may be supposed to be ultimately real. It is an absence, hence not existent in itself. It is synonymous therefore with “infinity,” “absolute,” etc.—themselves all negative terms, i.e., formed etymologically from a positive concept by adding a negative prefix (in + finite = not finite; ab + solute = not compounded, etc.). But, since our verbally conditioned mental functions are habituated to the connection of word and thing, we tend to hypostatize a “void,” analogous to “outer space,” a “vacuum,” etc., which we either shrink from as a nihilistic nothingness or become attached to as a liberative nothingness; this great mistake can be cured only by realizing the meaning of the “emptiness of emptiness,” which brings us to the tolerance of inconceivability.
Enlightenment
- byang chub
- བྱང་ཆུབ།
- bodhi
This word requires too much explanation for this glossary because, indeed, the whole sūtra—and the whole of Buddhist literature—is explanatory of only this. Here we simply mention the translation equivalent.
Family of the Buddha
- sangs rgyas kyi rigs
- སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་རིགས།
- buddhakula
Lit. “family” or “lineage of the Buddha.” One becomes a member on the first bodhisattva stage. In another sense, all living beings belong to this exalted family because all have the capacity to wake up to enlightenment, conceiving its spirit within themselves and thenceforward seeking its realization (see Chapter 7).
Family of the tathāgatas
- de bzhin gshegs pa’i rigs
- དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་རིགས།
- tathāgatagotra
This term arises from a classification of beings into different groups (lineages) according to their destinies: disciple lineage, solitary buddha lineage, buddha lineage, etc. The Mādhyamika school, and the sūtras that are its foundation, maintains that all living beings belong to the buddha lineage, that Disciple Vehicle nirvāṇa is not a final destiny, and that arhats must eventually enter the Mahāyāna path. Mañjuśrī carries this idea to the extreme, finding the tathāgata lineage everywhere, in all mundane things. See 7.9, and Lamotte, Appendice, Note VII.
Fearlessness
- mi ’jigs pa
- མི་འཇིགས་པ།
- vaiśāradya
The Buddha has four fearlessnesses, as do the bodhisattvas. The four fearlessnesses of the Buddha are: fearlessness regarding the realization of all things; fearlessness regarding knowledge of the exhaustion of all impurities; fearlessness of foresight through ascertainment of the persistence of obstructions; and fearlessness in the rightness of the path leading to the attainment of the supreme success. The fearlessnesses of the bodhisattva are: fearlessness in teaching the meaning he has understood from what he has learned and practiced; fearlessness resulting from the successful maintenance of purity in physical, verbal, and mental action—without relying on others’ kindness, being naturally flawless through his understanding of the absence of self; fearlessness resulting from freedom from obstruction in virtue, in teaching, and in delivering living beings, through the perfection of wisdom and liberative art and through not forgetting and constantly upholding the teachings; and fearlessness in the ambition to attain full mastery of omniscience—without any deterioration or deviation to other practices—and to accomplish all the aims of all living beings.
Female attendants
- slas
- སླས།
- sahacāri
Female attendants who normally assisted the wife of a wealthy householder.
Five deadly sins
- mtshams med lnga
- མཚམས་མེད་ལྔ།
- ānantarya
Lit. “sins of immediate retribution [after death].” These five, all of which cause immediate rebirth in hell, are killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, breaking up the saṅgha, and causing, with evil intent, the Tathāgata to bleed.
Five desire objects
- ’dod pa’i yon tan lnga
- འདོད་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་ལྔ།
- pañcakāmaguṇaḥ
Visibles, sound, scent, taste, and tangibles.
Five obscurations
- sgrib pa lnga
- སྒྲིབ་པ་ལྔ།
- nīvaraṇa
These are five mental impediments that hinder meditation: impediments of desire (kāmacchanda), malice (vyāpāda), depression and sloth (styānamiddha), wildness and excitement (auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt, or perplexity (vicikitsa).
Five powers
- stobs lnga
- སྟོབས་ལྔ།
- bala
These are the same as the five spiritual faculties, at a further stage of development.
