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  • Toh 176

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དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ།

The Teaching of Vimalakīrti
The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti

Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa
འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Teaching of Vimalakīrti”
Ārya­vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra

Toh 176

Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ
  • Chönyi Tsultrim

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First published 2017

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgments
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 12 chapters- 12 chapters
1. Purification of the Buddhafield
2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
3. The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti
4. The Consolation of the Invalid
5. The Inconceivable Liberation
6. The Goddess
7. The Family of the Tathāgatas
8. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
9. The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
10. Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
11. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya
12. Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma
c. Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Tibetan and Sanskrit sources
· Translations of this text
· Canonical references
· Editions and translations of works referenced
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

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.


ac.

Acknowledgments

ac.­1

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!


i.

Introduction

i.­1

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.


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Teaching of Vimalakīrti

1.
Chapter 1

Purification of the Buddhafield

[F.175.a]


1.­1

Reverence to all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, noble disciples, and pratyekabuddhas, in the past, the present, and the future.


1.­2

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


2.
Chapter 2

Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art

2.­1

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 Śakra, 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.


3.
Chapter 3

The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti

3.­1

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.”

3.­2

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.”

Thus addressed, the venerable Śāriputra answered the Buddha, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant55 to go to ask the Licchavi Vimalakīrti about his illness. Why? I remember one day, when I was sitting at the foot of a tree in the forest, absorbed in contemplation, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came to the foot of that tree and said to me, ‘Reverend Śāriputra, this is not the way to absorb yourself in contemplation. You should absorb yourself in contemplation so that neither body nor mind appear anywhere in the three realms. [F.184.b] You should absorb yourself in contemplation in such a way that you can manifest all ordinary behavior without forsaking cessation. You should absorb yourself in contemplation in such a way that you can manifest the nature of an ordinary person without abandoning your cultivated spiritual nature. You should absorb yourself in contemplation so that the mind neither settles within nor moves without toward external forms. You should absorb yourself in contemplation in such a way that the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment are manifest without deviation toward any convictions. You should absorb yourself in contemplation in such a way that you are released in liberation without abandoning the passions that are the province of the world.56

3.­3

“ ‘Reverend Śāriputra, those who absorb themselves in contemplation in such a way are declared by the Lord to be truly absorbed in contemplation.’

“Lord, when I heard this teaching, I was unable to reply and remained silent. Therefore, I am reluctant to go to ask that good man about his sickness.”


3.­4

The Buddha then said to the venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana, “Maudgalyāyana, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”57

Maudgalyāyana replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness. Why? I remember one day when I was teaching the Dharma to the householders in a square in the great city of Vaiśālī, and the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came along and said to me, ‘Reverend Maudgalyāyana, that is not the way to teach the Dharma to the householders in their white clothes. The Dharma must be taught according to reality.

3.­5

“ ‘Reverend Maudgalyāyana, the Dharma is without a living being, because it is free of the dust of living beings. It is selfless, because it is free of the dust of desire. [F.185.a] It is lifeless, because it is free of birth and death. It is without a person, because it dispenses with past origins and future destinies.

3.­6

“ ‘The Dharma is peace and pacification, because it is free of desire. It does not become an object, because it is free of words and letters; it is inexpressible, and it transcends all movement of mind.58

3.­7

“ ‘The Dharma is omnipresent, because it is like infinite space. It is without color, mark, or shape, because it is free of all process. It is without the concept of “mine,” because it is free of the habitual notion of possession. It is without ideation, because it is free of mind, thought, or consciousness. It is incomparable, because it has no antithesis. It is without presumption of conditionality, because it does not conform to causes.

3.­8

“ ‘It permeates evenly all things, because all are included in the ultimate realm.59 It conforms to reality by means of the process of nonconformity. It abides at the reality-limit, for it is utterly without fluctuation. It is immovable, because it is independent of the six objects of sense. It is without coming and going, for it never stands still. It is comprised by voidness, it is remarkable through signlessness, and because of wishlessness it is free of presumption and repudiation. It is without establishment and rejection, without birth or destruction. It is without any fundamental consciousness, transcending the range of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and thought. It is without highness and lowness. It abides without movement or activity.60

3.­9

“ ‘Reverend Mahā­maudgalyāyana, how could there be a teaching in regard to such a Dharma? Reverend Mahā­maudgalyāyana, even the expression “to teach the Dharma” is presumptuous, and those who listen to it listen to presumption. Reverend Maudgalyāyana, where there are no presumptuous words, there is no teacher of the Dharma, no one to listen, and no one to understand. It is as if an illusory person were to teach the Dharma to illusory people.

3.­10

“ ‘Therefore, you should teach the Dharma by keeping your mind on this. [F.185.b] You should be adept in regard to the spiritual faculties of living beings. By means of the correct vision of the wisdom-eye, manifesting the great compassion, acknowledging the benevolent activity of the Buddha, purifying your intentions, and understanding the definitive expressions61 of the Dharma, you should teach the Dharma in order that the continuity of the Three Jewels may never be interrupted.’

3.­11

“Lord, when Vimalakīrti had discoursed thus, eight hundred householders in the crowd conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment, and I myself was speechless. Therefore, Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to this good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­12

The Buddha then said to the venerable Mahākāśyapa,62 “Mahākāśyapa, you go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

“Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness. Why? I remember one day, when I was in the street of the poor begging for my food, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came along and said to me, ‘Reverend Mahākāśyapa, to avoid the houses of the wealthy, and to favor the houses of the poor‍—this is partiality in benevolence.63 Reverend Mahākāśyapa, you should dwell on the fact of the equality of things, and you should seek alms with consideration for all living beings at all times. You should beg your food in awareness of the ultimate nonexistence of food. You should seek alms for the sake of eliminating the materialism of others. When you enter a town, you should keep in mind its actual voidness, yet you should proceed through it in order to develop men and women. You should enter homes as if entering the family of the Buddha. You should accept alms by not taking anything. You should see form like a man blind from birth, hear sounds as if they were echoes, [F.186.a] smell scents as if they were like wind, experience tastes without any discrimination, touch tangible objects without there being in gnosis any contact, and know things with the consciousness of an illusory creature. That which is without a state of being self and a state of being other does not burn. And what does not burn will not be extinguished.64

3.­13

“ ‘Elder Mahākāśyapa, if, equipoised in the eight liberations without transcending the eight perverse paths, you can enter the sameness of reality by means of the sameness of perversity, and if you can make a gift to all living beings and an offering to all the noble ones and buddhas out of even a single measure of alms, then you yourself may eat. Thus, when you eat, after offering, you should be neither affected by afflictions nor free of afflictions, neither involved in concentration nor free of concentration, neither living in the world nor abiding in liberation. Furthermore, those who give such alms, reverend, have neither great merit nor small merit, neither gain nor loss. They should follow the way of the buddhas, not the way of the disciples. Only in this way, Elder Mahākāśyapa, is the practice of eating by alms meaningful.’

3.­14

“Lord, when I heard this teaching, I was astonished and thought, ‘Reverence to all bodhisattvas! If a lay bodhisattva may be endowed with such eloquence, who is there who would not conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment?’ From that time forth, I no longer recommend the vehicles of the disciples and of the solitary sages but recommend the Mahāyāna. And thus, Lord, I am reluctant to go to this good man to inquire about his illness.” [F.186.b]


3.­15

The Buddha then said to the venerable Subhūti,65 “Subhūti, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Subhūti replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to this good man to inquire about his illness. Why? My Lord, I remember one day, when I went to beg my food at the house of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti in the great city of Vaiśālī, he took my bowl and filled it with some excellent food and said to me, ‘Reverend Subhūti, take this food if you understand the sameness of all things through the sameness of material objects, and if you understand the sameness of the qualities of the Buddha through the sameness of all things. Take this food if, without abandoning desire, hatred, and folly, you can avoid association with them; if you can follow the path of the single way without ever disturbing the egoistic views; if, neither conquering ignorance and the craving for existence, nor producing knowledge and liberation, your liberation being the same as the equality of the uninterruptible sins, you are neither liberated nor bound; if you do not see the four noble truths, yet are not one who “has not seen the truth”; if you are also neither “one who has attained fruition,”66 nor “an ordinary person,” while not having eliminated the qualities of “an ordinary person”; if you are not a noble one, and not a non-noble one; and if, though you are in the presence of all things, you are free of any notion of “all things.”67

3.­16

“ ‘Take this food, reverend Subhūti, if, without seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, or serving the Saṅgha, you undertake the religious life under the six outsider masters‍—namely, Purāṇa Kāśyapa, Māskārin Gośāli­putra, Saṃjāyin Vairaṭi­putra, Kakuda Kātyāyana, Ajita Keśakambala, [F.187.a] and Nirgrantha Jñāti­putra, and follow the ways they prescribe.

3.­17

“ ‘Take this food, reverend Subhūti, if, entertaining all false views, you find neither extremes nor middle; if, bound up in the eight adversities, you do not obtain favorable conditions; if, assimilating the passions, you do not attain purification; if the dispassion68 of all living beings is your dispassion, reverend; if those who make offerings to you are not thereby purified;69 if those who offer you food, reverend, still fall into the three bad migrations; if you associate with all māras; if you entertain all passions; if the nature of passions is the nature of a reverend; if you have hostile feelings toward all living beings; if you despise all the buddhas; if you criticize all the teachings of the Buddha; if you do not rely on the saṅgha; and finally, if you never enter ultimate liberation.’

3.­18

“Lord, when I heard these words of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, I wondered what I should say and what I should do, but I was totally in the dark. Leaving the bowl, I was about to leave the house when the Licchavi Vimalakīrti said to me, ‘Reverend Subhūti, do not fear these words, and pick up your bowl. What do you think, reverend Subhūti? If it were an incarnation70 created by the Tathāgata who spoke thus to you, would you be afraid?’

3.­19

“I answered, ‘No indeed, noble sir!’ He then said, ‘Reverend Subhūti, the nature of all things is like illusion, like a magical incarnation. So you should not fear them. Why? All words also have that nature, and thus the wise are not attached to words, [F.187.b] nor do they fear them. Why? All language does not ultimately exist, except as liberation. The nature of all things is liberation.’71

3.­20

“When Vimalakīrti had discoursed in this way, two hundred gods obtained the pure doctrinal vision in regard to all things, without obscurity or defilement, and five hundred gods obtained the conformative tolerance. As for me, I was speechless and unable to respond to him. Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to this good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­21

The Buddha then said to the venerable Pūrṇa­maitrāyaṇī­putra,72 “Pūrṇa, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Pūrṇa replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to this good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember one day, when I was teaching the Dharma to some young monks in the great forest, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and said to me, ‘Reverend Pūrṇa, first concentrate yourself, regard the minds of these young bhikṣus, and then teach them the Dharma! Do not put rotten food into a jeweled bowl! First understand the inclinations of these monks, and do not confuse priceless sapphires with glass beads!

3.­22

“ ‘Reverend Pūrṇa, without examining the spiritual faculties of living beings, do not presume upon the one-sidedness of their faculties; do not wound those who are without wounds; do not impose a narrow path upon those who aspire to a great path; do not try to pour the great ocean into the hoof-print of an ox; do not try to put Mount Sumeru into a grain of mustard; do not confuse the brilliance of the sun with the light of a glowworm; and do not expose those who admire the roar of a lion to the howl of a jackal!

3.­23

“ ‘Reverend Pūrṇa, all these monks were formerly engaged in the Mahāyāna but have forgotten the spirit of enlightenment. [F.188.a] So do not instruct them in the Disciple Vehicle. The Disciple Vehicle is not ultimately valid, and you disciples are like men blind from birth, in regard to recognition of the degrees of the spiritual faculties of living beings.’

3.­24

“At that moment, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti entered into such a concentration that those monks were caused to remember their various former lives, in which they had produced the roots of virtue by serving five hundred buddhas for the sake of perfect enlightenment. As soon as their own spirits of enlightenment had become clear to them, they bowed at the feet of that good man and pressed their palms together in reverence. He taught them the Dharma, and they all attained the stage of irreversibility73 from unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. It occurred to me then, ‘The disciples, who do not know the thoughts or the inclinations of others, are not able to teach the Dharma to anyone. Why? These disciples are not expert in discerning the superiority and inferiority of the spiritual faculties of living beings, and they are not always in a state of concentration like the Tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly accomplished Buddha.’ Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his health.”


3.­25

The Buddha then said to the venerable Mahākātyāyana,74 “Kātyāyana, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Kātyāyana replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember one day when, after the Lord had given some brief instruction to the monks, I was defining the expressions of that discourse by teaching the meaning of impermanence, suffering, selflessness, [F.188.b] and peace,75 the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and said to me, ‘Reverend Mahākātyāyana, do not teach an ultimate reality endowed with activity, production, and destruction! Reverend Mahākātyāyana, nothing was ever destroyed, is destroyed, or will ever be destroyed. Such is the meaning of “impermanence.” The meaning of the realization of birthlessness, through the realization of the voidness of the five aggregates, is the meaning of “suffering.”76 The fact of the nonduality of self and selflessness is the meaning of “selflessness.” That which has no intrinsic substance and no other sort of substance does not burn, and what does not burn is not extinguished;77 such lack of extinction is the meaning of “peace.” ’

3.­26

“When he had discoursed thus, the minds of the monks were liberated from their defilements and entered a state of nongrasping. Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­27

The Buddha then said to the venerable Aniruddha,78 “Aniruddha, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

“My Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? I remember, Lord, one day when I was taking a walk, the great Brahmā named Śubhavyūha and the ten thousand other Brahmās who accompanied him illuminated the place with their radiance and, having bowed their heads at my feet, withdrew to one side and asked me, ‘Reverend Aniruddha, you have been proclaimed by the Buddha to be the foremost among those who possess the divine eye. To what distance does the divine vision of the venerable Aniruddha extend?’ I answered, ‘Friends, I see the entire billion-world galactic universe of the Lord Śākyamuni [F.189.a] just as plainly as a man of ordinary vision sees a myrobalan nut on the palm of his hand.’ When I had said these words, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and, having bowed his head at my feet, said to me, ‘Reverend Aniruddha, is your divine eye compounded in nature? Or is it uncompounded in nature? If it is compounded in nature, it is the same as the superknowledges of the outsiders. If it is uncompounded in nature, then it is not constructed and, as such, is incapable of seeing.79 Then, how do you see, O elder?’

3.­28

“At these words, I became speechless, and Brahmā also was amazed to hear this teaching from that good man. Having bowed to him, he said, ‘Who then, in the world, possesses the divine eye?’

“Vimalakīrti answered, ‘In the world, it is the buddhas who have the divine eye. They see all the buddhafields without even leaving their state of concentration and without being affected by duality.’

3.­29

“Having heard these words, the ten thousand Brahmās were inspired with high resolve and conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Having paid homage and respect both to me and to that good man, they disappeared. As for me, I remained speechless, and therefore I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­30

The Buddha then said to the venerable Upāli,80 “Upāli, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Upāli replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember that one day there were two monks who had committed some infraction and were too ashamed to appear before the Lord, [F.189.b] so they came to me and said, ‘Reverend Upāli, we have both committed an infraction but are too ashamed to appear before the Buddha. Venerable Upāli, kindly remove our anxieties by absolving us of these infractions.’81

3.­31

“Lord, while I was giving those two monks some religious discourse, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and said to me, ‘Reverend Upāli, do not aggravate further the sins of these two monks. Without perplexing them, relieve their remorse. Reverend Upāli, sin is not to be apprehended within, or without, or between the two. Why? The Buddha has said, “Living beings are afflicted by the passions of thought, and they are purified by the purification of thought.”

3.­32

“ ‘Reverend Upāli, the mind is neither within nor without, nor is it to be apprehended between the two. Sin is just the same as the mind, and all things are just the same as sin. They do not escape this same reality.

3.­33

“ ‘Reverend Upāli, this nature of the mind, by virtue of which your mind, reverend, is liberated‍—does it ever become afflicted?’

“ ‘Never,’ I replied.

3.­34

“ ‘Reverend Upāli, the minds of all living beings have that very nature. Reverend Upāli, conceptualization is total affliction, and not conceptualizing and not discriminating is their true nature. Misapprehension is total affliction, and non-misapprehension is their true nature. The presumption of self is total affliction, and selflessness is their true nature. Reverend Upāli, all things are without production, destruction, and duration, like magical illusions, clouds, and lightning; all things [F.190.a] are evanescent, not remaining even for an instant; all things are like dreams, hallucinations, and unreal visions; all things are like the reflection of the moon in water and like a mirror-image; they are born of mental construction. Those who know this are called the true upholders of the discipline,82 and those disciplined in that way are indeed well disciplined.’ ”

3.­35

“Then the two monks said, ‘This householder is extremely well endowed with wisdom. The reverend Upāli, who was proclaimed by the Lord as the foremost of the upholders of the discipline, is not his equal.’

“I then said to the two monks, ‘Do not entertain the notion that he is a mere householder! Why? With the exception of the Tathāgata himself, there is no disciple or bodhisattva capable of competing with his eloquence or rivaling the brilliance of his wisdom.’

3.­36

“Thereupon, the two monks, delivered from their anxieties and inspired with a high resolve, conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Bowing down to that good man, they made the wish: ‘May all living beings attain eloquence such as this!’ Therefore, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­37

The Buddha then said to the venerable Rāhula,83 “Rāhula, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Rāhula replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember that one day many young Licchavi gentlemen came to the place where I was and said to me, ‘Reverend Rāhula, you are the son of the Lord, and, having renounced a kingdom of a universal monarch, you have left the world. [F.190.b] What are the virtues and benefits you saw in leaving the world?’

