Can you hear me back there on the corner and online? Nicholas, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Hi, everyone. So, yesterday we had an all-day sitting and began our practice commitment period. Our study theme for the practice period is the Thimmalakirti Sutra scripture, which is about, well, involves Great Awakened Late Person Thimmalakirti who lived in the city of Vaishali in the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. And yesterday I talked about Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

[01:06]

And Chapter 1 is about Buddha fields and how when a Buddha awakens, the world around them becomes a Buddha field. And I talked a little bit about Chapter 2, which I want to focus on this evening, which is about the activities of the Great Awakened Late Person Thimmalakirti and his practice entering all mundane realms. So, just to start off this chapter, it says, at that time, there lived in the great city of Vaishali a certain Vichavi, which is a kind of tribe called the Thimmalakirti by name. Having served the ancient Buddhas, he had generated the roots of virtue by honoring them and making offerings to them.

[02:15]

He had attained tolerance as well as eloquence. He played with the great synchronologies. He had attained the power of incantations and philosophies. 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 and liberative technique, he was especially, he was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of living beings. So, this skill and liberative technique, as Robert Thurman translates it here, is sometimes called Upaya in Sanskrit, skillful means.

[03:18]

So, this is, in terms of the Thimmalakirti, it's talking about the skillful means of the skill and liberative technique of a Buddha. But also, this is a Bodhisattva practice. So, this sutra is a Bodhisattva Mahayana sutra. This is a sutra about those who practice awakening for all beings. And this practice of skill and liberative technique is important for us as Bodhisattva practitioners. It's described most fully in the Lotus Sutra, another important Mahayana sutra. But here it's talking about this combination.

[04:20]

So, the Thimmalakirti had been liberated, was liberated, is liberated through the paramita of transcendent practice of wisdom. Of seeing into the heart of things, of everything. Of prajna is called an insight. This immediate awareness. This is an important aspect of Mahayana practice. But it goes on to say that Thimmalakirti, having integrated this realization, this realization to wisdom, was skilled in the technique, was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of all living beings, and how to help liberate them, relieve them of suffering. So this is an important aspect of practice, the integration of wisdom and compassion.

[05:22]

Two wings of the Mahayana verb, to put it that way. So, this chapter, it's not that long, but it goes on to talk about how Thimmalakirti practiced two wings. Skill and effort of technique. Knowing the strength or weakness of their faculties, and being gifted with unrivaled eloquence, Thimmalakirti taught the dharma appropriately to each. So, again, to comment on that, part of skillful means is, or maybe the heart of skillful means, is respecting differences and particularities of all people and all beings. And, of course, the perfection of wisdom is about seeing the wholeness and sameness of all beings.

[06:29]

But also, to be helpful to beings, we need to appreciate differences, diversity. We need to appreciate the particular difficulties of each person, each being, each event. So, Thimmalakirti, like the Buddha, taught the dharma appropriately to each being, having applied himself energetically to the Mahayana, he understood it and accomplished his tasks with great finesse. He lived with the deportment of a Buddha. He appeared, you know, as 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 all the gods. In order to develop living beings with his skillful means,

[07:35]

he lived in the city of Vaisala. So, this is the introduction to this person, this being, Thimmalakirti. And, you know, we're looking at the sutra and Thimmalakirti in this practice period to inspire us as lay practitioners, not monks, living in a great city, Chicago, not by chance, although we have people in the distance who also join us online. So, the point of studying this sutra, and the point of all dharma study really is, how does it support our practice? So, we will continue in the practice period looking at the material of the Thimmalakirti sutra, but also considering what it means for us.

[08:37]

So, in the case of Thimmalakirti, and he is a very lofty figure, of course, it says his wealth was inexhaustible for the purpose of sustaining the poor and the helpless. He observed pure morality in order to protect the immoral. He maintained tolerance and self-control in order to reconcile beings who were angry, or cruel, or violent and brutal. He glazed with energy in order to inspire people who were lazy. He maintained concentration, mindfulness, and meditation in order to sustain the mentally troubled. He attained decisive wisdom in order to sustain the foolish. So, we might all look to figures like Thimmalakirti in our own laziness and foolishness.

