Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month considered Maitreya Bodhisattva response to the arrival of these great bodhisattvas, we consider the Buddha’s response to Maitreya’s query.

At that time the Buddhas, who had come from many thousands of billions of worlds outside [this world], were sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees in [this world and] the neighboring worlds of the eight quarters. Those Buddhas were the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha. The attendant of each of those Buddhas saw that many Bodhisattvas had sprung up from under the four quarters of the [Sahā-World which was composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds and stayed in the sky. He said to the Buddha whom he was accompanying, “World-Honored One! Where did these innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattvas come from?”

That Buddha said to his attendant:

“Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood,
saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’ Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able to hear his answer.”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

“Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he said, sang in gāthās:

Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

Now I will relieve you.
Do not doubt me! Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 2, 2021, offers this:

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These are another emphasis of the superiority of those who put the Buddha’s teachings into practice rather than those who merely hear and understand them. It is only when we are engaged in creating benefit in the world, in helping all beings to become enlightened, that we are able to hear the Buddha’s highest teaching, the teaching of his own enlightenment.

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

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Having last month considered in gāthās the benefits of the peaceful practices, we conclude Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’

He also will dream:
‘As many living beings, including dragons and asuras,
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Are joining their hands together
Towards me respectfully,
And I am expounding the Dharma to them.’

He also will dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are emitting innumerable ray of light,
And illumining all things.
The Buddhas are expounding all teachings
With their brahma voices.
I am among the four kinds of devotees
To whom a Buddha is expounding
The unsurpassed Dharma.
I praised the Buddha
With my hands joined together.
I heard the Dharma from him with joy.
I made offerings to him, and obtained dharanis.
I also obtained irrevocable wisdom.
The Buddha knew
That I entered deep into the Way to Buddhahood.
So he assured me of my future attainment
Of perfect enlightenment, saying:
‘Good man, in your future life,
You will be able to attain immeasurable wisdom,
That is, the great enlightenment: of the Buddha.
Your world will be pure and large
Without a parallel.
There will be the four kinds of devotees there.
They will hear the Dharma from you
With their hands joined together.’

He also will dream:
‘I am now in the forest of a mountain.
[ studied and practiced good teachings.
[ attained the truth of the reality of all things.
I am now in deep dhyāna-concentration.
I see the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.’

He also will have a good dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are adorned with a hundred marks of merits.
Having heard the Dharma from them,
I am now expounding it to others.’

He also will dream:
‘Although I was a king,
I gave up the five desires
And the most wonderful pleasures.
I left my palace and attendants,
And reached the place of enlightenment.
I sat on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi-tree,
And sought enlightenment.
After seven days, I obtained the wisdom of the Buddhas
And attained unsurpassed enlightenment.
I emerged [from dhyāna] and turned the wheel of the Dharma.
I expounded the Dharma to the four kinds of devotees
For a thousand billion kalpas.
I expounded the Wonderful Dharma-without-āsravas
And saved innumerable living beings.
Then I entered into Nirvana
Just as a flame dies when smoke is gone.’

Anyone who expounds
This supreme teaching
In the evil world after [my extinction]
Will obtain great benefits as previously stated.

The Daily Dharma from March 13, 2022, offers this:

He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra, speaking of those who keep and practice the Wonderful Dharma. Dreams for many of us can be frightening places. They can be where we relive bad situations in our past or develop fantastic scenarios for disasters in the future. When we accept our nature as Bodhisattvas, and live assured of our future enlightenment, we find that even the thoughts over which we have no control begin to harmonize with the world around us. When we learn to recognize the Buddha in our everyday lives, our old traumas become vehicles for compassion.

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

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

Having last month considered how the Bodhisattva should approach women and the truth he should know, we repeat in gāthās proper practices and the proper things to approach.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

A Bodhisattva who wishes
To expound this sūtra 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 caṇḍālas, 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 bhikṣus
Who violate the precepts,
Or self-appointed Arhats,
Or the bhikṣunīs/
Who like to laugh playfully.

He should not approach the upāsikās
Who are attached to the five desires
Or who seek in their present life
The extinction[-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.

He should not approach
Or make friends with a widow
Or with an unmarried woman
Or with a eunuch.

He should not approach
Slaughterers or cooks
Or those who kill for profit,
Such as hunters or fishermen.

He should not approach
Butchers
Or procurers
Of prostitutes.

He should not approach
Dangerous wrestlers
Or makers of various amusements
Or immoral women.

He should not expound the Dharma
To a woman in an enclosed place.
When he expounds the Dharma to her,
He should not laugh playfully.

The Daily Dharma from June 21, 2021, offers this:

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.

The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. In our zeal to practice this Wonderful Dharma we may come to expect that because this is such a wonderful teaching, we deserve to be rewarded for providing it to others. With this expectation, we then lose our focus on using the Dharma to benefit others and instead use it to benefit ourselves. When we show how to give freely, without expectations, we embody generosity, the same generosity the Buddha himself demonstrated when he provided the teaching to us.

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