Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra-The Family of the Tathagatas

Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
One of the most beautiful sutras


8. The Family of the Tathagatas

Then, the crown prince Manjusri said to the Licchavi Vimalakirti, "Noble sir, how does the bodhisattva follow the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha?"

Vimalakirti replied, "Manjusri, when the bodhisattva follows the wrong way, he follows the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha." Manjusri continued, "How does the bodhisattva follow the wrong way?" Vimalakirti 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 passions. 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. "He may follow the ways of desire, yet he stays free of attachment to the enjoyments of desire. He may follow the ways of hatred, yet he feels no anger to any living being. He may follow the ways of folly, yet he is ever conscious with the wisdom of firm understanding. "He may follow the ways of avarice, yet he gives away all internal and external things without regard even for his own life. He may follow the ways of immorality, yet, seeing the horror of even the slightest transgressions, he lives by the ascetic practices and austerities. He may follow the ways of wickedness and anger, yet he remains utterly free of malice and lives by love. He may follow the ways of laziness, yet his efforts are uninterrupted as he strives in the cultivation of roots of virtue. He may follow the ways of sensuous distraction, yet, naturally concentrated, his contemplation is not dissipated. He may follow the ways of false wisdom, yet, having reached the transcendence of wisdom, he is expert in all mundane and transcendental sciences. "He may show the ways of sophistry and contention, yet he is always conscious of ultimate meanings and has perfected the use of liberative techniques. He may show the ways of pride, yet he serves as a bridge and a ladder for all people. He may show the ways of the passions, yet he is utterly dispassionate and naturally pure. He may follow the ways of the Maras, yet he does not really accept their authority in regard to his knowledge of the qualities of the Buddha. He may follow the ways of the disciples, yet he lets living beings hear the teaching they have not heard before. He may follow the ways of the solitary sages, yet he is inspired with great compassion in order to develop all living beings. "He may follow the ways of the poor, yet he holds in his hand a jewel of inexhaustible wealth. He may follow the ways of cripples, yet he is beautiful and well adorned with the auspicious signs and marks. He may follow the ways of those of lowly birth, yet, through his accumulation of the stores of merit and wisdom, he is born in the family of the Tathagatas. He may follow the ways of the weak, the ugly, and the wretched, yet he is beautiful to look upon, and his body is like that of Narayana.

"He may manifest to living beings the ways of the sick and the unhappy, yet he has entirely conquered and transcended the fear of death. "He may follow the ways of the rich, yet he is without acquisitiveness and often reflects upon the notion of impermanence. He may show himself engaged in dancing with harem girls, yet he cleaves to solitude, having crossed the swamp of desire. "He follows the ways of the dumb and the incoherent, yet, having acquired the power of incantations, he is adorned with a varied eloquence.

"He follows the ways of the heterodox without ever becoming heterodox. He follows the ways of all the world, yet he reverses all states of existence. He follows the way of liberation without ever abandoning the progress of the world.

"Manjusri, thus does the bodhisattva follow the wrong ways, thereby following the way to the qualities of the Buddha." Then, the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the crown prince Manjusri, "Manjusri, what is the ’family of the Tathagatas’?" Manjusri replied, "Noble sir, the family of the Tathagatas consists of all basic egoism; of ignorance and the thirst for existence; of lust, hate, and folly; of the four misapprehensions, of the five obscurations, of the six media of sense, of the seven abodes of consciousness, of the eight false paths, of the nine causes of irritation, of the paths of ten sins. Such is the family of the Tathagatas. In short, noble sir, the sixty-two kinds of convictions constitute the family of the Tathagatas!"

