Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Having last month covered the gathas concerning the confusion sown by the Buddha’s revelations, we come to Sariputra’s question.

Thereupon Sariputra, seeing the doubts of the four kinds of devotees, and also because he, himself, did not understand [why the Buddha had said this], said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why do you extol so enthusiastically [what you call] the highest [Truth, and the power of the Buddhas to employ) expedients? [Why do you extol) the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand? I have never heard you say all this before. The four kinds of devotees also have the same doubts. World-Honored One! Explain all this! Why do you extol so enthusiastically the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand?”

Thereupon Sariputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gathas:

Sun of Wisdom, Great Honorable Saint!
You expound the Dharma for the first time after a long time.
You say that you obtained
The powers, fearlessness, samadhis,
Dhyana-concentrations, emancipations,
And other inconceivable properties [of a Buddha].

No one asks you about the Dharma you attained
At the place of enlightenment.
[The Dharma] is too difficult for me to measure.
[So it is for others; therefore,] no one asks you.

Although you are not asked, you extol the teachings
[Of the past Buddhas] which you practiced.
Your wisdom is wonderful.
It is the same wisdom that the other Buddhas obtained.

The Arhats-without-asravas
And those who are seeking Nirvana
Are now in the mesh of doubts, wondering:
“Why does the Buddha say all this?”

Those who are seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers,
And the bhiksus, bhiksunis, gods, dragons,
Gandharvas, and other supernatural beings,
Are exchanging glances of perplexity.

They are looking up at you, at the Honorable Biped
Thinking:
“What is this for?
Buddha! Explain all this!”

You once said to me:
“You are the most excellent Sravaka.”
With all my wisdom, however, I now doubt.
I do not understand
Whether the Truth I attained is final or not,
Whether the teachings I practiced are true or not.

Your sons born from your mouth are looking up at you
With their hands joined together, entreating:
“With your wonderful voice,
Explain all this as it really is!”

As many gods and dragons
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
And the eighty thousand Bodhisattvas
Who are seeking Buddhahood,
And the wheel-turning-holy-kings
Of billions of worlds
Are joining their hands together respectfully,
Wishing to hear the Perfect Way.

This is a good point to insert an explanation of expedient teaching from Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1:

Previous to teaching the Lotus Sutra the Buddha taught expedients to lead people to the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra. In many ways it was as if he were leading the blind to the train station so they could then find the way to the true complete teachings contained in the Lotus Sutra. But we need to remember that the train station is not the destination, the expedients are not the sum of the Buddha’s teachings.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Having last month learned of the Bodhisattva who was called Fame Seeking, we begin Manjusri’s repetition of what he saw, this time in gathas.

Thereupon Manjusri, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gathas in the midst of the great multitude:

According to my memory,
innumerable, countless kalpas ago,
There lived a Buddha, a Man of the Highest Honor,
Called Sun-Moon-Light.

That World-Honored One expounded the Dharma,
And caused innumerable living beings
And many hundreds of millions of Bodhisattvas
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.

Seeing the Great Saint
Who had renounced the world,
The eight sons born to him when he was a king
Followed him, and performed brahma practices.

The Buddha expounded
To the great multitude
A sutra of the Great Vehicle
Called the ‘Innumerable Teachings.’

Having expounded this sutra, the Buddha sat cross-legged
On the seat of the Dharma [facing the east],
And entered into the samadhi
For the purport of the innumerable teachings.

The gods rained mandarava-flowers.
Heavenly drums sounded by themselves.
The gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings
Made offerings to the Man of the Highest Honor.

The worlds of the Buddhas quaked much.
The Buddha emitted a ray of light
From between his eyebrows,
And showed things rarely to be seen.

Back at the beginning of February on Day 31 I mentioned that I had recently been reading “Readings of the Lotus Sutra,” a book of essays on the Lotus Sutra edited by Stephen F. Teiser and Jacqueline I. Stone. One essay, Gender and Hierarchy in the Lotus Sutra, uses the parables of the sutra to conclude that the sutra focuses on children who are inferior to their father in wisdom and realization. I used this to point out that this was not true in Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva. In reading Day 2, it is untrue here as well. These sons realize their father’s accomplishment, dedicate themselves to the pursuit of Buddhahood and eventually become Buddhas themselves. Clearly, the conclusions of the essay Gender and Hierarchy in the Lotus Sutra suffers from its focus the parables of the Burning House, the Rich Man and His Poor Son and the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children. There is much more to the Lotus Sutra than the parables.

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Having last month covered the ray of light emitted from the white curls between Sakyamuni’s eyebrows that illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, we consider Maitreya’s reaction.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva thought:

“The World-Honored One is now displaying a wonder [, that is, a good omen]. Why is he displaying this good omen? The Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into a samadhi. Whom shall I ask why he is displaying this inconceivable, rare thing? Who can answer my question?”

He thought again:

“This Manjusri, the son of the King of the Dharma, has already met innumerable Buddhas and made offerings to them in his previous existence. He must have seen this rare thing before. Now I will ask him.”

At that time the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings thought, “Whom shall we ask why the Buddha is emitting this ray of light, that is, why he is displaying this wonder?”

At that time the congregation included the four kinds of devotees: bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas. They also included gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings. Maitreya Bodhisattva, wishing to have his doubts removed, and also understanding the minds of the congregation, asked Manjusri:

“Why is the World-Honored One displaying this good omen, this wonder? Why is he emitting a great ray of light, illumining eighteen thousand worlds to the east, and causing us to see those beautifully-adorned worlds of the Buddhas?”

And with this we underscore an important message early in this sutra: When in doubt, ask for clarification. There are no stupid questions.

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month covered the promise Sakyamuni makes to those who keep, read and recite the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we come to Sakyamuni’s instructions to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.

Universal-Sage! If you see anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the later five hundred years after my extinction, you should think, ‘Before long be will go to the place of enlightenment, defeat Mara and his followers, attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, turn the wheel of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, blow the conchshell horn of the Dharma, send the rain of the Dharma, and sit on the lion-like seat of the Dharma in the midst of the great multitude of gods and men.’

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 2, 2016, offers this:

The Buddha gives this instruction to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren explained that the later five hundred years mentioned in this passage is the time in which we are living today. The Buddha is therefore talking about all of us who practice the Wonderful Dharma. When we can grow our capacity to respect each other as we respect the Buddha, it inspires the respect at the core of all beings, and transforms this world.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com