Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the fourth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Fourth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra— whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—they will gain a dauntless attitude, they will become capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves, and they will gain the company of bodhisattvas. The buddha tathāgatas will always attend to such people and will expound the teachings to them. After hearing them, these people will be fully able to accept them, uphold them, and follow them without opposition; they will also, in turn, expound them appropriately to others far and wide. O you of good intent! Such people can be likened to the newborn prince of a king and queen. One day becomes two days, and then seven; one month becomes two months, and then seven; he becomes one year old, and then two, and then seven. Even though he cannot yet govern or administer the affairs of state, he is revered and respected by the people and enjoys the companionship of all great princes. The king and queen constantly give him earnest counsel and shower their affection upon him. Why is this so? It is because he is of tender age and has not yet matured.

O you of good intent! So it is also with one who keeps faith with this sutra. The convergence of the buddhas and this sutra—the union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’—gives birth to this bodhisattva-child. If this bodhisattva can hear this sutra—whether a phrase of it or whether a verse, whether one, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or, like myriad multiples of all the sands of the Ganges River, an infinite number of times—even though he or she will not yet be able to embody its principles and truths to the fullest extent, or be able to make lands in the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds tremble and shake from the rolling thunder of a Brahma voice that turns a great wheel of the Dharma, he or she will have gained the respect and admiration of all of the four kinds of followers and eight kinds of ever-present guardian spirits, will gain the company of great bodhisattvas, and will see deeply into doctrines preserved by the buddhas and be able to speak on them without fault or lack. Because this bodhisattva is just beginning to learn, he or she will always be kept in mind by the buddhas and will be wrapped in their affection. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fourth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: The union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child – capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the second of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Third, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra— whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—they will gain awareness of hundreds of millions of myriads of meanings. Then, even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.

A person with great strength can bear and carry all manner of heavy things. So it is also with people who keep faith with this sutra: they can shoulder the great responsibilities of ultimate enlightenment, and they can carry living beings away from the path of recurring births and deaths. They are capable of ferrying others even though they still cannot ferry themselves. Suppose a ship’s captain is rendered immobile by a serious affliction and must therefore remain on shore. But he has a fine, reliable vessel that is always equipped with everything needed to ferry others, which he makes available and on which they embark. So it is also with those who keep faith with this sutra: while enduring the circumstances of living in the five conditions of existence—the whole of their being constantly beset by one hundred and eight serious afflictions, one after another— they remain on this shore of ignorance, aging, and death. But they have this fine, reliable, all-ferrying sutra, equipped with infinite meanings, that is able to rescue living beings: those who practice it22 as expounded will attain deliverance from the cycle of births and deaths. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the third beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: Even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the first of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the second of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Second, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who obtain this sutra20—whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—and thus become able to perceive millions upon millions of meanings, even though uncountable numbers of kalpas may pass they will not be able to elucidate the teaching they have acquired and kept. Why is this so? It is because the meanings of this teaching are unlimited. O you of good intent! This sutra can be likened to a single seed from which a thousand million seeds result. And each of these seeds, in turn, also results in a thousand million in number. In this way, the production of seeds is limitless in measure. So it is also with this sutra—it is a single teaching that gives rise to a hundred thousand meanings, and each one of these, in turn, produces a thousand million in number. In this way, meanings are produced to an unlimited and boundless extent. Thus is this sutra named Infinite Meanings. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the second beneficial effect of this sutra.

I am reminded of Nichiren and the progress from his first declaration of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō:

At first only I, Nichiren, started chanting the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, but then two, three, then one hundred people, gradually began chanting it. This will continue in the future. Isn’t this what emerging from the earth means? When an innumerable number of people emerge from the earth and this Wonderful Dharma spreads extensively, there will be no mistake, just as a shooting arrow never misses the earth, Japan will be filled with people chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. You should therefore establish your fame as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and devote your life to it.

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78

A single seed from which a thousand million seeds result.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered Bodhisattva Fully Composed’s question and the Buddha’s answer, we consider the first of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Would you like, furthermore, to hear of ten inconceivable powers for beneficial effect that this sutra also possesses, or would you not?”

The bodhisattva Fully Composed replied: “We gladly would like to hear!”

The Buddha said: “O you of good intent! First, this sutra can enable a bodhisattva—whose mind has not yet produced it—to generate the aspiration for enlightenment; can awaken a mind of compassion in one who lacks kindness and sympathy; can awaken in one who is fond of killing a mind of expansive mercy; can awaken in one in whom envy arises a mind of sympathetic joy; can awaken in one who is in bondage to desires a mind that can rise above them; can awaken in a selfish one a mind of consideration for others; can awaken in the mind of an arrogant one the attitude of proper behavior; can awaken in one who is quick to anger a mind that is given to forbearance; can awaken in one who becomes lazy in discipline a mind of appropriate endeavor; can awaken in one who has unceasing thoughts a mind directed toward tranquility; can awaken an insightful mind in one who is deluded and confused; can awaken in one who is not yet able to ferry others a mind to convey them to freedom; can awaken in one who commits the ten harmful acts a mind of the ten virtues; can inspire in the mind of one drawn to conditioned phenomena the intent to transcend cause and condition; can create in one who tends to withdraw from commitment a mind that is resolute; can awaken in one whose conduct is unrestrained a mind to exert self-control; and can awaken in one who has delusive worldly passions a mind to purge and be rid of them. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the first beneficial effect of this sutra.

