Day 2

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Having last month considered the ray of light from Sun-Moon-Light Buddha illumining 18,000 Buddha worlds in the east, we consider the reaction of the four kinds of devotees.

The four kinds of devotees
Of the world of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha
Also saw the Buddha displaying this great wonder.
They had great joy.
They asked one another:
“Why is he doing this?”

He who was honored by gods and men
Emerged from his samādhi,
And praised Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva, saying:
“You are the eyes of the world.

You are believed and relied on
By all living beings.
You are keeping the store of the Dharma.
Only you will understand the Dharma which I shall expound.”

Having praised Wonderful-Light
And caused him to rejoice,
That World-Honored One expounded
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
He never rose from his seat for sixty small kalpas.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma,
Kept the Wonderful Dharma
Expounded by that World-Honored One.

Nichiren wrote in Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens concerning the great omens of the Lotus Sūtra:

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra fascicle 6, “It is said in a secular society that a cobweb is an advance notice of a happy event and chirps of a magpie foretell the arrival of a traveler. Even such trifle matters in the secular world are foreshadowed by an omen, how much more so the advent of the Buddhist Dharma. Based on worldly matters, we can conjecture the profound truth of Buddhism.” Thus the Buddha showcased the greatest omens that had never been seen during the more than 40 years in His lifetime when He expounded the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 122