{{Short description|Buddhist bodhisattva}} {{Infobox Buddha | name = Vimalakīrti | image = File:Yuima Tokondo Kofukuji.jpg|thumb|Yuima Tokondo Kofukuji | caption = Sculpture of Vimalakirti at the [[East Asian Yogācāra|Hosso]] (Yogacara) temple of [[Kōfuku-ji]], 1196 CE | sanskrit_name = {{plainlist| * विमलकीर्ति * [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: Vimalakīrti }} | cebuano_name = | chinese_name = {{plainlist| * 維摩詰 * [[Pinyin]]: Wéimójí }} | japanese_name = {{plainlist| * 維摩詰 * [[Romanization of Japanese|Romaji]]: Yuimakitsu }} | korean_name = {{plainlist| * 비말라키르티 * [[Revised Romanization of Korean|RR]]: Bimallakileuti }} | tibetan_name = {{plainlist| ཝི་མ་ལ་ཀིརྟི། * [[THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription|THL]]: Dri med grags pa }} | vietnamese_name = {{plainlist|Duy Ma Cật}} | veneration = [[Buddhism]] | attributes = }} '''Vimalakīrti''' ({{langx|sa|विमल}} ''{{IAST|vimala}}'' "stainless, undefiled" + {{lang|sa|कीर्ति}} ''{{IAST|kīrti}}'' "fame, glory, reputation") is a [[bodhisattva]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Alan |title=Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520931404 |pages=289–290 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlOdxE2XM4cC&q=vimalakirti+bodhisattva}}</ref> and the central figure in the ''{{IAST|[[Vimalakirti Sutra]]}}'',<ref name="about1">[https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/vimalakirti Wisdom Library : Significance of Vimalakirti.] {{access-date|8 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="about2">[https://84000.co/translation/toh176#UT22084-060-005-introduction 84000.co : The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. Introduction.] {{access-date|8 January 2025}}</ref> which presents him as the ideal [[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Upāsaka and Upāsikā|upāsaka]] ("lay practitioner")<ref>{{cite web|title=Vimalakirti and the Doctrine of Nonduality |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/60007750 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=April 17, 2013}}</ref> and a contemporary of [[Gautama Buddha]] (6th to 5th century BCE).<ref name="about1"/><ref name="about2"/> There is no mention of him in [[Buddhist texts]] until after {{IAST|[[Nagarjuna|Nāgārjuna]]}} (1st century BCE to 2nd century CE) revived Mahayana Buddhism in [[India]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Thurman|first=Robert|author-link=Robert A. F. Thurman|title=The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|page=ix|year=2000|isbn=0271012099|url=https://archive.org/details/holyteachingofvi00vima}}</ref> The Mahayana Vimalakirti Sutra also spoke of the city of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaisali]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4K7p6XSpSYC&pg=PA146-IA2|year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0874-4|page=20}}</ref> as where the [[laity|lay]] [[Licchavis of Vaishali|Licchavi]] [[bodhisattva]] Vimalakirti was residing.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thurman|first1=Robert|title=VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA|url=https://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln260/Vimalakirti.htm|access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref>
==History== {{Main|Vimalakirti Sutra}} The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra characterizes Vimalakīrti as a wealthy patron of Gautama Buddha residing in the ancient city of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]] which is now situated in the Indian state of [[Bihar]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Baroni|first=Helen Josephine|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|page=369|year=2002|isbn=9780823922406}}</ref> There is an ongoing debate as to the historicity of Vimalakirti with modern scholars grouping him with other figures in Mahayana literature, such as {{IAST|[[Avalokiteśvara]]}} and other bodhisattvas. Traditional scholars, however, take him to be a historical figure like [[Gautama Buddha]], rather than mythic or legendary, and as such Vimalakīrti is not commonly venerated on altars or in [[Vajrayana|tantric]] rituals,<ref name=DharmaNet>{{cite web|last1=Leighton|first1=Taigen Dan|author-link1=Taigen Dan Leighton|title=Boddhisattvas of Compassion Lesson 8: Vimalakirti|url=https://dharmanet.org/coursesM/31/bodhisattva8.htm|website=Ashoka: the eDharma learning center|publisher=DharmaNet International|access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> but as a prehistoric [[Zen]]/[[Chan Buddhism|Chan]] preacher. Both groups agree that the descriptions of his acts in the Vimalakirti Sutra were allegorical in nature.<ref name="Thurman1976">{{cite book |last1=Thurman |first1=Robert |title=The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti |date=1976 |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-00601-7 |pages=1–10 |url=https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-01209-4.html}}</ref> The 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk, [[Xuanzang]], reported that during his visit to the city of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]], he was shown the house where Vimalakirti was said to have resided.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ikeda |first1=Daisaku |title=Buddhism: The First Millennium |date=2009 |publisher=Middleway Press |isbn=9780977924530 |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8npDBAAAQBAJ&dq=Vimalak%C4%ABrti+xuanzang+house&pg=PA97}}</ref> Another 7th-century Chinese visitor to India, [[Wang Xuance]], also writes of his visit to the site of Vimalakirti's home.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jülch |first1=Thomas |title=Zhipan's Account of the History of Buddhism in China: Volume 2: Fozu tongji, juan 39-42: From the Sui Dynasty to the Wudai Era |date=2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004447486 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BkgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Vimalak%C4%ABrti+xuanzang+house&pg=PA81}}</ref>
The Vimalakirti Sutra portrays Vimalakirti as the personification of skill in [[Buddhist paths to liberation|liberative techniques]]. Vimalakirti is respectful to everyone he interacts with including [[the Buddha]] however he is not intimidated by them either. He also claims himself to be among the "Great Sorcerers" and is capable of performing miraculous feats to teach fellow practitioners.<ref name= "Thurman1976" />
=== Other === In Chinese [[Chan Buddhist]] monasteries, a common word for abbot is ''Fāngzhàng'' (方丈) meaning "one square [[zhàng]] (equal to ten square feet)", a reference to the size of Vimalakīrti's stone room.<ref name="dictionary">{{cite book|last1=Buswell Jr.|first1=Robert E.|last2=Lopez Jr.|first2=Donald S.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2013|page=295|isbn= 978-1-4008-4805-8}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> Vimalakirti debating Manjusri, Tang Dynasty.jpg|Vimalakirti, 8th-century wall painting, [[Dunhuang]] File:Vimalakirti_Debates_Manjusri_Dunhuang_Mogao_Caves_Detail.jpeg|The layman Vimalakīrti Debates [[Manjusri]], [[Dunhuang]] [[Mogao Caves]] Vimalakirti (Kyoto National Museum).jpg|Depiction of Vimalakirti from the [[Song dynasty|Southern Song period]] (1127–1279) National Museum of Asian Art Figure of Wei Mo Chi from the Longmen Grottoes 国立亚洲艺术博物馆 龙门石窟宾阳洞北魏维摩诘浮雕右侧面.jpg|Relief of Vimalakirt from the [[Longmen Grottoes]] </gallery>
== See also == {{Portal|Religion}}
* [[Wang Wei (Tang dynasty)|Wang Wei]] * ''[[The Teaching of Vimalakīrti]]''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}}
{{Buddhism topics}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Indian Buddhists]] [[Category:6th-century BC Indian people]] [[Category:Bodhisattvas]] [[Category:Buddhist spiritual teachers]] [[Category:People from the Vajjika League]] [[Category:Indian merchants]] [[Category:Licchavis]]
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