Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Having last month witnessed the arrival of the Stupa of Treasures, we witness the reaction of the four kinds of devotees.

Thereupon the four kinds of devotees [in the congregation], having seen the great stupa of treasures hanging in the sky, and having heard the voice from within the stupa, had delight in the Dharma, but wondered why these unprecedented things had happened. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together [towards the stupa] respectfully, retired, and stood to one side.

Thereupon a Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas called Great-Eloquence, having noticed that the gods, men and asuras of the world had doubts, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Why did this stupa of treasures spring up from underground? Why was that voice heard from within [the stupa]?”

The Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this on the arrival of the Stupa of Treasures:

One question I get frequently in regard to the Stupa of Treasures and the great bodhisattvas rising out of the ground is, did this really occur or is this some imaginary story? For me as I understand the Lotus Sutra, this is an imaginary or made-up story that we are encouraged to make real. By our own faith and practice we can make this grand drama a reality in our own lives. It isn’t something that someone else can do for any of us. Did this really happen? Not if by that you mean did it happen like we sent a man to the moon, or the Trade Center Towers in New York were demolished by planes flying into them. And yet, for the individual or group of individuals who created these chapters of the Lotus Sutra, I do not think their intent was to communicate actual factual events that could be witnessed with our simple physical eyes and ears and so forth.

I believe the events recounted in this grand drama were real in describing the wonder, the awe, the experiences of enlightenment through realizing the truth contained in the Lotus Sutra – the truth that we are all Buddhas, that we contain infinity, time without measure, that our lives are small examples of the immense cosmos, and that life is beyond measure.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra