(4) Subhuti:

The Buddha then said to Subhuti:

“You call on Vimalakirti to enquire after his health on my behalf.”

Subhuti said:r>
“World Honoured One, I am not qualified to call on him and enquire after his health. The reason is that once when I went to his house begging for food, he took my bowl and filled it with rice, saying:

‘Subhuti, if your mind set on eating is in the same state as when confronting all (other) things, and if this uniformity as regards all things equally applies to (the act of) eating, you can then beg for food and eat it. Subhuti, if without cutting off carnality, anger and stupidity you can keep from these (three) evils: if you do not wait for the death of your body to achieve the oneness of all things; if you do not wipe out stupidity and love in your quest of enlightenment and liberation; if you can look into (the underlying nature of) the five deadly sins to win liberation, with at the same time no idea of either bondage or freedom; if you give rise to neither the four noble truths nor their opposites; if you do not hold both the concept of winning and not winning the holy fruit; if you do not regard yourself as a worldly or unworldly man, as a saint or not as a saint; if you perfect all Dharmas while keeping away from the concept of Dharmas, then can you receive and eat the food. Subhuti, if you neither see the Buddha nor hear the Dharma; if the six heterodox teachers, Purana-kasyapa, Maskari-gosaliputra, Yanjaya-vairatiputra, Ajita-kesakambala, Kakuda-katyayana and Nirgrantha-jnatiputra are regarded impartially as your own teachers and if, when they induce leavers of home into heterodoxy, you also fall with the latter; then you can take away the food and eat it. If you are (unprejudiced about) falling into heresy and regard yourself as not reaching the other shore (of enlightenment); if you are unprejudiced about the eight sad conditions and regard yourself as not free from them; if you are unprejudiced about defilements and relinquish the concept of pure living; if when you realize samadhi in which there is absence of debate or disputation, all living beings also achieve it; if your donors of food are not regarded (with partiality) as (cultivating) the field of blessedness; if those making offerings to you are partially looked on as also falling into the three evil realms of existence; if you impartially regard demons as your companions without differentiating between them as well as between other forms of defilement; if you are discontented with all living beings, defame the Buddha, break the law (Dharma), do not attain the holy rank and fail to win liberation; then you can take away the food and eat it.

“World Honoured One, I was dumbfounded when I heard his words, which were beyond my reach, and to which I found no answer. Then I left the bowl of rice and intended to leave his house but Vimalakirti said:

‘Hey, Subhuti, take the bowl of rice without fear. Are you frightened when the Tathagata makes an illusory man ask you questions? I replied:

‘No.’ He then continued:

‘All things are illusory and you should not fear anything. Why? Because words and speech are illusory. So all wise men do not cling to words and speech, and this is why they fear nothing. Why? Because words and speech have no independent nature of their own and, when they are no more, you are liberated. This liberation will free you from all bondage.’

“When Vimalakirti expounded the Dharma two hundred sons of devas realized the Dharma eye. Hence I am not qualified to call on him to inquire after his health.”

(47) Mastery over the powers of perception and action comes through perfectly concentrated Meditation on their fivefold forms; namely, their power to grasp their distinctive nature, the element of self-consciousness in them, their inherence, and their purposiveness.

(24) By perfectly concentrated Meditation on power, even such power as that of the elephant may be gained.

(30) By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the centre of force in the well of the throat, there comes the cessation of hunger and thirst.

(18) After the exercise of the will has stilled the psychic activities, meditation rests only on the fruit of former meditations.

(372) Without knowledge there is no meditation, without meditation there is no knowledge: he who has knowledge and meditation is near unto Nirvâna.

(7) This threefold power, of Attention, Meditation, Contemplation, is more interior than the means of growth previously described.

(13) Some by meditation perceive the Self in themselves through the mind, some by devotion to knowledge, and some by devotion to work.

(6) Having abandoned all desires born of the ego-centric will, having restrained the group of senses with mind from all sides, one should attain quietude slowly and slowly by the intellect held firmly. And then, fixing the mind in Atma, he should not think of anything else at all.

(20) The Master hinted at this secretly when he said: At the beginning of the work one must sit in a quiet room, the body like dry wood, the heart like cooled ashes. Let the lids of both eyes be lowered; then look within and purify the heart, cleanse the thoughts, stop pleasures and conserve the seed. One should sit down daily to meditate with legs crossed. Let the light in the eyes be stopped; let the hearing power of the ear be crystallized and the tasting power of the tongue diminished; that is, the tongue should be laid to the roof of the mouth; let the breathing through the nose be made rhythmical and the thoughts fixed on the dark door. If the breathing is not irst made rhythmical it is to be feared that there will be dif iculty in breathing, because of stoppage. When one closes the eyes, then one should take as a measure a point on the back of the nose which lies not half an inch below the intersection point of the line of sight, where there is a little bump on the nose. Then one begins to collect one's thoughts; the ears make the breathing rhythmical; body and heart are comfortable and harmonious. The Light of the eyes must shine quietly, and, for a long time, neither sleepiness nor distraction must set in. The eyes do not look outward, they drop their lids and light up what is within. There is Light in this place. The mouth does not speak nor laugh. One closes the lips and breathes inwardly. Breathing is at this place. The nose smells no odours. Smelling is at this place. The ear does not hear things outside. Hearing is at this place. The whole heart watches over what is within. Its watching is at this place. The thoughts do not stray outward; true thoughts have continuity in themselves. If the thoughts are lasting, the seed is lasting; if the seed lasts, the power lasts; if the power lasts, then will the spirit last also. The spirit is thought; thought is the heart; the heart is the ire; the fire is the Elixir. When one looks at what is within in this way, the wonders of the opening and shutting of the gates of Heaven will be inexhaustible. But the deeper secrets cannot be effected without making the breathing rhythmical.

