This is the second booklet by Senchu Murano from the late 1990s that I’ve uploaded to the church website. It was curious to see that both include “fantasy” text inserted by Murano into discussion of the Lotus Sutra. I commented earlier about his Gohonzon booklet in which he has an entire section entitled The Fantasy of the Lotus Sutra.
In this booklet, Murano goes to great lengths to expand the story of the Buddha Many Treasures (Prabhutaratna, Taho) in a discussion prompted by a request to “Please explain the Dai Mandala Gohonzon.”
Murano replies:
Sakyamuni Buddha did what he had never done before at the beginning of Chapter XI of the Lotus Sutra. He produced innumerable Replica Buddhas of his own from himself, told them to expound what he was going to expound from that moment, and dispatched them to the worlds of the ten quarters: the four quarters, the four intermediate quarters, zenith, and nadir. After he saw them having reached their assigned worlds, Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the teaching of the One Vehicle, that is the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Obedient to their Original Buddha, his Replica-Buddhas expounded the same teaching throughout the universe and as a result the universal validity of the Wonderful Dharma was revealed.
Prabhutaratna (Taho), a past Buddha of a world located far to the east, rejoiced at seeing all this. You should bear in mind that a past Buddha, who had already entered Parinirvana, can see, hear, speak, and let his Stupa move at his will. When Prabhutaratna entered Parinirvana, his disciples enshrined him in his stupa, and shut the door of the stupa. Since then Prabhutaratna had been sitting in meditation in his Stupa with no disciple attendants. He had wished to expound the Wonderful Dharma by himself during his lifetime, but refrained from it because he thought that the Wonderful Dharma should be expounded by a Buddha whose emanations be the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters to show the universal validity of the Dharma. Prabhutaratna himself had not such Replica Buddhas, so he had waited for the advent of such a Buddha for so long a time.
Overjoyed with Sakyamuni’s expounding the Wonderful Dharma, Prabhutaratna caused his Stupa to travel westwards through the skies of innumerable worlds. The Stupa reached the sky below the Saha-world, passed the world from underneath, and stayed in the sky just above Mt. Sacred Eagle, where Sakyamuni Buddha was expounding the Wonderful Dharma.
He continues with the Buddha emitting a light and calling home all of his emanations and opening the stupa and taking a seat offered by Many Treasures Buddha. Murano adds that Many Treasures Buddha gave Sakyamuni the lesser seat, believing that he was older than Sakyamuni.
Murano continues his version of events after the congregation is raised level with the two Buddhas in the stupa:
Thereupon Sakyamuni addressed the congregation that his Parinirvana day was drawing near, and that he was going to transmit the Wonderful Dharma to someone. Hearing this, many Bodhisattvas appealed to him for the transmission. Sakyamuni refused their appeal, however, saying that there were proper persons for that. And he issued rays of light from himself as a sign of call-up.
All of a sudden the earth quaked and cracked, and innumerable Bodhisattvas came from underground. To the astonishment of the congregation, those Bodhisattvas exchanged greetings with Sakyamuni Buddha. How strange! The congregation had never heard of them.
Sakyamuni addressed the congregation, “I am older than any other Buddhas. All the Buddhas of the past, present and future are my emanations. Those Bodhisattvas who have arrived from underground are my disciples.” Here it is revealed that the One Vehicle, that is the Wonderful Dharma, is universally valid not only spatially but also temporally.
Seeing all this, Prabhutaratna was shocked. He felt ashamed of his ignorance of the fact that the Buddha sitting next to him was his Original Buddha. He tried to change the seats, but Sakyamuni checked him, saying, “You are now the State Guest of the World-State of the Eternal Sakyamuni. You are now representing all the Buddhas of the past, present and future.” Prabhutaratna understood Sakyamuni, and remained at his seat, motionless.
I am sincerely puzzled as to why Murano insists on inserting his “fantasy” into these booklets. How does this advance understanding of the Lotus Sutra, especially in countries outside Japan with very limited contact with the Lotus Sutra?