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China: Vimalakirti in debate with the bodhisattva Manjusri, detail from a wall painting in Mogao Cave 103, Dunhuang, 8th century

China: Vimalakirti in debate with the bodhisattva Manjusri, detail from a wall painting in Mogao Cave 103, Dunhuang, 8th century

The Vimalakīrti Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Among other subjects, the sutra teaches the meaning of nonduality. An important aspect of this scripture is that it contains a report of a teaching addressed to both arhats and bodhisattvas by the layman Vimalakīrti, who expounds the doctrine of Śūnyatā, or emptiness, to them. This culminates with the wordless teaching of silence.