When we are considering the lessons of Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, it is best to begin by taking to heart the advice offered by the Buddha. We should “concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute” but most important:
“Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.”
When Maitreya Bodhisattva looked upon the vast cloud of many thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground simultaneously, he didn’t recognize any of them. However, he was able to observe the qualities of these bodhisattvas clearly:
“They have studied the Way of Bodhisattvas well.
They are not defiled by worldliness
Just as the lotus-flower
Is not defiled by water.”
We, too, can live in the mundane world without being defiled by it. In fact, it is essential that followers of the Lotus Sutra do just that. As the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra says:
“The lovely lotus flower grows out of muddy water and is not defiled by it. In the same way, Bodhisattvas, persons who put the Buddha’s teachings into practice, can live in the midst of a world defiled by vice and corruption, and yet not be contaminated by it. They can teach and awaken other people while keeping their own minds pure. They can save others, however, only when they live with them here in this evil world.”
Or as Nikkyō Niwano suggests in Buddhism for Today:
Buddhism for Today, p183“These words represent the ideal way of life that the Buddha teaches us in the Lotus Sutra. We should not withdraw from society but should lead beautiful and pure lives within society. The ideal of the Lotus Sutra consists in making all society pure and beautiful. The title Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law expresses this ideal.”
This is the great task that followers of the Lotus Sutra are expected to take up. Our goal is not a private benefit confined to ourselves and our immediate family. To be true followers of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma we must act the part. We do not wish to escape from this world. Instead, we seek to purify it, to do the work of the Eternal Śākyamuni. In his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra, Ryusho Jeffus offers this clear explanation of what such a life entails:
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra“When we choose to live our lives with the firm belief that we are the most qualified to become Buddhas, that we don’t need anything else other than our faith in the Lotus Sutra to qualify us, and when we devout ourselves to practice with faith, and when we strive to save others, then we will actually manifest the characteristics of those Bodhisattvas who arose from beneath the ground. We cannot just call ourselves that and end the day. We actually have to do the things required to fulfill our vows as those Bodhisattvas.”
Table of Contents Next Essay