Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered seeing with the eyes of the Buddha the living beings of the six regions, we consider the thinking behind Śākyamuni’s decision to turn the Wheel of the Dharma.
On that occasion King Brahman,
Heavenly-King Śakra,
The four heavenly world-guardian kings,
Great-Freedom God, and other gods [of each world],
And thousands of millions of their attendants
Joined their hands together [towards me] respectfully,
Bowed to me,
And asked me to turn the wheel of the Dharma.I thought:
“If I extol only the Buddha-Vehicle,
The living beings [of the six regions] will not believe it
Because they are too much enmeshed in sufferings to think of it.
If they do not believe but violate the Dharma,
They will fall into the three evil regions.
I would rather enter into Nirvana quickly
Than expound the Dharma to them.”But, thinking of the past Buddhas who employed expedients,
I changed my mind and thought:
“I will expound the Dharma which I attained
By dividing it into the Three Vehicles.”The Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters
Appeared before me when I had thought this.
They consoled me with their brahma voices:
“Good, Śākyamuni, Highest Leading Teacher!
You attained the unsurpassed Dharma.
You have decided to expound it with expedients
After the examples of the past Buddha
We also expound the Three Vehicles
To the Living beings
Although we attained
The most wonderful and excellent Dharma.
Men of little wisdom wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle.
They do not believe that they will become Buddhas.
Therefore, we show them
Various fruits of enlightenment.
Although we expound the Three Vehicles,
Our purpose is to teach only Bodhisattvas.”Śāriputra, know this!
Hearing the deep, pure, and wonderful voices
Of the Lion-Like Saints,
I joyfully called out, “Namo Buddhaya!”
I thought:
“I appeared in the defiled world.
Just like the other Buddhas,
I will expound the Dharma
According to the capacities of all living beings.”
Having thought this, I went to Varanasi,
And expounded the Dharma to the five bhikṣus
With expedients
Because the state of tranquil extinction of all things
Is inexplicable by words.
That was my first turning
Of the wheel of the Dharma.
Thus the words: Nirvana, Arhat, Dharma,
and Sangha
Came into existence.
The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra discusses this process that followed the Buddha’s enlightenment but, for some reason, couches it in terms of a legend.
What is the significance of expedients? First of all, let us think about this question from the standpoint of Buddhism in general.
There is a legend that Sakyamuni, when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya, in north-eastern India, was so impressed by its profundity that he remained motionless for hours. Then the Heavenly King Brahman, the lord of our world, came to him and said, “Your state of enlightenment is, indeed, impressive. Nevertheless, no matter how wonderful it may be to you, what good is it to anyone else? How are you going to serve people if you remain silent? Now that you have attained the ultimate truth, Please expound it to the people of the world and deliver them, too, from suffering.” After considering this request, Sakyamuni nodded in agreement, rose from his seat, and set out for Sarnath, where he delivered his first sermon
This legend shows that the profound depth of the Buddha’s enlightenment is almost impossible to express in words. (Otherwise the Buddha would have taught it immediately.) Nevertheless, it must be presented in words and expressed somehow if it is to help people. Words, however, are not always the perfect means of representing facts; they can express only part of them. For instance, we often find it difficult to express our innermost thoughts or complicated physical problems in words. (Physicists generally must resort to mathematical formulae; musicians use music; artists paint, and so on.)
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra