Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Yesterday and last month, I focused on the arrival of the stupa of treasures containing Many Treasures Tathagata.

But you can’t just see the Buddha in the Stupa of Treasures, as Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva learns when he asks to see Many Treasures Buddha.

The Buddha said to Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahasattva:

Many-Treasures Buddha made another great vow: ‘If a Buddha wishes to show me to the four kinds of devotees when my stupa of treasures appears before him in order that I may be able to hear the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharrna [directly from him], he must call back all the Buddhas of his replicas who will be expounding the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters at that time. Then I will show myself [to the four kinds of devotees].’ Great­Eloquence! Now I will collect the Buddhas of my replicas who are now expounding the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters.

The June 9 Daily Dharma discusses the significance of this:

The Buddha makes this declaration to Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, a large tower has sprung up from underground. From inside, the voice of Many-Treasures Buddha proclaims the truth of the Lotus Sutra that Śākyamuni Buddha is teaching. Before the Buddha can open the door to this tower and allow the congregation to see this Buddha, Śākyamuni must summon all the other Buddhas in the other worlds throughout the universe. We often say of others, “They live in their own world.” We are surrounded by as many worlds as there are people in our lives. When we summon their Buddha-Nature using our Buddha-Nature, we open doors to treasures we can barely imagine.

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