[09:43]

That goes on to say he wore the white clothes of the layman, yet lived impeccably like a religious devotee. So, going back to India, I think this was true of China as well, we actually saw it in Japan. Lay people wear white, lay practitioners wear white, monks and priests wear black, but anyway, let's just mention here. And images, there are not as many images of Thimmalakirti as there are of other great Bodhisattvas. But they're shot, and sometimes it's depicted wearing white. A great historical lay people, lay adepts of China, with this adept or also depicted wearing white. So, it goes on to talk about some of the ways in which Thimmalakirti practiced

[10:49]

and helped awaken the ancient skillfulness in the city of Vaisala. Just to read some excerpts. He made his appearance at the fields of sports and at the casinos, but his aim was always to mature those people who were attached to games and gambling. He visited the fashionable teachers of the day, local teachers. He always kept on swerving water to the Buddha. He understood all the mundane, intense, and gentle sciences and esoteric practices. So, he studied science, he studied various other spiritual practices. Yet he always took pleasure in the delight of the Buddha Dharma. He mixed in all crowds, yet were respected as the foremost of all.

[11:51]

So, in whatever activity he was involved with, he was apparent as someone who was teaching truth, teaching reality, which is Dharma. And he was always considered the most joyful of each of those. So, it goes on with many descriptions. He engaged in all sorts of business, yet had no interest in profit or possession. To train living beings, he would appear at crossroads and on street corners. And to protect them, he anticipated, he participated in government. So, to develop children, he visited all the schools to demonstrate the evils of desire. He even entered the brothels to establish drunkards and correct mindfulness.

[12:52]

He entered all the cabarets and tabloids. So, he went into bars to demonstrate sobriety. So, this is the way he's depicted. It goes on, he was honored as the businessman, among businessmen, because he demonstrated the priority of the Dharma. He was honored as the landlord among landlords because he renounced aggressiveness of ownership. He was even honored as the warrior among warriors, because he cultivated endurance and determination. So, it goes on like that. He also says he was compatible with ordinary people because he appreciated the excellence of ordinary merits. So, this is this model layman who is involved in the world, in worldly activities,

[14:01]

and very skillful, most skillful, for the sake of expressing truth and Dharma. At that time, out of this very skill of meditative techniques, the malachite manifested himself as if sick. So, this is an important part of the sutra. He, and the scenes that follow, the chapters that follow, involve his illness. And as it says at this point, to inquire after his health, the king, the officials, the lords in this communal society, the youths, the aristocrats, the householders, the businessmen, the townsfolk, the countryfolk,

[15:02]

and thousands of other living beings came forth from the great sea of our shore and called on this invalid, the malachite, to be addressed as invalid. So far, and we'll hear more about that this next weekend in chapter five, but he uses his illness as a way of teaching about reality and encouraging people to practice and to awaken. It touches on one ear, and we'll get more into that, but he talks about the frailty of the wise, as this body is only a vessel of many sicknesses. Wise men do not rely on it. This body is like a ball of foam, unable to bear any pressure.

[16:05]

It is like a water bubble, not remaining very long. It is like a mirage formed from the aquatides of the passions. So it goes on like this. It is like a dream being an unreal vision. It is like a reflection being the image of former actions. So he was touching on the problem that this body suffers or feels as the consequence of our former activities. It is like an echo being dependent on conditioning. So there are many classic Buddhist teachings here embedded in these descriptions in the sutra. So it is like an echo being dependent on many conditions. There is a teaching of pratityasana prada,

[17:07]

to use the technical terms, dependent co-origination, which is a kind of wisdom teaching, an important wisdom teaching, that all things are a function of everything else. So each of us, as we sit here or online, is actually a product, a function, an arising of everything else. Everybody we have ever known, all the other people in Chicago or Minneapolis, Indiana, all the people in our lives. And all the people we know are part of what we see right now. So we are, and everything is like everything. So Thich Nhat Hanh is an example of worship,

[18:09]

holding up paper and saying, can you see the trees? Can you see the nitrogen in the soil? Can you see the clouds? Can you see the rainfall? All of which made this possible. And you can take any event and similarly see how each of us, our bodies, ourselves are all a product of all of these things. So because our, it is like a cloud, we characterize by turbulence and dissolution. So as human beings, we tend to live in turbulence and dissolution. And sustained Zazak practice can help calm that Zazak. The world is still, the world is turbulent. The world is difficult.