3.­38

“As I was teaching them properly the benefits and virtues of renouncing the world, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and, having greeted me, said, ‘Reverend Rāhula, you should not teach the benefits and virtues of renunciation in the way that you do. Why? Renunciation is itself the very absence of virtues and benefits. Reverend Rāhula, one may speak of benefits and virtues in regard to compounded things, but renunciation is uncompounded, and there can be no question of benefits and virtues in regard to the uncompounded. Reverend Rāhula, renunciation is not material but is free of matter. It is free of the extreme views of beginning and end.84 It is the path of liberation. It is praised by the wise, embraced by the noble ones, and causes the defeat of all māras. It liberates from the five states of existence, purifies the five eyes, cultivates the five powers, and supports the five spiritual faculties. Renunciation is totally harmless to others and is not adulterated with evil things. It disciplines the outsiders, transcending all denominations. It is the bridge over the swamp of desire, without grasping, and free of the habits of “I” and “mine.” It is without attachment and without disturbance, eliminating all commotion. It disciplines one’s own mind and protects the minds of others. It favors mental quiescence and stimulates transcendental analysis. It is irreproachable in all respects and so is called renunciation. Those who leave the mundane in this way are called “truly renunciant.” Young men, renounce the world in the light of this clear teaching! The appearance of the Buddha is extremely rare. Human life endowed with leisure and opportunity is very hard to obtain. To be a human being is very precious.’85

3.­39

“The young men complained, ‘But, householder, [F.191.a] we have heard the Tathāgata declare that one should not renounce the world without the permission of one’s parents.’

“Vimalakīrti answered, ‘Young men, you should cultivate yourselves intensively to conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. That in itself will be your renunciation and high ordination!’86

3.­40

“Thereupon, thirty-two87 of the Licchavi youths conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­41

The Buddha then said to the venerable Ānanda,88 “Ānanda, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Ānanda replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember one day when the body of the Lord manifested some indisposition and he required some milk; I took the bowl and went to the door of the mansion of a great brahmin family.89 The Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there, and, having saluted me, said, ‘Reverend Ānanda, what are you doing on the threshold of this house with your bowl in your hand so early in the morning?’

3.­42

“I replied, ‘The body of the Lord manifests some indisposition, and he needs some milk. Therefore, I have come to fetch some.’

“Vimalakīrti then said to me, ‘Reverend Ānanda, do not say such a thing! Reverend Ānanda, the body of the Tathāgata is tough as a diamond, having eliminated all the instinctual traces of evil and being endowed with all goodness. How could disease or discomfort affect such a body?

3.­43

“ ‘Reverend Ānanda, go in silence, and do not belittle the Lord. Do not say such things to others. It would not be good for the powerful gods or for the bodhisattvas coming from the various buddhafields to hear such words.

“ ‘Reverend Ānanda, a universal monarch, [F.191.b] who is endowed only with a small root of virtue, is free of diseases. How then could the Lord, who has an infinite root of virtue, have any disease? It is impossible.

3.­44

“ ‘Reverend Ānanda, do not bring shame upon us, but go in silence, lest the outsider sectarians90 should hear your words. They would say, “For shame! The teacher of these people cannot even cure his own sicknesses. How then can he cure the sicknesses of others?” Reverend Ānanda, go then discreetly so that no one observes you.

3.­45

“ ‘Reverend Ānanda, the tathāgatas have the body of the Dharma‍—not a body that is sustained by material food. The tathāgatas have a transcendental body that has transcended all mundane qualities. There is no injury to the body of a tathāgata, as it is rid of all defilements. The body of a tathāgata is uncompounded and free of all formative activity. Reverend Ānanda, to believe there can be illness in such a body is irrational and unseemly!’

3.­46

“When I had heard these words, I wondered if I had previously misheard and misunderstood the Buddha, and I was very much ashamed. Then I heard a voice from the sky: ‘Ānanda! The householder speaks to you truly. Nevertheless, since the Buddha has appeared during the time of the five corruptions, he disciplines living beings by acting lowly and humble. Therefore, Ānanda, do not be ashamed, and go and get the milk!’91

3.­47

“Lord, such was my conversation92 with the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, and therefore I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


In the same way, the rest of the five hundred disciples were reluctant to go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, and each told the Buddha his own adventure, recounting all his conversations with the Licchavi Vimalakīrti.93 [F.192.a]


3.­48

The Buddha then said to the bodhisattva Maitreya,94 “Maitreya, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Maitreya replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember that one day I was engaged in a conversation with the gods of the Tuṣita heaven, the god Saṃtuṣita and his retinue, about the stage of nonregression of the great bodhisattvas. At that time, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and addressed me as follows:

3.­49

“ ‘Maitreya, the Buddha has prophesied that only one more birth stands between you and unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. What kind of birth does this prophecy concern, Maitreya? Is it past? Is it future? Or is it present? If it is a past birth, it is already finished. If it is a future birth, it will never arrive. If it is a present birth, it does not abide. For the Buddha has declared, “Bhikṣus, in a single moment, you are born, you age, you die, you transmigrate, and you are reborn.”

“ ‘Then might the prophecy concern birthlessness? But birthlessness applies to the stage of destiny for the ultimate, in which there is neither prophecy nor attainment of perfect enlightenment.

3.­50

“ ‘Therefore, Maitreya, is your reality from birth? Or is it from cessation? Your reality as prophesied is not born and does not cease, nor will it be born nor will it cease.95 Furthermore, your reality is just the same as the reality of all living beings, the reality of all things, and the reality of all the holy ones. If your enlightenment can be prophesied in such a way, so can that of all living beings. Why? Because reality does not consist of duality [F.192.b] or of diversity. Maitreya, whenever you attain buddhahood, which is the perfection of enlightenment, at the same time all living beings will also attain buddhahood. Why? Enlightenment consists of the realizations of all living beings. Maitreya, at the moment when you attain ultimate liberation, all living beings will also attain ultimate liberation. Why? The tathāgatas do not enter ultimate liberation until all living beings have entered ultimate liberation. For, since all living beings are utterly liberated, the tathāgatas see them as having the nature of ultimate liberation.

3.­51

“ ‘Therefore, Maitreya, do not fool and delude these deities! No one abides in, or regresses from, enlightenment. Maitreya, you should introduce these deities to the repudiation of all discriminative constructions concerning enlightenment.96

3.­52

“ ‘Enlightenment is perfectly realized neither by the body nor by the mind. Enlightenment is the eradication of all marks. Enlightenment is free of presumptions concerning all objects. Enlightenment is free of the functioning of all intentional thoughts. Enlightenment is the annihilation of all convictions. Enlightenment is free from all discriminative constructions. Enlightenment is free from all vacillation, mentation, and agitation. Enlightenment is not involved in any commitments. Enlightenment is the arrival at detachment, through freedom from all habitual attitudes. The ground of enlightenment is the ultimate realm. Enlightenment is realization of reality. Enlightenment abides at the reality-limit. Enlightenment is without duality, since therein are no minds and no things. Enlightenment is equality, since it is equal to infinite space.

3.­53

“ ‘Enlightenment is unconstructed, because it is neither born nor destroyed, neither abides nor undergoes any transformation. Enlightenment is the complete knowledge of the thoughts, deeds, [F.193.a] and inclinations of all living beings. Enlightenment is not a door for the sense-media. Enlightenment is unadulterated, since it is free of the afflictions of the instinctually driven succession of lives. Enlightenment is neither somewhere nor nowhere, abiding in no location or dimension. Enlightenment, not being contained in anything, does not stand in reality. Enlightenment is merely a name and even that name is motionless. Enlightenment, free of abstention and undertaking, is energyless. There is no agitation in enlightenment, as it is utterly pure by nature. Enlightenment is radiance, pure in essence. Enlightenment is without subjectivity and completely without object. Enlightenment, which penetrates the equality of all things, is undifferentiated. Enlightenment, which is not shown by any example, is incomparable. Enlightenment is subtle, since it is extremely difficult to realize. Enlightenment is all-pervasive, as it has the nature of infinite space. Enlightenment cannot be realized, either physically or mentally. Why? The body is like grass, trees, walls, paths, and optical illusions. And the mind is immaterial, invisible, baseless, and unconscious.’97

3.­54

“Lord, when Vimalakīrti had discoursed thus, two hundred of the deities in that assembly attained the tolerance of the birthlessness of things. As for me, Lord, I was rendered speechless. Therefore, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­55

The Buddha then said to the young Licchavi Prabhāvyūha, “Prabhāvyūha, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Prabhāvyūha replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember one day, when I was going out of the great city of Vaiśālī, I met the Licchavi Vimalakīrti [F.193.b] coming in. He greeted me, and I then addressed him: ‘Householder, where do you come from?’ He replied, ‘I come from the seat of enlightenment.’ I then inquired, ‘What is meant by “seat of enlightenment”?’ He then spoke the following words to me: ‘Noble son, the seat of enlightenment is the seat of positive thought because it is without artificiality. It is the seat of effort, because it releases energetic activities. It is the seat of high resolve, because its insight is superior. It is the seat of the great spirit of enlightenment, because it does not neglect anything.

3.­56

“ ‘It is the seat of generosity, because it has no expectation of reward. It is the seat of morality, because it fulfills all commitments. It is the seat of tolerance, because it is free of anger toward any living being. It is the seat of effort, because it does not turn back. It is the seat of meditation, because it generates fitness of mind. It is the seat of wisdom, because it sees everything directly.

3.­57

“ ‘It is the seat of love, because it is equal to all living beings. It is the seat of compassion, because it tolerates all injuries. It is the seat of joy, because it is joyfully devoted to the bliss of the Dharma. It is the seat of equanimity, because it abandons affection and aversion.

3.­58

“ ‘It is the seat of paranormal perception, because it has the six superknowledges. It is the seat of liberation, because it does not intellectualize. It is the seat of liberative art, because it develops living beings. It is the seat of the means of unification, because it brings together living beings. It is the seat of learning, because it makes practice of the essence. It is the seat of decisiveness, because of its precise discrimination. It is the seat of the aids to enlightenment, because it eliminates the duality of the compounded and the uncompounded. It is the seat of truth, because it does not deceive anyone.

3.­59

“ ‘It is the seat of interdependent origination, because it proceeds from the exhaustion of ignorance to the exhaustion of old age and death.98 [F.194.a] It is the seat of eradication of all afflictions, because it is perfectly enlightened about the nature of reality. It is the seat of all living beings, because all living beings are without intrinsic identity. It is the seat of all things, because it is perfectly enlightened with regard to voidness.

3.­60

“ ‘It is the seat of the conquest of all devils, because it never flinches. It is the seat of the triple world, because it is free of involvement. It is the seat of the heroism that sounds the lion’s roar, because it is free of fear and trembling. It is the seat of the strengths, the fearlessnesses, and all the special qualities of the Buddha, because it is irreproachable in all respects. It is the seat of the three knowledges, because in it no passions remain. It is the seat of instantaneous, total understanding of all things, because it realizes fully the gnosis of omniscience.

3.­61

“ ‘Noble son, when bodhisattvas are thus endowed with the transcendences, the roots of virtue, the ability to develop living beings, and the incorporation of the holy Dharma,99 whether they lift up their feet or put them down, they all come from the seat of enlightenment. They come from the qualities of the Buddha, and stand on the qualities of the Buddha.’

3.­62

“Lord, when Vimalakīrti had explained this teaching, five hundred gods and men conceived the spirit of enlightenment, and I became speechless. Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­63

The Buddha then said to the bodhisattva Jagatindhara, “Jagatindhara, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Jagatindhara replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember that one day, when I was at home, [F.194.b] the wicked Māra, disguised as Śakra and surrounded with twelve thousand heavenly maidens, approached me with the sounds of music and singing. Having saluted me by touching my feet with his head, he withdrew with his retinue to one side. I then, thinking he was Śakra, the king of the gods, said to him, ‘Welcome, O Kauśika! You should remain consciously aware in the midst of the pleasures of desire. You should often think on impermanence and strive to utilize the essential in body, life, and wealth.’

3.­64

“Māra then said to me, ‘Good sir, accept from me these twelve thousand divine maidens and make them your servants.’

“I replied, ‘O Kauśika, do not offer me, who am religious and a son of the Śākya,100 things which are not appropriate. It is not proper for me to have these maidens.’

3.­65

“No sooner had I said these words than the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and said to me, ‘‌Noble son, do not think that this is Śakra! This is not Śakra but the evil Māra, who has come to ridicule you.’

3.­66

“Then the Licchavi Vimalakīrti said to Māra, ‘Evil Māra, since these heavenly maidens are not suitable for this religious devotee, a son of the Śākya, give them to me.’

“Then Māra was terrified and distressed, thinking that the Licchavi Vimalakīrti had come to expose him. He tried to make himself invisible, but, try as he might with all his magical powers, he could not vanish from sight. Then a voice resounded in the sky, saying, ‘Evil One, give these heavenly maidens to the good man Vimalakīrti, and only then will you be able to return to your own abode.’

3.­67

“Then Māra was even more frightened and, much against his will, gave the heavenly maidens.

“The Licchavi Vimalakīrti, having received the goddesses, [F.195.a] said to them, ‘Now that you have been given to me by Māra, you should all conceive the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.’101

3.­68

“He then exhorted them with discourse suitable for their development toward enlightenment, and soon they conceived the spirit of enlightenment. He then said to them, ‘You have just conceived the spirit of enlightenment. From now on, you should devote yourselves to finding joy in the pleasures of the Dharma, and should take no pleasure in desires.’

3.­69

“They then asked him, ‘What is “joy in the pleasures of the Dharma”?’

“He declared, ‘It is the joy of unbreakable faith in the Buddha, of wishing to hear the Dharma, of serving the Saṅgha and honoring the spiritual benefactors without pride. It is the joy of renunciation of the whole world, of not being fixed in objects, of considering the five aggregates to be like murderers, of considering the elements to be like venomous serpents, and of considering the sense-media to be like an empty town.102 It is the joy of always guarding the spirit of enlightenment, of helping living beings, of sharing through generosity, of not slackening in morality, of control and tolerance in patience, of thorough cultivation of virtue by effort, of total absorption in meditation, and of absence of afflictions in wisdom. It is the joy of extending enlightenment, of conquering the māras, of destroying the afflictions, and of purifying the buddhafield. It is the joy of accumulating all virtues, in order to cultivate the auspicious marks and signs. It is the joy of the liberation of non-intimidation103 when hearing the profound teaching. It is the joy of exploration of the three doors of liberation, [F.195.b] and of the realization of liberation. It is the joy of being an ornament of the seat of enlightenment, and of not attaining liberation at the wrong time. It is the joy of serving those of equal fortune, of not hating or resenting those of superior fortune, of serving the spiritual benefactors, and of avoiding sinful friends. It is the joy of the superior gladness of faith and devotion to the Dharma. It is the joy of acquiring liberative arts and of the conscious cultivation of the aids to enlightenment. Thus, the bodhisattva admires and finds joy in the delights of the Dharma.’

3.­70

“Thereupon, Māra said to the goddesses, ‘Now come along and let us return home.’

“They said, ‘You gave us to this householder. Now we should enjoy the delights of the Dharma and should no longer enjoy the pleasures of desires.’

3.­71

“Then Māra said to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, ‘If it is so that the bodhisattva, the spiritual hero, has no mental attachment, and gives away all his possessions, then, householder, please give me these goddesses.’

“Vimalakīrti replied, ‘They are given, Māra. Go home with your retinue. May you fulfill the religious aspirations of all living beings!’

3.­72

“Then the goddesses, saluting Vimalakīrti, said to him, ‘Householder, how should we live in the abode of the māras?’

“Vimalakīrti replied, ‘Sisters, there is a door of the Dharma called “The Inexhaustible Lamp.” Practice it! What is it? Sisters, a single lamp may light hundreds of thousands of lamps without itself being diminished. Likewise, sisters, a single bodhisattva [F.196.a] may establish many hundreds of thousands of living beings in enlightenment without his mindfulness being diminished. In fact, not only does it not diminish, it grows stronger. Likewise, the more you teach and demonstrate virtuous qualities to others, the more you grow with respect to these virtuous qualities. This is the door of the Dharma called “The Inexhaustible Lamp.” When you are living in the realm of Māra, inspire innumerable gods and goddesses with the spirit of enlightenment. In such a way, you will repay the kindness104 of the Tathāgata, and you will become the benefactors of all living beings.’

3.­73

“Then, those goddesses bowed at the feet of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti and departed in the company of Māra. Thus, Lord, I saw the supremacy of the magical power, wisdom, and eloquence of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, and therefore I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


3.­74

The Buddha then said to the merchant’s son, Sudatta,105 “‌Noble son, go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Sudatta replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember one day in my father’s house when, in order to celebrate a great sacrifice,106 I was bestowing gifts upon religious devotees, brahmins, the poor, the wretched, the unfortunate, beggars, and all the needy. On the seventh and final day of this great sacrifice, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti came there and said, ‘Merchant’s son, you should not celebrate a sacrifice in this way. You should celebrate a Dharma-sacrifice. What is the use of the sacrifice of material things?’

3.­75

“I then asked him, ‘How does one give a Dharma-sacrifice?’ [F.196.b]

“He replied, ‘A Dharma-sacrifice is that which develops living beings without beginning or end, giving gifts to them all simultaneously.107 What is that? It consists of the great love which is consummated in enlightenment; of the great compassion consummated in the concentration of the holy Dharma on the liberation of all living beings;108 of the great joy consummated in the awareness of the supreme happiness of all living beings;109 and of the great equanimity consummated in concentration through knowledge.

3.­76

“ ‘The Dharma-sacrifice consists of the transcendence of generosity, which is consummated in peacefulness and self-discipline; of the transcendence of morality, which is consummated in the moral development of immoral beings; of the transcendence of tolerance, consummated through the principle of selflessness; of the transcendence of effort, consummated in initiative toward enlightenment; of the transcendence of meditation, consummated in the solitude of body and mind; and of the transcendence of wisdom, consummated in the omniscient gnosis.

3.­77

“ ‘The Dharma-sacrifice consists of the meditation of voidness, consummated in effectiveness in the development of all living beings; of the meditation of signlessness, consummated in the purification of all compounded things; and of the meditation of wishlessness, consummated in voluntarily assuming rebirths.

