Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Again, there is a wealth of material here but on the first time through with my one-topic limit I have to begin at the beginning.

Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, ‘Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’

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!’

What’s going to be said just can’t be understood without faith.

As the Buddha explains in Chapter 2, Expedients:

The Dharma cannot be shown.
It is inexplicable by words.
No one can understand it
Except the Buddhas
And the Bodhisattvas
Who are strong in the power of faith.

And in Chapter 3, A Parable, the Buddha repeats:

Even you, Sariputra,
Have understood this sutra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Sravakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sutra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.

Again and again we learn of those who “received this sutra by faith” and “understood it by faith.”

Faith in the past, faith today and faith tomorrow.

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

I’ll leave for coming months discussion of the surprise the great Bodhisattvas who rose from the ground present to Maitreya or the Buddha’s explanation or the consternation created by that explanation.

Instead I want to focus today on the Buddha’s response to the great Bodhisattvas, who asked if the living beings “are ready to receive your teaching.”

The Buddha replied:

Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathagata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sutra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.

Underline They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good.

This is a confirmation of what was explained in Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City. There we learned that in the remotest past Sakyamuni was one of 16 princes who became sramaneras and taught the Lotus Sutra. Sakyamuni has been teaching these beings throughout all of their existences.

These sixteen Bodhisattvas willingly expounded the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Each of them taught six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings were always accompanied by the Bodhisattva[, by whom they were taught,] in their consecutive existences. [In each of their consecutive existences,] they heard the Dharma from him, and understood it by faith. By the merits [they had thus accumulated], they were given a privilege to see four billion Buddhas, that is, four billion World­Honored Ones. They have not yet seen all of them.

And again:

Bhiksus! When we were sramaneras, we each taught many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings who followed me, heard the Dharma from me in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Some of them are still in Sravakahood. I now teach them the Way to Anuttara-samyak­sarnbodhi. … Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [ when I was a sramanera], included you bhiksus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Sravakahood after my extinction.

Which brings up the idea of us always having a good teacher, but I’ll leave that for the discussion of Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Since I picked the Bodhisattvas for the day’s focus yesterday, I’ll continue with that topic today and again pass over the Peaceful Practices for future months, including The Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot.

And so continuing from yesterday …

Thereupon the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas, more than eight times the number of the sands of the River Ganges, who had come from the other worlds, rose from among the great multitude, joined their hands together towards the Buddha, bowed to him, and said:

World-Honored One! If you permit us to protect, keep, read, recite and copy this sutra, and make offerings to it strenuously in this Saha-World after your extinction, we will [do so, and] expound it in this world.

Thereupon the Buddha said to those Bodhisattva-mahasattvas:

No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sutra because there are Bodhisattva-mahasattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Saha-World. They are each accompanied by attendants also numbering sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges. They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sutra after my extinction.

These Bodhisattvas from other worlds who fretted yesterday so greatly about how they would be received in this Saha world in the evil times after the Buddha’s extinction need not have worried themselves. That job has already been filled by a vast crowd of not only a greater number but of a greater stature. Just how great we’ll see tomorrow.

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

This day’s content lends itself well to the idea of limiting myself to single topic. On this first time with the limit I’ll leave the Peaceful Practices for coming months, each one on a separate month. For today, I’ll stick to the “eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahasattvas” present at this time in the congregation.

These great bodhisattvas – they’d “already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dharanis” – were waiting for the Buddha to tell them what to do.

If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sutra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.

They also thought, ‘The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?

In order to follow the wish of the Buddha respectfully, and also to fulfill their original vow, they vowed to the Buddha with a loud voice like the roar of a lion:

World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will go to any place [not only of this Saha-World but also] of the worlds of the ten quarters, as often as required, and cause all living beings to copy, keep, read and recite this sutra, to expound the meanings of it, to act according to the Dharma, and to memorize this sutra correctly. We shall be able to do all this only by your powers. World-Honored One! Protect us from afar even when you are in another world!

And despite their willingness to brave the perils of the “dreadful, evil world after your extinction,” the Buddha has other plans.

To be continued…

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

So, again, my one-topic-a-day vow forces me to ignore the Dragon girl who defies all convention concerning female virtues, animal or otherwise, and quickly becomes a Buddha and also the reassurance given to Sakyamuni’s aunt and the mother of Rahula that when Sakyamuni said all sravakas would eventually attain enlightenment he meant all, both men and women. I’ll return to these in the coming months.

Today, what grabbed was the role that the teacher played in the king’s search for bodhi. This king, of course, was Sakyamuni in a previous life and the seer, Devadatta. Hear is what the teacher did:

Devadatta was my teacher. He caused me to complete the six paramitas. He caused me to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality. He caused me to have the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have my body purely gilt. He caused me to have the ten powers and the four kinds of fearlessness. He caused me to know the four ways to attract others. He caused me to have the eighteen properties and supernatural powers [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have the power of giving discourses. I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.

Devadatta was a good friend of Sakyamuni, at least he was in that lifetime.

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

In the grand scheme of things – as in that giant stupa of treasures – something about Many Treasures and his vow and his role proving the veracity of what Sakyamuni has preached in the Lotus Sutra should be the top issue here. If not that, then the wonderful examples of easy and difficult things to do, e.g. the easy task of grasping a Mt. Sumeru and hurling it to a distance of countless Buddha-worlds vs the difficult task of expounding this sutra in the evil world after the Buddha’s extinction. But today I want to reiterate the Hotoge versus and the reason why they are embellished with the odd rhythmic reading.

