爾時舍利弗 見此室中無有牀座 作是念 斯諸菩薩大弟子 當於何坐 長者維摩詰知其意 語舍利弗言 云何仁者 爲法來耶 求牀座耶 舍利弗言 我爲法來 非爲牀座 維摩詰言 唯舍利弗 夫求法者 不貪軀命 何況牀座 夫求法者 非有色受想行識之求 非有界入之求 非有欲色無色之求 唯舍利弗 菩薩有解脫 名不可思議 若菩薩住是解脫者 以須彌之高廣 納芥子中 無所增減 須彌山王本相如故
ěr shí shě lì fú jiàn cǐ shì zhōng wú yǒu chuáng zuò zuò shì niàn sī zhū pú sà dà dì zǐ dāng yú hé zuò zhǎng zhě wéi mó jié zhī qí yì yǔ shě lì fú yán yún hé rén zhě wéi fǎ lái yē qiú chuáng zuò yē shě lì fú yán wǒ wéi fǎ lái fēi wéi chuáng zuò wéi mó jié yán wéi shě lì fú fū qiú fǎ zhě bù tān qū mìng hé kuàng chuáng zuò fū qiú fǎ zhě fēi yǒu sè shòu xiǎng xíng shí zhī qiú fēi yǒu jiè rù zhī qiú fēi yǒu yù sè wú sè zhī qiú wéi shě lì fú pú sà yǒu jiě tuō míng bù kě sī yì ruò pú sà zhù shì jiě tuō zhě yǐ xū mí zhī gāo guǎng nà jiè zǐ zhōng wú suǒ zēng jiǎn xū mí shān wáng běn xiàng rú gù
Key Message
Large and small, inside and outside — all dissolve before the principle of emptiness. Inconceivable liberation is the state of freely wandering beyond all relative concepts.
▸The 'Chapter on the Inconceivable' (不思議品) expounds the state of inconceivable liberation, unfolding the most mysterious and paradoxical scenes in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa.
The 'Chapter on the Inconceivable' (不思議品) expounds the state of inconceivable liberation, unfolding the most mysterious and paradoxical scenes in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa. When Śāriputra worries that there are no seats in Vimalakīrti's empty room, Vimalakīrti asks in return, 'Did you come seeking the Dharma, or seeking a seat?' And he teaches: 'A bodhisattva dwelling in inconceivable liberation can place Mount Sumeru — as high and vast as it is — into a mustard seed, and the original form of Mount Sumeru remains unchanged, with nothing added or subtracted.' The relative concepts of large and small, inside and outside, are dissolved. Vimalakīrti then proceeds to enumerate examples of inconceivable supernormal feats — placing Sumeru inside a mustard seed, the four great oceans within a single pore — and explains that all of these arise from the principle of emptiness.