The Teaching of Vimalakīrti
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.

“The Tathāgata has reached the extreme of detachment in regard to all things, yet he is not a reality-limit. He abides in ultimate reality, yet there is no relationship between it and him. He is not produced from causes, nor does he depend on conditions. He is not without any characteristic, nor has he any characteristic. He has no single nature nor any diversity of natures. He is not a conception, not a mental construction, nor is he a non-conception. He is neither the other shore, nor this shore, nor that between. He is neither here, nor there, nor anywhere else. He is neither this nor that. He cannot be discovered by consciousness, nor is he inherent in consciousness. He is neither darkness nor light. He is neither name nor sign. He is neither weak nor strong. He lives in no country or direction.203 He is neither good nor evil. He is neither compounded nor uncompounded. He cannot be explained as having any meaning whatsoever.

“The Tathāgata is neither generosity nor avarice, neither morality nor immorality, neither tolerance nor malice, neither effort nor sloth, neither concentration nor distraction, neither wisdom nor foolishness. He is inexpressible. He is neither truth nor falsehood; neither escape from the world nor failure to escape from the world; neither cause of involvement in the world nor not a cause of involvement in the world; [F.232.a] he is the cessation of all theory and all practice.204 He is neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit; he is neither worthy of offerings nor unworthy of offerings. He is not an object, and cannot be contacted. He is not a whole, nor a conglomeration. He surpasses all calculations. He is utterly unequaled, yet equal to the ultimate reality of things. He is matchless, especially in effort. He surpasses all measure. He does not go, does not stay, does not pass beyond. He is not seen, heard, distinguished, or known. He is without any complexity, having attained the equanimity of omniscient gnosis. Equal toward all things, he does not discriminate between them. He is without reproach, without excess, without corruption, without conception, and without intellectualization. He is without activity, without birth, without occurrence, without origin, without production, and without nonproduction. He is without fear and without subconsciousness;205 he is without sorrow, without joy, and without strain. No verbal teaching can express him.

“Such is the body of the Tathāgata and thus should he be seen. Who sees thus, truly sees. Who sees otherwise, sees falsely.”

The venerable Śāriputra then asked the Buddha, “Lord, in which buddhafield did the noble Vimalakīrti die, before reincarnating in this buddhafield?”

The Buddha said, “Śāriputra, ask this good man directly where he died to reincarnate here.”

Then the venerable Śāriputra asked the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “Noble sir, where did you die to reincarnate here?” [F.232.b]

Vimalakīrti declared, “Is there anything among the things that you see, elder, that dies or is reborn?”

Śāriputra: There is nothing that dies or is reborn.

Vimalakīrti: Likewise, reverend Śāriputra, as all things neither die nor are reborn, why do you ask, “Where did you die to reincarnate here?” Reverend Śāriputra, if one were to ask a man or woman created by a magician where he or she had died to reincarnate there, what do you think he or she would answer?

Śāriputra: Noble sir, a magical creation does not die, nor is it reborn.

Vimalakīrti: Reverend Śāriputra, did not the Tathāgata declare that all things have the nature of a magical creation?

Śāriputra: Yes, noble sir, that is indeed so.

Vimalakīrti: Reverend Śāriputra, since all things have the nature of a magical creation, why do you ask, “Where have you died to reincarnate here?” Reverend Śāriputra, “death” is an end of performance, and “rebirth” is the continuation of performance. But, although a bodhisattva dies, he does not put an end to the performance of the roots of virtue, and although he is reborn, he does not adhere to the continuation of sin.

Then, the Buddha said to the venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, this holy person came here from the presence of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya in the universe Abhirati.”

Śāriputra: Lord, it is wonderful that this holy person, having left a buddhafield as pure as Abhirati, should enjoy a buddhafield as full of defects as this Sahā universe!

The Licchavi Vimalakīrti said, “Śāriputra, what do you think? Does the light of the sun accompany the darkness?”

Śāriputra: Certainly not, noble sir!

Vimalakīrti: Then the two do not go together?

Śāriputra: Noble sir, those two do not go together. As soon as the sun rises, all darkness is destroyed.

Vimalakīrti: Then why does the sun rise over the world? [F.233.a]

Śāriputra: It rises to illuminate the world, and to eliminate the darkness.

Vimalakīrti: Just in the same way, reverend Śāriputra, the bodhisattva reincarnates voluntarily in the impure buddhafields in order to purify the living beings, in order to make the light of wisdom shine, and in order to clear away the darkness. Since they do not associate with the afflictions, they dispel the darkness of the afflictions of all living beings.

