The Trace of the Moonbird

After a heavy dose of philosophy in chapter five, chapter six is again a bit more playful. Shariputra - the eternal punching bag of the Mahayana sutras - looks at the multitude of monks, nuns, bodhisattvas, gods, demons and other mythical beings who have gathered in Vimalakirti’s small sick room and wonders where they should sit. Vimalakirti, who can read the mind of others, exposes him of completely missing the point: “Did you come here for the sake of the Law [Dharma], or are you just looking for a place to sit?”, he asks (Vimalakirti Sutra, 1997, p. 75.) The humiliated Shariputra replies that he has of course come for the Dharma. This is all Vimalakirti needs to reel off a fine teaching of what it means -  or rather what it does not mean - to seek the Dharma, apparently denying many of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism. “The Dharma has nothing to do with idle theorizing” sums up his criticism of the orthodox Buddhist doctrines. And the conclusion of this impromptu lecture is that t

After all of the buddha’s disciples and the bodhisattvas in the assembly refuse to visit Vimalakirti on his sickbed, only Manjushri, the young bodhisattva famous for his wisdom, takes up the challenge and agrees to inquire about the illness of the genius layman. At this point all of those who have refused to go now decide to come along and witness the encounter of the two prodigies. 500 monks, 8000 bodhisattvas and hundreds of thousands of gods, demons, monsters and other mythical creatures from the Buddha’s great assembly enter the town of Vaishali and go to Vimalakirti’s house. Vimalakirti quickly empties his room of furniture and servants, not to make space for the multitude, but as a prop for a lecture about emptiness. Once everybody is inside the little sick room - don’t be such a voice-hearer dear reader and ask how they all fit in - the Dharma combat begins (Vimalakirti Sutra, 1997, p. 64.) Manjushri faithfully inquires about the circumstances and causes of Vimalakirti’s sicknes

After the 500 monks have refused to visit Vimalakirti, the Buddha turns to the bodhisattvas in his gathering. But they too decline to meet the Buddhist lay prodigy on the grounds of some previous experience where Vimalakirti has outsmarted them. Chapter four mentions four such encounters. The bodhisattva Maitreya, dwelling in the Tushita heaven and awaiting his prophesied final rebirth as the Buddha of the Future, is told off for teaching about enlightenment - bodhi - is if it was something personal (The Vimalakirti Sutra, 1997, pp. 52-54.) A young bodhisattva called Shining Adornment, who greets Vimalakirti at a city gate, receives an unsolicited sermon about the "place of practice" which is basically everything and everywhere (Vimalakirti Sutra, 1997, pp. 54-56.) Another bodhisattva in the form of a rich and charitable townsman is told that he should rather be generous with the Dharma instead of material goods (The Vimalakirti Sutra, 1997, pp. 59-63.) My favourite story i

Last Saturday, 22 February,  I spent the day in a church hall in South London on at a day of Zazen. The Brockley group had invited Yushin Christophe Guillet from Kanshoji temple in Souteast France. For city-Zen folk like me it is always interesting to meet Zen followers who have chosen a more monastic existence. Yushin has been at Kanshoji since the beginning in 2002. He now finally feels that the temple is settling in some sort of routine after almost of two decades of building and learning the ins and outs monastic Zen life. Yushin gave as some valuable insights into the life of the temple - zazen practice twice daily, ceremonies, communal meals and work periods (samu). And although they live and work in a monastery, Kanshoji residents also have plenty of contact with the surrounding communities. Yushin mentioned the temple band which regularly participates in local music festivals. Kanshoji is open to visitors who want to stay for as little as an afternoon and up to a year or more.