See Levels of Understanding and Meaning

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the benefits earned from learning of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, we consider the Bodhisattva Fully Composed’s question and the Buddha’s answer.

The great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed then addressed the Buddha once again, saying: “World-honored One! The World-honored One has declared that this transcendent, profound, incomparable, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra’s truth is surpassingly deep, and its depth is surpassingly profound! Why is this so? Upon hearing this profound, peerless, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra, those in this gathering—all the great-being bodhisattvas, and all of the four kinds of followers, heavenly beings, nāgas and other guardian spirits, rulers and citizens, and various living beings as well—unfailingly gain access to Dharma-grasping empowerments, or realize the three teachings, or attain the four fruits or the aspiration for enlightenment.

“It should be known that the content and principles of this sutra18 are true and correct, that its value is supreme and unsurpassed, and that it is embraced by the buddhas of the past, present, and future. It is impervious to the influence of disruptive forces and the influence of differing views, and is neither corrupted nor destroyed by any deluded perception or the cycle of births and deaths. Why is this so? Because upon hearing it one can intuit all dharmas.

“If there are living beings who can hear this sutra, they will reap great benefit. Why is this so? If they are capable of practicing it, they will surely realize and quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment. As for those living beings who cannot hear it, it should be known that they are ones who miss out on great benefit: even after the passing of innumerable, unimaginable, infinite myriads of kalpas, they still will not realize and achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment. What is the reason for this? It is because, not knowing the great direct route to enlightenment, they travel an uphill path full of hardships that detain them.

“World-honored One! This sutra is beyond thought and word! I earnestly wish that the World-honored One, out of compassion and sympathy for the great assembly, would explain the profound and wondrous matters of this sutra in detail. World-honored One! What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide to accordingly possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect that it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment?”

The World-honored One then addressed the great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed, saying: “Well done, you of good intent! Well done! It is just like this; it is just as you have said. O you of good intent! I have declared that this sutra is surpassingly profound in depth, and surpassingly deep in truth. Why is this so? Because it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment, because upon hearing it one can intuit all dharmas, and because it greatly benefits all living beings—because of it they will travel the great direct route with no hardships to detain them.

“O you of good intent! You ask, “What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide?” You must hear clearly and well! O you of good intent! This sutra originally comes from within the place where buddhas dwell;19 it encompasses all living beings that have awakened the aspiration for enlightenment; and it abides in any place where bodhisattvas practice. O you of good intent! This sutra has such an origin, such an extent, and such a place where it abides. That is why this sutra can possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect and enable all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the Bodhisattva Fully Composed’s reaction to the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the benefits earned from learning of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings.

Within the gathering, thirty-two thousand great-being bodhisattvas attained the specialized focus of mind of infinite meanings, and thirty-four thousand great-being bodhisattvas gained access to countless and innumerable Dharma-grasping empowerments and became capable of turning all nonretrogressing Dharma wheels of the buddhas of the past, present, and future. The monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, the heavenly beings, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, and the leaders of empires great and small—rulers of silver-wheel, iron-wheel, and lesser-wheel domains, kings, princes, officials of state, and citizens who were noblemen, noblewomen, or people of great means—with hundreds of thousands of their numerous followers assembled together there, upon hearing the Buddha Tathāgata expound this sutra, variously realized the stage of an ardent mind, the stage of attaining the highest still-unsettled condition, the stage of attaining irreversible good roots,17 the stage of ultimate worldly perception, the fruit of entering the stream, the fruit of one remaining return, the fruit of non- returning, the fruit of arhatship, or the fruit of pratyekabuddha. Or they achieved the bodhisattva stage in which phenomena are grasped as being without origination or cessation. Or they obtained one Dharma-grasping empowerment, or obtained two Dharma-grasping empowerments, or obtained three Dharma-grasping empowerments, or obtained four Dharma-grasping empowerments, or five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten Dharma-grasping empowerments, or obtained hundreds of millions of myriads of Dharma-grasping empowerments, or obtained innumerable Dharma-grasping empowerments—as countless and immeasurable as the Ganges River’s sands; all, accordingly, became capable of turning a nonretrogressing Dharma wheel. Innumerable living beings awakened the aspiration for the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the tenth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the Bodhisattva Fully Composed’s reaction to the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Such is the incomparable, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra! It possesses awe-inspiring power to the highest extent, and its value is supreme and unsurpassed! It can open the way for every being that is bound by delusive passions to attain the most sublime fruit—to forever rise above the cycle of births and deaths and attain emancipation. Thus is this sutra named Infinite Meanings! It can open the way for all living beings still in the stages of having delusive worldly passions to germinate the sprouts of all of the countless ways of bodhisattvas and let the tree of beneficial works flourish, thrive, and increase in breadth and reach. That is why this sutra is marked by its ten unimaginable powers for beneficial effect!”