3.­78

“ ‘The Dharma-sacrifice consists of heroic strength, consummated in the upholding of the holy Dharma; of the power of life, consummated in the means of unification; of the absence of pride, consummated in becoming the slave and the disciple of all living beings; of the gain of body, health, and wealth, consummated by the extraction of essence from the essenceless;110 of mindfulness, consummated by the six remembrances; of positive thought, consummated through the truly enjoyable Dharma; [F.197.a] of purity of livelihood, consummated by correct spiritual practice; of the respect of noble ones, consummated by joyful and faithful service; of soberness of mind, consummated by absence of dislike for ordinary people; of high resolve, consummated by renunciation; of skill in erudition, consummated by religious practice; of retirement in solitary retreats, consummated by understanding things free of afflictions; of introspective meditation, consummated by attainment of the buddha-gnosis; of the stage of the practice of yoga, consummated by the yoga of liberating all living beings from their afflictions.111

3.­79

“ ‘The Dharma-sacrifice consists of the store of merit which is consummated by the auspicious signs and marks, the ornaments of the buddhafields, and all other means of development of living beings; of the store of knowledge which is consummated in the ability to teach the Dharma according to the thoughts and actions of all living beings; of the store of wisdom, which is consummated in the uniform gnosis free of acceptance and rejection in regard to all things; of the store of all roots of virtue, consummated in the abandonment of all afflictions, obscurations, and unvirtuous things; and of the attainment of all the aids to enlightenment, consummated in the realization of the gnosis of omniscience as well as in accomplishment of all virtue.

3.­80

“ ‘That, noble son, is the Dharma-sacrifice. The bodhisattva who lives by this Dharma-sacrifice is the best of sacrificers, and, through his extreme sacrifice, is himself worthy of offerings from all people, including the gods.’

3.­81

“Lord, as soon as the householder had discoursed thus, two hundred brahmins among the crowd of brahmins present conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. [F.197.b] And I, full of astonishment, having saluted this good man by touching his feet with my head, took from around my neck a necklace of pearls worth one hundred thousand pieces of gold and offered it to him.112 But he would not accept it. I then said to him, ‘Please accept, good man, this necklace of pearls, out of compassion for me, and give it to whomsoever you wish.’

3.­82

“Then, Vimalakīrti took the pearls and divided them into two halves. He gave one half of them to the lowliest poor of the city, who had been disdained by those present at the sacrifice. The other half he offered to the Tathāgata Duṣprasaha. And he performed a miracle such that all present beheld the universe called Marīci and the Tathāgata Duṣprasaha. On the head of the Tathāgata Duṣprasaha, the pearl necklace took the form of a pavilion, decorated with strings of pearls, resting on four bases, with four columns, symmetrical, well constructed, and lovely to behold. Having shown such a miracle, Vimalakīrti said, ‘The giver who makes gifts to the lowliest poor of the city, considering them as worthy of offering as the Tathāgata himself, and the giver who gives without any discrimination, impartially, with no expectation of reward, and with great love‍—that giver, I say, totally fulfills the Dharma-sacrifice.’

3.­83

“Then the poor of the city, having seen that miracle and having heard that teaching, conceived the spirit of unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, Lord, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”


In the same way, all the bodhisattvas, the great spiritual heroes, told the stories of their conversations with Vimalakīrti and declared their reluctance to go to him.


4.
Chapter 4

The Consolation of the Invalid

4.­1

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.”


5.
Chapter 5

The Inconceivable Liberation

5.­1

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?”

5.­2

Śāriputra replied, “I came for the sake of the Dharma, not for the sake of a chair.”


6.
Chapter 6

The Goddess

6.­1

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]


7.
Chapter 7

The Family of the Tathāgatas

7.­1

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.”

7.­2

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.


8.
Chapter 8

The Dharma-Door of Nonduality

8.­1

Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti asked those bodhisattvas, “Good sirs, please explain how the bodhisattvas enter the Dharma-door of nonduality!”177

8.­2

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.”


9.
Chapter 9

The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation

9.­1

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.”


10.
Chapter 10

Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible

10.­1

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.”


11.
Chapter 11

Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya

11.­1

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.


12.
Chapter 12

Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma

12.­1

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.”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

It has 1,800 ślokas in six fascicles, and was translated, edited, and established by Bandé Chönyi Tsultrim.


ab.

Abbreviations

Ch. Chinese
K Kumārajīva’s Ch. translation
X Xuanzang’s Ch. translation

n.

Notes

n.­1
Skt. acintyavimokṣa. See Chapter 12.
n.­2
See Lamotte (Appendice, Note III, pp 407-413).
n.­3
See Lamotte’s discussion of this concept (Lamotte, Introduction, pp 33-37), even though he emphasizes the rhetorical meaning more than the behavioral meaning.
n.­4
The Guhya­samāja­tantra (see bibliography) is generally recognized as one of the earliest systematic tantric texts. It expounds a philosophically pure Middle Way nondualism, combined with an explicit teaching of the reconciliation of dichotomies (i.e., how even evil can be transmuted to enlightenment, etc.) and an elaborate meditational methodology, employing sacred formulae (mantra), rituals, and visualizations. The meditation of jewels, buddhas, sacred universes (maṇḍala), etc., as existing in full detail inside a mustard seed on the tip of the yogin’s nose is a characteristic exercise in the Guhyasamāja, as in Chap. 3.
n.­5
See 2.­3. It is especially appropriate, in the light of the early tantric tradition, for Vimalakīrti, as a layman, to be an adept.
n.­6
See 7.­1-7.­15, where Vimalakīrti states that the “wrong way” leads to buddhahood, Mañjuśrī that all passions constitute the “tathāgata-family” (itself an important tantric concept), and Mahākaśyapa that only those guilty of the five deadly sins can conceive the spirit‌ of enlightenment‌. The Guhyasamāja (V.4) states: “Even those who have committed great sins, such as the five deadly sins, will succeed on the buddha-vehicle, there in the great ocean of the Mahāyāna” (ānantarya­prabhṛtayaḥ mahā­pāpakṛto ’pi ca | siddhyante buddhāydne ’smin mahā­yāna­mahodadhau ||). It then goes on to list in Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa fashion all sorts of terrible crimes of lust and hatred, ending with the phrase that such “a mentally nondualistic, intelligent person’s buddhahood is attained” (siddhyate tasya buddhatvaṃ nirvi­kalpasya dhīmataḥ ||).
n.­7
See 7.­17. In the tantric male-female symbolism of the Guhyasamāja and other tantras, the female consort is called the “Wisdom” (prajña) and the male the “Liberative Technique” (upāya), and the bell (ghaṅṭa) and diamond-scepter (vajra) also symbolize female and male, respectively.
n.­8
See 5.­17. This type of yogic power is classified as a lesser attainment (siddhi), the superior attainment being buddhahood, in all tantric methodologies.
n.­14
This list of qualities of the noble disciples (āryāśravāka) is absent in the Chinese of K and X. It is, however, frequently found in Mahāyāna sūtras (see Lamotte, p 98, n 2).
n.­55
Skt. utsāhate. This has been translated most frequently in its meaning of “fitness, capacity,” as each of the monks and bodhisattvas asked by the Buddha to visit Vimalakīrti replies with the same phrase: “I am not fit…” or “I am not able…” However, from the Tibetan use of the word spro ba, which means to be enthusiastic, inspired, gladdened, I chose to interpret this in its meaning of enthusiasm, which in the negative gives “I am not enthusiastic…” or “I am reluctant….” That is, none of those asked by the Buddha are actually pretending to be unable to visit Vimalakīrti; they only plead their unwillingness, timidity, etc., in order to be excused by the Buddha from carrying out his command.
n.­56
Vimalakīrti confounds Śāriputra by demanding of him the ability to reconcile dichotomies in actual practice, i.e., by rejecting Śāriputra’s Disciple Vehicle position and expecting him to follow the way of the bodhisattva. Śāriputra reacts in the same way as the other monks and bodhisattvas in this chapter: he is overwhelmed and speechless, yet intuitively recognizes the rightness of Vimalakīrti’s statements. He can neither accept them and put them into practice nor reject them outright (see Lamotte, p 142, n 3).
n.­57
Maudgalyāyana was known as the “foremost of those endowed with miraculous powers” (ṛddhimatāṃ agrya) and was paired with Śāriputra as one of the two leading disciples of the Buddha. Vimalakīrti chastises him basically for failing to use his “wisdom eye,” his superknowledge of what is in others’ minds (para­citta­jñāna), to determine that his listeners were willing and able to learn and understand the Mahāyāna teaching of the profound nature of reality, and for teaching them instead the Disciple Vehicle teaching, with its one-sided emphasis on world-rejection, etc.
n.­58
Tib. rlabs thams cad dang bral ba; Skt. sarvormivigata, lit. “free of all waves” (of thought).
n.­59
Skt. dharmadhātu. This is not the dharma­dhātu (phenomenal element) included among the eighteen elements (see glossary). It is one of the five synonyms of voidness included in Maitreya’s Madhyānta­vibhāga, I, 15‍—tathatā bhūtakoṭiśca ’nimittaṃ paramārthatā | dharma­dhātuśca paryāyāḥ śūnyatāyāḥ samāsataḥ ||‍—where it is analyzed in a rather unusual way as “the element of Dharma, from which arise the noble qualities of the arhats….” However, Tib. dbyings definitely indicates interpretation of dhātu as space, realm, etc., rather than element; so, with the proviso that it is a synonym of voidness, it is here translated “ultimate realm” (i.e., no relative realm at all). See glossary, “ultimate realm.”
n.­60
This passage follows X quite closely, but K is somewhat different in details (see Luk, pp 21-22, or McRae, p 86).
n.­61
This refers to those teachings (of śūnyatā, etc.) the Buddha reserves for disciples of greatest ability, definitive teachings (nītārtha­vacana) as opposed to teaching meant to develop disciples (to the point when they can understand the definitive teachings), which are known as interpretable teachings (neyārtha­vacana). See glossary, “definitive meaning.”
n.­62
Mahākāśyapa was known as “the foremost among the upholders of the ascetic practices” (dhūta­guṇa­vādinām agraḥ) and was the Buddha’s successor as leader of the saṅgha after the parinirvāṇa. Here he is engaged in one of the twelve ascetic practices (see glossary), that of living on food begged as alms (paiṇḍapātika). Thus, in the very execution of his specialty he is scolded by Vimalakīrti, who points out to him that such practices are intrinsically worthless and are useful only if combined with the true equanimity reached through the wisdom that realizes voidness.
n.­63
Kāśyapa is favoring the poor here by depriving the rich of the chance to give food to him and thus benefit themselves.
n.­64
Skt. yo ’svabhāvo ’para­bhāvaś ca tad anujjvalitam | yad anujjvalitaṃ tan na śāmyati. His seemingly irrelevant statement, which occurs again in Vimala­kīrti’s speech to Kātyāyana (3.­25), is, in fact, highly relevant to the main Disciple Vehicle concern: the burning of the misery of the world, in which, they believe, man’s condition is like that of one whose head is ablaze. Hence their major preoccupation is to extinguish that fire, just as a burning man will seek water with a frantic intensity to save himself. Thus Vimala­kīrti is telling Mahā­kāśyapa and Kātyāyana that since they do not have intrinsic existence as self, or imparted existence as other in relationship to anything else, they do not really exist and, therefore, they cannot burn with the misery of the world and there is nothing to extinguish in liberation (nirvāṇa literally meaning “extinguishment”).
n.­65
Among Subhūti’s other strong points, he was known as the “foremost among those worthy of offerings,” (dakṣiṇeyānāṃ agraḥ, see Lamotte, p 154, n 27). Thus Vimalakīrti challenges him precisely about his worthiness, defining it by testing Subhūti’s equanimity in the face of all the most unworthy things he can think of and causing Subhūti to feel frightened and confused by his own adherence to dualities such as good and evil.
n.­66
By “fruition,” Vimalakīrti means any of the culminating stages of realization attained by those who practice the teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, the twofold selflessness, etc.
n.­67
Tib.: chos thams cad dang yang ldan la chos thams cad kyi ’du shes dang yang bral. The Skt. of the Potala MS reads na sarva­dharma­samanvāgataś ca sarva­dharma­samadhigataś ca, but to accord with the Tib., which seems clearer and was presumably translated from a different MS, this would have to be emended to read sarva­dharma­samanvāgataś ca na sarva­dharma­saṃjñāvigataś ca.
n.­68
Tib. nyon mongs pa med pa (lit. “absence of passions,” or afflictions). However, the Skt. here is araṇa, and K and X use “nondisputation,” which is actually equivalent to dispassion, since the “struggle,” or “disputation,” referred to is internal, the turbulence of inner struggle of one prey to passions. This is perhaps more appropriate here, since Subhūti was renowned for his attainment of this state (see Lamotte, p 154, n 27; araṇa­vihārīnām agro, etc.)
n.­69
K and X: “if those who make offerings to you do not find in you a field of merit.”
n.­70
According to the Mahāyāna understanding of the miraculous nature of the three bodies of the Buddha, especially the “incarnation-body” (nirmāṇakāya), Vimalakīrti himself is an extremely likely candidate to be one of its operatives. Thus, one steeped in the Mahāyāna faith would see him here as being subtly playful with Subhūti.
n.­71
Tib. yi ge de dag thams cad ni yi ge med pa ste/ rnam par grol ba ni ma gtogs so/ chos thams cad ni rnam par grol ba’i mtshan nyid do. K and X differ slightly, but essentially have the same meaning: “Language does not have an independent nature. When it is no more, there is liberation.” In other words, no independent nature = ultimately nonexistent; it is no more = when the ultimate is realized; then liberation = when even words are realized to be liberation, there is no more duality, and there is realization. Ch. stresses the experiential moment of pure gnosis of voidness. Tib. expresses this gnosis along with its nondual, postattainment wisdom (pṛṣṭhalabdha­jñāna). It is Vimalakīrti’s last word on nonduality to instruct Subhūti.
n.­72
Pūrṇa, “son of Maitrāyaṇī,” was known as “the foremost of expounders of the Dharma” (dharma­kathikānām agraḥ; see Lamotte, p 160, n 42). According to the Pāli sources (as cited by Lamotte), this very incident, or one similar to it, resulted in five hundred young monks’ attainment of the state of arhat. In any case, it can be assumed that Pūrṇa was often entrusted with the instruction of young monks, and it was just such an occasion on which Vimalakīrti apprehended him. His reproaches are along the same line as those given to Maudgalyāyana, only more explicit, i.e., that the great disciples should not teach the Dharma because they cannot recognize the affinity for the Mahāyāna in their pupils.
n.­73
This means they attained the eighth bodhisattva stage, called “The Immovable,” where the bodhisattva becomes irreversible (avaivartika) and previous to which he is liable to regression, even to forgetting the spirit of enlightenment already conceived in former lifetimes, as in the case of these monks.
n.­74
Kātyāyana was renowned as the founder of the Abhidharma tradition of analysis of the meaning of the Buddha’s discourses. He was pronounced by the Buddha, according to the Pāli sources, to be the “foremost expounder of the detailed meaning of the concise declarations (of the Buddha)” (aggo saṅkhittena bhāsitassa vitthārena attham vibhajantānam). True to form, Vimalakīrti finds him when he is engaged in the execution of his special expertise (see Lamotte, p 162, n 49 and glossary).
n.­75
These four are called the “four insignia of the Dharma” or “four epitomes” (see glossary).
n.­76
K and X insert: “That all things do not exist ultimately is the meaning of voidness.”
n.­77
See n.­64.
n.­78
Aniruddha was said to be “foremost among possessors of the divine eye” (agro divya­cakṣukānām; see Lamotte, p 167, n 56, and glossary).
n.­79
This dilemma was more embarrassing to Aniruddha than confounding, since logically he could have answered that of course his divine eye was compounded, just like that of outsider adepts. Vimalakīrti touched his pride in this critique; hence the dilemma he poses here bears only superficial resemblance to the Mādhyamika dialectic.
n.­80
Upāli was especially well known as expert in Vinaya, the code of monastic discipline, and was its chief compiler after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa (vināya­dharāṇām agraḥ).
n.­81
Tib. the tsom sol te bdag cag gnyis ltung ba las phyung shig (lit. “remove our doubts and take us both out from the infraction”). The “absolution” consists in the senior monk’s listening to their confession and encouraging their resolution not to repeat the infraction. Thus he grants no dispensations in regard to the retributive effects and only gives them the opportunity to come to a new understanding and decision in their own minds. This is traditional in Buddhist discipline.
n.­82
Skt. vināyadhara. As usual, Vimalakīrti makes his point on the disciple’s home ground: Upāli was known as vināya­dharāṇāṃ agraḥ, “foremost upholder of the discipline,” as the two monks mention in the next paragraph.
n.­83
Rāhula was the actual son of the Buddha and was admired in the saṅgha as a renunciant and devotee because he forsook the throne to join the saṅgha under his father. The Pāli sources show him dubbed “foremost among those eager for training” (Skt. śikṣākāmānam agro; see Lamotte, p 177, n 70).
n.­84
Tib. thog ma’i dang tha’ ma’i mthar lta ba dang bral ba’o. K and X have instead: “Renunciation is beyond this, that, and in between, being above the sixty-two false views.” The Skt. does not appear to include this sentence.
n.­85
Some verses of Tsong Khapa summarize the Mahāyāna “mind of renunciation” very aptly: “Reverse the interest in this life by thinking over again and again that leisure and opportunity (to practice the Dharma) are hard to find and that there is no (fixed) duration of life. Reverse interest in the life hereafter by constantly meditating upon the inexorability of karma and the sufferings of the world. Through such concentration, when there is not the slightest ambition, even for a split second, for even the greatest successes in the world, the mind of renunciation has arisen.” See G. Wangyal, Door of Liberation (New York, Girodias, 1973), Chap. V.
n.­86
Even after his explanation, the young men still confuse renunciation, a mental concentration, with the mundane act of entering the monkhood. So Vimalakīrti has to remind them that the conception of the spirit‌ of enlightenment‌ is the true renunciation, not just a mere change of clothes and habits.
n.­87
Tib. and Skt. have thirty-two hundred, but K and X have thirty-two, which seems more reasonable.
n.­88
Ānanda was renowned for many things: learning, mindfulness, steadfastness, etc., and was the second leader of the saṅgha , after Mahākāśyapa. Vimalakīrti finds fault with him when he is being “foremost of attendants” (aggo upaṭṭhākānām), caring for the Buddha’s apparent needs as he did faithfully for twenty-five years.
n.­89
See Lamotte, p 183, n 77, for learned references to this incident in other sources, notably Vatsasūtra.
n.­90
Tib. gzhan mu stegs can spyod pa pa dang kun tu rgyu dang gcer bu pa dang tsho ba pa dag; Skt. anyatīrthika caraka parivrajaka nigranthājīvāḥ. I have simply rendered this “outsider sectarians” so as not to burden the reader with irrelevant names, as this expression is a cliché for all the outsider groups occurring in other Mahāyāna sūtras (see Lamotte, p 186, n 81).
n.­91
Voices from sky-gods are common in Mahāyāna sūtras.
n.­92
See Lamotte, p 186, n 82, for another version of this episode translated by Kumārajīva in Prajñā­pāramitopadeśa.
n.­93
K and X start a new chapter at this point, while Tib. and Skt. include the disciples’ and bodhisattvas’ responses to the Buddha’s request in a single chapter.
n.­94
The characterization of Maitreya in Mahāyāna sūtras is that of having a certain naiveté. Mañjusrī often chides him, and Vimalakīrti does not let him rest on his laurels.
n.­95
K and X give a different reading: “How then, Maitreya, did you receive the prophecy of your attainment of buddhahood after only one more birth? Did you receive it as the reality of birth or as the reality of death? In the former case, this reality is uncreated, and in the latter case, it does not die.” As always, Ch. is less abstract than Tib., but both agree on the general tenor of Vimalakīrti’s refutation of Maitreya’s acceptance of the prophecy as being valid on the ultimate level of reality (paramārtha­satyatā). On the question of the validity of prophecies on the superficial and ultimate levels, see Lamotte, p 189, n 89.
n.­96
The thrust of Vimalakīrti’s instruction here is that “being enlightened” and “being unenlightened” are valid designations only on the superficial, designative, relative level of truth. “Discriminative construction” is that mental process that seeks to “absolutize” a relative thing, taking “ignorance” and “enlightenment” as ultimately real things. Thus in all the subsequent negational descriptions of enlightenment, the phrase “on the ultimate level” may be understood to avert a nihilistic interpretation. See Introduction, i.­1 ff.
n.­97
Tib. rnam par rig pa med pa; Skt. avijñapti (lit. “without means of cognition”). Again, it may be stressed that all these statements imply the qualification “ultimately” (paramārthena).
n.­98
K and X: “It is the seat of interdependent origination, because it is like infinite space.” Ch. thus takes pratītya­samutpāda (see glossary “dependent origination” and “relativity”) as equivalent to śūnyatā, which is correct as regards its ultimate nature. Vimalakīrti refers to the “cessation-order” of the twelve links of origination: that is, stopping ignorance stops synthetic activity; stopping synthetic activity stops consciousness; stopping consciousness stops name-and-form; stopping name-and-form stops the six sense-media; stopping the sense-media stops contact; stopping contact stops sensation; stopping sensation stops craving; stopping craving stops grasping; stopping grasping stops existence; stopping existence stops birth; and stopping birth stops old age and death. This is the sequence of realization of the twelvefold chain during the attainment of enlightenment on the seat of enlightenment‌.
n.­99
Tib. dam pa’i chos yongs su ’dzin pa; Skt. saddharma­saṃgraha. Here taken as “incorporation” in the sense of the bodhisattva’s incorporation of the holy Dharma in all phases of his daily life.
n.­100
Tib. sha kya’i sras; Skt. Śākya­putrīya. This implies that Jagatindhara, although a layman, has religious vows of celibacy in the bodhisattva order of Śākyamuni.
n.­101
Here Vimalakīrti is shown as an emanation of the Buddha, who encountered these same goddesses as temptresses during his night under the bodhi tree, where he subdued them. Here, Vimalakīrti not only subdues them but goes a step further and causes them to conceive the spirit of enlightenment.
n.­102
See n.­50. The aggregates murder the spirit of enlightenment‌ when falsely considered as “I” and “mine” through egoistic views. The elements, when egoistically misapprehended as constituting an experiencing subject, its objects, and its perceptions, poison the health of liberation. And the sense-media are like an empty town, as there is no person living within them.
n.­103
It is commonly observed by the Buddha and all the great Buddhist philosophers, such as Nāgārjuna, that many feel frightened when taught the profound teaching of voidness because of misapprehensions about that most healing of concepts.
n.­104
Tib. drin gzo ba, or byas pa gzo ba; Skt. kṛtajñaḥ. This is one of the important themes of the meditation of the spirit of enlightenment‌, of love and compassion. The kind deeds of the Tathāgata consist in his appearance in the world in order to save living beings, as a kind mother will even sacrifice her life for her beloved child. This kindness is repaid by generating the same compassion for all other living beings and conceiving the spirit‌ of enlightenment‌.
n.­105
Sudatta (legs par byin) is more commonly called Anātha­piṇḍada (mgon med zas sbyin); he was a great philanthropist of Śrāvastī, known as “the foremost of donors” (Pāli aggo dāyakānaṃ). For numerous references see Lamotte, p 211, n 135.
n.­106
Skt. mahāyajña. The great sacrifice was an ancient Indian custom which, in Vedic times, was the central ritual of the Brahmanic religion. It usually consisted of sacrifices to the gods of various material things. By the Buddha’s time, it was not uncommon for such an occasion to become rather a formalized period of donation to priests, ascetics, and beggars. However, the Buddha commonly declared that sacrifice and the giving of material things was infinitely less meritorious than sacrifice of egoism and the giving of the Dharma. This is the tenor of Vimalakīrti’s critique.
n.­107
Last phrase incorporated from K and X.
n.­108
Last phrase incorporated from K and X.
n.­109
This accords with the “Joy Immeasurable, which realizes the ultimate liberation of all beings from the beginningless,” the standard description of the third of the “four immeasurables.” See glossary.
n.­110
X follows Tib., but K has “of realizing firmness of body, life, and wealth, consummated in the three indestructibles.” The three indestructibles are infinite body, endless life, and boundless wealth (see Luk, p 46, n 3), but this concept is apparently not found in Skt. or in Tib. Nevertheless, Tib. has the same meaning because the “body, health, and wealth” here referred to are not mundane in nature, but refer to the true body, etc., of the Buddha. See 2.­10.
n.­111
In a later work, this would be taken as an obvious reference to tantric yoga, but here, this yoga might also be interpreted as a reference to the highest yoga of the bodhisattva, the yoga of the inconceivable liberation. See Chapter 5.
n.­112
Sudatta here misses the point, apparently, and, instead of awakening to the transvaluation of the notion of sacrifice, he again resorts to a material sacrifice. Thus, Vimalakīrti has to go beyond his previous statements and stage the following miracle to make his point.
n.­177
“Nonduality” (advayatva) = “Middle Path” (madhyama­pratipat) = freedom from extremes of being and nothingness (antadvaya­vivarjita). For numerous references, see Lamotte, pp 301-302, n 1.
n.­185
Those of the bodhisattvas who are monks, or who maintain ascetic practices, are allowed to eat only before noon; otherwise they must wait until dawn of the next day.
n.­202
Tib. gzugs kyi de bzhin nyid kyi rang bzhin, Skt. rūpa­tathatā­svabhāva, i.e., voidness, as “essence which is reality” is a euphemism for “essencelessness” (niḥsvabhāvatā). Thus the Tathāgata is the voidness of matter, i.e., matter in the ultimate sense, not mere relative matter‍—and so on for the remaining four aggregates. For interesting references on the ultimate nonexistence of the Tathāgata, see Lamotte, p 355, n 1. The reference given there is worth repeating here (from Prasanna­padā, p 435, quoting a Vaipulya­sūtra): “Those who see me by means of form, or who follow me by means of sound‍—they are involved with false and ruinous views and will never see me at all. The buddhas are to be seen by means of ultimate reality, since those leaders are Dharma-bodies, and ultimate reality is impossible to know, as it is not an object of discernment.”
n.­206
Skt. acintya­vikurvaṇa­naya­praveśa­nirdeśa. This is a description, not a title of the sūtra, as it is not mentioned at the end of this chapter, where the Buddha gives the titles to Ānanda.

