Phương Nào Cõi Tịnh

Author: Tuệ Sỹ

Translated by Nguyên Giác

(Written from inspiration after reading “Cõi Phật Đâu Xa” by Đỗ Hồng Ngọc.)

Translator's note: This translation was made to celebrate the 84th birthday of the writer Đỗ Hồng Ngọc. The translator could not fully translate the profound words of the author, Tuệ Sỹ, a genius bodhisattva of this realm who used non-dual principles to write about Đỗ Hồng Ngọc, a very remarkable layman. Please watch this new screenplay appearing on words: Zen Master Tuệ Sỹ and writer Đỗ Hồng Ngọc are coming out of the Vimalakirti Sutra.

Ghi chú của dịch giả: Bản dịch này được thực hiện để mừng sinh nhật thứ 84 của nhà văn Đỗ Hồng Ngọc. Người dịch không thể dịch cho trọn ý của tác giả Tuệ Sỹ, một Bồ tát thiên tài của cõi này, khi sử dụng những lý bất nhị để viết về Đỗ Hồng Ngọc, một cư sỹ rất mực dị thường. Xin mời xem vở kịch mới đang hiện ra trên những dòng chữ: Thiền Sư Tuệ Sỹ và nhà văn Đỗ Hồng Ngọc đang bước ra từ Kinh Duy Ma Cật Sở Thuyết.

….

I asked the ants if they saw where the Pure Land was

and if the sky kept the traces of birds flying.

A heart lighted up to replace the sun after hearing

a call in the depths of the night in the country of pain.

The first time I came across Venerable Huệ Hưng's translation of the Vimalakirti Sutra, Vimalakirti's thrilling movements and reasoning series made me read with passion, and I memorized many passages. My feelings at that time may not have been as "overwhelming" as those of Mr. Cao Huy Thuần because my cognitive level at that time was only that of a 14-year-old boy, not as profound as that of a young professor who had graduated from the Huế University of Law.

As a novice monk in a Vietnamese temple but studying Theravada scriptures with Lao monks, I have great respect for the Arahants, and so I had no feeling that Vimalakirti could have brought down the status of the Great Hearers. It was only when I was a little older and over the years of studying more and more Mahayana texts that I read more Chinese commentators who disparaged the hearers' thinking as low-minded and narrow-minded and rather heavily condemned them as "destroyed seeds" who destroyed all the sprouts and good seeds of enlightenment.

Along with the growth of the "Zen mouth" type, who exclusively articulated Zen Buddhist principles on the tip of their lips and tongues, a class of monks went "meditatively insane," freely wandering into the market, entering the adult bar, entering the theater, and declaring that every location is a pure temple. But with training, since I was a small child, I have never felt, in spite of his unabashedly eloquent reasoning, how Vimalakirti overcame the Great Hearers. Although many Chinese commentators have mocked Sariputra and many other Great Hearers, such as when he asked Vimalakirti where the sages would eat and where they would sit, even so, I still felt that there was a hidden meaning in it that I did not understand.

Until a while ago, when I grew up a little more in the midst of a chaotic society, the monks were like a mixed community. In this way, the Buddha, and in many other ways, the monks and their theoretical schools, suddenly appeared many great senior persons whose level of understanding of the teachings did not yield to the elders in the mountain sect.

Looking inward, they understand and practice deeply the scriptures; looking outward, they are sensitive to the crazy events of society. With their deep comprehension of the Way and broad experience of life, as well as their talents and wisdom, these lay persons have greatly contributed to the passages of reopening the proper source of thought.

Not only one Vimalakirti, but many Vimalakirtis, dressed in different behaviors in various social positions, have appeared here, living among us. They roll in the dust of life, taste all kinds of "smells of filth," but still constantly rise to the heights of the Dharma. In an era where Vimalakirti's image can no longer be found, the Dharma can be just like a supermarket item, sometimes just like the items on the shoulder poles of street vendors.

