Today is the Spring Equinox, the middle of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

For this Spring Higan week I’m using Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Lotus Sutra in which he discusses Maitreya’s questions about what he sees in Chapter 1 after the Buddha illuminates 18,000 worlds in the east. (See this explanation.)

Maitreya Bodhisattva said, “I see in other lands / Bodhisattvas as many as Ganges’ sands, / Through various causes and conditions, / Seeking and cultivating the Buddha’s Path.” In our quest for the Buddha’s Path, we must do deeds that generate merit and virtue, and we must seek wisdom. Do not think you can attain Buddhahood easily. Look! These Bodhisattvas, numbering as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges, cultivated through various causes and conditions. What is meant by “various causes and conditions”? It means that these Bodhisattvas did many good deeds through which they accrued merit and virtue, cultivated many kinds of blessings and wisdom, and studied all the various Buddhadharmas. They did not seek the Buddha’s Path through just one kind of cause and condition.