爾時毘耶離城 有長者子 名曰寶積 與五百長者子 俱持七寶蓋 來詣佛所 頭面禮足 各以其蓋 共供養佛 佛之威神 令諸寶蓋 合成一蓋 遍覆三千大千世界 而此世界廣長之相 悉於中現 又此三千大千世界 諸須彌山 雪山 目眞鄰陀山 摩訶目眞鄰陀山 香山 寶山 金山 黑山 鐵圍山 大鐵圍山 大海江河 川流泉源 及日月星辰 天宮龍宮 諸尊神宮 悉現於寶蓋中 又十方諸佛 說法之音 亦皆現於寶蓋中
ěr shí pí yē lí chéng yǒu zhǎng zhě zǐ míng yuē bǎo jī yǔ wǔ bǎi zhǎng zhě zǐ jù chí qī bǎo gài lái yì fó suǒ tóu miàn lǐ zú gè yǐ qí gài gòng gōng yǎng fó fó zhī wēi shén lìng zhū bǎo gài hé chéng yī gài biàn fù sān qiān dà qiān shì jiè ér cǐ shì jiè guǎng zhǎng zhī xiàng xī yú zhōng xiàn yòu cǐ sān qiān dà qiān shì jiè zhū xū mí shān xuě shān mù zhēn lín tuó shān mó hē mù zhēn lín tuó shān xiāng shān bǎo shān jīn shān hēi shān tiě wéi shān dà tiě wéi shān dà hǎi jiāng hé chuān liú quán yuán jí rì yuè xīng chén tiān gōng lóng gōng zhū zūn shén gōng xī xiàn yú bǎo gài zhōng yòu shí fāng zhū fó shuō fǎ zhī yīn yì jiē xiàn yú bǎo gài zhōng
Key Message
When the mind is pure, this very world is the Buddha-land. The pure land is not somewhere else — the place where an awakened mind dwells is itself the pure land.
▸The first chapter of the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, 'The Buddha Land' (佛國品), sets the stage of the sutra in the city of Vaiśālī (毘耶離城) and opens with the magnificent spectacle of five hundred jeweled parasols (七寶蓋) offered by the sons of wealthy householders being merged, through the Buddha's spiritual power, into a single canopy that covers the entire trichiliocosm.
The first chapter of the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, 'The Buddha Land' (佛國品), sets the stage of the sutra in the city of Vaiśālī (毘耶離城) and opens with the magnificent spectacle of five hundred jeweled parasols (七寶蓋) offered by the sons of wealthy householders being merged, through the Buddha's spiritual power, into a single canopy that covers the entire trichiliocosm. Within this jeweled canopy, the mountains, rivers, and great earth of the universe, the sun, moon, and stars, the celestial palaces and dragon palaces, and even the sounds of all the Buddhas' teachings in the ten directions all manifest. This opening scene foreshadows the worldview the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa aspires to — the Mahāyāna pure land teaching that this very world, which appears defiled and turbid, can itself be a Buddha-land (佛國土). When the son of the householder Ratnākaṇḍaka (寶積) offers a verse of praise, the Buddha expounds the core teaching: 'When the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure' (心淨則佛土淨).