Chapter 16: The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata[1, 2, 3, 4]
He said to the great multitude again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
He said to them once again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
Thereupon the great multitude of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, joined their hands together and said to the Buddha, “World-Honor done, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”
They said this three times. Then they said once again, “Tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing that they repeated their appeal even after they repeated it three times, said to them:
“Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers.[1] The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] Suppose someone smashed into dust five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds, which were each composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and went to the east [carrying the dust with him). When he reached a world at a distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds [from this world], he put a particle of dust on that world. Then he went on again to the east, and repeated the putting of a particle of the dust [on the world at every distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds] until the particles of the dust were exhausted.[1] Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that the number of the world he went through is conceivable, countable, or not?”
Maitreya Bodhisattva and others said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable, uncountable, inconceivable. No Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha could count them even by his wisdom-without-āsravas. We are now in the state of avaivartika, but cannot, either. World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable.”
Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:
“Good Men! Now I will tell you clearly. Suppose those worlds, whether they were marked with the particles of the dust or not, were smashed into dust. The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since I became the Buddha is on hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced.[1] All this time I have been living in this Sahā-World, and teaching [the living beings of this world] by expounding the Dharma to them. I also have been leading and benefiting the living beings of one hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds outside this world.[1, 2, 3, 4]
“Good men! During this time I gave various names to myself, for instance, the Burning-Light Buddha. I also said, ‘That Buddha entered into Nirvāṇa.’ I did all these things only as expedients.
“Good men! When some people came to me, I saw the strength of the power of their faith and of the other faculties of theirs with the eyes of the Buddha. Then I named myself differently, and told them of the duration of my life differently, according to their capacities. I also said to them, ‘I shall enter into Nirvāṇa.’ I expounded the Wonderful Dharma with these various expedients, and caused the living beings to rejoice.[1, 2, 3]
“Good men! All the sūtras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sūtras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sūtras]. I showed my replicas [in some sūtras,] and my transformations [in other sūtras]. I described my deeds [in some sūtras,] and the deeds of others [in other sūtras].[1, 2, 3] All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do.[1, 2, 3, 4] I see all this clearly and infallibly. The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. I have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
“Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time as previously stated. Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.[1] If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I will pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore I say [to them] expediently, ‘Bhikṣus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in [this] world.’ Why is that? It is because some men of little virtue cannot see me even during many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas while the others can. Therefore, I say [to them], ‘Bhikṣus! It is difficult to see a Tathāgata.’ Those who hear this and know that it is difficult to see me, will adore me, admire me, and plant the roots of good. Therefore l say [to them], ‘I shall pass away,’ although I shall not.[1]
“Good men! All the Buddhas, all the Tathāgatas, do the same as I do. [They expound their teachings] for the purpose of saving all living beings. Therefore, [their teachings] are true, not false.
“I will tell you a parable.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred. [One day] he went to a remote country on business. After he left home, the sons took poison.[1] The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not.[1, 2] All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy. They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us, and give us back our lives!’
“Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’
“The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.[1]
“He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. lam leaving this good medicine here.[1, 2, 3, 4] Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!’ Having thus advised them, he went to a [remote] country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, ‘Your father has just died.'[1]
“Having heard that their father had passed away from this world, leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, ‘If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has
deserted us and died in a remote country.’
“They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison. On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.[1, 2]
“Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?”
“No, World-Honored One!”
The Buddha said:
“I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.”[1, 2, 3]
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:[1, 2]
It is many hundreds of thousands
Of billions of trillions
Of asaṃkhyas of kalpas
Since I became the Buddha.
For the past innumerable kalpas
I have always been expounding the Dharma
To many hundreds of millions of living beings
In order to lead them into the Way to Buddhahood.
In order to save the [perverted] people,
I expediently show my Nirvāṇa to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Dharma.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Although I always live here
With the perverted people
I disappear from their eyes
By my supernatural powers.
When they see me seemingly pass away,
And make offerings to my śarīras,
And adore me, admire me,
And become devout, upright and gentle,[1]
And wish to see me
With all their hearts
At the cost of their lives,[1, 2, 3]
I reappear on Mt. Sacred Eagle
With my Saṃgha,
And say to them:
“I always live here.
I shall never be extinct.[1, 2, 3, 4]
I show my extinction to you expediently
Although I never pass away.
I also expound the unsurpassed Dharma
To the living beings of the other worlds
If they respect me, believe me,
And wish to see me.
You have never heard this
Therefore, you thought that I pass away.”
I see the [perverted] people sinking
In an ocean of suffering.
Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
And cause them to admire me.
When they adore me,
I appear and expound the Dharma to them.[1]
I can do all this by my supernatural powers.
I live on Mt. Sacred Eagle
And also in the other abodes
For asaṃkhya kalpas.
The [perverted] people think:
“This world is in a great fire.
The end of the kalpa [of destruction] is coming.”
In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
[1, 2, 3, 4]
It is filled with gods and men.
The gardens, forests and stately buildings
Are adorned with various treasures;
The jeweled trees have many flowers and fruits;
The living beings are enjoying themselves;[1]
And the gods are beating heavenly drums,
Making various kinds of music,
And raining mandārava-flowers on the great multitude and me.
[This] pure world of mine is indestructible.
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] But the [perverted] people think:
“It is full of sorrow, fear, and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”[1, 2, 3, 4]
Because of their evil karmas,
These sinful people will not be able
To hear even the names of the Three Treasures
During asaṃkhya kalpas.
To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”
[1]
To those who see me after a long time,
I say, “It is difficult to see a Buddha.”
I can do all this by the power of my wisdom.
The light of my wisdom knows no bound.
The duration of my life is innumerable kalpas.
I obtained this longevity by ages of practices.
The physician, who sent a man expediently
To tell his perverted sons
Of the death of their father in order to cure them,
Was not accused of falsehood although he was still alive.
I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]