[19:11]

The world brings us challenges. No matter how calm and settled and peaceful it becomes. It's like a flash of lightning, being unstable and decaying every moment. The body is onerous, being a product of a variety of conditions with respect to what I'm saying. Because I'm talking about the limitations of the body. Its duration is uncertain. Certain only is end of death. So after all of this, you should despair of this personal body. Not rely on it. Not, not ignore it. Not ignore it. But not base your mind on this body lesson forever.

[20:12]

But instead admire the body of the Tathagata, the Buddha, the Vespa one. So this body of Buddha is another important basic teaching of Mahayana, that the body of reality, body Buddha, is not separate from ourself. Our small particular self that's going to pop like the bubble is also an expression of this body of Tathagata. Tathagata is Sanskrit for one who comes and goes in such and such a way. So he talks about this historical body. He says, just for example, the body of the Tathagata is born of the stories of merit and wisdom.

[21:18]

It is born of morality, of meditation, of wisdom, of liberation, and of the knowledge and vision of liberation. It is born of love, and compassion, joy, and impartiality. So we may recognize there, it's worth remembering, love, compassion, joy, and impartiality, this translation, of course. It is born of charity, discipline, and self-control, born of the path of ten virtues, born of patience and gentleness. It is born of the roots of virtue planted by solid efforts. It is born of the concentrations, liberations, meditations, and absorptions. So basically, this practice that we're doing, this Zazen practice that we're doing, the point is to sustain it, to give this practice over time.

[22:22]

And what unfolds over time is this awareness. So we say, the four vows we'll say later, the fourth one is Buddha is unsurpassable. The Buddha way is unsurpassable without realizing it. Another translation is without embodying it, to become like Buddha. And so this is the effect of practicing, sustained practice of this way of meditation, of calmness, of compassion, of wisdom. And it's not that we practice in order to reach some other place, because all of that is right here. But this example of the Molokirti is to inspire us to realize that,

[23:29]

to see how that is in our being right now. And there's much more to say about the Molokirti itself as we proceed in this sutra. So, as I indicated, he combines the teaching of wisdom of the Bhajan of the school, of the school of emptiness, with compassion. And compassion is expressed particularly in the inconceivable teachings, like the Sadhana Sutra that I've talked about. So both of those are semi-groups here. But the point is to integrate those, to integrate all of these wisdoms and timelessness in our own lives. And it's not about reaching some super being,

[24:32]

it's about seeing how they are here. And that we have the capacity to express those in different ways at different times. So this sutra is an encouragement to us to see that. And I'll mention again, one of the key teachings in the Molokirti Sutra that I talked about a little bit yesterday, in Sanskrit, Padagatam Shantam. The patience or tolerance with the ungraspability, the unknowability, the undefinability of things, of everything. They're not really any objects because it was visible. And we didn't come to realize that, see how all things come together to produce this world.

[25:34]

So it's not about transcending or going beyond our ordinary life. It's seeing how all of these qualities, virtues that the Molokirti expresses can be part of our life, can be part of our everyday practice. So again, the Molokirti that's in a big city, practices in the world, and tries to help people, and help people awaken in all those contexts. So this is maybe a lofty example for us. But the point of studying this is to see how this may be available in our lives.

