The Sūtra of The Teaching of Vimalakīrti

In celebration of Saga Dawa, the month in which many Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment and passing of Shakyamuni Buddha, Khyentse Foundation and 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha are pleased to announce the launch of The Sūtra of The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. The book is offered in two sections, a prefatory commentary by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, “A Celebrity Falls Sick,” and a new 84000 edition of Robert A. F. Thurman’s English translation of the acclaimed Buddhist sūtra, The Teaching of Vimalakīrti.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Thurman have praised The Teaching of Vimalakīrti:

“It’s difficult for those us living in today’s mundane world to swallow the truth when we hear it, and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra contains a great deal about the very highest of high truths. Don’t imagine, though, that the nature of the highest truth is mystical or mythological, because it isn’t. Although the absolute truth cannot be expressed, conceived or conceptualised, all the techniques and tools necessary to establish it have been laid out for us by the Buddha himself. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra… describes astonishingly effective methods for deconstructing anything and everything that is not the truth.”—Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

“Unmatched in its content—a quintessence of Mahāyāna doctrines, both of the profound and of the extensive categories—its aesthetic virtue, too, makes it an object of the connoisseur’s delight.”—Robert A. F. Thurman

The book, illustrated by DALeast, is available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese as a free download on the Khyentse Foundation and 84000 websites, and is offered as a thank you gift from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to the many supporters of the two organizations.

The Sūtra of The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, containing Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s commentary and sūtra, can be accessed here:

For access to the The Teaching of Vimalakirti sūtra only, please visit the 84000 Reading Room.

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Khyentse Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to support all traditions of Buddhist study and practice. Since 2001, the foundation has supported individuals and institutions in more than 30 countries and has directly affected the lives of people around the world. Khyentse Foundation activities include major text preservation and translation projects, support for traditional monastic colleges in Asia, a worldwide scholarship and awards program, academic development of Buddhist studies in major universities, training and development for Buddhist leaders and teachers, Buddhist education for children, support for individual study and retreats, and more.

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages and make them available to everyone.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, also known as Khyentse Norbu, is a Buddhist teacher, scholar, author, and film director. Born in Bhutan in 1961, Rinpoche trained from a very young age to become a scholar of the Tibetan Rimé movement, following the heritage of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. In addition to supervising several monasteries and Buddhist centers around the world, he has authored many books, including What Makes You Not a Buddhist, Not for Happiness and The Guru Drinks Bourbon? Rinpoche has also directed several award-winning feature films, including The Cup, Travellers & Magicians and Hema Hema. His charitable organizations include Siddhartha’s Intent, Khyentse Foundation, Lotus Outreach, and 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Robert A.F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of the Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a non-profit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and dedicated to the publication of translations of important artistic and scientific treatises from the Tibetan Tengyur.