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

Having last month approached the proper gathas, we complete the first set of things a Bodhisattva should do.

He should disregard the differences
Between the superior, mean, and inferior vehides,
Between the things free from causality
and those subject to it,
And between the real and the unreal.
He should not say:
“This is a man,” or “This is a woman.”
He should not obtain anything
Or know anything or see anything.
All these are the proper practices
That the Bodhisattva should perform.

Things are insubstantial.
They have no property.
They are not permanent.
They do not rise or perish.
This is the Dharma to be approached
By a man of wisdom.

Only perverted people say:
“All things exist,” or “Nothing exists,”
Or “All things are real,” or “Nothing is real,”
Or “All things are born,” or “Nothing is born.”

The Bodhisattva should live in a retired place,
And concentrate his mind.
He should be as peaceful
And as immovable as Mt. Sumeru.
Things have no property
Just as the sky has not.
They are not solid.
They are not born.
They do not appear or move or go.
They are permanently of one form.
This truth is the proper thing
The Bodhisattva should approach.

A bhiksu who lives after my extinction
Will be free from timidity
If he performs these proper practices,
And approaches these proper things
As previously stated,
And then expounds this sutra.

A Bodhisattva will be peaceful,
And free from timidity
If he stays in a quiet room
For some time,
Recollects the Dharma correctly,
Understands the Dharma
According to the meanings of it,
And then emerges
From his dhyana-concentration,
And leads kings, princes,
Common people and brahmanas
By expounding this sutra to them.

Manjusri, all this is the first set of things
That the Bodhisattva should do
Before he expounds the Surra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
In the world after [my extinction].

The Daily Dharma from July 28, 2016, offers this insight:

He should disregard the differences
Between the superior, mean, and inferior vehicles,
Between the things free from causality and those subject to it,
And between the real and the unreal.
He should not say:
“This is a man,” or “This is a woman.”
He should not obtain anything
Or know anything or see anything.
All these are the proper practices
That the Bodhisattva should perform.

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

Having last month covered the big reveal that Devadatta was the Buddha’s teacher, we come to the promise of future Buddhahood for Devadatta.

[Sakyamuni] said to the four kinds of devotees:

Devadatta will become a Buddha after innumerable kalpas. He will be called Heavenly-King, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The world of that Buddha will be called Heavenly-Way. That Buddha will live for twenty intermediate kalpas. He will expound the Wonderful Dharma to all living beings. [Hearing the Dharma from him,] as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges will obtain Arhatship; another group of innumerable living beings will aspire for the enlightenment of cause-knowers; and another group of living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges will aspire for unsurpassed enlightenment, obtain the truth of birthlessness, and reach the stage of irrevocability. After the Parinirvana of Heavenly-King Buddha, his right teachings will be preserved in that world for twenty intermediate kalpas. During that time a stupa of the seven treasures sixty yojanas tall and forty yojanas wide and deep will be erected to enshrine the sarrias of his perfect body. Gods and men will bow to the wonderful stupa of the seven treasures and offer various flowers, incense powder, incense to burn, incense applicable to the skin, garments, necklaces, banners, streamers, jeweled canopies, music and songs of praise [to the stupa]. [By doing all this,] innumerable living beings will attain Arhatship; another group of innumerable living beings will attain Pratyekabuddhahood; and another group of inconceivably numerous living beings will aspire for Bodhi and reach the stage of irrevocability.

The Daily Dharma of April 29, 2015, offers Nichiren’s explanation of the importance of Devadatta’s future Buddhahood.

This is indeed inexplicable yet precious. If Devadatta does not become a Buddha, the numerous evil people who were induced by him to enter into his evil comradeship would never be able to escape the torment of the Hell of Incessant Suffering. It is solely due to the great favor of the Lotus Sutra that all of Devadatta’s comrades, too, are allowed to be Buddhas.

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.

Having last month opened the Stupa of Treasures, we come to the start of the ceremony in the air.

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stupa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Sakyamuni Buddha, saying, ‘Sakyamuni Buddha, sit here!’

Sakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa and sat on the half-seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathagatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stupa of the seven treasures, thought, ‘The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathagata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!’

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with a loud voice:

Who will expound the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sutra may be preserved.

The Daily Dharma of July 17, 2015, offers this:

“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Sahā-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvāṇa before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”

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

Having last month completed the final portion of Chapter 11, we return to the start of Day 14 in Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahasattva:

I have expounded many sutras. I am now expounding this sutra. I also will expound many sutras in the future. The total number of the sutras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.

Medicine-King! This sutra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 31, 2016, offers this perspective:

I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.