Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Last month focused on the opening of Chapter 11 and the significance of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Beyond the promise that “Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sutra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe,” Sakyamuni explains that he is the Lotus Sutra:
Medicine-King! Erect a stupa of the seven treasures in any place where this sutra is expounded, read, recited or copied, or in any place where a copy of this sutra exists! The stupa should be tall, spacious and adorned. You need not enshrine my sariras in the stupa. Why not? It is because it will contain my perfect body. Offer flowers, incense, necklaces, canopies, banners, streamers, music and songs of praise to the stupa! Respect the stupa, honor it, and praise it! Anyone who, after seeing the stupa, bows to it, and makes offerings to it, know this, will approach Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Underlining that a stupa housing the Lotus Sutra contains the Buddha’s perfect body.
The Daily Dharma of Jan. 1, 2016, discusses this point:
Medicine-King! Erect a stūpa of the seven treasures in any place where this sūtra is expounded, read, recited or copied, or in any place where a copy of this sūtra exists! The stūpa should be tall, spacious and adorned. You need not enshrine my śarīras in the stūpa. Why not? It is because it will contain my perfect body.
The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. In ancient India, stūpas were tombs built as memorials to those who had enjoyed a superior position in their lives. After the Buddha died, small relics of his body were distributed so that many great stūpas could be built to his memory. Even today all over Asia, stūpas hold the physical remains of the Buddha. In this chapter, the Buddha reminds us that when we have the Lotus Sūtra with us, it is as good as having the Buddha himself.
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