Five spiritual faculties
- dbang po lnga
- དབང་པོ་ལྔ།
- indriya
These are called “faculties” (indriya) by analogy, as they are considered as capacities to be developed: the spiritual faculties for faith (śraddhā), effort (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajña). These are included in the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment.
Four bases of magical power
- rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi
- རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ་བཞི།
- ṛddhipāda
The first basis of magical power consists of the energy from the conscious cultivation of concentration of will (chandasamādhiprahāṇasaṃskārasamanvāgataḥ). The second consists of the energy from the conscious cultivation of concentration of mind (citta‑). The third consists of concentration of effort (vīrya‑). The fourth consists of concentration of analysis (mīmāṃsa‑). These four form a part of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment.
Four epitomes of the Dharma
- chos kyi phyag rgya bzhi
- bka’ rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi
- ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་བཞི།
- བཀའ་རྟགས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་བཞི།
- dharmoddāna
The four are as follows: All compounded things are impermanent (anityāḥ sarvasaṃskārāḥ). All defiled things are suffering (duḥkhāh sarvasāsravāḥ). All things are without self (anātmanāḥ sarvadharmāḥ). Nirvāṇa is peace (śāntaṃ nirvāṇaṃ). Also called “the four insignia of the Dharma.”
Four foci of mindfulness
- dran pa nye bar gzhag pa
- དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།
- smṛtyupasṭhāna
These are the stationing, or focusing, of mindfulness on the body, sensations, the mind, and things. These four form a part of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment.
Four immeasurables
- tshad med bzhi
- ཚད་མེད་བཞི།
- catvāryapramāṇāni
Immeasurable states, otherwise known as “pure abodes” (brahmāvihāra). Immeasurable love arises from the wish for all living beings to have happiness and the cause of happiness. Immeasurable compassion arises from the wish for all living beings to be free from suffering and its cause. Immeasurable joy arises from the wish that living beings not be sundered from the supreme happiness of liberation. And immeasurable impartiality arises from the wish that the preceding—love, compassion, and joy—should apply equally to all living beings, without attachment to friend or hatred for enemy.
Four misapprehensions
- phyin ci log bzhi
- ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བཞི།
- viparyāsa
These consist of mistaking what is impermanent for permanent; mistaking what is without self for self-possessing; mistaking what is impure for pure; and mistaking what is miserable for happy.
Four reliances
- rton pa bzhi
- རྟོན་པ་བཞི།
- pratiśārana
To attain higher realizations and final enlightenment, the bodhisattva should rely on the meaning (of the teaching) and not on the expression (arthapratisāraṇena bhavitavyaṃ na vyañjanapratisāraṇena); on the teaching and not on the person (who teaches it) (dharmapratisāraṇena bhavitavyaṃ na pudgalapratisāraṇena); on gnosis and not on normal consciousness (jñānapratisāraṇena bhavitavyaṃ na vijñānapratisāraṇena); and on discourses of definitive meaning and not on discourses of interpretable meaning (nītārthasūtrapratisāraṇena bhavitavyaṃ na neyārthasūtrapratisāraṇena) according to the order in this sūtra. The usual order, “teaching-reliance,” “meaning-reliance,” definitive-meaning-discourse-reliance,” and “gnosis-reliance,” seems to conform better to stages of practice.
Four right efforts
- yang dag par spong ba bzhi
- ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
- samyakprahāṇa
- samyakpradhāna
These are effort not to initiate sins not yet arisen; effort to eliminate sins already arisen; effort to initiate virtues not yet arisen; and effort to consolidate, increase, and not deteriorate virtues already arisen. For our use of “effort” (samyakpradhāna) instead of lit. “abandonment” (samyakprahāna) see Dayal, p. 102 ff. These four form a part of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment.
Gaganagañja
- nam mkha’i mdzod
- ནམ་མཁའི་མཛོད།
- Gaganagañja
Gajagandhahastin
- spos kyi ba glang glang po che
- སྤོས་ཀྱི་བ་གླང་གླང་པོ་ཆེ།
- Gajagandhahastin
Gandhahastin
- spos kyi glang po che
- སྤོས་ཀྱི་གླང་པོ་ཆེ།
- Gandhahastin
Gandhamādana
- spos kyi ngad ldan
- སྤོས་ཀྱི་ངད་ལྡན།
- Gandhamādana
A mountain known for its incense trees.
