From the Holy Teachings of Vimalakirti


A discussion between two Bodhisattvas 
(Vimalakirti is referred to as ‘house holder’ by Manjushri)

Vimalakirti: Manjusri, I am sick only because the elements of living beings are disturbed by sicknesses.

Manjusri: Householder, how should a bodhisattva console another bodhisattva who is sick?

Vimalakirti: He should tell him that the body is impermanent, but should not exhort him to renunciation or disgust. He should tell him that the body is miserable, but should not encourage him to find solace in liberation; that the body is selfless, but that living beings should be developed; that the body is peaceful, but not to seek any ultimate calm. He should urge him to confess his evil deeds, but not for the sake of absolution. He should encourage his empathy for all living beings on account of his own sickness, his remembrance of suffering experienced from beginningless time, and his consciousness of working for the welfare of living beings. He should encourage him not to be distressed, but to manifest the roots of virtue, to maintain the primal purity and the lack of craving, and thus to always strive to become the king of healers, who can cure all sicknesses. Thus should a bodhisattva console a sick bodhisattva, in such a way as to make him happy.

Buy the Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, The: A Mahayana Scripture
Translation Robert Thurman