Who is Vimalakirti to be compared like that? A half-historical, half-legendary figure. That personality is the collection of all the qualities to be called the "lineage son," the true son, of the Enlightened Ones. Each personality emerges in a particular historical epoch, each of which is a personality based on the quality and hierarchy of each society. That personality is hidden alone in the deep forest, or present in the bustling market of life, whose space is covered by their direct and profound minds. The direct mind, which Huyền Trang calls the joy of pure intention, is the will to go up, to see life with loving eyes, to orient one's life, and to go up together with love and wisdom. From that direct mind, with the will to decide and to persevere in the purpose, that is called the profound mind, also said to increase the joy of pure intention. It's a character we can meet somewhere.

From the ground of pure-intention joy, the practitioner takes seven more steps to generate bodhicitta, from a deep love for his birth mother, and for the sake of the mother's peace, makes the vow to practice the bodhi path. Then, with the immense mother's love, the bodhicitta aspiration also grows and expands in a straight line like an upright mind. From that ground of pure-intention joy, the practitioner generates a steadfast determination that is imprinted in the depths of his mind.

However, it is possible that we will easily be overwhelmed by philosophical words, thereby seeing Vimalakirti as a noble and distant figure. So, let's start with the description in everyday language, as Đỗ Hồng Ngọc writes in the book "Cõi Phật Đâu Xa," in which he writes about the Sutras with ease and with great care, just like a doctor writes a prescription:

"Righteousness, i.e., a direct mind, is equality, non-discrimination, non-disparagement... With a mind of non-discrimination and non-disparagement, a respectful mind appears and is embodied by Boddhisattva Thường Bất Khinh, a compassionate and empathetic mind appears and is embodied by Boddhisattva Avalokitesvara, and a sincere mind appears for "everyone who sees will be happy, and everyone who meets will be happy" and is embodied by Boddhisattva Medicine King. Respect, sincerity, and empathy must be based on the non-discriminatory prerequisite, that is Equality. That is Non-Dualism."

While we try to avoid the rind of the melon, we also tend to panic when we come across a coconut shell. We come across an even more troubling philosophical term, "non-dual." That is the guiding principle for Vimalakirti's thoughts and actions when he said to Sariputra, "Appearing in all postures (walking, standing, lying down, sitting), but still not leaving the state of concentration on the cessation of perception and feeling; thus, it is the true state of peaceful sitting." Or when he, as a patient, welcomed Manjushri Bodhisattva who came to visit, and there, in “Cõi Phật Đâu Xa,” we hear the patient greeting the physician with great relief: "It's a good thing Manjushri has just arrived! The form has not yet arrived, but it has arrived. The form is not seen, but it is really seen." The symptoms of the disease, the causes of the disease—all those forms of the disease—don't appear but they do appear, unseen but still visible; the patient does not visit the doctor, and the doctor does not visit the patient.

In this dialogue, Vimalakirti also greets Manjushri in ordinary language: svāgatam, which literally means "has arrived skillfully, well." Here is the exact equivalent of the English greeting: "Welcome!" This greeting word is connected to the term Tathāgata: Tathagata (Như Lai), which is defined in the Diamond Sutra as "Tathagata, the one who skillfully arrives because he neither comes from anywhere nor does he go anywhere." It also refers to the Sanskrit words gata, āgata, anāgata (already gone, already come, not coming, not yet come), which we read every day in the Heart Sutra: gate gate paragate parasaṃgate bodhi svāha. Coming but not coming, going without going, is the nature of the Tathagata: Tathāgata: tathā gata/āgata. The enlightened saints greet each other in everyday language that still encompasses the transcendental world.

But the concept of non-dualism forms the ideological foundation of a branch of Vedānta philosophy known as advaita-vāda in Sanskrit. In the contemporary philosophical language, it is translated as the doctrine of the "Absolute One Source." This theory states that when one attains the Absolute One Source, which represents liberation, Brahma and Self unite; the Little Self and the Great Self merge into the Absolute One. In other words, the Soul and the Creator God are the One Absolute. The Buddhist scriptures state that there is no concept of a truly existing Self, and therefore reject the theory of an Absolute One Source.