Gandharva
- dri za
- དྲི་ཟ།
- gandharva
Lit. “scent-eater.” A heavenly musician.
Gandhavyūhāhāra
- spos bkod pa’i zas
- སྤོས་བཀོད་པའི་ཟས།
- Gandhavyūhāhāra
Deities who attend on the Buddha Sugandhakūta in the universe Sarvagandhasugandhā.
Gandhottamakūṭa
- spos mchog brtsegs pa
- སྤོས་མཆོག་བརྩེགས་པ།
- Gandhottamakūṭa
Buddha of the universe Sarvagandhasugandhā, from whom Vimalakīrti’s emanation-bodhisattva obtains the vessel of ambrosial food that magically feeds the entire assembly without diminishing in the slightest.
Garuḍa
- nam mkha’ lding
- ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
- garuḍa
Magical bird, which protects from snakes.
Gnosis
- ye shes
- ཡེ་ཤེས།
- jñāna
This is knowledge of the nonconceptual and transcendental which is realized by those attaining higher stages.
Grace
- byin gyis brlabs
- བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས།
- adhiṣṭḥāna
The “supernatural power” with which the buddhas sustain the bodhisattvas in their great efforts on behalf of living beings.
Great compassion
- snying rje chen po
- སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahākaruṇā
This refers to one of the two central qualities of buddhas or high bodhisattvas: their feeling born of the wish for all living beings to be free of suffering and to attain the supreme happiness. It is important to note that this great compassion has nothing to do with any sentimental emotion such as that stimulated by such a reflection as “Oh, the poor creatures! How they are suffering!” On the contrary, great compassion is accompanied by the clear awareness that ultimately there are no such things as living beings, suffering, etc., in reality. Thus it is a sensitivity that does not entertain any dualistic notion of subject and object; indeed, such an unlimited sensitivity might best be termed “empathy.”
Great love
- byams pa chen po
- བྱམས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāmaitrī
In an effort to maintain distinctions between Buddhism and Christianity, translators have used all sorts of euphemisms for this basic term. Granted, it is not the everyday “love” that means “to like”; it is still the altruistic love that is the finest inspiration of Christ’s teaching, as well as of the Mahāyāna.
Great spiritual hero
- sems dpa’ chen po
- སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
- mahāsattva
This translation follows the Tib. (lit. “great mind- hero”), whose translation from Skt. derives from the lo tsā ba’s analysis of sattva as meaning “hero,” rather than simply “being.”
High resolve
- lhag pa’i bsam pa
- ལྷག་པའི་བསམ་པ།
- adhyāśaya
This is a stage in the conception or initiation of the spirit of enlightenment. It follows upon the positive thought, or aspiration to attain it, wherein the bodhisattva becomes filled with a lofty determination that he himself should attain enlightenment, that it is the only thing to do to solve his own problems as well as those of all living beings. This high resolve reaches its most intense purity when the bodhisattva simultaneously attains the Path of Insight and the first bodhisattva-stage, the Stage of Joy. The translation follows Lamotte’s happy coinage “haute résolution.”
Highest deities
- gzhan ’phrul dbang byed kyi lha
- གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ལྷ།
- paranīrmitavaśavartin
The deities of this, the sixth level of the gods of the desire-realm, appropriate and enjoy the magical creations of others; hence their name, literally, “who assume control of the emanations of others.” Their abode contains all the wonders created elsewhere and is referred to as a standard of splendor.
Himavat
- gangs ri
- གངས་རི།
- Himavat
A mountain.