[26:38]

So I'll stop there. I'm interested in your comments, questions, responses. Perspectives. Questions about the Molokirti, or this text, or this practice, or anything else. So will I please stop the recording? I'll go live if there's a problem. Yes, Ken. Thank you, Tsai-Yin, for the reading. The Molokirti seems like a very scattered source for study. It's been made and everything. I've been looking at section one, section two, and section five of its teachings from online. And from what you just read there, he is, as you say, connecting with all kinds of different people, understanding their life,

[27:40]

having compassion for their situation, empathizing with their various plights and everything. So it's a very concrete kind of contact and connection with other folks based on compassion. In this day and age, we know all the people. We are, of course, in contact with our families, friends, asada, like that. But at the same time, what's different from the Molokirti era is that we are dealing with, you know, something in the area of the media, concepts. Now I've conceived of soil erosion in Nepal, and how should I be dealing with that? And, you know, the economic situation in Europe, this kind of thing. And those things aren't always accurate. I mean, sometimes they're proven to be illusory. Maybe this issue that was out here, you know, in the middle of Siberia,

[28:45]

turns out not to be correct. Or something is unperceived. Something is there's actually a big problem out there environmentally or politically, something like that. And we miss the whole thing. So we have the Molokirti's realm, where we're dealing very concretely with the folks we encounter every day, you know, in various realms. At the same time, we have this other realm of, I wouldn't say illusion, but it is abstract. And so I wonder how Molokirti would deal with that. Thank you. Yes, this is the question. I think this is the question for us. So, you know, you mentioned media. So, you know, there's misinformation intentionally probably. Well, we got that. And, you know, so how do we take this ancient Indian scripture

[29:46]

and apply it to our current complex world with all of its faults and so forth? So, yeah, I don't have one answer to that. If I had an answer, maybe I would say some. Because so, for example, in our little Chicago softball with the stretches to Indiana and California and Wisconsin and Minnesota and Ohio and New York and so forth, we have many people who are doing the Buddha work, sometimes called, the work of the Molokirti. We have students studying how to do various things. We have teachers at various levels, from grade school to graduate school. We have technical people who are working with the technology

[30:51]

and helping us to use it appropriately. We have attorneys. We have psychologists. We have conservationists. We have martial arts teachers, you know, just in our little softball, and businessmen. So I think, you know, we do have to work at translating these ancient Buddhist teachings to our situation. That's the challenge of American Buddhism, of modern Buddhism. And yet, there are these old teachings. This one, it's not clear when it was composed. It's supposed to be the words of Buddha. Buddha's students at the Molokirti, from Buddha's time,

[31:59]

4,500 years ago, probably going to write, I don't know, something like that. So, okay, how are these teachings? And then I talk about Dōgen, 13th century Japan, 12th century China. So this practice that has been kept alive generation after generation, that we are absented on. It's very rich in traditions. And it's always shifted and changed with the culture. So this is a whole other big topic, but it's really our topic. And so I'm hoping that by looking at this teaching of the great awakened layperson in a big town in India, big city in India, we can look at, what are some of the things that we can do individually and collectively?

[33:04]

So thank you for that question. That's the question for the practice. Thank you. Other comments, responses, perspectives, questions? Hi, Kirshen. Thank you for that talk. It's been a long time since I read the Malakirti Sutra, and I am rereading it. So we all know the story of how Shakyamuni was born into a wealthy family and his path to awakening. But I don't know how the Malakirti got from, obviously, he's an upper-class person. How did he get to be this awakened bodhisattva? I can't remember. The older I get, the more I forget. So maybe I won't see that, but I'm interested. Well, I mentioned it yesterday. I gave a spoiler. At the very end of the sutra, it talks about –

[34:09]

throughout it mentions that he has practiced with many Buddhist associates. But, you know, they have a very different way of seeing things. In classical Buddhism, they talk about rebirth and many lives. And some of us might believe that, and some of us probably don't. It's not part of our modern, consumerist, capitalist worldview. But at any rate, it says towards one of the last chapters, it's not one of the chapters we're focusing on in the practice period, that he had practiced for a long time with Akshaya Buddha, the Pure Land of Avaratthi, not Amida or Amitabha's Pure Land, which is a work-based Buddhist. But what that means is that he worked at it. He'd done meditation for lifetimes. We can understand that kind of language metaphorically, too. He had worked at it, but then here he was, this wealthy, skillful person