In order to avoid confusion and being overwhelmed by transcendental dialectical words and arguments, ranging from the absolute one source of the union of Brahma and Self to "The Tathagata arrives without coming, goes without leaving," we can also begin with a simpler understanding as explained in the commentary by Đỗ Hồng Ngọc, which can be likened to how doctors diagnose diseases:

"They remain in the realms of birth and death without engaging in any unwholesome actions. They abide in Nirvana without ever ceasing to exist. They cultivate the mind of inherent emptiness and simultaneously accumulate merits. They dwell in the signless mind and yet continue to save sentient beings. They do not arise themselves, yet they inspire the arising of all virtuous actions..."

That passage summarizes Vimalakirti's conversation with Manjushri about the Bodhisatta's realm practice. It discusses the practice's environment and the object of the Bodhisattva's observations. It mentions that dwelling in emptiness (śūnyatā-gocara) and signless formations (animitta-gocara) are two of the three doors of liberation that a Hearer focuses on to attain Nibbāna. These three doors of liberation are Emptiness, Signlessness, and Nonaspirational (apraṇihita), the latter of which is also called Non-action according to the monk La-thập. If you have not seen or do not know what Nirvana is, do not rush to say that birth, death, and Nirvana are one, not two. These, however, are the words that the sick say to the visitors. Sickness or no sickness, samsara or nirvana, here and there in the three realms, the sick person embodies inherent emptiness, and the phenomenon of illness is also empty. Therefore, there is no need to discuss hope or hopelessness.

Such things are not easy to understand either; therefore we should listen to the quote from the book Cõi Phật Đâu Xa: "Bodhisattvas always stand between the two banks..."

And here he introduced the lyrics of Trịnh Công Sơn's song: "On our shoulders, the moon and the sun both shine, illuminating a realm that returns for a hundred years." If we examine Trịnh Công Sơn's lyrics from a philosophical perspective, we can see that they are not related to the non-dual Dharma gate. But it also reminds us of the story of a musician who lived in the heavenly realm of the Indra Heaven Emperor and fell in love with a goddess. He went to the Buddha and sang a love song as an offering, expressing his passion with the words, "I love her as an Arahant loves the Dharma."

Perhaps there is no description of faithful love more sincere than that. The lyrics were unfamiliar to serious Buddhist readers, but the Buddha's response was equally perplexing: "Very well, the music complements the words, just as the words complement the music. In it, there is craving, but there is also Nirvana.” Craving refers to a strong desire, often with sexual implications, while Nirvana represents a state of seclusion or enlightenment. Does it mean that one can look through the craving to see Nirvana, or one can look through Nirvana to clearly see the nature of the craving? Is it in the stinking mud that the lotus flower is found?

After all, what is the door to this non-dualistic dharma?

The love story of the Indra Heaven Emperor's musician is made into a script to say the unspeakable because of its villainous nature. Likewise, readers of the Vimalakirti Sutra can easily recognize that this text is structured according to the dramatic genre. In the script, the villains of the characters are used to express the content according to the intended meaning.

In the passage quoted by Đỗ Hồng Ngọc mentioned above, we see that the Bodhisattva cultivates his mind like a Hearer Saint who lives in the transcendent world but practices his way like an ordinary person in the realm of birth and death: in the mud but without the foul smell of mud. That is the basis of non-dualistic thinking. The sages live in the transcendent world, and the mortals are born and die; the sages and the mortals are in two opposite worlds but of the same nature. Readers who do not see the antagonistic pairs in this theory will surely see that Vimalakirti has "overwhelmed" and "chased" the Hearer Saints into a dead-end alley.

In the script of the Vimalakirti Sutra, one hears corresponding responses between Manjushri and Vimalakirti, but this is not a pair of villains; in the sutra, Manjushri is actually the theater conductor. Without a theater conductor, it is difficult to understand the content of the script. This is the classical structure of drama. While Manjushri spoke and asked, Vimalakirti remained silent. Without Manjushri as the theater conductor, Vimalakirti's silence has no meaning, so this is not a pair of antagonistic reciprocals.