(203) Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body the greatest of pains; if one knows this truly, that is Nirvâna, the highest happiness.

(24) Even though thou dost not experience pleasure, or pain, but only indifference, keep thine intellect in the undistracted state of the [meditation upon the] Great Symbol, without thinking that thou art meditating. This is of vast importance.

(6) Speech said: ' Verily, wherein I am the most excellent, therein are you the most excellent/ ' Verily, wherein I am a firm basis therein are you a firm basis/ said the eye. c Verily, wherein I am attainment, therein are you attain- ment,' said the ear. said the mind. ( Verily, wherein I am procreation, therein are you procrea- tion/ said the semen. f If such I anij what is my food? what is my dwelling? ' flying insects — that is your food. Water is your dwelling/ Verily, what is not food is not eaten; what is not food is not taken by him who thus knows that [i.e. water] as the food (anna) of breath (ana). Those who know this, who are versed in sacred learning (srotriya), when they are about to eat, take a sip; after they have eaten, they take a sip. So, indeed, they think they make that breath (ana) not naked (anagna).

(10) The body hungereth and thirsteth after the father of nature, viz. the stars and the elements, and that father feedeth and nourisheth the body.

(37) At this time, if one can recollect the Great Symbol [teachings] concerning the Voidness, that will be best. If one be not trained in that, train the [mental] powers into [regarding] all things as illusion [or maya]. Even if this be impossible, be not attracted by anything. By meditating upon the Tutelary Deity, the Great Compassionate [One], Buddhahood will be obtained in the Sambhoga-Kdya.

(3) Mahakasyapa:

The Buddha then said to Mahakasyapa:

“Go to Vimalakirti to enquire after his health on my behalf.”

Mahakasyapa said:

“World Honoured One, I am not qualified to call on him to inquire after his health. The reason is that once when I went begging for food in a lane inhabited by poor people, Vimalakirti came and said:

“Hey, Mahakasyapa, you are failing to make your kind and compassionate mind all-embracing by begging from the poor while staying away from the rich. Mahakasyapa, in your practice of impartiality, you should call on your donors in succession (regardless of whether they are poor or rich). You should beg for food without the (ulterior) idea of eating it. To wipe out the concept of rolling (food into a ball in the hand), you should take it by the hand (i.e. without the idea of how you take it). You should receive the food given without the idea of receiving anything.

When entering a village, you should regard it as void like empty space. When seeing a form, you should remain indifferent to it. When you hear a voice, you should consider it (as meaningless as) an echo. When you smell an odor, take it for the wind (which has no smell). When you eat, refrain from discerning the taste. Regard all touch as if you were realizing wisdom (which is free from feelings and emotions). You should know that all things are illusory, having neither nature of their own nor that of something else, and that since fundamentally, they are not self-existent, they cannot now be the subject of annihilation. Mahakasyapa, if you can achieve all eight forms of liberation without keeping from the eight heterodox ways (of life), that is by identifying heterodoxy with orthodoxy (both as emanating from the same source), and if you can make an offering of your (own) food to all living beings as well as to all Buddhas and all members of the Sangha, then you can take the food. Such a way of eating is beyond the troubles (of the worldly man) and the absence of the troubles of Hinayana men); above the state of stillness (in which Hinayana men abstain from eating) and the absence of stillness (of Mahayana men who eat while in the state of serenity); and beyond both dwelling in the worldly state or in nirvana, while your donors reap neither great nor little merits, what they give being neither beneficial nor harmful. This is correct entry upon the Buddha path without relying on the small way of sravakas. Mahakasyapa, if you can so eat the food given you, your eating shall not be in vain.”

“World Honoured One, when I listened to his words which I had never heard before, I gave rise to profound reverence to all Bodhisattvas and thought, ‘His wisdom and power of speech being such, who will fail to develop a mind set on supreme enlightenment?’ Since then I have refrained from urging people to follow the practices of sravakas and pratyeka-buddhas. Hence, I am not qualified to call on him to inquire after his health.”

(26) O nobly-born, to sum up: thy present intellect in the Intermediate State having no firm object whereon to depend, being of little weight and continuously in motion, whatever thought occur to thee now — be it pious or impious — will wield great power; therefore think not in thy mind of impious things, but recall any devotional exercises; or, if thou wert unaccustomed to any such exercises, [show forth] pure affection and humble faith; pray to the Compassionate One, or to thy tutelary deities; with full resolve, utter this prayer: Alas! While wandering alone, separated from loving friends, When the vacuous, reflected boy of mine own mental ideas dawneth upon me, May the Buddhas, vouchsafing their power of compassion, Grant that there shall be no fear, awe, or terror in the Bardo.

(2) When one sets out to carry out one's decision, care must be taken to see that everything can proceed in a comfortable, easy manner. Too much must not be demanded of the heart. One must be careful that, quite automatically, heart and power correspond to one another. Only then can a state of quietness be attained. During this quiet state the right conditions and the right place must be provided. One must not sit down (to meditate) in the midst of frivolous affairs. That is to say, one must not have any vacuities in the mind. All entanglements must be put aside and one must be supreme and independent. Nor must the thoughts be directed toward the right procedure. If too much trouble is taken there

(2) Should a man have no images in his mind? One cannot be without images. Should one not breathe? One cannot do without breathing. The best way is to make a cure out of the illness. Since heart and breath are mutually dependent, the circulation of the Light must be united with the rhythm of breathing. For this, Light of the ear is above all necessary. There is a Light of the eye and a Light of the ear. The Light of the eye is the united Light of the sun and moon outside. The light of the ear is the united seed of sun and moon within. The seed is also the Light in crystallized form. Both have the same origin and are different only in name. Therefore, understanding (ear) and clarity (eye) are one and the same effective Light.