Vimalakīrti Nirdesa Sutra, Vol. 1

 

Vimalakīrti Nirdesa Sutra, Vol. 1

“Bodhi is non-dual for it keeps from both the intellect and its objects.”

 不二是菩提，離意法故。

維摩詰所説經 卷一 

Remarks:

All phenomena within the scope of the conscious mind and mental objects denote the dharma of duality. Mental objects are the things that are apprehended (perceived), which are among the five sense objects. The ability to discern and the act of discerning both denote the apprehender (perceiver). The perceptive mind as the apprehender, comprising the mental faculty (manas) and the mental consciousness, would then take in the apprehended mental objects or the six sense objects. These essentially comprise the dharma of duality. Hence, the perceptive mind is not the true Bodhi mind.

The true Bodhi mind is free from the apprehender, both the mental consciousness and the mental faculty, and from the five sense objects or the mental objects being apprehended. Only when the mind is free from these can it be denoted the true Bodhi mind.

In light of this, the true Bodhi mind refers to the True Mind, tathāgatagarbha, that which does not land on either the perceptive mind or mental objects or between them. Hence, it is said that “Bodhi is non-dual for it keeps from both the intellect and its objects.”

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