b.

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.

yul ’khor skyong gis zhus pa (Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā). Toh 62, Degé Kangyur vol. 42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 227.a–257.a. English translation in Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group (2021).

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.

Vaidya, P. L. (ed.) Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 11. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1961.

Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group, trans. The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchāsūtra, Toh 62). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

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.


g.

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

AS

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

AA

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

RS

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

SU

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.­1

Abhidharma

Wylie:
  • chos mngon pa
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་མངོན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • n.­74
  • n.­190
  • g.­7
  • g.­137
  • g.­158
  • g.­215
  • g.­338
g.­2

Abhi­dharma­kośa

Wylie:
  • chos mngon pa’i mdzod
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད།
Sanskrit:
  • abhi­dharma­kośa

An important work written by Vasubandhu, probably in the fourth century, as a critical compendium of the Abhidharmic science.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • n.­175
  • g.­192
  • g.­285
  • g.­338
g.­3

Abhirati

Wylie:
  • mngon par dga’ ba
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་དགའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13-15
  • 11.­17-20
  • g.­12
g.­4

absence of self

Wylie:
  • bdag med pa
Tibetan:
  • བདག་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • g.­86
  • g.­184
  • g.­281
  • g.­295
g.­5

absorption

Wylie:
  • snyoms par ’jug
Tibetan:
  • སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­10
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­30
  • 8.­29
  • g.­51
  • g.­56
  • g.­75
  • g.­182
  • g.­319
g.­6

affliction

Wylie:
  • nyon mongs
Tibetan:
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
Sanskrit:
  • kleśa

Desire, hatred and anger, dullness, pride, and jealousy, as well as all their derivatives, said to number 84,000. Also translated “passions.”

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­53
  • 3.­59
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­78-79
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­28
  • 9.­24
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­12
  • n.­68
  • g.­197
  • g.­213
  • g.­319
g.­7

aggregate

Wylie:
  • phung po
Tibetan:
  • ཕུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­15
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­24
  • 10.­20
  • n.­52
  • n.­102
  • n.­202
  • g.­55
  • g.­74
  • g.­80
  • g.­128
  • g.­179
  • g.­188
  • g.­283
g.­8

aids to enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi­pakṣika­dharma

See “thirty-seven aids to enlightenment”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­79
  • 7.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 12.­11
g.­9

Ajita Keśakambala

Wylie:
  • mi pham sgra’i la ba can
Tibetan:
  • མི་ཕམ་སྒྲའི་ལ་བ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • ajita keśakambala

One of the six outsider teachers defeated by the Buddha at Śrāvastī.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­16
  • g.­293
g.­14

Āmrapālī

Wylie:
  • a mra srung ba
Tibetan:
  • ཨ་མྲ་སྲུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • āmrapālī

A courtesan of Vaiśālī who gave her garden to the Buddha and his retinue, where they stay during the events of the sūtra.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3
  • i.­7
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­13
  • 10.­1
g.­15

Ānanda

Wylie:
  • kun dga’ bo
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
Sanskrit:
  • ānanda

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

In this text:

See also n.­88 and n.­193.

Located in 25 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7-8
  • 3.­41-46
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­8-17
  • 12.­27-29
  • n.­88
  • n.­193
  • n.­206
g.­19

Aniruddha

Wylie:
  • ma ’gags pa
Tibetan:
  • མ་འགགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • aniruddha

A śrāvaka disciple and cousin of the Buddha who was famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. See also n.­78.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­27
  • n.­78-79
  • g.­305
g.­20

arhat

Wylie:
  • dgra bcom pa
Tibetan:
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­24
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­41
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­10
  • n.­59
  • n.­72
  • n.­144
  • n.­148
  • n.­199
  • g.­85
  • g.­88
  • g.­313
  • g.­333
g.­22

Āryāsaṅga

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa thogs med
  • thogs med
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པ་ཐོགས་མེད།
  • ཐོགས་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • n.­178
  • g.­155
  • g.­267
  • g.­301
  • g.­338
  • g.­343
g.­23

Aśoka

Wylie:
  • mya ngan med pa
Tibetan:
  • མྱ་ངན་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • aśoka

Universe whence comes the Brahmā Śikhin.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • g.­37
  • g.­288
g.­24

asura

Wylie:
  • lha ma yin
Tibetan:
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
Sanskrit:
  • asura

Titan .

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­14
  • 6.­24
  • 7.­2
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­29
g.­25

auspicious signs and marks

Wylie:
  • mtshan dang dpe byad bzang po
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་བཟང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • lakṣaṇānuvyañjana

The thirty-two signs and the eighty marks of a superior being.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­23-24
  • 4.­30
  • 7.­6
  • 9.­6
g.­27

Avataṃsaka

Wylie:
  • phal po che
Tibetan:
  • ཕལ་པོ་ཆེ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • n.­139
  • n.­143
  • g.­43
  • g.­123
g.­28

bad migrations

Wylie:
  • ngan song
Tibetan:
  • ངན་སོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­8
  • 1.­42
  • 3.­17
  • 4.­18
g.­32

bhikṣu

Wylie:
  • dge slong
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་སློང་།
Sanskrit:
  • bhikṣu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.

In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­56
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­49
g.­34

birthlessness

Wylie:
  • mi skye ba
Tibetan:
  • མི་སྐྱེ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­49
  • 4.­29
  • 10.­21
  • 12.­22
  • g.­324
g.­35

bodhisattva

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 251 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­3-7
  • i.­9
  • i.­13-14
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­31-44
  • 1.­46
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­71-72
  • 3.­80
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­1-3
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­14-15
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­20-22
  • 4.­25-30
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­7-9
  • 5.­13-22
  • 6.­1-5
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­16-17
  • 7.­32
  • 7.­43
  • 8.­1-35
  • 9.­1-4
  • 9.­6-7
  • 9.­9-14
  • 9.­16-18
  • 9.­20-23
  • 9.­26-29
  • 10.­4-6
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­11-13
  • 10.­17-24
  • 11.­8
  • 11.­12-16
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­19-25
  • 12.­29
  • n.­16
  • n.­18-20
  • n.­35-37
  • n.­40
  • n.­55-56
  • n.­73
  • n.­93
  • n.­99-100
  • n.­111
  • n.­120
  • n.­125
  • n.­127-128
  • n.­130
  • n.­144-145
  • n.­147
  • n.­155
  • n.­158
  • n.­162
  • n.­168
  • n.­181
  • n.­185
  • n.­190
  • n.­195-196
  • n.­198
  • g.­11
  • g.­26
  • g.­47
  • g.­59
  • g.­60
  • g.­63
  • g.­68
  • g.­69
  • g.­77
  • g.­81
  • g.­84
  • g.­86
  • g.­98
  • g.­106
  • g.­109
  • g.­110
  • g.­113
  • g.­118
  • g.­123
  • g.­131
  • g.­148
  • g.­163
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­181
  • g.­205
  • g.­214
  • g.­217
  • g.­245
  • g.­246
  • g.­248
  • g.­277
  • g.­278
  • g.­297
  • g.­302
  • g.­313
  • g.­319
  • g.­333
  • g.­337
  • g.­345
g.­37

Brahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­49-50
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 3.­27-29
  • 4.­2-3
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­39
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­3
  • g.­23
  • g.­260
  • g.­285
  • g.­288
  • g.­305
g.­39

buddha

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 271 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­3-8
  • i.­11
  • i.­14-15
  • 1.­1-3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­11-15
  • 1.­24-26
  • 1.­29-33
  • 1.­46-48
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­52-53
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­1-2
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­12-13
  • 3.­15-17
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24-25
  • 3.­27-28
  • 3.­30-31
  • 3.­37-38
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­46-49
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­60-61
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­78
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­17-18
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­5-6
  • 6.­24-25
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­31
  • 6.­35-36
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­11
  • 7.­13-15
  • 7.­29-30
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­57
  • 8.­23
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­9-10
  • 9.­13-16
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­25-26
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3-6
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­12-13
  • 10.­15-22
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13-14
  • 11.­18-19
  • 12.­1-2
  • 12.­5-6
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­12-14
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­23-29
  • n.­4
  • n.­6
  • n.­25-26
  • n.­30
  • n.­32-36
  • n.­40
  • n.­52
  • n.­55
  • n.­57
  • n.­61-62
  • n.­70
  • n.­74
  • n.­80
  • n.­83
  • n.­88
  • n.­93
  • n.­101
  • n.­103
  • n.­106
  • n.­110
  • n.­128
  • n.­133
  • n.­152
  • n.­162
  • n.­188
  • n.­192
  • n.­193
  • n.­195
  • n.­199
  • n.­202
  • n.­206
  • n.­208
  • n.­212
  • g.­9
  • g.­10
  • g.­12
  • g.­13
  • g.­14
  • g.­16
  • g.­19
  • g.­20
  • g.­30
  • g.­40
  • g.­41
  • g.­45
  • g.­52
  • g.­60
  • g.­66
  • g.­68
  • g.­71
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­81
  • g.­84
  • g.­85
  • g.­86
  • g.­105
  • g.­106
  • g.­109
  • g.­110
  • g.­125
  • g.­137
  • g.­141
  • g.­148
  • g.­152
  • g.­155
  • g.­157
  • g.­158
  • g.­164
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­175
  • g.­185
  • g.­186
  • g.­191
  • g.­207
  • g.­211
  • g.­212
  • g.­218
  • g.­220
  • g.­225
  • g.­232
  • g.­234
  • g.­235
  • g.­236
  • g.­238
  • g.­244
  • g.­245
  • g.­248
  • g.­256
  • g.­261
  • g.­262
  • g.­271
  • g.­272
  • g.­274
  • g.­275
  • g.­276
  • g.­280
  • g.­288
  • g.­290
  • g.­292
  • g.­293
  • g.­294
  • g.­296
  • g.­298
  • g.­300
  • g.­302
  • g.­306
  • g.­307
  • g.­308
  • g.­313
  • g.­314
  • g.­318
  • g.­319
  • g.­330
  • g.­333
  • g.­336
  • g.­340
g.­40

Buddha Gaya

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • buddha gaya

Ancient name for the town in Bihar province, where the Buddha attained his highest enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree. Modern name, Bodhgaya.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­280
g.­41

buddhafield

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas kyi zhing
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 82 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3
  • i.­7-8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­31-46
  • 1.­48-50
  • 1.­52-56
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­23-24
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­6-7
  • 5.­17
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­31
  • 7.­44
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­11-13
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­26-28
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­12-15
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­25
  • n.­35-36
  • n.­39
  • n.­113-115
  • n.­174
  • g.­3
  • g.­39
  • g.­185
  • g.­258
  • g.­278
  • g.­340
g.­43

Buddhāvataṃsaka

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas phal po che
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཕལ་པོ་ཆེ།
Sanskrit:
  • buddhāvataṃsaka

See Avataṃsaka.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • g.­27
g.­48

cessation

Wylie:
  • ’gog pa
Tibetan:
  • འགོག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirodha

The third Noble Truth, equivalent to nirvāṇa.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­2
  • 3.­50
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­27
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­29
  • 11.­3
  • n.­98
  • g.­75
g.­51

concentration

Wylie:
  • ting nge ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samādhi

See “absorption.”