Vimalakirti: Manjusri, with what in mind do you say so? Manjusri: Noble sir, one who stays in the fixed determination of the vision of the uncreated is not capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. However, one who lives among created things, in the mines of passions, without seeing any truth, is indeed capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. Noble sir, flowers like the blue lotus, the red lotus, the white lotus, the water lily, and the moon lily do not grow on the dry ground in the wilderness, but do grow in the swamps and mud banks. Just so, the Buddha-qualities do not grow in living beings certainly destined for the uncreated but do grow in those living beings who are like swamps and mud banks of passions. Likewise, as seeds do not grow in the sky but do grow in the earth, so the Buddha-qualities do not grow in those determined for the absolute but do grow in those who conceive the spirit of enlightenment, after having produced a Sumeru-like mountain of egoistic views.

Noble sir, through these considerations one can understand that all passions constitute the family of the Tathagatas. For example, noble sir, without going out into the great ocean, it is impossible to find precious, priceless pearls. Likewise, without going into the ocean of passions, it is impossible to obtain the mind of omniscience.

Then, the elder Mahakasyapa applauded the crown prince Manjusri: "Good! Good Manjusri! This is indeed well spoken! This is right! The passions do indeed constitute the family of the Tathagatas. How can such as we, the disciples, conceive the spirit of enlightenment, or become fully enlightened in regard to the qualities of the Buddha? Only those guilty of the five deadly sins can conceive the spirit of enlightenment and can attain Buddhahood, which is the full accomplishment of the qualities of the Buddha!

"Just as, for example, the five desire objects have no impression or effect on those bereft of faculties, even so all the qualities of the Buddha have no impression or effect on the disciples, who have abandoned all adherences. Thus, the disciples can never appreciate those qualities.

"Therefore, Manjusri, the ordinary individual is grateful to the Tathagata, but the disciples are not grateful. Why? The ordinary individuals, upon learning of the virtues of the Buddha, conceive the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment, in order to insure the uninterrupted continuity of the heritage of the Three Jewels; but the disciples, although they may hear of the qualities, powers, and fearlessnesses of the Buddha until the end of their days, are not capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment." Thereupon, the bodhisattva Sarvarupasamdarsana, who was present in that assembly, addressed the Licchavi Vimalakirti: "Householder, where are your father and mother, your children, your wife, your servants, your maids, your laborers, and your attendants? Where are your friends, your relatives, and your kinsmen? Where are your servants, your horses, your elephants, your chariots, your bodyguards, and your bearers?" Thus addressed, the Licchavi Vimalakirti spoke the following verses to the bodhisattva Sarvarupasamdarsana:

Of the true bodhisattvas,

The mother is the transcendence of wisdom,

The father is the skill in liberative technique;

The Leaders are born of such parents.

Their wife is the joy in the Dharma,

Love and compassion are their daughters,

The Dharma and the truth are their sons;

And their home is deep thought on the meaning of voidness.

All the passions are their disciples,

Controlled at will.

Their friends are the aids to enlightenment;

Thereby they realize supreme enlightenment.

Their companions, ever with them,

Are the six transcendences.

Their consorts are the means of unification,

Their music is the teaching of the Dharma.

The incantations make their garden,

Which blossoms with the flowers of the factors of enlightenment,

With trees of the great wealth of the Dharma,

And fruits of the gnosis of liberation.

Their pool consists of the eight liberations,

Filled with the water of concentration,

Covered with the lotuses of the seven impurities - Who bathes therein becomes immaculate.

Their bearers are the six superknowledges,

Their vehicle is the unexcelled Mahayana,

Their driver is the spirit of enlightenment,

And their path is the eightfold peace.

Their ornaments are the auspicious signs,

And the eighty marks;

Their garland is virtuous aspiration,

And their clothing is good conscience and consideration.

Their wealth is the holy Dharma,

And their business is its teaching,

Their great income is pure practice,

And it is dedicated to the supreme enlightenment.

Their bed consists of the four contemplations,

And its spread is the pure livelihood,

And their awakening consists of gnosis,

Which is constant learning and meditation.

Their food is the ambrosia of the teachings,

And their drink is the juice of liberation.

Their bath is pure aspiration,

And morality their unguent and perfume.

