Tag Archives: Beatitudes

11.Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible

Meanwhile, back at the main assembly, a strange golden-like hue descends and encompasses everything. Ananda is awestruck and inquires from the Blessed One what this could mean. The Buddha says that this auspicious sign is a portent that Vimalakriti, Mañjuśrī and the great multitude of Bodhi-beings from Sarvagandhasugandhā will be arriving soon. Sure enough, Vimalakriti—in a miraculous fashion like the Buddha before him (with his Big-Toe) reduces the vast company of Bodhi-beings with their vast thrones into the palm of his hand and, in an instant, transports them from Sarvagandhasugandhā to the present assembly. Like Aladdin rubbing his magic lamp, those Bodhi-beings appear and begin to emit their divine spiritual-fragrance. Ananda inquires, what is that strange smell? The Buddha says that is that mystical-spice emanating from the pores of the Bodhi-beings; then, Śāriputra, like a little kid says, “Yes, see…it’s emanating from our pores, too!” Ananda then aska Vimalakriti “how long will this –perfume smell last?” Vimalakriti says, “Not until it’s thoroughly digested.” This is highly symbolic of the spiritual path that a Bodhisattva is called to follow—the ten-fold path of Bodhisattvahood—it will all finally be digested when the Bodhisattva conceives anuttara samyak sambodhi…hence perfected in Inseparable-Bodhi. The Blessed One then expounds that there are an infinitesimal number of Dharma-doors that open into many diversified Buddha-fields—all propounding the Buddhadharma; in this fashion, the Buddhadharma can be expounded upon for a trillion eons and still not exhaust the teachings of the Tathagatas. Feeling deeply humbled with this realization, Ananda considers himself from this day-forth truly unwise! The Buddha says that this is a cop-out! “Sure, Ananda, you’re the foremost of the disciples—your powers of observation and memorization are second-to-none, yet in all your splendid and erudite disciplehood, the least “Bodhisattva” is greater than you.” “Why? Ananda, these marvels displayed in a single morning by the Licchavi Vimalakirti could not be performed by the disciples and solitary sages who have attained miraculous powers, were they to devote all their powers of incarnation and transformation during one hundred thousand millions of aeons.” read more