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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month repeated in gāthās the story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha, we consider the sixteen princes.

The sixteen princes renounced the world,
And became śramaṇeras.
They begged the Buddha to expound the teaching
Of the Great Vehicle, saying:
“We and our attendants wish to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.
May we have the purest eyes of wisdom
Just as yours!”

Knowing the wishes of the [princes who were] young boys
And the practices they performed in their previous existence,
The Buddha taught them the six paramitas
And many supernatural things
With innumerable stories of previous lives
And with various parables and similes.

The gāthās of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Were sung [by the Buddha] to expound the true teaching,
That is, [to expound] the Way which Bodhisattvas should practice.
The gāthās were as many as there are sands in the River Ganges.

Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha entered a quiet room,
And practiced dhyāna-concentration.
Concentrating his mind, he sat at the same place
For eighty-four thousand kalpas.

Seeing him still in dhyāna,
The śramaṇeras wished to expound
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha
To many hundreds of millions of living beings.

They each sat on a seat of the Dharma
And expounded this sūtra of the Great Vehicle.
Also after the peaceful extinction of that Buddha,
They proclaimed this sūtra, and helped propagate it.

They each saved
Six hundred billions of living beings,
That is, as many living beings
As there are sands in the River Ganges.

After the extinction of that Buddha,
Some heard the Dharma [from one of the śramaṇeras].
They were reborn in the world of a Buddha,
Accompanied by [the śramaṇera, that is,] their teacher.

Those sixteen śramaṇeras practiced the Way to Buddhahood.
They are now in the worlds of the ten quarters.
They have already attained
Perfect enlightenment [and become Buddhas].

Those who heard the Dharma from those śramaṇeras
Are now living under those Buddhas.
To those who are still in Śrāvakahood
[The Buddhas] teach the Way to Buddhahood.

See The Order of Preaching the Law

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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month considered Śākyamuni’s explanation of the Parable of the Magic City, we repeat in gāthās the story of
Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās;

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha sat
At the place of enlightenment for ten [small] kalpas.
He could not attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
Because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind.

The gods, dragon-kings,
And asuras rained down
Heavenly flowers,
And offered them to him.

The gods beat heavenly drums,
And made many kinds of music.
Withered flowers were swept away by fragrant winds;
And fresh and beautiful flowers were rained down.

After the ten small kalpas elapsed,
He attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.
The gods and men of the world
Felt like dancing with joy.

Surrounded by their followers,
Thousands of billions in number,
The sixteen sons of that Buddha
Came to him.

Worshipping the feet of the Buddha with their heads,
They begged him to turn the wheel of the Dharma, saying:
“Lion-like Saint! Send the rain of the Dharma
On us and on all others also!”

It is difficult to meet a World-Honored One.
He appears only once in a very long time.
When he appears, he causes all the worlds to quake
In order to awaken all living beings.

The palaces of the Brahmans
Of five hundred billion worlds in the east
Were illumined
More brightly than ever.

Traveling to find [the place from where the light had come],
The Brahmans of those worlds came to that Buddha.
They strewed flowers and offered them to him.
They also offered their palaces.

They praised him with gāthās,
And begged him to turn the wheel of the Dharma.
The Buddha sat in silence although he was begged
Because he knew that the time was not yet ripe for that.

The Brahmans came also from the three other quarters,
From the four intermediate quarters, zenith, and nadir.
They strewed flowers, offered their palaces,
And begged the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma, saying:

“It is difficult to meet you.
Open the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar
Out of your great compassion towards us,
And turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!”

Assenting to their appeal,
The World-Honored One of Immeasurable Wisdom
Expounded the various teachings, that is,
The four truths and the twelve causes, saying:
“All the causes, from ignorance to aging-and-death,
Rise one after another.
You should know
All these illusions.”

When he expounded these teachings,
Sixty quadrillions of living beings
Eliminated sufferings,
And became Arhats.

At his second expounding of these teachings also,
Tens of millions of living beings, that is,
As many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges,
Became Arhats because they gave up wrong views.

Those who attained the enlightenment [of Arhats] afterwards
Were also innumerable.
No one would be able to count them
Even if he tried to do so for a billion kalpas.

See An Ideal This-Worldly Buddha Land

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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month heard the Parable of the Magic City, we consider Śākyamuni’s explanation of the parable.

“Bhikṣus! I, the Tathāgata, am like the leader. I am your great leader. I know that the bad road, which is made of birth-and-death and illusions, is dangerous and long, and that we should pass through it and get off it. If you had heard only of the One Vehicle of the Buddha, you would not have wished to see or approach the Buddha, but would have thought, ‘The Way to Buddhahood is too long for us to pass through unless we make painstaking efforts for a long time.’

“I knew that you were mean and timid. In order to give you a rest halfway, I expounded expediently to you the teaching of Nirvāṇa by the two vehicles. To those who attained the two [ vehicles], I say, ‘You have not yet done all that you should do. You are near the wisdom of the Buddha. Think it over and consider it! The Nirvāṇa you attained is not true. I divided the One Vehicle of the Buddha into three only expediently.’

