Vimalakirti

Vimalakīrti
Sculpture of Vimalakirti at the Hosso (Yogacara) temple of Kōfuku-ji, 1196 CE
Sanskrit
  • विमलकीर्ति
  • IAST: Vimalakīrti
Chinese
  • 维摩诘
  • Pinyin: Wéi mó jí
Japanese
Korean
  • 비말라키르티
  • RR: Bimallakileuti
Tibetan
ཝི་མ་ལ་ཀིརྟི།
  • THL: Dri med grags pa
Information
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Vimalakīrti (Sanskrit: विमल vimala "stainless, undefiled" + कीर्ति kīrti "fame, glory, reputation") is a bodhisattva[1] and the central figure in the Vimalakirti Sutra,[2] which presents him as the ideal Mahayana Buddhist upāsaka ("lay practitioner")[3] and a contemporary of Gautama Buddha (6th to 5th century BCE).[2] There is no mention of him in Buddhist texts until after Nāgārjuna (1st century BCE to 2nd century CE) revived Mahayana Buddhism in India.[4] The Mahayana Vimalakirti Sutra also spoke of the city of Vaisali[5] as where the lay Licchavi bodhisattva Vimalakirti was residing.[6]

  1. ^ Cole, Alan (2005). Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature. University of California Press. pp. 289–290. ISBN 9780520931404.
  2. ^ a b "The Vimalakirti Sutra: The Dharma-Door of Nonduality". About.com. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  3. ^ "Vimalakirti and the Doctrine of Nonduality". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Thurman, Robert (2000). The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. ix. ISBN 0271012099.
  5. ^ The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 1991. p. 20. ISBN 978-81-208-0874-4.
  6. ^ Thurman, Robert. "VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA". Retrieved 17 September 2014.