Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered the supernatural powers of the Buddhas, we consider the supernatural powers of the Buddhas in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
The Buddhas, the World-Saviors, have
Great supernatural powers.
They display their immeasurable, supernatural powers
In order to cause all living beings to rejoice.
The tips of their tongues reach the Heaven of Brahman.
Innumerable rays of light are emitted from their bodies.
For those who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
The Buddhas do these things rarely to be seen.The sound of coughing of the Buddhas
And the sound of their finger-snapping
Reverberate over the worlds of the ten quarters,
And the ground [of those worlds] quakes in the six ways.The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.Even if I praise for innumerable kalpas
The keeper of this sūtra,
To whom it is to be transmitted,
I cannot praise him highly enough.His merits are as limitless,
As infinite, as boundless
As the skies of the worlds
Of the ten quarters.Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to see me. He also will be able to see
Many-Treasures Buddha,
[The Buddhas of] my replicas,
And the Bodhisattvas whom I have taught today.Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able to cause me to rejoice.
He also will be able to bring joy
To [the Buddhas of] my replicas
And also to Many-Treasures Buddha who once passed away.He also will be able to see
The present, past and future Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarters,
Make offerings to them, and cause them to rejoice.The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.
The Daily Dharma from Sept. 9, 2021, offers this:
The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.
The Buddha speaks these verses in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are his assurance to us as those who follow and practice the Lotus Sūtra that we are firmly on the path to enlightenment, no matter what challenges we find in the world.
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