First the verses:

It is difficult to keep this sutra.
I shall be glad to see
Anyone keeping it even for a moment.
So will all the other Buddhas.
He will be praised by all the Buddhas.
He will be a man of valor,
A man of endeavor.
He should be considered
To have already observed the precepts,
And practised the dhuta.
He will quickly attain
The unsurpassed enlightenment of the Buddha.

Anyone who reads and recites this sutra in the future
Is a true son of mine.
He shall be considered to live
On the stage of purity and good.

Anyone, after my extinction,
Who understands the meaning of this sutra,
Will be the eye of the worlds
Of gods and men.

Anyone who expounds this sutra
Even for a moment in this dreadful world,
Should be honored with offerings
By all gods and men.

As for the reason for the odd rhythmic reading, one explanation is found in Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick’s Lotus in the Sea of Flames as Nichiren is being taken away to Izu on his first exile.

“I am no magistrate,” said the official. “I am not interested in your arguments. I am only interested in getting you onto that ship, out of Kamakura, and on to Izu. Now keep quiet!”

As the boat moved away Nichiren began to chant the final verses from the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “It is difficult to keep this sutra. I shall be glad to see anyone keeping it even for a moment.” The rocking of the waves caused his voice to fade in and out, giving the recitation an odd rhythm. The passage ended with, “Anyone who expounds this sutra even for a moment in this dreadful world should be honored with offerings by all gods and men.” From that point on Nichlren knew that he and his disciples had truly become practitioners of the Lotus Sutra as its predictions of hardships that would be faced by the teachers of the True Dharma began to be fulfilled in their own lives.

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Since I get to return to the Stupa of Treasures when I complete the first half of the Lotus Sutra tomorrow, I’ll focus today on what is always my favorite message to those who wish to spread the teaching of this sutra:

Medicine-King! How should the good men or women who live after my extinction expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees when they wish to? They should enter the room of the Tathagata, wear the robe of the Tathagata, sit on the seat of the Tathagata, and then expound this sutra to the four kinds of devotees. To enter the room of the Tathagata means to have great compassion towards all living beings. To wear the robe of the Tathagata means to be gentle and patient. To sit on the seat of the Tathagata means to see the voidness of all things. They should do these [three] things and then without indolence expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees.

And in gathas:

If you wish to expound this sutra,
Enter the room of the Tathagata,
Wear the robe of the Tathagata,
Sit on the seat of the Tathagata,
[And after doing these three things,]
Expound it to people without fear!

To enter the room of the Tathagata means
to have great compassion.
To wear his robe means to be gentle and patient.
To sit on his seat means to see the voidness of all things.
Expound the Dharma only after you do these [three] things!

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Limited to just one topic, I’m going to skip Ananda and Rahula and the Sravakas, some of whom have something more to learn and some of whom have nothing more to learn, and focus on the promise contained at the start of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in the presence of the eighty thousand great men:

Medicine-King! Do you see the innumerable gods, dragon-kings, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kirnnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings, and [the four kinds of devotees:] bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas, and those who are seeking Sravakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the enlightenment of the Buddha in this great multitude? If in my presence any of them rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gatha or a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will assure him of his future Buddhahood, saying to him, ‘You will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-sarnbodhi.’

The Buddha said to Medicine-King:

If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gatha or a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I also will assure him of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. If anyone keeps, reads, recites, expounds and copies even a gatha of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and respects a copy of this sutra just as he respects me, and offers flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments and music to it, or just joins his hands together respectfully towards it, Medicine-King, know this, he should be considered to have appeared in the world of men out of his compassion towards all living beings, although he already made offerings to ten billion Buddhas and fulfilled his great vow under those Buddhas in a previous existence.

And in gathas:

Anyone who keeps
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
Know this, has compassion towards all living beings
Because he is my messenger.

Anyone who keeps
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Should be considered to have given up his pure world and come here
Out of his compassion towards all living beings.

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

My self-imposed one-topic limit leaves me choosing between Purna’s expedient role and the Arhats who introduce the Parable of the Priceless Gem. So this first time through under the one-topic limit I’ll go with the obvious.

The Parable of the Priceless Gem, which assures us of a treasure we have had all along, a priceless gem given to us but forgotten.

You, the Buddha, are like his friend. We thought that we had attained extinction when we attained Arhatship because we forgot that we had been taught to aspire for the knowledge of all things by you when you were a Bodhisattva just as the man who had difficulty in earning his livelihood satisfied himself with what little he had earned. You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhiksus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago. [You have forgotten this; therefore,] I expounded the teaching of Nirvana as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvana [which I taught you as an expedient].’

World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.

I’ll come back to Purna next month.

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Today’s conclusion of Chapter 7 poses a real dilemma for me since several major points are made, not counting the actual parable for which the chapter is titled. But since this is the first time through with this one-topic limit, I’ll start with the point of the The Parable of the Magic City.

I am like the leader.
I am the leader of all living beings.
I saw that halfway some got tired
With the seeking of enlightenment,
And that they could not pass through the dangerous road
Of birth-and-death and illusions.
Therefore, I expounded to them the teaching of Nirvana
As an expedient to give them a rest, saying:
“You have already eliminated sufferings.
You have done everything you should do.”

Now I see that they have already attained Nirvana
And that they have become Arhats.
Therefore, I now collect the great multitude,
And expound to them the true teaching.

The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [vehicles] were taught only as resting places.

Next month I’ll take on the princes, one of whom is Sakyamuni, and how they convinced the Buddha to expound the Lotus Sutra, and the month after perhaps I’ll point out how we have the same teachers life after life.