Vimalakirti Sutra

The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra (Sanskrit: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देशसूत्र) or Vimalakīrti Sūtra is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra. Sometimes used in the title, the word nirdeśa means "instruction, advice". The sutra teaches, among other subjects, the meaning of nondualism. It contains a report of a teaching addressed to both arhats and bodhisattvas by the upāsaka (lay practitioner) Vimalakīrti, who expounds the doctrine of śūnyatā to them. This culminates with the wordless teaching of silence.

The sutra has been influential in East Asian Buddhism for its "brash humor" and flexibility. It has also been influential in Mahayana Buddhism for its inclusiveness and respect for non-monastic practitioners as well as stating the equal role of women in Buddhism.

Translator Burton Watson argues that the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra was likely composed in approximately 100 CE. Although lost for centuries, a version in the original Sanskrit has recently been recovered amongst the Chinese government's Potala collection in Tibet. It was translated into Chinese several times, the first being produced in 188 CE. This translation was made by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokakṣema, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhāra. The sūtra was translated six more times at later dates, with two especially influential translations are the Kumārajīva version (406 CE), which is the most widely used, and the Xuanzang version (650 CE). Chos-nyid-tshul-khrims also translated it into Tibetan in the early 8th century. Most Japanese versions are based on the Chinese Kumarajiva version. The Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods then made available in 2007 a Romanized Sanskrit version of what was named as Āryavimalakīrtinirdeśo Nāma Mahāyānasūtram.

The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra is a typical example of a Buddhavacana, which are works accepted within a tradition as being the teachings of the Buddha though the sūtra makes no claim to being the actual words of the historical Buddha, nor is it preached in a manner entirely by the Buddha.

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