Thereupon, the entire multitude experienced the desire to behold the universe Abhirati, the Tathāgata Akṣobhya, his bodhisattvas, and his great disciples. The Buddha, knowing the thoughts of the entire multitude, said to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “Noble son, this multitude wishes to behold the universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya‍—show them!”

Then the Licchavi Vimalakīrti thought, “Without rising from my couch, I shall pick up in my right hand the universe Abhirati and all it contains: its hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas; its abodes of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and asuras, bounded by its Cakravāḍa mountains; its rivers, lakes, fountains, streams, oceans, and other bodies of water; its Mount Sumeru and other hills and mountain ranges; its moon, its sun, and its stars; its devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and asuras themselves; its Brahmā and his retinues; its villages, cities, towns, provinces, kingdoms, men, women, and houses; its bodhisattvas; its disciples; the tree of enlightenment of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya; and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya himself, seated in the middle of an assembly vast as an ocean, [F.233.b] teaching the Dharma. Also the lotuses that accomplish the buddha-work among the living beings, and the three jeweled ladders that rise from its earth to its Trāyastriṃśa heaven, on which ladders the gods of that heaven descend to the world to see, honor, and serve the Tathāgata Akṣobhya and to hear the Dharma, and on which the men of the earth climb to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven to visit those gods. Like a potter with his wheel, I will reduce that universe Abhirati, with its store of innumerable virtues, from its watery base up to its Akaniṣṭha heaven, to a minute size and, carrying it gently like a garland of flowers, will bring it to this Sahā universe and will show it to the multitudes.”

Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti entered into a concentration, and performed a miraculous feat such that he reduced the universe Abhirati to a minute size, and took it with his right hand, and brought it into this Sahā universe.

In that universe Abhirati, the disciples, bodhisattvas, and those among gods and men who possessed the superknowledge of the divine eye all cried out, “Lord, we are being carried away! Sugata, we are being carried off! Protect us, O Tathāgata!”

But, to discipline them, the Tathāgata Akṣobhya said to them, “You are being carried off by the bodhisattva Vimalakīrti. It is not my affair.”

As for the other men and gods, they had no awareness at all that they were being carried anywhere.

Although the universe Abhirati had been brought into the universe Sahā, the Sahā universe was not increased or diminished; it was neither compressed nor obstructed. Nor was the universe Abhirati reduced internally, and both universes appeared to be the same [F.234.a] as they had ever been.

Thereupon, the Buddha Śākyamuni asked all the multitudes, “Friends, behold the splendors of the universe Abhirati, the Tathāgata Akṣobhya, the array of his buddhafield, and the splendors of these disciples and bodhisattvas!”

They replied, “We see them, Lord!”

The Buddha said, “Those bodhisattvas who wish to embrace such a buddhafield should educate themselves in all the bodhisattva-practices of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya.”

While Vimalakīrti, with his miraculous power, showed them thus the universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya, one hundred and forty thousand living beings among the men and gods of the Sahā universe conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment, all of them formed a prayer to be reborn in the universe Abhirati, and the Buddha prophesied that in the future all would be reborn in the universe Abhirati. And the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, having thus developed all the living beings who could thereby be developed, returned the universe Abhirati exactly to its former place.

The Lord then said to the venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, did you see that universe Abhirati, and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya?”

Śāriputra replied, “I saw it, Lord! May all living beings come to live in a buddhafield as splendid as that! May all living beings come to have miraculous powers just like those of the noble Licchavi Vimalakīrti!

“We have gained great benefit from having seen a holy man such as he. [F.234.b] We have gained a great benefit from having heard such teaching of the Dharma, whether the Tathāgata himself still actually exists or whether he has already attained ultimate liberation. Hence, there is no need to mention the great benefit for those who, having heard it, believe it, rely on it, embrace it, remember it, read it, and penetrate to its depth, and, having found faith in it, teach, recite, and show it to others and apply themselves to the yoga of meditation upon its teaching.

“Those living beings who understand correctly this teaching of the Dharma will obtain the treasury of the jewels of the Dharma.

“Those who study correctly this teaching of the Dharma will become the companions of the Tathāgata. Those who honor and serve the adepts of this doctrine will be the true protectors of the Dharma. Those who write, teach, and worship this teaching of the Dharma will be visited by the Tathāgata in their homes. Those who take pleasure in this teaching of the Dharma will embrace all merits. Those who teach it to others, whether it be no more than a single stanza of four lines, or a single summary phrase from this teaching of the Dharma, will be performing the great Dharma-sacrifice. And those who devote to this teaching of the Dharma their tolerance, their zeal, their intelligence, their discernment, their vision, and their aspirations, thereby become subject to the prophesy of future Buddhahood!”