[35:19]

who was helping others through it. So we're all on the path, as you said. And that's not about – and again, in circles, then we emphasize it's not about, oh, if you practice long enough, someday you'll be like Monk Kirti. It's about seeing how here, this week, this month, in this place, in this body, with this mind, with these friends, we are unfolding the capacity to be helpful, to actually have skillful, liberative techniques. This is sort of what's stressed in this chapter. So that's something to talk about more, too, to develop these skills that help people, that help them be self-enlightened, awakened beings. And those of you who I know in this room, all are doing it in various different ways.

[36:19]

And part of compassion is that there are many, many, many different ways. It's not one mode. But Sangha, or Dharmakaya, we could say, the body of Buddha, as reality itself, to see the whole metaverse and all the different universes as Sangha, everybody's doing something. Krista, one quick comment. I think tonight is the first time I ever chanted that chant. And it was quite wonderful. And I just put a request in that to be on our playlist. Well, we've chanted it before, but not as often as some others. And maybe especially during the practice period, we'll chant that because it mentions the logic. And this is a poem by Oja, a Chinese Soto adept in the 12th century.

[37:26]

I mentioned yesterday the self-fulfillment sabbati, though, which is about Buddhafield. So we'll be chanting that sometime soon. Mother, we have a little bit of time if there's a couple of responses or questions. Hi, it's Nicholas. Can you hear me? I'm sorry, Nicholas. I had you muted. Go ahead, though. Okay. Hi. So you mentioned something briefly that I picked up on in this sutra, and I was wondering if you could elaborate. And that is this idea of having patience with accepting how ungraspable slash mysterious life is. Yes.

[38:28]

Yeah, I spoke about it some yesterday. Maybe I'll have to put a plug into this in every talk, this practice period. But yeah. Patience is such an important practice. We have six or ten kind of transcendent practices. Of course, there are lists and lists and lists of various practices. One of the things about the Mahatma Tantra is that it has a really wonderful three actions, three glasses in the back. People in the practice period receive that, but anybody who isn't visited, I can send that to you. But these, so there's, I mentioned some of them before, not for ours, and in the course of just going through this material in the sutra, it mentions all these different systems of teaching. But anyway, patience is subtle, and it's really important.

[39:31]

I don't know if I'd say it's my favorite paramita. Maybe it is. It's certainly one of the most important, practically. It's the one that I know most about from my teacher, who was incredibly patient. But yeah, but patience is not passive. So this is an important point. So thank you for the question. I'm getting towards the end of the time, but I'll just say that what this particular way of talking about patience is, this is considered equivalent to, in Sanskrit, antara-samyak-sambhorya, unsurpassed, the perfect director. The equivalent of that is this patience or tolerance for the ungraspability of all events, the inconceivability, the indefinability of all events.

[40:37]

So this does counter to our usual educational programs, where we're taught to figure out things, and deliberate, and decide things, and define them, and know what they are. You'll be given a test at the end of the semester or whatever. And it's not that all that stuff is bad, or that you shouldn't know things. In fact, everybody here knows a lot of stuff, and the point is having to use it to help beings, to help awakened beings. But beneath all that, unsurpassed, complete, perfect awakening, is the fact, or the practice, or the awareness, or the patience with tolerance of the ungraspability of anything. I can hold this up, but all that went into creating this event,

[41:40]

and the word may actually be the gossip who spoke to this during my translation of Tassajara, and every single paralyzed one. It's all up there. But we can't get a hold of it. So our strong tendency to want to possess things, to want to know about things, to want to really understand everything, gets in the way of awakening. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't understand things again. It just means not to be obsessed by that, not to be caught by thinking we can do that. So thanks for the question, Nicholas, and please ask that question every time you're here, because it's the question. So it's a little past time, but we have eight weeks of working on this text, and we have a lifetime of practicing it.

[42:45]

So we'll close with, let me brush it. What were we set for that?

[42:52]

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