Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month covered Śāriputra’s mesh of doubts, we now come to Śākyamuni’s response.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Śāriputra:

“Now I will tell you in the presence of this great multitude including gods, men, śramaṇas, and brahmanas. Under two billion Buddhas in the past, I always taught you in order to cause you to attain unsurpassed enlightenment. You studied under me in the long night. I led you with expedients. Therefore, you have your present life under me.

“Śāriputra! I caused you to aspire for the enlightenment of the Buddha in your previous existence. You forgot all this, and thought that you had already attained extinction. In order to cause you to remember the Way you practiced under your original vow, I now expound to the Śrāvakas this sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

Under two billion Buddhas Śāriputra was taught, but he retained nothing. Not a clue. And Śāriputra is foremost in wisdom among the voice hearers. It gives extra meaning to the gāthā (Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith), “The Buddhas practice patience / In order to save inferior people.”

And makes me wonder, What have I forgotten?