Identity
- rang bzhin
- རང་བཞིན།
- svabhāva
Svabhāva is usually rendered as “self-nature,” sometimes as “own-being,” both of which have a certain literal validity. However, neither artificial term has any evocative power for the reader who has no familiarity with the original, and a term must be found that the reader can immediately relate to his own world to fulfill the function the original word had in its world. In our world of identities (national, racial, religious, personal, sexual, etc.), “identity” is a part of our makeup; thus, when we are taught the ultimate absence of identity of all persons and things, it is easy to “identify” what is supposedly absent and hence to try to understand what that entails.
Immaterial realm
- gzugs med khams
- གཟུགས་མེད་ཁམས།
- ārūpyadhātu
Incantation
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
The incantations, or spells, are mnemonic formulas, possessed by advanced bodhisattvas, that contain a quintessence of their attainments, not simply magical charms—although the latter are included. The same term in Sanskrit and Tibetan also refers to a highly developed power present in bodhisattvas that is a process of memory and recall of detailed teachings, best translated “retention” in certain contexts.
Incomprehensibility
- mi dmigs pa
- མི་དམིགས་པ།
- anupalambha
This refers to the ultimate nature of things, which cannot be comprehended, grasped, etc., by the ordinary, conditioned, subjective mind. Hence it is significant that the realization of this nature is not couched in terms of understanding, or conviction, but in terms of tolerance (kṣānti), as the grasping mind cannot grasp its ultimate inability to grasp; it can only cultivate its tolerance of that inability.
Inconceivability
- bsam gyis mi khyab pa
- བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
- acintyatā
Lit. “unthinkability,” (on the part of a mind whose thinking is conditioned and bound by conceptual terms). This is essentially synonymous with “incomprehensibility” (see entry).
Inconceivable liberation
- rnam par thar pa bsam gyis mi khyab pa
- རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
- acintyavimokṣa
Inconceivable liberation of the bodhisattvas, a name of the Avataṃsaka, and a subtitle of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa.
Indra
- brgya byin
- བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
- Indra
A major god in the Vedic pantheon, he dwindled in importance after Vedism was transformed into Hinduism in the early A.D. centuries. However, he was reinstated in Buddhist sūtras as the king of the gods and as a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practicers.
Indrajāla
- mig ’phrul can
- མིག་འཕྲུལ་ཅན།
- Indrajāla
Instinct
- bag chags
- བག་ཆགས།
- vāsanā
The subconscious tendencies and predilections of the psychosomatic conglomerate. This most obvious word is seldom used in this context because of the hesitancy of scholars to employ “scientific” terminology.
Irreversible wheel of the Dharma
- phyir mi ldog pa’i chos kyi ’khor lo
- ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ།
- avaivartikadharmacakra
The fact that the Dharma is not a single dogma, law, or fixed system, but instead an adaptable body of techniques available for any living being to aid in his development and liberation is emphasized by this metaphor. This wheel is said to turn by the current of energy from the needs and wishes of living beings, and its turning automatically converts negative energies (e.g., desire, hatred, and ignorance) to positive ones (e.g., detachment, love, and wisdom).
Jagatindhara
- ’gro ba ’dzin
- འགྲོ་བ་འཛིན།
- Jagatindhara
A bodhisattva layman of Vaiśālī, who is saved by Vimalakīrti from being fooled by Māra posing as Indra. This bodhisattva is mentioned in Mvy, No. 728, and in the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛccha (Toh 62, in the Ratnakūṭa; see Lamotte, p. 204, n. 120).
Jālinīprabha
- dra ba can gyi ’od
- དྲ་བ་ཅན་གྱི་འོད།
- Jālinīprabha
Jambudvīpa
- ’dzam bu gling
- འཛམ་བུ་གླིང་།
- Jambudvīpa
The “Rose-apple continent,” a name for the human world in the ancient Indian cosmology, it can be translated perhaps as “this earth,” or even as “India.”
Kakuda Kātyāyana
- kA tya’i bu nog can
- ཀཱ་ཏྱའི་བུ་ནོག་ཅན།
- Kakuda Kātyāyana
One of the six outsider teachers.
Kālaparvata
- ri nag po
- རི་ནག་པོ།
- Kālaparvata
A mountain.