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­2
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­22-24
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­8
  • 7.­22
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­15
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­15
  • n.­85-86
  • g.­5
  • g.­58
  • g.­78
  • g.­79
  • g.­92
  • g.­93
  • g.­184
  • g.­264
  • g.­285
  • g.­286
  • g.­306
  • g.­319
g.­52

conception of the spirit of enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi sems bskyed pa
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་བསྐྱེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­36
  • n.­41
  • n.­101
g.­53

conceptualization

Wylie:
  • rnam par rtog pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • 3.­34
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­24
  • g.­183
g.­55

consciousness

Wylie:
  • rnam shes
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • vijñāna

See “aggregate.”

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­7-8
  • 3.­12
  • 4.­14
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­4
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­22
  • 11.­1-2
  • 12.­13
  • n.­98
  • g.­7
  • g.­52
  • g.­74
  • g.­75
  • g.­80
  • g.­98
  • g.­285
  • g.­318
g.­56

contemplation

Wylie:
  • bsam gtan
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གཏན།
Sanskrit:
  • dhyāna

See “absorption.”

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­2-3
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­30
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­26
  • g.­5
  • g.­184
  • g.­285
  • g.­313
  • g.­319
g.­58

decisiveness

Wylie:
  • nges par sems pa
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པར་སེམས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nidhyapti

Analytic concentration that gains insight into the nature of reality, synonymous with “transcendental analysis,” vipaśyana (q.v.).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­58
  • 4.­1
g.­59

dedication

Wylie:
  • yongs su bsngo ba
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་བསྔོ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­42
  • 1.­44
  • 4.­26
  • 8.­21
  • 10.­20
  • g.­35
  • g.­77
g.­60

definitive meaning

Wylie:
  • nges don
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་དོན།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 10.­21
  • n.­61
  • g.­98
  • g.­129
g.­61

dependent origination

Wylie:
  • rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
Tibetan:
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratītya­samutpāda

See also “relativity.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­23
  • 12.­13
  • n.­98
  • g.­255
  • g.­284
g.­63

destiny for the ultimate

Wylie:
  • nges pa la zhugs pa
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པ་ལ་ཞུགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­49
  • 10.­11
g.­66

Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term dharma conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyā­yukti. The primary meanings are as follows: the doctrine taught by the Buddha (Dharma); the ultimate reality underlying and expressed through the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma); the trainings that the Buddha’s teaching stipulates (dharmas); the various awakened qualities or attainments acquired through practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teaching (dharmas); qualities or aspects more generally, i.e., phenomena or phenomenal attributes (dharmas); and mental objects (dharmas).

Located in 134 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7-8
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5-8
  • 1.­11-12
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­21-22
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3-5
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­4-7
  • 3.­9-10
  • 3.­16
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­57
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­68-70
  • 3.­74-80
  • 3.­82
  • 4.­1-3
  • 4.­19
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­1-5
  • 5.­18
  • 5.­20
  • 6.­2-3
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­15
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­20-21
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­41
  • 7.­45
  • 7.­55
  • 8.­23
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­22-23
  • 9.­25
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20-22
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­21-22
  • 12.­1-2
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­8-16
  • 12.­18-23
  • 12.­26-28
  • n.­30
  • n.­52
  • n.­59
  • n.­72
  • n.­85
  • n.­99
  • n.­106
  • n.­136
  • n.­138
  • n.­190
  • n.­197
  • n.­202
  • g.­30
  • g.­67
  • g.­77
  • g.­125
  • g.­130
  • g.­151
  • g.­164
  • g.­181
  • g.­275
  • g.­294
  • g.­319
  • g.­333
  • g.­337
g.­67

Dharma-door

Wylie:
  • chos kyi sgo
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྒོ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmamukha

Certain teachings are called “Dharma-doors” (or “doors of the Dharma”), as they provide access to the practice of the Dharma.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­1
  • 10.­13
  • n.­162
  • g.­72
g.­68

Dharma-eye

Wylie:
  • chos kyi mig
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་མིག
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­56
  • 5.­5
  • g.­71
g.­71

divine eye

Wylie:
  • lha’i mig
Tibetan:
  • ལྷའི་མིག
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­27-28
  • 11.­15
  • n.­78-79
  • g.­68
  • g.­305
  • g.­313
g.­72

door of the Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos kyi sgo
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྒོ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmamukha

See “Dharma-door.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­72
  • 8.­35
  • g.­67
g.­74

egoistic views

Wylie:
  • ’jig tshogs la lta ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­15
  • 6.­1
  • 7.­11
  • 8.­24
  • n.­102
  • g.­178
g.­75

eight liberations

Wylie:
  • rnam par thar pa brgyad
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­13
  • 7.­22
  • 9.­1
g.­76

eight perverse paths

Wylie:
  • log pa brgyad
  • log pa nyid brgyad
Tibetan:
  • ལོག་པ་བརྒྱད།
  • ལོག་པ་ཉིད་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • mithyātva

These consist of the exact opposites of the eight branches of the eightfold noble path (aṣṭāṅgikamārga).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­13
  • 7.­9
g.­77

eighteen special qualities of a bodhisattva

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’i chos ma ’dres pa bco brgyad
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • 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)

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­254
g.­79

eightfold noble path

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa’i lam gyi yan lag brgyad
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པའི་ལམ་གྱི་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­133
  • g.­76
  • g.­322
g.­80

element

Wylie:
  • khams
  • ’byung ba chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས།
  • འབྱུང་བ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 21 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­7
  • 2.­9
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­15
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­1
  • n.­49-50
  • n.­59
  • n.­102
  • n.­118
  • n.­167
  • n.­182
  • g.­193
  • g.­293
  • g.­333
g.­81

emanated incarnation

Wylie:
  • sprul pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­1
  • 6.­38
  • g.­119
  • g.­120
g.­82

emptiness

Wylie:
  • stong pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­4
  • 4.­8-10
  • n.­113-114
  • n.­116-117
  • g.­312
  • g.­347
  • g.­351
g.­83

enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 96 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­35-43
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­56
  • 2.­11-12
  • 3.­11
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­36
  • 3.­39-40
  • 3.­49-53
  • 3.­67-69
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­75-76
  • 3.­81
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­25-26
  • 4.­31
  • 5.­20
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­39-42
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­36
  • 7.­51-52
  • 7.­58
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­11-12
  • 10.­16
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­19
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­25
  • n.­4
  • n.­6
  • n.­29
  • n.­35
  • n.­53
  • n.­86
  • n.­96
  • n.­98
  • n.­104
  • n.­125
  • n.­163
  • g.­4
  • g.­35
  • g.­40
  • g.­52
  • g.­53
  • g.­59
  • g.­77
  • g.­84
  • g.­98
  • g.­113
  • g.­165
  • g.­214
  • g.­273
  • g.­280
  • g.­296
  • g.­319
  • g.­329
g.­84

family of the Buddha

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas kyi rigs
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་རིགས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­12
g.­86

fearlessness

Wylie:
  • mi ’jigs pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་འཇིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­7
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­60
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­52
  • 9.­13
  • 10.­15
g.­88

five deadly sins

Wylie:
  • mtshams med lnga
Tibetan:
  • མཚམས་མེད་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­13
  • n.­6
g.­91

five powers

Wylie:
  • stobs lnga
Tibetan:
  • སྟོབས་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • bala

These are the same as the five spiritual faculties, at a further stage of development.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­38
  • 4.­30
  • n.­133
  • g.­322
g.­92

five spiritual faculties

Wylie:
  • dbang po lnga
Tibetan:
  • དབང་པོ་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 3.­38
  • 4.­30
  • n.­133
  • g.­91
  • g.­322
g.­93

four bases of magical power

Wylie:
  • rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi
Tibetan:
  • རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 4.­30
  • n.­133
  • g.­322
g.­94

four epitomes of the Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos kyi phyag rgya bzhi
  • bka’ rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་བཞི།
  • བཀའ་རྟགས་ཀྱི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­12
  • n.­75
g.­95

four foci of mindfulness

Wylie:
  • dran pa nye bar gzhag pa
Tibetan:
  • དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 4.­30
  • g.­322
g.­96

four immeasurables

Wylie:
  • tshad med bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཚད་མེད་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­40
  • 4.­30
  • 10.­20
  • n.­109
g.­99

four right efforts

Wylie:
  • yang dag par spong ba bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 4.­30
  • n.­133
  • g.­322
g.­108

gnosis

Wylie:
  • ye shes
Tibetan:
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • jñāna

This is knowledge of the nonconceptual and transcendental which is realized by those attaining higher stages.

Located in 29 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­45
  • 1.­50
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­60
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­78-79
  • 4.­29
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­26
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­18-19
  • 10.­14-15
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­21-22
  • 11.­3
  • 12.­13
  • n.­71
  • g.­98
  • g.­207
  • g.­351
g.­109

grace

Wylie:
  • byin gyis brlabs
Tibetan:
  • བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས།
Sanskrit:
  • adhiṣṭḥāna

The “supernatural power” with which the buddhas sustain the bodhisattvas in their great efforts on behalf of living beings.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 4.­1
  • 10.­22
g.­110

great compassion

Wylie:
  • snying rje chen po
Tibetan:
  • སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.”

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­21
  • 6.­3-4
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­25
  • 7.­5
  • 9.­19
  • 9.­26-27
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20-22
  • 12.­11
  • n.­36
  • n.­126
  • n.­144
  • n.­146
  • n.­168
  • g.­26
  • g.­148
g.­111

great love

Wylie:
  • byams pa chen po
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­82
  • 6.­2-3
  • 6.­25
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­11
  • n.­147
g.­112

great spiritual hero

Wylie:
  • sems dpa’ chen po
Tibetan:
  • སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 3.­83
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­16
  • 10.­4
  • 12.­19
g.­113

high resolve

Wylie:
  • lhag pa’i bsam pa
Tibetan:
  • ལྷག་པའི་བསམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.”

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­44
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­36
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­78
  • 5.­21
  • 6.­3
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­15
  • n.­37
  • n.­168
  • g.­172
  • g.­214
  • g.­319
g.­116

identity

Wylie:
  • rang bzhin
Tibetan:
  • རང་བཞིན།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­59
  • g.­82
  • g.­281
  • g.­312
g.­117

immaterial realm

Wylie:
  • gzugs med khams
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་མེད་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • ārūpyadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The highest and subtlest of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology. Here beings are no longer bound by materiality and enjoy a purely mental state of absorption. It is divided in four levels according to each of the four formless concentrations (ārūpyāvacaradhyāna), namely, the Sphere of Infinite Space (ākāśānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness (vijñānānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Nothingness (a­kiñ­canyāyatana), and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception (naiva­saṃjñā­nāsaṃjñāyatana). The formless realm is located above the other two realms of saṃsāra, the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the desire realm (kāmadhātu).

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • g.­323
g.­118

incantation

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 2.­1
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­21
  • 10.­16-17
  • 10.­20
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­15
  • n.­193
  • g.­316
g.­119

incarnation

Wylie:
  • sprul pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirmāṇa

See “emanated incarnation.”

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­18-19
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­37
  • 9.­13
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­17
  • g.­81
  • g.­148
  • g.­192
  • g.­236
g.­120

incarnation-body

Wylie:
  • sprul pa’i sku
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲུལ་པའི་སྐུ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirmāṇakāya

See “emanated incarnation.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­70
  • n.­188
  • g.­148
g.­121

incomprehensibility

Wylie:
  • mi dmigs pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་དམིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 1.­4
  • g.­122
  • g.­205
  • g.­324
g.­122

inconceivability

Wylie:
  • bsam gyis mi khyab pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 10.­7
  • n.­36
  • n.­145
  • g.­82
g.­123

inconceivable liberation

Wylie:
  • rnam par thar pa bsam gyis mi khyab pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • acintyavimokṣa

Inconceivable liberation of the bodhisattvas, a name of the Avataṃsaka, and a subtitle of the Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­9
  • i.­13-14
  • 5.­13-14
  • 5.­16-22
  • 9.­12
  • n.­111
  • n.­139
  • n.­141
  • g.­27
  • g.­172
g.­125

Indra

Wylie:
  • dbang po
Tibetan:
  • དབང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • g.­131
  • g.­138
  • g.­260
g.­127

instinct

Wylie:
  • bag chags
Tibetan:
  • བག་ཆགས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­26
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­16
  • n.­124
g.­128

intellect

Wylie:
  • ’du shes
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • samjñā

See “aggregate.”

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­285
g.­129

interpretable meaning

Wylie:
  • drang don
Tibetan:
  • དྲང་དོན།
Sanskrit:
  • neyārtha

See “definitive meaning.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 12.­13
  • g.­60
  • g.­98
g.­131

Jagatindhara

Wylie:
  • ’gro ba ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • འགྲོ་བ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • 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 and Vienna Buddhist Studies Translation Group, trans., The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla, 1.­1).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­63
  • n.­100
g.­134

Kakuda Kātyāyana

Wylie:
  • kA tya’i bu nog can
Tibetan:
  • ཀཱ་ཏྱའི་བུ་ནོག་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • kakuda kātyāyana

One of the six outsider teachers.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­16
  • g.­293
g.­136

karma

Wylie:
  • las
Tibetan:
  • ལས།
Sanskrit:
  • karman

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Meaning “action” in its most basic sense, karma is an important concept in Buddhist philosophy as the cumulative force of previous physical, verbal, and mental acts, which determines present experience and will determine future existences.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­28
  • n.­85
  • n.­196
g.­137

Kātyāyana

Wylie:
  • ka tya’i bu
Tibetan:
  • ཀ་ཏྱའི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­25
  • n.­64
  • n.­74
  • g.­158
g.­138

Kauśika

Wylie:
  • kau shi ka
Tibetan:
  • ཀཽ་ཤི་ཀ
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­63-64
g.­143

Kumārajīva

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • kumārajīva

Translator of this sūtra into Chinese (344-409).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­15-17
  • n.­92
  • g.­222
g.­145

layman

Wylie:
  • dge bsnyen
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བསྙེན།
Sanskrit:
  • upāsaka

Householders with definite vows that set them off from the ordinary householder.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­11
  • 2.­3
  • n.­5
  • n.­100
  • g.­131
  • g.­345
g.­147

liberation

Wylie:
  • mya ngan las ’das pa
  • rnam par grol ba
  • rnam par thar pa
Tibetan:
  • མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
  • རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ།
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirvāṇa
  • vimukti
  • vimokṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Sanskrit, the term nirvāṇa literally means “extinguishment” and the Tibetan mya ngan las ’das pa literally means “gone beyond sorrow.” As a general term, it refers to the cessation of all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence, as well as to the state in which all such rebirth and suffering has permanently ceased.

More specifically, three main types of nirvāṇa are identified. (1) The first type of nirvāṇa, called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), is the state in which arhats or buddhas have attained awakening but are still dependent on the conditioned aggregates until their lifespan is exhausted. (2) At the end of life, given that there are no more causes for rebirth, these aggregates cease and no new aggregates arise. What occurs then is called nirvāṇa without remainder ( anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), which refers to the unconditioned element (dhātu) of nirvāṇa in which there is no remainder of the aggregates. (3) The Mahāyāna teachings distinguish the final nirvāṇa of buddhas from that of arhats, the nirvāṇa of arhats not being considered ultimate. The buddhas attain what is called nonabiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa), which transcends the extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., existence and peace. This is the nirvāṇa that is the goal of the Mahāyāna path.

Located in 78 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­40
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­19
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­10-11
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­21-22
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­29-30
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­13
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­17-21
  • 6.­23
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­40
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­30
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­24
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­19-20
  • 10.­23
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­14-15
  • 12.­25
  • n.­34
  • n.­64
  • n.­71
  • n.­102
  • n.­109
  • n.­145
  • n.­156
  • n.­184
  • n.­193
  • n.­200
  • g.­63
  • g.­75
  • g.­78
  • g.­81
  • g.­96
  • g.­130
  • g.­148
  • g.­165
  • g.­193
  • g.­197
  • g.­207
  • g.­287
  • g.­319
  • g.­332
  • g.­351
g.­148

liberative art

Wylie:
  • thabs
Tibetan:
  • ཐབས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.”

Located in 31 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­12
  • i.­14
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­44
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6-7
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­22-27
  • 5.­21-22
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­33
  • 7.­55
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­22
  • n.­128
  • n.­139
  • g.­77
  • g.­86
g.­149

Licchavi

Wylie:
  • lid tsa bI
Tibetan:
  • ལིད་ཙ་བཱི།
Sanskrit:
  • licchavi

Name of the tribe and republican city-state whose capital was Vaiśālī, where Vimalakīrti lived, and the main events of this sūtra take place.