Having conquered the enemy passions,

They are invincible heroes.

Having subdued the four Maras,

They raise their standard on the field of enlightenment.

They manifest birth voluntarily,

Yet they are not born, nor do they originate.

They shine in all the fields of the Buddhas,

Just like the rising sun.

Though they worship Buddhas by the millions,

With every conceivable offering,

They never dwell upon the least difference

Between the Buddhas and themselves.

They journey through all Buddha-fields

In order to bring benefit to living beings,

Yet they see those fields as just like empty space,

Free of any conceptual notions of "living beings."

The fearless bodhisattvas can manifest,

All in a single instant,

The forms, sounds, and manners of behavior

Of all living beings.

Although they recognize the deeds of Maras,

They can get along even with these Maras;

For even such activities may be manifested

By those perfected in liberative technique.

They play with illusory manifestations

In order to develop living beings,

Showing themselves to be old or sick,

And even manifesting their own deaths.

They demonstrate the burning of the earth

In the consuming flames of the world’s end,

In order to demonstrate impermanence

To living beings with the notion of permanence.

Invited by hundreds of thousands of living beings,

All in the same country,

They partake of offerings at the homes of all,

And dedicate all for the sake of enlightenment.

They excel in all esoteric sciences,

And in the many different crafts,

And they bring forth the happiness

Of all living beings.

By devoting themselves as monks

To all the strange sects of the world,

They develop all those beings

Who have attached themselves to dogmatic views.

They may become suns or moons,

Indras, Brahmas, or lords of creatures,

They may become fire or water

Or earth or wind.

During the short aeons of maladies,

They become the best holy medicine;

They make beings well and happy,

And bring about their liberation.

During the short aeons of famine,

They become food and drink.

Having first alleviated thirst and hunger,

They teach the Dharma to living beings.

During the short aeons of swords,

They meditate on love,

Introducing to nonviolence

Hundreds of millions of living beings.

In the middle of great battles

They remain impartial to both sides;

For bodhisattvas of great strength

Delight in reconciliation of conflict.

In order to help the living beings,

They voluntarily descend into

The hells which are attached

To all the inconceivable buddha-fields.

They manifest their lives

In all the species of the animal kingdom,

Teaching the Dharma everywhere.

Thus they are called "Leaders."

They display sensual enjoyment to the worldlings, And trances to the meditative.

They completely conquer the Maras,

And allow them no chance to prevail.

Just as it can be shown that a lotus

Cannot exist in the center of a fire,

So they show the ultimate unreality

Of both pleasures and trances.

They intentionally become courtesans

In order to win men over,

And, having caught them with the hook of desire, They establish them in the buddha-gnosis.

In order to help living beings,

They always become chieftains,

Captains, priests, and ministers,

Or even prime ministers.

For the sake of the poor,

They become inexhaustible treasures,

Causing those to whom they give their gifts

To conceive the spirit of enlightenment.

They become invincible champions,

For the sake of the proud and the vain,

And, having conquered all their pride,

They start them on the quest for enlightenment.

They always stand at the head

Of those terrified with fright,

And, having bestowed fearlessness upon them, They develop them toward enlightenment.

They become great holy men,

With the superknowledges and pure continence,

And thus induce living beings to the morality

Of tolerance, gentleness, and discipline.

Here in the world, they fearlessly behold

Those who are masters to be served,

And they become their servants or slaves,

Or serve as their disciples.

Well trained in liberative technique,

They demonstrate all activities,

Whichever possibly may be a means

To make beings delight in the Dharma.

Their practices are infinite;

And their spheres of influence are infinite;

Having perfected an infinite wisdom,

They liberate an infinity of living beings.

Even for the Buddhas themselves,

During a million aeons,

Or even a hundred million aeons,

It would be hard to express all their virtues.

Except for some inferior living beings,

Without any intelligence at all,

Is there anyone with any discernment

Who, having heard this teaching,

Would not wish for the supreme enlightenment?