Each time as I cycle through the 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra (which, of course, is actually 34 days with the addition the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Contemplation of Universal Sage) I am struck by the promises offered to everyone. This is especially true in Chapter 2.
“Any Śrāvaka or Bodhisattva
Who hears even a gāthā
Of this sūtra which I am to expound
Will undoubtedly become a Buddha.”
I believe it is these promises that have made the Lotus Sutra so important in Asia and why it translates so well as it is introduced to new readers. How can we not have faith?
Yet, some people won’t accept.
“Śāriputra, know this!
Men of dull capacity and of little wisdom cannot believe the Dharma.
Those who are attached to the appearances of things are arrogant.
They cannot believe it, either.”
But there is so much to believe that is made explicit in the Lotus Sutra. These promises don’t require a lifetime to accomplish or the endurance of painful ascetic practices.
“Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.”
With enough faith to believe in the promise of the Lotus Sutra we can advance along the path.
“The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.“Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.”
Faith is not magical. We must act just as the children who lost their right mind needed first to believe the medicine would taste good and then take the medicine. We are promised a reward and all we are asked to do is practice and study.
“Those who do not study the Dharma
Cannot understand it.
You have already realized
The fact that the Buddhas, the World-Teachers, employ expedients,
According to the capacities of all living beings.
Know that, when you remove your doubts,
And when you have great joy,
You will become Buddhas!”
This final promise of Chapter 2 is a fitting end. As Ryusho Jeffus wrote in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:
“Chapter II ends telling us that when we are able to overcome our hurdle of doubt and when joy wells up from within our lives, then we are able to become Buddhas. That is my wish for you as you read this writing on the Lotus Sutra. I wish for you to be able to experience the great joy of the Lotus Sutra.”
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