Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.
Having last month introduced the 16 princes, it’s time to conclude this portion of Chapter 7 with the plea by the princes.
Thereupon the sixteen princes, having praised the Buddha with these gathas, begged the World-Honored One to turn the wheel of the Dharma, saying, ‘World-Honored One! Expound the Dharma, and give peace and many benefits to gods and men out of your compassion towards them!’ They repeated this in gathas:
You, the Hero of the World, are unequalled.
Adorned with the marks
Of one hundred merits,
You have obtained unsurpassed wisdom.
Expound the Dharma and save us
And other living beings of the world!Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.You, the World-Honored One, know
What all living beings have deep in their minds,
What teachings they are practicing,
And how much power of wisdom they have.You know their desires, the merits they obtained,
And the karmas they did
In their previous existence.
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!
The Daily Dharma from Dec. 25, 2016, offers this:
You, the World-Honored One, know
What all living beings have deep in their minds,
What teachings they are practicing,
And how much power of wisdom they have.
The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha proclaim this to their father in a story told by Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. In our preoccupation with our pursuits in this world of conflict we are so focused on our schemes that we have forgotten the Buddha’s wisdom dormant in us all. With the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha leads us to an unfamiliar and even uncomfortable way of seeing the world. But it is only when we leave the false safety of our delusions that we can truly benefit ourselves and others.
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