Karma
- las
- ལས།
- karma
Generally meaning “work,” or “action,” it is an important concept in Buddhist philosophy as the cumulative force of previous actions, which determines present experience and will determine future existences.
Kātyāyana
- ka tya’i bu
- ཀ་ཏྱའི་བུ།
- Kātyāyana
(also Mahākātyāyana). Disciple of the Buddha noted for his skill in analysis of the Buddha’s discourses and, traditionally, the founder of the Abhidharma. See also n.74.
Kauśika
- kau shi ka
- ཀཽ་ཤི་ཀ
- Kauśika
Another name for Indra. Kauśika, Śakra, and Indra all refer to the same god, centrally prominent in the Vedas, who in Buddhist cosmogony is regarded as the king of gods in the realm of desire.
Kiṃnara
- mi’am ci
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- kiṃnara
A mythical being with a horse’s head and human body.
Knowledge and vision of liberation
- rnam par grol ba’i ye shes mthong ba
- རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་མཐོང་བ།
- vimuktijñānadarśana
Kṣetralaṃkṛta
- zhing snyoms brgyan
- ཞིང་སྙོམས་བརྒྱན།
- Kṣetralaṃkṛta
Lakṣaṇakūṭasamatikrānta
- mtshan brtsegs yang dag ’das
- མཚན་བརྩེགས་ཡང་དག་འདས།
- Lakṣaṇakūṭasamatikrānta
Layman
- dge bsnyen
- དགེ་བསྙེན།
- upāsaka
Householders with definite vows that set them off from the ordinary householder.
Laywoman
- dge bsnyen ma
- དགེ་བསྙེན་མ།
- upāsikā
Householders with definite vows that set them off from the ordinary householder.
Liberation
- mya ngan las ’das pa
- rnam par grol ba
- rnam par thar pa
- མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
- རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ།
- རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།
- nirvāṇa
- vimukti
- vimokṣa
Liberative art
- thabs
- ཐབས།
- upāya
This is the expression in action of the great compassion of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas—physical, verbal, and mental. It follows that one empathetically aware of the troubles of living beings would, for his very survival, devise the most potent and efficacious techniques possible to remove those troubles, and the troubles of living beings are removed effectively only when they reach liberation. “Art” was chosen over the usual “method” and “means” because it has a stronger connotation of efficacy in our technological world; also, in Buddhism, liberative art is identified with the extreme of power, energy, and efficacy, as symbolized in the vajra (adamantine scepter): The importance of this term is highlighted in this sūtra by the fact that Vimalakīrti himself is introduced in the chapter entitled “Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art”; this indicates that he, as a function of the nirmāṇakāya (incarnation-body), just like the Buddha himself, is the very incarnation of liberative art, and every act of his life is therefore a technique for the development and liberation of living beings. The “liberative” part of the translation follows “salvifique” in Lamotte’s phrase “moyens salvifique.”
Life
- ’khor ba
- འཁོར་བ།
- saṃsāra
Lokapāla
- ’jig rten skyong
- འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་།
- Lokapāla
Lit. “World-Protectors.” They are the same as the four Mahārājas, the great kings of the quarters (rgyal chen bzhi), namely, Vaiśravaṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, and Virūpākṣa, whose mission is to report on the activities of mankind to the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and who have pledged to protect the practitioners of the Dharma. Each universe has its own set of four.
Lord
- bcom ldan ’das
- བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
- Bhagavān
“Lord” is chosen to translate the title Bhagavān because it is the term of greatest respect current in our “sacred” language, as established for the Deity in the Elizabethan version of the Bible. Indeed, the Skt. Bhagavān was given as a title to the Buddha, although it also served the non-Buddhist Indians of the day and, subsequently, it served as an honorific title of their particular deities. As the Buddha is clearly described in the sūtras as the “Supreme Teacher of Gods and Men,” there seems little danger that he may be confused with any particular deity through the use of this term [as indeed in Buddhist sūtras various deities, creators, protectors, etc., are shown in their respective roles]. Thus I feel it would compromise the weight and function of the original Bhagavān to use any less weighty term than “Lord” for the Buddha.