I suppose I have a special affection for Chapter 7 since the Parable of the Magic City inspired so much of my effort here to document my journey to the place of treasures.
Consider the faith demonstrated by the 16 sons of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha:
“When the sons heard that their father had attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, they gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.”
Contrast that with the children playing in the burning house who couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to their father and his warnings.
These 16 princes of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha demonstrate a deep understanding of the perils faced in the triple world.
“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.”
I’ve always been struck by the line: “In the long night fewer people go to heaven and more people go to the evil regions.” These are the consequences of ignorance of the Dharma.
The great Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the zenith reinforce this message after traveling in search of the source of an unusual light illumining the universe:
“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.”
The Buddha “opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar.” We are asked to have faith and step through the gate.
Nichiren reminds us of just how rare it is to find this treasure:
“The chances of our being born in the three evil realms are more numerous than particles of dust on earth, while chances of our being born in the human realm are as scarce as the specks of dirt on a fingernail. (…) The chances of our encountering expedient sūtras preached in the forty-odd years before the Lotus Sūtra are more numerous than the particles of dust on earth, while encountering the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras is as scarce as specks of dirt on a fingernail.
Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 66
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