In fact, Vimalakirti appeared in many different roles, so he simultaneously played the villain for many saints, from arahants to bodhisattvas. When Sāriputta was sitting quietly in a deserted forest, Vimalakirti appeared with such sharp reasoning that this great hearer was speechless. It is easy for people to see only a Venerable Sariputra in a deserted forest who is absorbed in the immersion of cessation of feeling and perception, who sits in the stillness of body and mind, and who is able to keep his body from decaying through a great kalpa, through millions of years; however, he is not seen wandering around for alms with a hungry stomach.

If he wants to enjoy peace and quiet for himself for thousands of years until his body decays, then he doesn't need to eat to be alive. So why is the monk holding his bowl for alms? Is it because hunger will torment him or to wake up the worldly beings in misery? Is the scene in which Vimalakirti goes into the world to help human beings live in joyful peace nobler than Sariputra sitting in silence? Is the statue of the Buddha sitting motionless on the table of no benefit to anyone, not equal to a monk who chants sutras to pray for the dead ancestors and for peace for the living? It is a pair of antagonists that reveal the essence of existence.

On the other hand, in the manner of the saint who had gone beyond this world, Sariputra appeared before an opposite character who was an extremely beautiful goddess. With the beauty that surpasses all the beauty of the heavens, she danced to the musical piece named "The goddess offers a rain of flowers," which was more magical than any others and one that would make the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang lose his throne and his country.

But why did she live in an empty room with the old layman Vimalakirti and then dance and sing in front of the dignified saints, whose minds were quiet and never had sexual ripples? In what sense was she present? The exchange between the goddess and Sariputra pushed the contrast between defilement and purity to dramatic drama, causing Sariputra to transform into a beautiful goddess and the goddess to transform into the dignified Saint Sariputra.

Those who recognize the pairs of opposite characters between the main and antagonist in the Buddhist scriptures would contemplate those images to see the meaning of non-dualism and would know the door leading to the realm of non-dualism.

Moreover, we should observe carefully the villainous antagonists and the villainous scenes. The mango garden, owned by the courtesan Amrapali, became a place where the princes and rich young men let themselves drift in lust and a retreat place for the hearer monks who had gone beyond this world and lived in purity in the polluted environment. Meanwhile, Vimalakirti's residence, where he received politicians who were rushing in the arena of power and merchants who were competing fiercely in the marketplace, was also the hangout spot for the saints, the hearer monks, and the bodhisattvas. Vimalakirti's home and the mango garden of the courtesan Amrapali were the two opposite images of the villainous antagonists: the noise and the stillness, the polluted and the purified.

Between the Samsara world and the Fragrance Buddha Realm, between the lion throne and the city of Kapilvastu, between the infinity coming into the infinitely small and the small entering the vastness, these are pairs of antagonistic backgrounds that would reveal the core of the existence of the world and the universe. With those images, Buddhists practice how to think beyond conventional stereotypes, transcending the empirical world to rise to the transcendent and inconceivable realm.

Thus, reading the Vimalakirti Sutra is like watching a screenplay, with dramatic events and antagonistic characters and backgrounds. This is a way to train and equip yourself with a self-directed tool to rise to enlightenment heights.

While I was exploring the antagonistic and dramatic meanings in the Vimalakirti Sutras, my two lay friends, Đỗ Hồng Ngọc and Thân Trọng Minh, expressed their enthusiasm and aspiration, intentionally wanting to rewrite a screenplay and stage a theater so that the audiences could better understand what the sutra wants to point out. Because our language skills and thinking capacity are limited, it can be relatively easier to enter the righteous path through the artistic path.

I hope you lay people achieve as you wish. As for me, returning to the grass cottage to wander with poetry, I now send to my lay friends two poetic lines as follows:

Sitting in this familiar, old thatched-roof cottage,

I raised the teacup from the old Master Triệu and saw thousands of flowers blooming.

Written in Thị Ngạn am, at the beginning of spring, in the year of the Rooster.

Tuệ Sỹ

(3.2017)

(dohongngoc.com)