Located in 89 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3-4
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­31-32
  • 1.­54
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­1-2
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24-25
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­30-31
  • 3.­37-38
  • 3.­40-41
  • 3.­47-48
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65-67
  • 3.­71
  • 3.­73-74
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­4-5
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­8-10
  • 5.­12-13
  • 5.­21
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­9
  • 7.­16
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­4-9
  • 9.­16-17
  • 9.­19
  • 9.­22-23
  • 9.­27
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1-3
  • 10.­9-10
  • 10.­17
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­10
  • 11.­13-15
  • 11.­19-20
  • 12.­29
  • n.­20
  • g.­45
  • g.­238
  • g.­336
  • g.­345
g.­150

life

Wylie:
  • ’khor ba
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃsāra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A state of involuntary existence conditioned by afflicted mental states and the imprint of past actions, characterized by suffering in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. On its reversal, the contrasting state of nirvāṇa is attained, free from suffering and the processes of rebirth.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­11
  • 6.­5
  • 8.­14
  • 9.­24
  • g.­197
  • g.­207
g.­151

Lokapāla

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten skyong
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 4.­2-3
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4
g.­152

lord

Wylie:
  • bcom ldan ’das
Tibetan:
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
Sanskrit:
  • 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.

Located in 84 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­14-15
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­31-32
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­51-52
  • 1.­55
  • 3.­2-4
  • 3.­11-12
  • 3.­14-15
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­20-21
  • 3.­24-27
  • 3.­30-31
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­40-43
  • 3.­47-48
  • 3.­54-55
  • 3.­62-63
  • 3.­73-74
  • 3.­81
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­21
  • 5.­8
  • 9.­8-11
  • 9.­14-15
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­1-2
  • 10.­6-8
  • 10.­12-13
  • 10.­17-18
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­18-19
  • 12.­23-27
  • 12.­29
  • n.­31
  • n.­33
g.­153

Madhyamaka

Wylie:
  • dbu ma
Tibetan:
  • དབུ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • madhyamaka

Teaching of the Middle Way.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • g.­154
  • g.­191
g.­154

Mādhyamika

Wylie:
  • dbu ma pa
Tibetan:
  • དབུ་མ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mādhyamika

School based on Madhyamaka, and followers of that school.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • n.­30
  • n.­79
  • n.­121
  • n.­164
  • g.­21
  • g.­31
  • g.­42
  • g.­46
  • g.­60
  • g.­85
  • g.­225
  • g.­255
  • g.­273
  • g.­343
g.­155

Madhyānta­vibhāga

Wylie:
  • dbus mtha’ rnam ’byed
Tibetan:
  • དབུས་མཐའ་རྣམ་འབྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • madhyānta­vibhāga

The “Analysis of the Middle and the Extremes,” it is an important work of Vijñānavāda philosophy, said to have been received as a revelation from the future Buddha Maitreya by the great scholar and saint, Āryāsaṅga, after twelve years of meditation.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • n.­59
g.­157

Mahākāśyapa

Wylie:
  • ’od srung chen po
Tibetan:
  • འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahākāśyapa

Foremost disciple of the Buddha; he inherited the leadership of the saṅgha after the Parinirvāṇa. See also n.­62.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­12-13
  • 5.­20-22
  • 7.­13
  • n.­62
  • n.­88
g.­158

Mahākātyāyana

Wylie:
  • ka tya’i bu chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཀ་ཏྱའི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahākātyāyana

(also Kātyāyana). Disciple of the Buddha noted for his skill in analysis of the Buddha’s discourses and, traditionally, the founder of the Abhidharma.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­25
  • g.­137
g.­159

Mahā­maudgalyāyana

Wylie:
  • maud gal gyi bu chen po
Tibetan:
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahā­maudgalyāyana

One of the chief śrāvakas, paired with Śāriputra.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­4
  • 3.­9
g.­165

Mahāyāna

Wylie:
  • theg pa chen po
Tibetan:
  • ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • mahāyāna

The “Great Vehicle” of Buddhism, called “great” because it carries all living beings to enlightenment of Buddhahood. It is distinguished from the Hinayāna, including the Śrāvāka­yāna (Śrāvaka Vehicle) and Pratyeka­buddha­yāna (Solitary Sage Vehicle), which only carries each person who rides on it to their own personal liberation.

Located in 59 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­12
  • i.­15
  • 1.­36
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­4
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­23
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­23
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­20
  • 12.­30
  • n.­6
  • n.­14
  • n.­19-20
  • n.­23-24
  • n.­40
  • n.­48
  • n.­53
  • n.­57
  • n.­70
  • n.­72
  • n.­85
  • n.­90-91
  • n.­94
  • n.­124
  • n.­128
  • n.­144-145
  • n.­159
  • n.­165
  • n.­198
  • g.­11
  • g.­22
  • g.­27
  • g.­47
  • g.­49
  • g.­62
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­85
  • g.­111
  • g.­161
  • g.­191
  • g.­197
  • g.­251
  • g.­267
  • g.­281
  • g.­289
  • g.­297
  • g.­300
  • g.­343
  • g.­349
g.­167

Maitreya

Wylie:
  • byams pa
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • maitreya

A bodhisattva present throughout the sūtra, prophesied as one birth away from buddhahood and designated by Śākyamuni as the next buddha in the succession of one thousand buddhas of our era. According to tradition, he resides in the Tuṣita heaven preparing for his descent to earth at the appropriate time which, according to Buddhist belief, will occur in 4456 A.D.

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­10
  • 3.­48-51
  • 12.­19-24
  • n.­59
  • n.­94-95
  • n.­212
  • g.­47
  • g.­141
  • g.­155
  • g.­184
  • g.­330
  • g.­343
g.­171

Mañjuśrī

Wylie:
  • ’jam dpal
  • ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
Tibetan:
  • འཇམ་དཔལ།
  • འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mañjuśrī
  • mañjuśrī­kumāra­bhūta

The eternally youthful crown prince (kumārabhūta), so called because of his special identification with the Prajñā­pāramitā, or Transcendence of Wisdom. He is the only member of the Buddha’s retinue who volunteers to visit Vimalakīrti, and he serves as Vimalakīrti’s principal interlocutor throughout the sūtra. Traditionally regarded as the wisest of bodhisattvas, in Tibetan tradition he is known as rgyal ba’i yab gcig, the “sole father of buddhas,” as he inspires them in their realization of the profound. He is represented as bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. He is always youthful in appearance, like a boy of sixteen.

Located in 60 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5-6
  • 1.­10
  • 4.­1-5
  • 4.­7-15
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­27-28
  • 4.­31
  • 5.­6-7
  • 5.­9
  • 6.­1-11
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­8-10
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­15
  • 8.­33-34
  • 9.­4-5
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1-2
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­29
  • n.­6
  • n.­114
  • n.­116
  • n.­147
  • n.­162
  • n.­184
  • g.­47
  • g.­85
g.­172

Māra

Wylie:
  • bdud
Tibetan:
  • བདུད།
Sanskrit:
  • māra

The devil, or evil one, who leads the forces of the gods of the desire-world in seeking to tempt and seduce the Buddha and his disciples. But according to Vimalakīrti he is actually a bodhisattva who dwells in the inconceivable liberation and displays evil activities in order to strengthen and consolidate the high resolve of all bodhisattvas.

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­20
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­63-67
  • 3.­69-73
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­29
  • 5.­20-21
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­33
  • 7.­46
  • 10.­12
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­14
  • n.­145
  • g.­131
g.­175

Marīci

Wylie:
  • smig rgyu
Tibetan:
  • སྨིག་རྒྱུ།
Sanskrit:
  • marīci

Universe of the Buddha Duṣprasāhā.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­82
  • g.­73
g.­176

Māskārin Gośāli­putra

Wylie:
  • kun tu rgyu gnag lhas kyi bu
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱུ་གནག་ལྷས་ཀྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • māskārin gośāli­putra

One of the six outsider teachers.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­16
  • g.­293
g.­177

materialism

Wylie:
  • ril por ’dzin pa
Tibetan:
  • རིལ་པོར་འཛིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • piṇdagrāha

The sense, which ordinarily binds us, of the “objective” solidity and physical reality of things.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­12
  • n.­124
  • g.­293
g.­179

matter

Wylie:
  • gzugs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས།
Sanskrit:
  • rūpa

See “aggregate.”

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­38
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • n.­202
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­75
  • g.­323
g.­180

Maudgalyāyana

Wylie:
  • maud gal gyi bu
Tibetan:
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • maudgalyāyana

One of the chief śrāvakas, paired with Śāriputra. See also n.­57.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­4-5
  • 3.­9
  • n.­57
  • n.­72
  • g.­274
g.­181

means of unification

Wylie:
  • bsdu ba’i dngos po
Tibetan:
  • བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃgrahavastu

Four ways in which a bodhisattva forms a group of people united by the common aim of practicing the Dharma: giving (dāna); pleasant speech (priyavaditā); accomplishment of the aims (of others) by teaching Dharma (arthacaryā); and consistency of behavior with the teaching (samānārthatā).

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­40
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­78
  • 7.­20
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­20
  • g.­77
g.­182

meditation

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • —

See “absorption.”

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­39
  • 2.­2-3
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­56
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­76-78
  • 4.­22
  • 6.­1
  • 7.­26
  • 8.­21
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­1
  • n.­4
  • n.­24
  • n.­30
  • n.­53
  • n.­104
  • n.­120
  • g.­1
  • g.­5
  • g.­7
  • g.­77
  • g.­90
  • g.­155
  • g.­184
  • g.­316
  • g.­319
  • g.­326
g.­183

mental construction

Wylie:
  • kun tu rtog pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་རྟོག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kalpanā
  • vikalpa

See “conceptualization.”

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­34
  • 4.­15
  • 11.­2
  • n.­115
g.­184

mental quiescence

Wylie:
  • zhi gnas
Tibetan:
  • ཞི་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • śamatha

“Mental quiescence” is a general term for all types of mind-practice, meditation, contemplation, concentration, etc., that cultivate one-pointedness of mind and lead to a state of peacefulness and freedom from concern with any sort of object. It is paired with “transcendental analysis” or “insight,” which combines the analytic faculty with this one-pointedness to reach high realizations such as the absence of self (see “transcendental analysis”). “Mental quiescence” and “transcendental analysis” were coined by E. Obermiller in his invaluable study “Prajṅa Pāramitā Doctrine, as Exposed in the Abhisamayālaṃkāra of Maitreya” (Acta Orientalia, Vol. XI [Heidelberg, 1932], pp. 1-134).

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­10
  • 3.­38
  • 4.­30
  • n.­24
  • n.­53
  • g.­326
g.­187

morality

Wylie:
  • tshul khrims
Tibetan:
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
Sanskrit:
  • śīla

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. In a general sense, moral discipline is the cause for rebirth in higher, more favorable states, but it is also foundational to Buddhist practice as one of the three trainings (triśikṣā) and one of the six perfections of a bodhisattva. Often rendered as “ethics,” “discipline,” and “morality.”

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­37
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­56
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­76
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­53
  • 8.­21
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­15
  • 11.­3
  • n.­171
  • g.­1
  • g.­77
  • g.­294
g.­188

motivation

Wylie:
  • ’du byed
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskāra

See “aggregate.”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 5.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 8.­18
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­215
g.­191

Nāgārjuna

Wylie:
  • klu sgrub
Tibetan:
  • ཀླུ་སྒྲུབ།
Sanskrit:
  • nāgārjuna

Saint, scholar, and mystic of Buddhist India from about four hundred years after the Buddha; discoverer of the Mahāyāna sūtras and author of the fundamental Madhyamaka treatise.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­15
  • n.­103
  • g.­21
  • g.­46
  • g.­222
  • g.­226
g.­196

Nirgrantha Jñāti­putra

Wylie:
  • gcer bu gnyen gyi bu
Tibetan:
  • གཅེར་བུ་གཉེན་གྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirgrantha jñāti­putra

One of the six outsider teachers.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­16
  • g.­293
g.­197

nirvāṇa

Wylie:
  • mya ngan las ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirvāṇa

Final liberation from suffering. In the Hinayāna it is believed attainable by turning away from the world of living beings and transcending all afflictions and selfishnesses through meditative trances. In the Mahāyāna, it is believed attainable only by the attainment of buddhahood, the nondual realization of the indivisibility of life and liberation, and the all-powerful compassion that establishes all living beings simultaneously in their own liberations.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • n.­26
  • n.­64
  • n.­135-136
  • n.­171
  • n.­180
  • n.­194-195
  • g.­48
  • g.­63
  • g.­77
  • g.­85
  • g.­94
  • g.­212
  • g.­251
  • g.­332
g.­202

noble

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ārya

‍—

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­33
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­78
  • 4.­29
  • 5.­13
  • 10.­13
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­30
  • n.­30
  • n.­59
  • n.­66
  • n.­134
  • n.­184
  • n.­190
  • g.­48
  • g.­62
  • g.­238
g.­203

noble disciple

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa nyan thos
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པ་ཉན་ཐོས།
Sanskrit:
  • āryaśrāvāka

A practitioner of the Disciple Vehicle teaching who has reached at least the initial stages of realization.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­1
  • n.­14
g.­204

nonduality

Wylie:
  • gnyis su med pa
Tibetan:
  • གཉིས་སུ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • advayatvā

This is synonymous with reality, voidness, etc. But it must be remembered that nonduality does not necessarily mean unity, that unity is only one of the pair unity-duality; hence nonduality implies nonunity as well. This point is obscured by designating this nondual philosophy as “monism,” as too many modern scholars have done.

Located in 41 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­25
  • 8.­1-35
  • n.­71
  • n.­157
  • n.­177
  • n.­184
g.­207

omniscience

Wylie:
  • thams cad mkhyen pa
Tibetan:
  • ཐམས་ཅད་མཁྱེན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sarvajñatā

This refers to the gnosis of the Buddha, with which there is nothing he does not know. However, not to confuse “omniscience” with the theistic conception of an omniscient god, the “everything” here is specifically everything about the source of the predicament of worldly life and the way of transcendence of that world through liberation. Since “everything” is only an abstract term without any particular referent, once we are clear about the implications of infinity, it does not refer to any sort of ultimate totality, since a totality can only be relative, i.e., a totality within a particular frame of reference. Thus, as Dharmakīrti has remarked, “it is not a question of the Buddha’s knowing the number of fish in the ocean,” i.e., since there are infinity of fish in infinity of oceans in infinity of worlds and universes. The Buddha’s omniscience, rather, knows how to develop and liberate any fish in any ocean, as well as all other living beings.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­60
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­29
  • 7.­12
  • 8.­21
  • 10.­22
  • g.­77
  • g.­86
g.­208

outsider

Wylie:
  • mu stegs pa
Tibetan:
  • མུ་སྟེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • tīrthika

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Those of other religious or philosophical orders, contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­20
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­44
  • 4.­11
  • 7.­8
  • n.­29
  • n.­79
  • n.­90
  • g.­9
  • g.­134
  • g.­176
  • g.­196
  • g.­231
  • g.­268
  • g.­313
g.­211

Pāli

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • —

The canonical language of Ceylonese Buddhists, believed to be very similar to the colloquial language spoken by Śākyamuni Buddha.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • n.­72
  • n.­74
  • n.­83
  • n.­105
  • g.­307
g.­212

parinirvāṇa

Wylie:
  • yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • parinirvāṇa

A more emphatic term for nirvāṇa, when it is used in reference to the apparent passing away of a physical body of a buddha.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­62
  • n.­80
  • g.­157
g.­213

passion

Wylie:
  • nyon mongs
Tibetan:
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
Sanskrit:
  • kleśa

Desire, hatred and anger, dullness, pride, and jealousy, as well as all their derivatives, said to number 84,000. Also translated “afflictions.”

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­8
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­11
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­60
  • 4.­25-26
  • 6.­2-3
  • 6.­16
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­10-13
  • 7.­19
  • 10.­11-12
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • n.­6
  • n.­68
  • n.­124
  • n.­148
  • n.­155
  • g.­6
  • g.­20
g.­214

positive thought

Wylie:
  • bsam pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āśaya

In general, a joyous attitude to help living beings and accomplish virtue. This is also the first stirring in the bodhisattva’s mind of the inspiration to attain enlightenment (see “high resolve”). See Lamotte, Appendice, Note II.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­35
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­50
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­78
  • 10.­22
  • n.­37
  • g.­113
  • g.­319
g.­215

power of life

Wylie:
  • srog gi dbang po
Tibetan:
  • སྲོག་གི་དབང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • jīvitendriya

One of the nonmental motivations, defined as the force of life-duration, being a concept of the Abhidharma. See T. Stcherbatski, Central Conception of Buddhism (London, 1923), p. 105.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­78
g.­217

Prabhāvyūha

Wylie:
  • ’od bkod pa
Tibetan:
  • འོད་བཀོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prabhāvyūha

A bodhisattva present in the opening assembly, who later tells the story of his encounter with Vimalakīrti, who discourses to him about the seat of enlightenment.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­10
  • 3.­55
g.­220

Prajñā­pāramitā

Wylie:
  • shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā­pāramitā

Transcendental wisdom, being the profound nondual understanding of the ultimate reality, or voidness, or relativity, of all things; personified as a goddess, she is worshiped as the “Mother of all Buddhas” (Sarva­jina­mātā).

