Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Ānanda always protects the store of the Dharma and Rāhula is the Buddha’s son. But they still feel it necessary to beg the Buddha for assurance of their future Buddhahood. And then there are the 8,000 Bodhisattvas who ask: “Why have these Śrāvakas been so assured?”

The answer:

“Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings. He also will protect the store of the teachings of future Buddhas, teach Bodhisattvas, and cause them to attain [Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi], according to his original vow. Therefore, now he has been assured of his future Buddhahood.”

Learning without practice is not enough.

And after all of the Śrāvakas are assured of future Buddhahood, we learn in Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, the power of faith in the Lotus Sutra:

Medicine-King! Do you see the innumerable gods, dragon-kings, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings, and [the four kinds of devotees:] bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās, and those who are seeking Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the enlightenment of the Buddha in this great multitude? If in my presence any of them rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gāthā or a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will assure him of his future Buddhahood, saying to him, ‘You will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.’

The Buddha said to Medicine-King: “If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gāthā or a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I also will assure him of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

All of those who “keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma” are in fact Bodhisattvas, messengers sent by the Buddha:

Medicine-King, know this! They should be considered to have given up the rewards of their pure karmas and appeared in the evil world after my extinction in order to expound this sūtra out of their compassion towards all living beings. The good men or women who expound even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma even to one person even in secret after my extinction, know this, are my messengers. They are dispatched by me. They do my work. It is needless to say this of those who expound this sūtra to many people in a great multitude.

And in gāthās:

Anyone who keeps
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
Know this, has compassion towards all living beings
Because he is my messenger.

Anyone who keeps
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Should be considered to have given up his pure world and come here
Out of his compassion towards all living beings.

Know that he can appear wherever he wishes!
He should be considered
To have appeared in this evil world
In order to expound the unsurpassed Dharma.

And again:

Anyone who keeps this sūtra in the future
Should be considered
To have been dispatched by me
To the world of men in order to do my work.

Day 14 ends with the declaration:

Medicine-King! I will tell you.
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Is the most excellent sūtra
That I have ever expounded.

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī, is the subject of the opening. Of note: He praises the Buddha without asking anything in return.

‘The World-Honored One is extraordinary. What he does is exceptional. He expounds the Dharma with expedients by his insight according to the various natures of all living beings of the world, and saves them from various attachments. The merits of the Buddha are beyond the expression of our words. Only the Buddha, only the World-Honored One, knows the wishes we have deep in our minds.’

Pūrṇa, explains the Buddha, is the most excellent expounder of the Dharma: “No one except the Tathāgata excels him in eloquence.”

He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

And in gāthās:

He obtained great supernatural powers
And the four kinds of unhindered eloquence.
Seeing who was clever, and who was dull,
He always expounded the Pure Dharma.

He expounded the Dharma of the Great Vehicle
To hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings,
And caused them to dwell in the Dharma
So that the worlds of those Buddhas might be purified.

Eventually, after protecting and expounding the Dharma of innumerable Buddhas, “He will perform the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas, and then attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this world.”

In contrast to Pūrṇa’s joy, the twelve hundred Arhats thought: “How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

They understand that the teaching wasn’t withheld; they just did not remember that they carried that lesson. They offer The Parable of the Pricess Gem.

You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago. [You have forgotten this; therefore,] I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvāṇa [which I taught you as an expedient].’

“World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.”

(2013-02-01). The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma (Kindle Locations 4277-4282). Nichiren Buddhist International Center. Kindle Edition.

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the third volume of the Lotus Sutra.

Having heard appeals from the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the 10 quarters and the sixteen princes, Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata turned the wheel of the Dharma:

The wheel of this teaching could not be turned by any other one in the world, be he a śramaṇa, a brāhmaṇa, a god, Māra or Brahman. The Buddha said, ‘This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is extinction of suffering. This is the Way to extinction of suffering.’

Then he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, saying, ‘Ignorance causes predisposition. Predisposition causes consciousness. Consciousness causes name-and-form. Name-and-form causes the six sense organs. The six sense organs cause impression. Impression causes feeling. Feeling causes craving. Craving causes grasping. Grasping causes existence. Existence causes birth. Birth causes aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. When ignorance is eliminated, predisposition is eliminated. When predisposition is eliminated, consciousness is eliminated. When consciousness is eliminated, name-and-form is eliminated. When name-and-form is eliminated, the six sense organs are eliminated. When the six sense organs are eliminated, impression is eliminated. When impression is eliminated, feeling is eliminated. When feeling is eliminated, craving is eliminated. When craving is eliminated, grasping is eliminated. When grasping is eliminated, existence is eliminated. When existence is eliminated, birth is eliminated. When birth is eliminated, aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation are eliminated.’

