Ignorant people will speak ill of us,
Abuse us, and threaten us
With swords or sticks.
But we will endure all this.

Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva, along with their attendants, declare these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had asked previously who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death. These Bodhisattvas realize the difficulty of teaching and keeping this sūtra. They know that some who come to hear the Buddha Dharma are strongly attached to their anger. These Bodhisattvas vow to look beyond the violence and suffering of these people and promise to lead even them to enlightenment.

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