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • n.­139
  • g.­171
  • g.­244
g.­221

Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra

Wylie:
  • shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i mdo
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་མདོ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra

The sūtra in which the transcendental wisdom is taught. There are nineteen versions of different lengths, ranging from the Heart Sūtra of a few pages to the Hundred-Thousand. A great deal of information about these sūtras can be found in the works of Dr. Edward Conze.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • g.­171
  • g.­222
  • g.­306
g.­222

Prajñā­pāramitopadeśa

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā­pāramitopadeśa

A commentary on the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtras, composed by Kumārajīva from oral traditions derived from Nāgārjuna, and partially translated from Chinese into French by Dr. Etienne Lamotte, as Traité de la Grande Vertu de la Sagesse, Louvain, 1944-1949 (Bibliotheque du Museon, 18).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • n.­92
g.­229

pratyekabuddha

Wylie:
  • rang sangs rgyas
Tibetan:
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • pratyekabuddha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyeka­buddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­1
g.­231

Purāṇa Kāśyapa

Wylie:
  • ’od srung rdzogs byed
Tibetan:
  • འོད་སྲུང་རྫོགས་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • purāṇa kāśyapa

One of the six outsider teachers.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­16
g.­232

Pūrṇa

Wylie:
  • gang po
Tibetan:
  • གང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • pūrṇa

Śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha noted for his ability as a preacher of the Hinayāna teaching, especially skillful in the conversion and training of young monks; also known as Pūrṇa­maitrāyaṇī­putra. See also n.­72.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­21-23
  • n.­72
  • g.­233
g.­233

Pūrṇa­maitrāyaṇī­putra

Wylie:
  • byams ma’i bu gang po
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • pūrṇa­maitrāyaṇī­putra

See Pūrṇa.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­21
  • g.­232
g.­234

Rāhula

Wylie:
  • sgra gcan ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • སྒྲ་གཅན་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • rāhula

Śākyamuni Buddha’s own son, who became a distinguished disciple. See also n.­83.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­37-38
  • n.­83
g.­239

Ratnakūṭa

Wylie:
  • rin po che brtsegs pa
Tibetan:
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བརྩེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ratnakūṭa

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­10
  • g.­131
g.­251

reality-limit

Wylie:
  • yang dag pa’i mtha’
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་པའི་མཐའ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhūtakoṭi

A synonym of the ultimate reality. In the Mahāyāna sūtras, it has a somewhat negative flavor, connoting the Hinayāna concept of a static nirvāṇa. Sthiramati glosses the term as follows: “ ‘Reality’ means undistorted truth. ‘Limit’ means the extreme beyond which there is nothing to be known by anyone” (bhūtaṃ satyam aviparītamityarthaḥ / koṭiḥ paryanto yataḥ pareṇa-anyajjñeyaṃ nāsti…/).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­8
  • 3.­52
  • 11.­2
g.­252

realm of desire

Wylie:
  • ’dod khams
Tibetan:
  • འདོད་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • kāmadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods‍—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (cāturmahā­rājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 9.­18
  • g.­7
  • g.­138
  • g.­330
g.­253

realm of pure matter

Wylie:
  • gzugs khams
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • rūpadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology, it is characterized by subtle materiality. Here beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification. It consists of seventeen heavens structured according to the four concentrations of the form realm (rūpāvacaradhyāna), the highest five of which are collectively called “pure abodes” (śuddhāvāsa). The form realm is located above the desire realm (kāmadhātu) and below the formless realm (ārūpya­dhātu).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 9.­18
  • g.­37
  • g.­260
g.­254

reconciliation of dichotomies

Wylie:
  • snrel zhi’i rgyud
  • snrel zhi ba
Tibetan:
  • སྣྲེལ་ཞིའི་རྒྱུད།
  • སྣྲེལ་ཞི་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • yamaka­vyatyastāhāra

The twelfth of the eighteen special qualities of a bodhisattva.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12-13
  • 4.­1
  • 12.­20
  • n.­4
  • n.­44
  • n.­195
  • g.­77
g.­255

relativity

Wylie:
  • rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
Tibetan:
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratītya­samutpāda

In most contexts, this term is properly translated by “dependent origination.” But in the Mādhyamika context, wherein the concept of the ultimate nonorigination of all things is emphasized, “relativity” better serves to convey the message that things exist only in relation to verbal designation and that nothing exists as an independent, self-sufficient entity, even on the superficial level.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­6
  • 4.­29
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­13
  • n.­98
  • g.­61
  • g.­220
g.­257

sacrifice

Wylie:
  • mchod sbyin
Tibetan:
  • མཆོད་སྦྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • yajña

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­74-80
  • 3.­82
  • 4.­18
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­22
  • n.­104
  • n.­106
  • n.­112
g.­258

Sahā

Wylie:
  • mi mjed
Tibetan:
  • མི་མཇེད།
Sanskrit:
  • sahā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name for our world system, the universe of a thousand million worlds, or trichiliocosm, in which the four-continent world is located. Each trichiliocosm is ruled by a god Brahmā; thus, in this context, he bears the title of Sahāṃpati, Lord of Sahā. The world system of Sahā, or Sahālokadhātu, is also described as the buddhafield of the Buddha Śākyamuni where he teaches the Dharma to beings.

The name Sahā possibly derives from the Sanskrit √sah, “to bear, endure, or withstand.” It is often interpreted as alluding to the inhabitants of this world being able to endure the suffering they encounter. The Tibetan translation, mi mjed, follows along the same lines. It literally means “not painful,” in the sense that beings here are able to bear the suffering they experience.

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • i.­14
  • 9.­9-12
  • 9.­14-15
  • 9.­27-28
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­14-15
  • 11.­17
  • 11.­19
  • n.­212
  • g.­3
  • g.­39
g.­260

Śakra

Wylie:
  • brgya byin
Tibetan:
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • śakra

In Buddhist texts, usual name for Indra, king of gods of the desire-realm (kāmadhātu) of a particular universe; hence a Śakra is lower in status than a Brahmā, who resides at the summit of the realm of pure matter (rūpadhātu). As in the case of Brahmā, a title, or status, rather than a personal name; each universe has its Śakra.

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­11
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65
  • 4.­2-3
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­39
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4
  • 12.­1-2
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­6
  • g.­37
  • g.­45
  • g.­138
g.­261

Śākya

Wylie:
  • shAkya
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱཀྱ།
Sanskrit:
  • śākya

Name of the tribe dwelling in Northern India in which Gautama, or Śākyamuni, Buddha was born as prince Siddhārtha.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­64
  • 3.­66
  • g.­262
  • g.­335
g.­262

Śākyamuni

Wylie:
  • shAkya thub pa
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • śākyamuni

The “Sage of the Śākyas,” name of the Buddha of our era, who lived c. 563-483 B.C.

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • i.­14
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­49
  • 3.­27
  • 6.­30
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­26
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­19
  • n.­100
  • n.­212
  • g.­30
  • g.­39
  • g.­73
  • g.­81
  • g.­141
  • g.­167
  • g.­211
  • g.­234
  • g.­258
  • g.­261
  • g.­308
g.­264

samādhi

Wylie:
  • ting nge ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samādhi

Concentration of total mental equanimity which is such a powerful mental state it can be turned to accomplish amazing results.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • n.­29
  • n.­52
  • g.­5
  • g.­92
  • g.­286
g.­268

Saṃjāyin Vairāṭī­putra

Wylie:
  • smra ’dod kyi bu mo’i bu yang dag rgyal ba can
Tibetan:
  • སྨྲ་འདོད་ཀྱི་བུ་མོའི་བུ་ཡང་དག་རྒྱལ་བ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃjāyin vairāṭī­putra

One of the six outsider teachers.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­16
  • g.­293
g.­269

saṃsāra

Wylie:
  • ’khor ba
Tibetan:
  • འཁོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃsāra

The cycle of birth and death; that is, life as experienced by living beings under the influence of ignorance, not any sort of objective world external to the persons experiencing it.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­194-195
  • g.­77
g.­270

Saṃtuṣita

Wylie:
  • yongs su dga’ ldan
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་དགའ་ལྡན།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃtuṣita

King of the gods of the Tuṣita heaven.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­48
g.­272

Saṅgha

Wylie:
  • dge ’dun
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་འདུན།
Sanskrit:
  • saṅgha

The third of the Three Jewels (Triratna) of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community. Sometimes narrowly defined as the community of mendicants, it can be understood as including lay practitioners.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­5
  • 3.­16-17
  • 3.­69
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­18
  • 8.­23
  • n.­62
  • n.­83
  • n.­88
  • n.­198
  • g.­88
  • g.­157
  • g.­294
g.­274

Śāriputra

Wylie:
  • shA ri’i bu
Tibetan:
  • ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • śāriputra

One of the major śrāvaka disciples, paired with Maudgalyāyana, and noted for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise; hence, the most frequent target for Vimalakīrti’s attacks on the śrāvakas and on the Hinayāna in general.

(See also n.­40)

Located in 79 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7-8
  • 1.­46-50
  • 1.­52-53
  • 3.­2-3
  • 5.­1-5
  • 5.­10-14
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­19-20
  • 6.­13-34
  • 6.­36-43
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­19
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­8-9
  • 11.­4-12
  • 11.­20
  • n.­40
  • n.­56-57
  • n.­157
  • n.­163-164
  • n.­184
  • g.­159
  • g.­180
g.­280

seat of enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi snying po
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhimaṇḍa

Haribhadra defines it as “a place used as a seat, where the maṇḍa, here ‘essence,’ of enlightenment is present.” See Lamotte, p. 198, n. 105. The main “seat of enlightenment” is the spot under the bo tree at Buddha Gaya, where the Buddha sat and attained unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. It is not to be confused with bodhimaṇḍala, “circle of enlightenment.”

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­55
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­69
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­12
  • n.­98
  • g.­10
  • g.­217
g.­281

self

Wylie:
  • bdag
Tibetan:
  • བདག
Sanskrit:
  • ātma

It is crucial to understand what is meant by “self,” before one is able to realize the all-important “absence of self.” Before we can discover an absence, we have to know what we are looking for. In Mahāyāna, there is a self of persons and a self of things, both presumed habitually by living beings and hence informative of their perceptions. Were these “selves” to exist as they appear because of our presumption, they should exist as substantial, self-subsistent entities within things, or as the intrinsic realities of things, or as the intrinsic identities of things, all permanent, unrelated and unrelative, etc. The nondiscovery of such “selves” within changing, relative, interdependent persons and things is the realization of ultimate reality, or absence of self.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­34
  • 4.­15-17
  • 4.­19
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­5
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­27
  • n.­64
  • g.­4
  • g.­74
  • g.­94
  • g.­97
  • g.­312
  • g.­326
g.­283

sensation

Wylie:
  • tshor ba
Tibetan:
  • ཚོར་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • vedanā

see “aggregates”

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­18
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • n.­98
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­95
g.­284

sense-media

Wylie:
  • skye mched
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
Sanskrit:
  • āyatana

The twelve sense-media are eye-medium (cakṣurāyatana), form-medium (rūpa-), ear-medium (śrotra-), sound-medium (śabda-), nose-medium (ghrāna-), scent-medium (gandha-), tongue-medium (jihvā-), taste-medium (rasa-), body-medium (kāya-), texture-medium (spraṣṭavya), mental-medium (mana-), and phenomena-medium (dharmāyatana). In some passages they are enumerated as six, the object-faculty pair being taken as one, and it is this set of six that is the fifth member of the twelve links of dependent origination. The word āyatana is usually translated as “base,” but the Skt., Tib., and Ch. all indicate “something through which the senses function” rather than a basis from which they function; hence “medium” is suggested.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­53
  • 3.­69
  • 5.­2
  • 7.­9
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­1
  • n.­98
  • n.­102
  • n.­167
  • g.­80
g.­286

seven factors of enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi yan lag bdun
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་བདུན།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃbodhyaṅga

These are the factors of remembrance (smṛti), discrimination between teachings (dharma­pravicaya), effort (vīrya), joy (prīti), ecstasy (praśrabdhi), concentration (samādhi), and equanimity (upekṣā). These seven form a part of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 4.­30
  • 12.­11
  • n.­133
  • g.­322
g.­287

signlessness

Wylie:
  • mtshan ma med pa
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • animittatā

In ultimate reality, there is no sign, as a sign signals or signifies something to someone and hence is inextricably involved with the relative world. We are so conditioned by signs that they seem to speak to us as if they had a voice of their own. The letter “A” seems to pronounce itself to us as we see it, and the stop-sign fairly shouts at us. However, the configuration of two slanted lines with a crossbar has in itself nothing whatsoever to do with the phenomenon made with the mouth and throat in the open position, when expulsion of breath makes the vocal cords resonate “ah.” By extending such analysis to all signs, we may get an inkling of what is meant by “signlessness,” which is essentially equivalent to voidness, and to “wishlessness” (see entry). Voidness, signlessness, and wishlessness form the “Three Doors of Liberation.”

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­77
  • 4.­23-24
  • 4.­29
  • 8.­22
  • 10.­21
  • 12.­12
  • n.­34
g.­288

Śikhin

Wylie:
  • ral pa can
Tibetan:
  • རལ་པ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • śikhin

The Brahmā of the universe Aśoka, who is personally called Śikhin to distinguish him from Brahmās of other universes (see Brahmā). The second of the “seven buddhas of the past” is also called Śikhin but his name is rendered in Tibetan as gtsug gtor can.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­49-50
  • g.­23
  • g.­37
g.­293

six outsider masters

Wylie:
  • ston pa drug
Tibetan:
  • སྟོན་པ་དྲུག
Sanskrit:
  • ṣāṭ śāstāraḥ

These six teachers of nihilism, sophism, determinism, asceticism, etc. sought to rival the Buddha in his day: Purāna Kāśyapa, who negated the effects of action, good or evil; Māskārin Gośāli­putra, who taught a theory of randomness, negating causality; Saṃjāyin Vairaṭi­putra, who was agnostic in refusing to maintain any opinion about anything; Kakuda Kātyāyana, who taught a materialism in which there was no such thing as killer or killed, but only transformations of elements; Ajita Keśakambala, who taught a more extreme nihilism regarding everything except the four main elements; and Nirgrantha Jñāti­putra, otherwise known as Mahāvīra, the founder of Jainism, who taught the doctrine of indeterminism (syādvāda), considering all things in terms of “maybe.” They were allowed to proclaim their doctrines unchallenged until a famous assembly at Śrāvastī, where the Buddha eclipsed them with a display of miracles and teachings.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­16
g.­294

six remembrances

Wylie:
  • rjes su dran pa drug
Tibetan:
  • རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་པ་དྲུག
Sanskrit:
  • anusmṛti

These are six things to keep in mind: the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, morality (śīla), generosity (tyāga), and deities (devatā).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­78
  • 4.­30
g.­296

spirit of enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi sems
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhicitta

“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.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­44
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­72
  • 7.­23
  • n.­73
  • n.­102
  • n.­104
  • n.­166
  • g.­35
g.­297

spiritual benefactor

Wylie:
  • dge ba’i bshes gnyen
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན།
Sanskrit:
  • kalyāṇamitra

A Mahāyāna teacher is termed “friend,” or “benefactor,” which indicates that a bodhisattva-career depends on one’s own effort and that all a teacher can do is inspire, exemplify, and point the way.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 3.­69
g.­298

śrāvaka

Wylie:
  • nyan thos
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • g.­19
  • g.­159
  • g.­165
  • g.­180
  • g.­232
  • g.­274
  • g.­299
g.­299

Śrāvakayāna

Wylie:
  • nyan thos kyi theg pa
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvakayāna

The vehicle comprising the teaching of the śrāvakas.

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­55
  • 3.­23
  • 6.­23
  • n.­30
  • n.­40
  • n.­48
  • n.­56-57
  • n.­64
  • n.­187
  • n.­190
  • n.­195
  • n.­198
  • g.­20
  • g.­62
  • g.­85
  • g.­124
  • g.­193
  • g.­194
  • g.­203
g.­300

Śrāvastī

Wylie:
  • mnyan yod
Tibetan:
  • མཉན་ཡོད།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvastī

Capital city of the kingdom of Kosala, ruled by one of the Buddha’s royal patrons, king Prasenajit, where the Buddha often dwelt in the Jetavana grove, site of many Mahāyāna sūtras.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • n.­105
  • g.­9
  • g.­293
  • g.­307
g.­301

Sthiramati

Wylie:
  • blo gros brtan pa
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་བརྟན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sthiramati

(c. fourth century). One of the important masters of the Vijñānavāda school, he wrote important commentaries on the works of Vasubandhu and Āryāsaṅga.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­251
g.­302

stores of merit and wisdom

Wylie:
  • bsod nams dang ye shes kyi tshogs
Tibetan:
  • བསོད་ནམས་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • puṇya­jñāna­saṃbhāra

The two great stores to be accumulated by bodhisattvas: the store of merit, arising from their practice of the first three transcendences, and the store of wisdom, arising from their practice of the last two transcendences. All deeds of bodhisattvas contribute to their accumulation of these two stores, which ultimately culminate in the two bodies of the Buddha, the body of form and the ultimate body.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­6
  • 2.­10
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­6
g.­305

Śubhavyūha

Wylie:
  • dge ba bkod pa
Tibetan:
  • དགེ་བ་བཀོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • śubhavyūha

A supreme god, or Brahmā, of another universe, who visits our universe to converse with Aniruddha about the divine eye, and is taught instead by Vimalakīrti in Chap. 3.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­27
g.­306

Subhūti

Wylie:
  • rab ’byor
Tibetan:
  • རབ་འབྱོར།
Sanskrit:
  • subhūti

Disciple noted for his profound concentration on voidness; as interlocutor of the Buddha, a major figure in the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtras. See also n.­65.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­15-19
  • n.­65
  • n.­68
  • n.­70-71
g.­307

Sudatta

Wylie:
  • legs par byin
Tibetan:
  • ལེགས་པར་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • sudatta

Sudatta was a great lay patron of the Buddha and philanthropist of Śrāvastī, and is more commonly called Anāthapiṇḍada (mgon med zas sbyin); he known as “the foremost of donors” (Pāli; aggo dāyakānaṃ).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­74
  • n.­105
  • n.­112
g.­311

Sumeru

Wylie:
  • ri’i rgyal po ri rab
Tibetan:
  • རིའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རི་རབ།
Sanskrit:
  • sumeru

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, this is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit is Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four principal island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; and in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the desire realm gods. It is variously referred to as Meru, Mount Meru, Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­23
  • 3.­22
  • 5.­13
  • 7.­11
  • 9.­20
  • 11.­14
  • n.­23
  • n.­140
  • g.­328
g.­312

śūnyatā

Wylie:
  • stong pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • śūnyatā

Voidness, emptiness; specifically, the emptiness of absolute substance, truth, identity, intrinsic reality, or self of all persons and things in the relative world, being quite opposed to any sort of absolute nothingness (see glossary, under “emptiness”).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­34
  • n.­61
  • n.­98
g.­313

superknowledges

Wylie:
  • mngon par shes pa
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhijñā

Special powers of which five, acquired through the meditative contemplations (dhyāna), are considered mundane (laukika) and can be attained to some extent by outsider yogis as well as Buddhist arhats and bodhisattvas; and a sixth‍—being acquired through a bodhisattva’s realization, or by buddhas alone according to some accounts‍—is supramundane (lokottara). The first five are: divine eye or vision (divyacakṣu), divine hearing (divyaśrotra), knowledge of others’ minds (paracittajñāna), knowledge of former (and future) lives (pūrva­[para]­nivāsānu­smṛti­jñāna), and knowledge of magical operations (ṛddhi­vidhi­jñāna). The sixth, supramundane one is knowledge of the exhaustion of defilements (āsravakṣaya­jñāna).

