Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Last month I covered the difficulty of hearing even the title of this Sutra and also the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot.

Keeping this in mind:

Manjusri! This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the treasury of the hidden core of the Buddhas, of the Tathagatas. It is superior to all the other sutras. I kept it [in secret] and refrained from expounding it for the long night. Now I expound it to you today for the first time.

I hear this instruction:

Be patient, and compassionate
Towards all living beings,
And then expound this sutra
Praised by the Buddhas!

Anyone who keeps this sutra
In the latter days after my extinction
Should have compassion towards laymen and monks
And towards those who are not Bodhisattvas.

He should think:
‘They do not hear this sutra.
They do not believe it.
This is their great fault.
When I attain the enlightenment of the Buddha,
I will expound the Dharma to them
With expedients
And cause them to dwell in it.’

With compassion.