Matthew Kozan Palevsky: Vimalakirti Chapter 5: Bondage and Liberation

Matthew Kozan Palevsky delves into Chapter 5 of the Vimalakirti sutra.  He begins by reminding us how sickness can open up the possibility for connection and healing, saying “In illness we can feel uniquely undefended, unpretentious, unmitigated, unquestioning, undone. At times this can feel like overwhelming intimacy with whomever is with us, or with all of life.”  He then delves into the causes of Vimalakirti’s sickness, which is our sickness, and how we are to understand its cure.  He tackles this central topic of Zen by breaking it down into two sicknesses and two cures, saying:  “For the first, we apply the view of emptiness to a mind that wants to cling to duality.  And for the second sickness we use Great Compassion to heal the broken heartedness that arises from Great Compassion. Of course, this is only one sickness, which is no sickness at all.”  Kozan closes with a case from the Blue Cliff Record that expresses Vimalakirti’s invitation to meet the world with Wisdom and Upaya — with Great Compassion. For Program/Series description and to access the entire series, please click on the link below: Upaya Podcast Series: Fall Practice Period 2021: The Bodhisattva Way of Vimalakirti