Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Last month, I discussed the first of the four sets of things a Bodhisattva-mahasattva who wishes to expound this sutra should do in the evil world after the Buddha’s extinction. This time through, I review the things to be approached:

We are given a lengthy list of proper things the Bodhisattva-mahasattva should avoid, e.g. kings, princes, ministers or other government directors; heretics; aspirants for the teaching of Brahman; writers of worldly literature; players of dangerous sports such as boxers or wrestlers; or hunters or fishermen.

That’s just a partial list of those whom a Bodhisattva should not approach.

But…

When they come to him, he should expound the Dharma to them, but should not wish [to receive anything from them].

And in gathas:

A Bodhisattva who wishes
To expound this sutra without fear
In the evil world
After [my extinction]
Should perform proper practices
And approach proper things.

He should keep away
From kings, princes and ministers,
From other government officials,
From players of dangerous sports,
From candalas, from heretics,
And from aspirants for the teaching of Brahman.

He should not approach arrogant people,
Or the scholars who are deeply attached
To the Three Stores of the Lesser Vehicle,
Or the bhilsus
Who violate the precepts,
Or self-appointed Arhats,
Or the bhisunis
Who like to laugh playfully.

He should not approach the upasikas
Who are attached to the five desires
Or who seek in their present life
The extitiction[-without-remainder].

When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.

Next month, the proper things a Bodhisattva should know.

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Today’s reading in Chapter 12 includes Sakyamuni’s description of his previous life as a king:

I remember that I became a kjng in a kalpa of the past.
Although I was a king,
I did not indulge in the pleasures of the five desires
Because l was seeking the Great Dharma.

The bottom line of this tale is, of course, that the king seeks a teacher and finds a seer who was a previous life of Devadatta.

But what stood out for me today was this explanation of why he, a king, sought the Dharma:

I sought the Great Dharma strenuously
Because I wished to save all living beings.
I did not wish to benefit myself
Or to have the pleasures of the five desires.

Such selfless compassion.

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Yesterday and last month, I focused on the arrival of the stupa of treasures containing Many Treasures Tathagata.

But you can’t just see the Buddha in the Stupa of Treasures, as Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva learns when he asks to see Many Treasures Buddha.

The Buddha said to Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahasattva:

Many-Treasures Buddha made another great vow: ‘If a Buddha wishes to show me to the four kinds of devotees when my stupa of treasures appears before him in order that I may be able to hear the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharrna [directly from him], he must call back all the Buddhas of his replicas who will be expounding the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters at that time. Then I will show myself [to the four kinds of devotees].’ Great­Eloquence! Now I will collect the Buddhas of my replicas who are now expounding the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters.

The June 9 Daily Dharma discusses the significance of this:

The Buddha makes this declaration to Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, a large tower has sprung up from underground. From inside, the voice of Many-Treasures Buddha proclaims the truth of the Lotus Sutra that Śākyamuni Buddha is teaching. Before the Buddha can open the door to this tower and allow the congregation to see this Buddha, Śākyamuni must summon all the other Buddhas in the other worlds throughout the universe. We often say of others, “They live in their own world.” We are surrounded by as many worlds as there are people in our lives. When we summon their Buddha-Nature using our Buddha-Nature, we open doors to treasures we can barely imagine.

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Last month and the month before I focused on the promises made to those who expound this sutra after the extinction of the Buddha.

Now it is time for the arrival of the stupa of treasures:

Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha. The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep. It was adorned with various treasures. It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers. It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down. The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world. Many canopies, adorned with streamers, and made of the seven treasures–gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby–were hanging in the sky [one upon another from the top of the stupa] up to the [heaven of the] palaces of the four heavenly-kings. The thirty-three gods offered a rain of heavenly mandarava-flowers to the stupa of treasures. Thousands of billions of living beings, including the other gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, also offered flowers, incense, necklaces, streamers, canopies and music to the stupa of treasures, venerated the stupa, honored it, and praised it.

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:

“Excellent, excellent! You, Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

From Rev. Ryuei McCormick’s book “Lotus Seeds“:

Many Treasures Tathagata represents many things. On one level, he represents all the Buddhas of the past, and his testimony shows that Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings are in accord with the universal truth, valid in all ages and in all worlds. On another level, Shakyamuni Buddha personifies subjective wisdom while Many Treasures Tathagata personifies objective reality. When they share the seat within the Stupa of Treasures they are actually demonstrating the unity of wisdom and reality, subject and object. The emergence of the Stupa of Treasures itself and the testimony of the Many Treasures Tathagata from within it could also indicate the emergence of Buddhahood from within our lives and our own inner recognition of and response to the truth when we hear it.

Lotus Seeds

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.

Last month, I focused on Ananda, who is foremost in hearing the sutras. This month I’ll move to Rahula.

When I was a crown prince,
Rahula was my eldest son.
When I attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He received the Dharma, and became the son of the Dharma.

In his future life he will see
Many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Become the eldest son of those Buddhas, and seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha with all his heart.

Only I know his secret practices.
He shows himself
To all living beings
In the form of my eldest son.

He has many thousands of billions of merits.
His merits are countless.
He dwells peacefully in the Dharma of the Buddha,
And seeks unsurpassed enlightenment.

Ryusho Jeffus Shonin’s Lecture on the Lotus Sutra says this about Rahula’s secret practices:

It is the ordinary day-to-day practice that each of us performs that is actually the great secret practice of Rahula. It isn’t fame or acquiring a big name that is required to attain enlightenment. It isn’t being famous that will lead others to practice the Lotus Sutra. It is our practice of the Lotus Sutra in our everyday lives that will enable countless others just like us to ultimately take faith in the Lotus Sutra. We should not be discouraged, instead we can look at Rahula who will become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven-Treasures Buddha and we too can walk on the flowers of the seven treasures of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.