"Dear good friends, Lao Ne has said so much in one breath. If you have any questions or doubts, you can ask them..." As soon as the Sixth Patriarch Huineng finished speaking, I saw one among the crowd who had a pretty face. , the young man who looked like a scholar raised his hand and said: "Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, I have a question I would like to ask."
The Sixth Patriarch, Master Huineng, raised his hand and said, "Please speak."
"Thank you, Master Huineng, Sixth Patriarch!" After thanking him, the man asked, "Forgive me for being ignorant, but who is the master Vimalakīrti in the "Vimalakirti Sutra" mentioned by my ancestor just now?"
Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, said: "The Vimalakīrti Sutra tells about a rich man in India named Vimalakīrti. His family had thousands of treasures and many slaves."
"Oh, it turns out he is a rich man from India, the Buddhist country. Thank you very much, Master, for your answer." The scholar said with gratitude.
"You're welcome." Then, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng introduced Vimalakīrti eloquently -
Vimalakīrti studied diligently and practiced devoutly. He was able to live in the world without living in it, face the environment without living in it, and achieved the holy fruit. He was called a Bodhisattva and was the representative of all great Bodhisattvas. With straight mind and true mindfulness, you can personally witness the reality of equality; you can see the source of the heart of all sentient beings, possess endless sands of troubles, and have immeasurable merits. Therefore, expedient teachings are initiated so that all sentient beings can eliminate their worries and manifest the merits from the source of their minds. However, for it to be a model and standard, it must rely on the Buddha who has already appeared. If you have a broad mind and realize the truth, you can make merits based on the Buddha's merits.
Once, he was ill at home and alarmed the Buddha. The Buddha specially sent Manjushri Bodhisattva and others to visit the patient.
The Buddha knew that Vimalakirti Bodhisattva was just pretending to be ill, so he sent Manjushri Bodhisattva, who was known as the most wisdom.
After Manjusri met Vimalakīrti, the two Bodhisattvas fought each other and repeatedly discussed the Dharma, with profound meanings and witty remarks, which stunned the Bodhisattvas and Arhats who also visited him. After a debate, Manjushri praised Vimalakīrti even more, and people also respected Vimalakīrti Bodhisattva even more.
Vimalakirti was born in the Saha world from the Land of Wonderful Joy. He showed the appearance of a layman, supported the teachings of the Buddha, and became a Dharmakaya master.
He is a wealthy businessman and elder in the city of Vaishali. He is not only eloquent, compassionate and convenient, but also loved by the city residents.
His wife was beautiful, her name was Wugu, and she had a son and a daughter, the son was named Shansi Tongzi, and the daughter was named Yueshangnu, both of whom had good roots in previous lives.
A family of four usually entertains themselves with the law. When a boy who is good at thinking is still in his infancy, he can question and answer questions about the wonderful meanings of the Buddha and his great disciples.
The Buddha once went to the city of Vaishali, where a thoughtful boy presented flowers to the Buddha. The Buddha taught him the Dharma, and he immediately attained the Dharma-endurance of non-birth.
When the girl on the moon was born, she never cried, and she was able to talk about the causes and conditions of her past life. The light radiated from her body was better than the moonlight, like gold, shining in the home.
When she was eight years old, she had grown into a beautiful and beautiful virgin, which aroused the admiration and pursuit of the ministers, laymen, elders, Brahmans and young boys from wealthy nobles in the city. Therefore, she launched a magical game to attract brides. Finally, the girl on the moon married her. Transformed all the boys into the Buddha's path and aroused bodhicitta.
The Lady on the Moon used her eloquence and supernatural powers to discuss the wonderful meaning of Buddhism with sravakas and bodhisattvas, and received prophecies from the Buddha. Therefore, the sutra describes Vimalakirti "Although he lives at home, he is not connected to the three realms; he has a wife and often practices the holy life."
He followed the path of Bodhisattva and worked with Manjushri Bodhisattva and his master Sakyamuni Buddha in order to save the two vehicles of sound and hearing. He used the power and skill to even show his life. , highlighting the Bodhisattva spirit of Vimalakirti Vimalakia’s dual destiny of compassion and wisdom.
He travels among all walks of life, does business with credit, and even goes to various sensual places and helps people as he pleases, all in order to promote the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. He taught Saha sentient beings to see the pure land of the soul and create a beautiful world at the moment; he explained the incredible method of liberation, emphasizing that "afflictions are Bodhi, not leaving life and death, and not realizing Nirvana" is the only method, and provided practitioners with wonderful medicine and prescriptions to cure diseases. .
After Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, gave a respectful introduction to Vimalakīrti, his kind eyes rested on the sentient beings who longed for enlightenment.
At this time, among the crowd, there was a man who looked like an official, and said loudly: "The Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire were jointly ranked as the most powerful empires in the world. Their reputation spread far and wide overseas, and the Chinese were often called Tang people overseas. But in recent years , unprecedented changes occurred in the social life of the Tang Dynasty, various wars continued, palace coups, the trees wanted to be quiet but the wind continued..."
"This is obvious to all and everyone knows it." Shenhui couldn't help but interject.
"Please allow me to finish." The man glared at Shenhui. It was obvious that he was very unwilling to be interrupted. He didn't know that the young boy in front of him was Shenhui, the disciple of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, whom he admired. .
Seeing this, the god quickly apologized and said: "I have offended you a lot just now. I sincerely hope that you will be more generous and don't care about ordinary people. I can't keep you company this time."
Seeing the sincere attitude in front of him, the man also called himself a young monk. It seemed that he had realized something, and he quickly returned the courtesy: "It doesn't have to be like this. I usually talk, I just don't want anyone to interrupt, that's all. Please don't take it to heart."
"It's rare for me to be so generous. Please continue." Shenhui stretched out his hand and made an elegant "please" gesture.
The man smiled and said, "Okay."
The man said, "History is no longer peaceful. The pastoral life of the past has been difficult to find in the war. Although the ancient bright moon still hangs high in the sky, the mountains and rivers of the earth have changed. In the memory of the Tang Dynasty, the shepherd boys of the past played In the dusk, the leisurely pastoral life beside the mountain stream of Huanfu Rubbing Clothes has long been replaced by the turbulent war. Especially the civil and military ministers in the imperial court, their lives are so tense and so depressing... Everyone hopes to have A harmonious and stable peaceful age. However, open and covert fighting has made people's goodwill less and less, and the pressure of survival on each minister is increasing. Faced with pressure, the emperor, civil and military ministers..."
After the man talked about the turbulent political situation in the country, he raised a question that was quite concerning for the country and the people: "So, what is the way out to solve this macro-problem like saving the earth? Intelligent people turned their attention to Buddhism. Turned to Zen culture.”
When the man said this, he looked at Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, doubtfully, and said noncommittally: "Can you?"
"The question raised by Dusi Zhang is a good one!" In fact, as soon as the man opened his mouth just now, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng recognized him as Zhang Zhongchang, the Dusi at the entrance of the cave.
Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, continued his topic, "To paraphrase Master Zhang's topic just now, this is just like the earth saver proposed that 'there is only one earth'. Can we also apply it and say 'there is only one Tang Dynasty'? That is the harmony that allows us to survive." Every minute of it is full of harmony and joy, which is tantamount to asking, is there any way to make the polluted river water clean again?" When the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said this, he glanced at the crowd with his torch-like eyes...
Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you. I didn’t know how to answer for a moment...