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­3
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­9
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­23
  • 7.­53
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­15
  • n.­131
  • g.­19
  • g.­71
g.­314

sūtra

Wylie:
  • mdo
Tibetan:
  • མདོ།
Sanskrit:
  • sūtra

In general Indian usage, the word for a highly condensed arrangement of verses that lends itself to memorization, serving as a basic text for a particular school of thought. In Buddhism, a scripture, in as much as it records either the direct speech of the Buddha, or the speech of someone manifestly inspired by him.

Located in 58 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1-3
  • i.­8-9
  • i.­11-12
  • i.­14-15
  • 12.­11-12
  • 12.­30
  • n.­14
  • n.­19-20
  • n.­23
  • n.­29-30
  • n.­40
  • n.­53
  • n.­90-91
  • n.­94
  • n.­162
  • n.­184
  • n.­193
  • n.­195
  • n.­206
  • g.­1
  • g.­7
  • g.­11
  • g.­14
  • g.­27
  • g.­30
  • g.­44
  • g.­47
  • g.­50
  • g.­73
  • g.­83
  • g.­85
  • g.­98
  • g.­125
  • g.­143
  • g.­148
  • g.­149
  • g.­152
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­191
  • g.­221
  • g.­251
  • g.­267
  • g.­289
  • g.­300
  • g.­304
  • g.­345
  • g.­352
g.­318

tathāgata

Wylie:
  • de bzhin gshegs pa
Tibetan:
  • དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • tathāgata

Lit. “Thus-gone” or “Thus-come,” (one who proceeds always in consciousness of the ultimate reality, or thatness of all things). A name of the Buddha.

Located in 109 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4-5
  • i.­7-8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­48-49
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­53
  • 2.­9-11
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­39
  • 3.­42
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­82
  • 4.­10-11
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­7-8
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­13
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­37-38
  • 6.­41
  • 7.­15
  • 9.­1-3
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­9-15
  • 9.­19-20
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­1-2
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­12-16
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­1-3
  • 11.­7
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13-16
  • 11.­18-22
  • 12.­1-3
  • 12.­6-7
  • 12.­9-11
  • 12.­14-15
  • 12.­17-18
  • 12.­23-25
  • n.­6
  • n.­9-10
  • n.­104
  • n.­162
  • n.­202
  • g.­3
  • g.­12
  • g.­13
  • g.­30
  • g.­60
  • g.­85
  • g.­88
  • g.­246
  • g.­248
g.­322

thirty-seven aids to enlightenment

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi phyogs sum cu rtsa bdun gyi chos
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་བདུན་གྱི་ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi­pakṣika­dharma

These consist of the four foci of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of magical powers, the five spiritual faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the eightfold noble path.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­41
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­2
  • n.­133
  • g.­8
  • g.­79
  • g.­92
  • g.­93
  • g.­95
  • g.­99
  • g.­286
g.­323

three realms

Wylie:
  • khams gsum
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • traidhātuka

The three worlds or realms of which all universes are composed: of desire (kāmadhātu), of pure matter (rūpadhātu), and the immaterial realm (ārūpyadhātu).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­2
  • 4.­19
g.­324

tolerance of the birthlessness of things

Wylie:
  • mi skye ba’i chos la bzod pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་སྐྱེ་བའི་ཆོས་ལ་བཟོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anutpattika­dharma­kṣānti

Here we are concerned with the “intuitive tolerance of the birthlessness (or incomprehensibility) of all things” (anutpattika­dharma­kṣānti or anupalabdhi­dharma­kṣānti). To translate kṣānti as “knowledge” or “conviction” defeats entirely the Skt. usage and its intended sense: In the face of birthlessness or incomprehensibility (i.e., the ultimate reality), ordinary knowledge and especially convictions are utterly lost; this is because the mind loses objectifiability of anything and has nothing to grasp, and its process of coming to terms may be described only as a conscious cancellation through absolute negations of any false sense of certainty about anything. Through this tolerance, the mind reaches a stage where it can bear its lack of bearings, as it were, can endure this kind of extreme openness, this lack of any conviction, etc. There are three degrees of this tolerance‍—verbal (ghoṣānugā), conforming (anulomikī), and complete. See Introduction, i.­9, and Lamotte, Appendice, Note III.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 3.­54
  • 6.­43
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­29
  • g.­325
g.­326

transcendental analysis

Wylie:
  • lhag mthong
Tibetan:
  • ལྷག་མཐོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • vipaśyana

This is paired with “mental quiescence” (see entry). In general “meditation” is too often understood as only the types of practices categorized as “quietistic”‍—which eschew objects, learning, analysis, discrimination, etc., and lead only to the attainment of temporary peace and one-pointedness. However, in order to reach any high realization, such as the absence of a personal self, the absence of a self in phenomena, or voidness, “transcendental analysis,” with its analytical penetration to the nature of ultimate reality, is indispensable. The analysis is called “transcendental” because it does not accept anything it sees as it appears. Instead, through analytic examination, it penetrates to its deeper reality, going ever deeper in infinite penetration until tolerance is reached. All apparently self-sufficient objects are seen through and their truth-status is rejected‍—first conceptually and finally perceptually, at buddhahood. Thus “meditation,” to be efficacious, must include both mental quiescence (śamatha), and transcendental analysis (vipaśyana) in integrated combination.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­10
  • 3.­38
  • 4.­30
  • n.­24
  • n.­27
  • n.­53
  • g.­58
  • g.­184
g.­328

Trāyastriṃśa

Wylie:
  • sum cu rtsa gsum pa
Tibetan:
  • སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • trāyastriṃśa

The Heaven of the “Thirty-Three,” second level of the desire-realm, located on top of Mount Sumeru in the Buddhist cosmology.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 11.­14
  • g.­151
g.­329

Tsong Khapa

Wylie:
  • tsong kha pa
Tibetan:
  • ཙོང་ཁ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

(1357-1419). One of the greatest of all Tibetan Lamas, his saintliness was evidenced in his altruistic deeds that caused a renaissance in Tibet, his enlightenment in the extraordinary subtlety and profundity of his thought, and his scholarship in the breadth and clarity of his voluminous writings.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • n.­85
g.­330

Tuṣita

Wylie:
  • dga’ ldan
Tibetan:
  • དགའ་ལྡན།
Sanskrit:
  • tuṣita

A heaven, the fourth level of the heavens of the realm of desire, and the last stopping place of a buddha before his descent and reincarnation on earth; at present the abode of the future Buddha Maitreya.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­48
  • g.­167
  • g.­270
g.­331

twelve ascetic practices

Wylie:
  • sbyangs pa’i yon tan bcu gnyis
Tibetan:
  • སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་བཅུ་གཉིས།
Sanskrit:
  • dvādaśadhūtaguṇāḥ

These consist of (1) wearing rags (pāṃśukūlika, phyag dar khrod pa), (2) (in the form of only) three religious robes (traicīvarika, chos gos gsum), (3) (coarse in texture as) garments of felt (nāma[n]tika, ’phyings pa pa), (4) eating by alms (paiṇḍapātika, bsod snyoms pa), (5) having a single mat to sit on (aikāsanika, stan gcig pa), (6) not eating after noon (khalu paścād bhaktika, zas phyis mi len pa), (7) living alone in the forest (āraṇyaka, dgon pa pa), (8) living at the base of a tree (vṛkṣamūlika, shing drungs pa), (9) living in the open (not under a roof) (ābhyavakāśika, bla gab med pa), (10) frequenting burning grounds (Indian equivalent of cemeteries) (śmāśānika, dur khrod pa), (11) sleeping sitting up (in meditative posture) (naiṣadika, cog bu pa), and (12) accepting whatever seating position is offered (yāthāsaṃstarika, gzhi ji bzhin pa). Mahāvyutpatti, 1127-39.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • n.­62
g.­332

ultimate

Wylie:
  • don dam pa
Tibetan:
  • དོན་དམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • paramārtha

“Ultimate” is preferable to the usual “absolute” because it carries fewer connotations than “absolute”‍—which, however, when understood logically, is also correct. It is contrasted with “superficial” (vyavahāra) or “relative” (samvṛtti) to give the two types, or “levels.,” of truth. It is synonymous with ultimate reality, the uncompounded, voidness, reality, limit of reality, absolute, nirvāṇa, ultimate liberation, infinity, permanence, eternity, independence, etc. It also has the soteriological sense of “sacred” as opposed to “profane” as is conveyed by its literal rendering “supreme” (parama) “object” (artha).

Located in 76 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9-10
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­18
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­50
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­30
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­23
  • 7.­5
  • 8.­25
  • 10.­21
  • 11.­2-3
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­12-15
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­25
  • n.­27
  • n.­36
  • n.­51
  • n.­71
  • n.­95-96
  • n.­98
  • n.­109
  • n.­113-117
  • n.­123
  • n.­153
  • n.­181
  • n.­183-184
  • n.­194-195
  • n.­200
  • n.­202
  • g.­4
  • g.­10
  • g.­34
  • g.­36
  • g.­53
  • g.­54
  • g.­59
  • g.­60
  • g.­63
  • g.­77
  • g.­82
  • g.­116
  • g.­121
  • g.­207
  • g.­220
  • g.­251
  • g.­255
  • g.­281
  • g.­287
  • g.­302
  • g.­318
  • g.­324
  • g.­326
  • g.­333
  • g.­343
  • g.­348
  • g.­351
g.­333

ultimate realm

Wylie:
  • chos kyi dbyings
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmadhātu

This compound is actually metaphorical in sense, with (at least) two interpretations possible because of ambiguities in the word dhātu. Dhātu as in the expression kāmadhātu (desire-realm), may mean “realm”; or it may mean “element,” as in the eighteen elements (see entry), where it is explained as analogous to a mineral such as copper. Thus the realm of the Dharma is the dharmakāyā, the pure source and sphere of the Dharma. And the element of the Dharma is like a mine from which the verbal Dharma, the buddha-qualities, and the wisdoms of the arhats and bodhisattvas are culled. This is metaphorical, as Vimalakīrti would remind us, because the Dharma, the ultimate, is ultimately not a particular place; it is immanent in all places, being the actuality and ultimate condition of all things and being relatively no one thing except, like voidness, the supremely beneficent of concepts.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­8
  • 3.­52
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­29
  • n.­59
g.­335

Upāli

Wylie:
  • nye bar ’khor
Tibetan:
  • ཉེ་བར་འཁོར།
Sanskrit:
  • upāli

Disciple; originally the barber of the Śākya princes, ordained together with them, and noted as an expert on the Vinaya.

(See also n.­80).

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­30-35
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
g.­336

Vaiśālī

Wylie:
  • yangs pa can
Tibetan:
  • ཡངས་པ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśālī

Great city during the Buddha’s time, capital of the Licchavi republic; at present the town of Basarh, Muzaffarpur district, in Tirhut, Bihar province of India. (See Lamotte, pp. 80-83; p. 97, n. 1.).

Located in 22 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­3-5
  • i.­7-8
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­13
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6-7
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­55
  • 4.­3
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­12
  • 9.­17
  • g.­14
  • g.­131
  • g.­149
  • g.­345
g.­338

Vasubandhu

Wylie:
  • dbyig gnyen
Tibetan:
  • དབྱིག་གཉེན།
Sanskrit:
  • vasubandhu

(Fourth century). The younger brother of Āryāsaṅga, he was one of the greatest scholars in Buddhist history, author of the Abhi­dharma­kośa, the most definitive work on the Abhidharma, and later of numerous important works on the Vijñānavāda philosophy.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • g.­1
  • g.­2
  • g.­285
  • g.­301
g.­339

Veda

Wylie:
  • rig byed
Tibetan:
  • རིག་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • veda

Name of the ancient sacred Scriptures of Brahmanism, most famous of which is the Ṛg Veda.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­138
g.­342

view

Wylie:
  • lta ba
Tibetan:
  • ལྟ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • dṛṣṭi

This means a mental conviction or opinion that conditions the mind and determines how it sees reality.

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­4
  • i.­6
  • i.­13
  • 1.­43
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­38
  • 4.­19
  • 4.­21
  • 7.­38
  • 8.­24
  • 9.­24
  • 11.­1
  • 12.­13
  • n.­40
  • n.­84
  • n.­158
  • n.­202
  • g.­79
  • g.­205
  • g.­295
  • g.­317
  • g.­320
  • g.­321
g.­343

Vijñānavāda

Wylie:
  • rnam par shes pa smra ba
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ་སྨྲ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • vijñānavāda

The school of “Consciousness-Only” founded by Maitreya and Āryāsaṅga, which shares with the Mādhyamika most of the philosophical techniques of the Mahāyāna, while differing on the interpretation of the profound meaning of voidness, or the ultimate reality.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • n.­30
  • g.­22
  • g.­155
  • g.­267
  • g.­301
  • g.­338
g.­345

Vimalakīrti

Wylie:
  • dri ma med grags pa
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་མ་མེད་གྲགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vimalakīrti

The wealthy Licchavi layman, from the city of Vaiśālī, ranked as one of the great bodhisattvas. The main protagonist of this sūtra.

Located in 208 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­4-9
  • i.­11-15
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6-7
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­1-2
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­11-12
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­20-21
  • 3.­24-25
  • 3.­27-28
  • 3.­30-31
  • 3.­37-39
  • 3.­41-42
  • 3.­47-48
  • 3.­54-55
  • 3.­62-63
  • 3.­65-67
  • 3.­71-74
  • 3.­82-83
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­4-5
  • 4.­7-15
  • 4.­31
  • 5.­1-2
  • 5.­5-6
  • 5.­8-13
  • 5.­21
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­4-11
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­9-10
  • 7.­16
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­1-10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­16-19
  • 9.­22-23
  • 9.­27-29
  • 10.­1-3
  • 10.­9-11
  • 10.­17
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4-8
  • 11.­10-16
  • 11.­19-20
  • 12.­29
  • n.­5-6
  • n.­10
  • n.­36
  • n.­40
  • n.­44
  • n.­55-57
  • n.­62
  • n.­65-66
  • n.­70-72
  • n.­74
  • n.­79
  • n.­82
  • n.­86
  • n.­88
  • n.­94-96
  • n.­98
  • n.­101
  • n.­106
  • n.­112
  • n.­113-117
  • n.­120
  • n.­136
  • n.­139
  • n.­141
  • n.­143
  • n.­145
  • n.­147
  • n.­157
  • n.­162
  • n.­184
  • n.­188
  • n.­190
  • n.­195
  • g.­3
  • g.­11
  • g.­13
  • g.­52
  • g.­60
  • g.­106
  • g.­131
  • g.­148
  • g.­149
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­185
  • g.­217
  • g.­218
  • g.­235
  • g.­244
  • g.­245
  • g.­248
  • g.­274
  • g.­276
  • g.­277
  • g.­290
  • g.­292
  • g.­305
  • g.­333
g.­346

Vinaya

Wylie:
  • ’dul ba
Tibetan:
  • འདུལ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • vinaya

One of the three Piṭakas, or “Baskets,” of the Buddhist canon; the one dealing specifically with the code of the monastic disipline.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • n.­80
  • g.­1
  • g.­335
g.­347

voidness

Wylie:
  • stong pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • śūnyatā

See “emptiness.”

Located in 47 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 1.­29
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­59
  • 3.­77
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­23-24
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­18
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­26
  • 10.­21
  • 12.­12
  • n.­18
  • n.­34
  • n.­36
  • n.­53
  • n.­59
  • n.­62
  • n.­71
  • n.­76
  • n.­103
  • n.­123
  • n.­153
  • n.­181
  • n.­183
  • n.­202
  • g.­34
  • g.­54
  • g.­60
  • g.­82
  • g.­204
  • g.­220
  • g.­287
  • g.­306
  • g.­312
  • g.­326
  • g.­332
  • g.­333
  • g.­343
  • g.­351
g.­350

wisdom

Wylie:
  • shes rab
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā

Located in 70 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­14
  • 1.­4-5
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­39
  • 2.­1-2
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­56
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­22-27
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­3-4
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­56
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­24
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­15-17
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 11.­3
  • 11.­12
  • 12.­1
  • n.­7
  • n.­30
  • n.­36
  • n.­40
  • n.­51
  • n.­57
  • n.­62
  • n.­71
  • n.­126
  • n.­128
  • n.­139
  • n.­157
  • n.­168
  • g.­1
  • g.­10
  • g.­68
  • g.­71
  • g.­77
  • g.­78
  • g.­86
  • g.­92
  • g.­130
  • g.­171
  • g.­220
  • g.­221
  • g.­302
  • g.­319
  • g.­333
g.­351

wishlessness

Wylie:
  • smon pa med pa
Tibetan:
  • སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apraṇihitatā

Third of the Three Doors of Liberation (see glossary). Objectively, it is equivalent to voidness; subjectively, it is the outcome of the holy gnosis of voidness as the realization of the ultimate lack of anything to wish for, whether voidness itself, or even Buddhahood. See “emptiness.”

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­8
  • 3.­77
  • 4.­23-24
  • 4.­29
  • 8.­22
  • 10.­21
  • 12.­12
  • n.­34
  • g.­287
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    84000. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa, dri med grags pas bstan pa, Toh 176). Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh176/UT22084-060-005-chapter-3.Copy
    84000. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa, dri med grags pas bstan pa, Toh 176). Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh176/UT22084-060-005-chapter-3.Copy
    84000. (2025) The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa, dri med grags pas bstan pa, Toh 176). (Robert A. F. Thurman, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh176/UT22084-060-005-chapter-3.Copy

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