But the 16 princes wanted more:

They said to the Buddha simultaneously, ‘World-Honored One! All these Śrāvakas of great virtue, many thousands of billions in number, have already done [what they should do]. World-Honored One! Expound to us the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi! If we hear that teaching, we will study and practice it. World-Honored One! We wish to have the insight of the Tathāgata. You know what we have deep in our minds.’

Twenty thousand kalpas later, the Buddha “expounded to the four kinds of devotees the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’” The Buddha then retired to a quiet place for

When the Buddha completed the expounding of this sūtra, the sixteen śrāmaṇeras kept, recited and understood this sūtra in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The sixteen śrāmaṇeras, [who were] Bodhisattvas, received this sūtra by faith. Some Śrāvakas understood it by faith, but the other Śrāvakas and other living beings, thousands of billions in number, doubted it.

The Buddha then practised dhyāna-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas, while the 16 princes expounded the Lotus Sutra to the four kinds of devotees.

At this point, it might be helpful to recall what Śākyamuni said at the end of the previous chapter:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

Each of the śrāmaṇera princes eventually became Buddhas. “[T]he sixteenth śrāmaṇera is I, Sakyamuni Buddha. I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World.”

Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [when I was a śrāmaṇera], included you bhikṣus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Śrāvakahood after my extinction.

And in gāthās:

I was one of the sixteen śrāmaṇeras.
You were among those to whom I expounded the Dharma.
Therefore, I now lead you with expedients
To the wisdom of the Buddha.

Because I taught you in my previous existence,
I expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
In order to lead you into the Way to Buddhahood.
Think it over! Do not be surprised! Do not be afraid!

The Parable of the Magic City

The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [vehicles] were taught only as resting places.

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

When Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, five hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’ The palaces of the gods of those worlds, including the palace of Brahmans, also quaked in the six ways. The great rays of light which illumined all those worlds were brighter than the rays of light emitted by those gods.

And with that we watch as first the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east puzzle over what has happened:

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?

Each of the 10 directions – east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north, northeast, nadir and zenith – travel to the land of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha, finding him and his 16 sons. Each makes offerings to the Buddha and ask that he turn the wheel of the Dharma.

Brahman-heavenly-kings each in his own way welcome the arrival of the Buddha. The Brahman-heavenly-kings of the Zenith led by Great Brahman-heavenly-king Śikhin, for example, say:

How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.

The All-Knower, the Most Honorable One of Gods and Men,
Opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar,
And saves all living beings
Out of his compassion towards them.

There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.

The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.

They do not hear the Dharma from a Buddha.
Because they did evils,
Their appearances are getting worse;
And their power and wisdom, decreasing.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Since today is Thanksgiving, I held over from yesterday the “meal of a great king” simile:

Great Hero, World-Honored One!
King of the Dharma of the Śākyas!
Give us your voice
Out of your compassion towards us!

If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.

Suppose a man came
From a country suffering from famine.
Now he saw the meal of a great king.
He did not partake of it in doubts and fears.
After he was told to take it by the king,
He took it at once.
We are like that man.
We know the defects of the Lesser Vehicle.
But we do not know how to obtain
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.

Although we hear you say [to us],
“You will become Buddhas,”
We are still in doubts and fears about it,
Just as that man was about the meal.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall be happy and peaceful.

In turn, the Buddha tells Subhūti he’ll attend on three hundred billion nayutas of Buddhas, and Kātyāyana on eight hundred thousand millions of Buddhas and then two billions of Buddhas and Maudgalyāyana eight thousand Buddhas and then two hundred billions of Buddhas. In the end, each “complete the Way of Bodhisattvas” and become Buddhas.

And Next on 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

Which leads us to Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City. The Buddha begins by telling of a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence who died at a time in past so distant that we might as well consider it infinitely long ago. Despite that distance:

Yet I remember [the extinction of] that Buddha by my power of insight as vividly as if he had passed away today.”

And in gāthās:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhikṣus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from āsravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

Back to the story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence.

The duration of the life of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha was five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas. [Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Māra. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.

Gods and heavenly kings offered help and “At the end of the period of ten small kalpas, the Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.” The Buddha had 16 sons who upon hearing of their father’s transformation “gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.” The sons offer praise of their father the Buddha:

All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

You are the Most Honorable One.
You have obtained the peaceful Dharma-without-āsravas.
Not only we but also all gods and men
Will be able to obtain the greatest benefit.
Therefore, we bow and devote ourselves to you,
The Most Honorable One.