Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

This portion of the merits of the teacher of the Dharma covers the 800 merits of the nose, 1,200 merits of the tongue, 800 merits of the body and 1,200 merits of the mind. And I’m again unable not to be intrigued by the sense of smell to be enjoyed by the good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sutra.

He will be able to know by smell
Whether an unborn child is a boy or a girl,
Or a child of ambiguous sex,
Or the embryo of a nonhuman being.

He will be able to know by smell
Whether a woman is an expectant mother,
Or whether she will give an easy birth
To a happy child or not.

He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.

He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.

He will be able to know by smell
The values of various necklaces,
And the deposits of their materials,
And also to locate the necklaces [when they are lost].

And with all this:

Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.

The merits of the tongue extend beyond mere taste to cover their “deep and wonderful voices” that can “reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful.”

The Buddhas and their disciples who hear
The voice of the expounder of the Dharma,
Will think of him, protect him,
And sometimes appear before him.

As a result of the merits of the body, “all things in the world will be reflected on the pure body of this person” who keeps, reads, recites, expounds or copies this sutra. “No one but he will be able to see all things clearly.”

Although he has not yet obtained the wonderful body
[Of th Bodhisattva who know ] the nature of the Dharma-without-asravas,
He will be able to have all these things
Reflected on his pure and natural body.

As for the merits of the mind:

When they hear even a gatha or a phrase [of this sutra] with their pure minds, they will be able to understand the innumerable meanings [of this sutra]. When they understand the meanings [of this sutra] and expound even a phrase or a gatha [of this sutra] for a month, four months, or a year, their teachings will be consistent with the meanings [of this sutra], and not against the reality of all things.