With that, the great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed and the eighty thousand great-being bodhisattvas addressed the Buddha in one voice, saying: “World-honored One! The profound, transcendent, incomparable, all- ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra expounded by the Buddha is true and correct in its content and principles, and its value is supreme and unsurpassed! It is embraced by the buddhas of the past, present, and future together. It is impervious to the influence of disruptive forces and the influence of differing views, and is neither corrupted nor destroyed by any deluded perception or the cycle of births and deaths. This sutra therefore has the inconceivable power of ten such kinds of beneficial effect and greatly benefits all living beings inclusively. It enables each and every great-being bodhisattva to attain the specialized focus of mind of infinite meanings, or to gain access to a hundred thousand Dharma-grasping empowerments, or to achieve the various bodhisattva stages and insights, or to attain realization as pratyekabuddha, or to realize the fruits of the four stages of arhatship. The World-honored One has willingly and compassionately expounded such a teaching for all of us and enabled us to harvest the great benefits of the Dharma. This is extremely unusual, unique, and unprecedented! The World-honored One’s compassionate favor is truly difficult to repay!”

At that moment the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds trembled and shook in six ways, and several kinds of heavenly blossoms—blue, crimson, yellow, and white lotus flowers— rained from the sky above. Also, a rain of many and various kinds of heavenly incense and garments, garlands of celestial jewels, and priceless celestial treasures came spiraling down from the skies above as offerings to the Buddha, the bodhisattvas, the śrāvakas, and the great multitude. Celestial bowls and containers were filled to over- flowing with hundreds of heavenly delicacies that were spontaneously fully satisfying by appearance and aroma. Celestial flags, celestial banners and canopies, and marvelous celestial amusements were arranged everywhere, and heavenly music and songs were played and sung in praise of the Buddha. Also, buddha worlds in the eastern direction, as numerous as the Ganges River’s sands, likewise trembled and shook in six ways. Heavenly flowers, heavenly incense and garments, garlands of celestial jewels, priceless celestial treasures, celestial bowls and containers, hundreds of heavenly delicacies that were spontaneously fully satisfying by appearance and aroma, celestial flags, celestial banners and canopies, and marvelous celestial amusements also rained down. Heavenly music and songs were played and sung in praise of those buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and great assemblies. In the southern, western, and northern directions, in the four intermediate directions, and in the upper and lower regions it was like this as well.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the ninth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the tenth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Tenth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: Whether during or after the lifetime of a buddha, if men and women of good intent who obtain this sutra give rise to great joy, realize its rarity in their minds, accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of it, honor it, and practice it as expounded for their own sake, and are similarly able to widely inspire both laypeople and renunciants to accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of and honor it, expound it, and practice the way of its teaching, then, through the energies gained from having led other people to practice this sutra, they will realize the Way and attain its fruits. Fully by reason of the dynamic transformative power of their compassionate minds, these men and women of good intent—just as they are—will opportunely come to gain access to innumerable Dharma-grasping empowerments. Still in the stages of having delusive worldly passions, they will for the first time be able to spontaneously produce countless and unlimited great vows and magnificent aspirations. They will generate a bottomless capacity to help all living beings, manifest great loving-kindness, skillfully and extensively relieve suffering, and amass acts of goodness for the benefit of all. Transmitting the Dharma-abundance that irrigates all that is parched, nurturing any living being with the Dharma’s many medicines, they will cause all to have ease and joy. Their perception will gradually become transcendent as they advance through the stage of the Dharma cloud (dharmameghā-bhūmi). With bountiful, all-embracing benevolence, and with compassion that blankets all without exception, they will lead all suffering living beings to enter the course of the Way. These people will accordingly realize and achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment before long. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the tenth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the eighth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the ninth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Ninth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If men and women of good intent, upon obtaining this sutra—either during or after the lifetime of a buddha—dance with joy and delight at gaining something marvelous, accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of and honor it, and widely explain to people in great detail what this sutra means, they will immediately and instantly achieve the destruction and elimination of the heavy hindrances from karmic causes and other impurities that remain from the past. They will opportunely achieve purity, come to attain great eloquence, perfectly compose themselves in the spiritual attitudes one by one, and attain various kinds of specialized focus of mind, including that of courageous advancement (śūraṅgama-samādhi). They will gain access to great Dharma-grasping empowerments, obtain the power of diligent endeavor, and swiftly pass to the uppermost stage of development. They will be well capable of widely making their presence felt in all the lands of the ten directions. Rescuing greatly suffering living beings throughout the twenty-five states of existence, they will lead them all to emancipation. This is all because this sutra contains power of this kind. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the ninth beneficial effect of this sutra.

See The Lotus Sutra as a History Lesson