Having competed my 44th cycle through the Lotus Sutra, it is again time to consider The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva and since this is the first complete cycle since my 21-day stay-cation retreat, it seems appropriate to start at the very beginning:

This is what I heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying in the kingdom of Vaisali, in the multi-storied assembly hall of the Great Forest Monastery. He said to all the monks: “After three months, surely I will enter complete nirvana.”

Then the Venerable Ananda rose from his seat, straightened his robe, put his palms together, and circled around the Buddha three times. Kneeling with his palms together, he paid his respects, gazing at the Tathagata attentively without turning away for even a moment. Mahakashyapa, the elder, and Maitreya Bodhisattva, the great one, also rose from their seats and, with palms together and gazing up at his honored face, paid respects to the Buddha.

Then the three great leaders spoke to the Buddha in one voice: “World-Honored One, after the extinction of the Tathagata, how can living beings aspire to be bodhisattvas, follow the Great Vehicle sutras, the Expansive Teaching, and think about the world of one truth correctly? How can they keep from losing their aspiration for unexcelled awakening? Without cutting off their afflictions and renouncing the five desires, how can they purify their sense organs and completely rid themselves of their sins? With the natural pure eyes received at birth from their parents, and without leaving the world of the five desires, how can they see past their hindrances?” (Reeves, p401)

Two points to make here: Note the very sparse crowd here. This is not the grand Lotus Sutra. This is a practice guide. The Lotus Sutra has been described as a preface to a sermon that’s never delivered. I reject that. Instead I see the Lotus Sutra as a carefully constructed house, a grand mansion of precious materials. The walls and floors and ceilings and doors of this sutra define the boundaries of the mansion. Those who practice the Lotus Sutra do so by exploring within the rooms and halls of this great mansion. By comparison, the Contemplation of Universal Sage is but one room equipped with tools for self-improvement.