Programming note: Having completed a week of daily recitation of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, it’s time to start offering quotes each day from the portions of these sutras that stand out to me.
And back to our program….
The opening of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings begins with a long list of Bodhisattvas present at Rajagriha on Holy Eagle Peak (remember, this occurs just before the start of the Lotus Sutra) and then proceeds to explain just how great these guys are. To quote the Reeves translation:
Moreover, knowing well the abilities, natures, and desires of all, with incantations and unobstructed eloquence, [these Bodhisattvas] obediently and skillfully turn the Dharma wheel of the buddhas.
First, they have small drops of moisture fall to dampen the dust of desire, and by opening the gateway of nirvana, fanning the wind of liberation, and ridding themselves of the heat of worldly passions, they bring about the cooling quality of the Dharma.
Next, raining down the profound teaching of the twelve causes and conditions, pouring it on the ferocious, intense rays of suffering – ignorance, old age, illness, death, and so on – they pour out the unexcelled Great Vehicle, soak the good roots of all the living with it, scatter seeds of goodness over the field of blessings, and everywhere bring forth sprouts of awakening.
With wisdom as bright as the sun and the moon, and timely use of skillful means, they make the enterprise of the Great Vehicle prosper and grow, and lead many to attain supreme awakening quickly. Always living in the blessedness of a reality that is fine and wonderful, with immeasurable great compassion, they save the living from suffering.
They are truly good friends of living beings, an excellent field of blessings for the living. Without having to be asked, they teach living beings. They are a place of tranquil happiness for living beings, a place of salvation, a place of protection, and a place of great reliance.
I find this incredibly encouraging, thinking of these “good friends.”
It is worth noting that the only mention of the arhats in the audience is this list:
Those monks included Great Wisdom Shariputra, Divine Power Maudgalyayana, Wisdom Life Subhuti, Maha-Katyayana, Maitrayani’s son Purna, Ajnata-Kaundinya, Divine Eye Aniruddha, Precept-Keeping Upali, Attendant Ananda, Buddha’s son Rahula, Upananda, Revata, Kapphina, Vakkula, Acyuta, Svagata, Dhuta Maha-Kashyapa, UruvilvaKashyapa, Gaya-Kashyapa, and Nadi-Kashyapa. There were twelve thousand monks such as these. All were arhats, unconstrained by bondage or faults, free from attachments and truly liberated.
Unlike in the Lotus Sutra, these monks play no role in this teaching. This is, as the Lotus Sutra says, “the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.”