Why Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra is NOT deprecating the Senior Buddha’s Disciples

In the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra, there are passages deemed deprecating to senior disciples of the Buddha such as Venerable Sariputra, Venerable Maha Mongalana, and others. Ven. Sariputra is supposed to be the wisest and most intelligent of the Buddha’s chief disciples. And yet, in this Mahayana Sutra, he is made to look like a fool. In fact, many Theravada people have a problem with this Sutra. Nay, even some Mahayana monks who fail to comprehend this Sutra have a problem with it. You can find Youtube videos, including that of Ven. Hye Dhammavuddho who had criticised this Sutra. When I read those passages, indeed, it does seem like looking down on Hinayana monks, particularly on the status of Arahants. I started to check whether there was any historical person by the name of Vimalakirti. Turned out that this is a fictitious figure. And so, for a considerable time, I had put aside this “Mahayana Sutra” and categorise it as one of the questionable Sutras. Moreover, there are many chapters therein whereby I had a problem understanding it.  

But due to the great wisdom of the Buddha, he knew what I have in my thoughts. My “Mahayana” was at risk. He had to do something. And he did. Sometime last year, my karma had ripened for me to more fully understand the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra, vis-à-vis the Mahayana /bodhisattva path. It was “The Bodhisattva Path” book I had previous posted. That book is like magic. Suddenly everything made sense. And even the fictitious character of Vimalakirti is said to be modelled after a real layman during the time of the Buddha. I became interested in this path of lay bodhisattva because of this book. In this post, I will extract out a few passages that explains why this Sutra is NOT deprecating Venerable Sariputra and others, as explained by the late Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh (the author and teacher of that book). These passages will explain why Ven. Hye Dhammavuddha (and others like him) were utterly wrong with regards the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra. Since the Buddha had been kind to “show” me the true meaning behind this Sutra, it is now my responsibility to spread it, i.e. that it is NOT the intended to deprecate the actual senior Venerable Bhikkhus of the Buddha. It was merely using their names to make a point with regards the Mahayana concepts.  

Please note the below passages were taken not from a single chapter but carefully selected from various places in the text to provide the explanation. Hopefully I have achieved the aim. 

Extract: - 

We know that the Venerable Sariputra was an outstanding monk. He is looked on as the wisest of Buddha’s disciples. In spite of this, he is portrayed in the Vimalakirti Sutra as suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Vimalakirti when they engage in debate. This is something that makes monks and nuns feel quite uncomfortable when they read the sutra. They feel that their wise elder brother is being maligned. 

However the debate between Vimalakirti and the senior disciple of the Buddha is a skillful means to be able to present a comparison between the teachings of the Mahayana and the sravaka vehicle….In the final chapters of Nirmalakirtinirdesa, the compiler of the sutra makes Sariputra ask some very foolish questions. We should always remember that Sariputra in this Sutra is just a character in a play. The more foolish he is made to look, the more brightly the light of the Mahayana will show itself….

Sariputra who appears here is a character in a play and not the true Sariputra. I am confident that if you were to meet the real Sariputra, he would not reply in this inferior way. Those who practise according to Mainstream Buddhist Schools look on this sutra as maligning, because it makes their most prestigious elder brother into a laughingstock. However, when we read the sutra our mind should be open. We have to recognise that this is a role that the playwright invents in order to form the backdrop before which the Mahayana way of thought can stand out clearly. 

When we read the sutra we should understand why the senior disciples of the Buddha have been presented as they are, who the layman Vimalakirti is, and what is the aim of the sutra. If we do not know the answers to these questions, we shall feel that the sutra is maligning the Buddha’s monastic disciples and making a laughingstock out of the ten senior disciples. In that case we shall see anger and mockery directed towards the Buddha’s disciples and we shall not learn anything interesting and beneficial from the sutra.

- End of extract       

Previously I have explained that “Mahayana and Hinayana” are referring to our attitudes, and not in the type of Buddhist robe we wear or the geographical location of our temples or our type of Buddhist practices. If you wish to explore more on Mahayana/Hinayana topic, here is another post you may like to read - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2022/07/sayadaw-u-pandita-saving-oneself-is-not.html

I close this post by thanking Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh for providing clarity to this important Mahayana Sutra. 

#Vimalakirti #VimalakirtinirdesaSutra #BodisattvaPath