“I say this just as the leader, who saw that his party had had a rest in the great city which he had made by magic in order to give them a rest, said to them, ‘The place of treasures is near. This city was not true. I made it by magic.’ ”

See The Greatest of the Lotus Sūtra Interpreters

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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month considered those who were taught by the śramaṇeras, we hear the Parable of the Magic City.

“Bhikṣus! I will collect Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas and expound this sūtra to them when I realize that the time of my Nirvāṇa is drawing near, that the living beings have become pure in heart, that they can understand the truth of the Void by firm faith, and that they have already entered deep into dhyāna-concentration. No one in the world can attain [true] extinction by the two vehicles. [True] extinction can be attained only by the One Buddha-Vehicle.

“Bhikṣus, know this! I can enter skillfully deep into the natures of all living beings. Because I saw that they wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and that they were deeply attached to the five desires, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa to them. When they heard that teaching, they received it by faith.

“I will tell you a parable. Once upon a time there was a dangerous, bad road five hundred yojanas long. It was so fearful that no men lived in the neighborhood. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man, clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road. He took them along this dangerous road, but halfway the people got tired of walking. They said to him, ‘We are tired out. We are also afraid of the danger of this road. We cannot go a step farther. Our destination is still far off. We wish to go back.’

“The leader, who knew many expedients, thought, ‘What a pity!

They wish to go back without getting great treasures.’ Having thought this, he expediently made a city by magic at a distance of three hundred yojanas from the starting-point of this dangerous road. He said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home.’

“Thereupon the worn-out people had great joy. They said, ‘We have never had such joy as this before. Now we shall be able to get off this bad road and become peaceful.’

“Then they made their way forward and entered the magic city.

They felt peaceful, thinking that they had already passed [through the bad road]. Seeing that they had already had a rest and relieved their fatigue, the leader caused the city to disappear, and said to them, ‘Now the place of treasures is near. I made this city by magic in order to give you a rest.’

See Our Karmic Connection to Śākyamuni Buddha

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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month considered the length of time it took to expound the Lotus Sūtra and what happened afterward, we consider what became of the 16 princes.

“These sixteen Bodhisattvas willingly expounded the Sūtra 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.

“Bhikṣus! Now I will tell you. The sixteen śramaṇeras, who were the disciples of that Buddha, have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They now expound the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters. They have many hundreds of thousands of billions of attendants consisting of Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. Two of the śramaṇeras are now Buddhas in the east. One of them is called Akṣobha. He is in the World of Joy. The other is called Sumeru-Peak. Another couple of the śramaṇeras are now Buddhas in the southeast, called Lion-Voice and Lion-Form. Another couple of them are now Buddhas in the south, called Sky-Dwelling and Eternal-Extinction. Another couple of them are now Buddhas in the southwest, called Emperor-Form and Brahma-Form. Another couple of them are now Buddhas in the west, called Amitayus and Saving-All-Worlds-From-Suffering. Another couple of them are now Buddhas in the northwest, called Tamalapattracandana­Fragrance-Supernatural-Power and Sumeru-Form. Another couple of them are now Buddhas in the north, called Cloud-Freedom and Cloud-Freedom-King. One of the remaining two is now a Buddha in the northeast called Eliminating-Fear-Of-All-Worlds. The other one, that is, the sixteenth śramaṇera is I, Śākyamuni Buddha. I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Saha-World.

Nichiren discusses the seeds planted by Śākyamuni under Great Universal Wisdom Buddha:

As stated in the seventh chapter, “The Parable of a Magic City,” when the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha was a king, Śākyamuni Buddha, his sixteenth prince, sowed the seed of Buddhahood in the people. With the help of the pre-Lotus sūtras, such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, some were able to attain enlightenment afterwards by germinating the seed planted at the time of the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, cultivating it to maturity to bear fruit. This, however, is not the true intent of the Buddha. Just as a poison might show its effect on some people without their knowledge, only in certain people does the seed of Buddhahood have a chance to germinate and grow to maturity without the help of the Lotus Sūtra. The aim of Śākyamuni Buddha to be born in this world was to gradually lead the two kinds of Hinayāna sages called Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) and ordinary people to the Lotus Sūtra, by the way of the pre-Lotus sūtras, whereby the seed may germinate and grow to bear the fruit of Buddhahood.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 151

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.

Day 12 Text with annotations

Having last month heard Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata expound the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas,’ we consider the length of time it took to expound the sūtra and what happened afterward.

“It took the Buddha eight thousand kalpas to complete the expounding of this sūtra. During that time he did not take a rest. Having completed the expounding of this sūtra, the Buddha entered a quiet room and practiced dhyāna-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas. Seeing him practicing dhyāna-concentration quietly in the room, the sixteen Bodhisattva­sramaneras each sat on a seat of the Dharma, expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees for eighty-four thousand kalpas, and saved six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. They showed them the Way, taught them, benefited them, caused them to rejoice and to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

“Having practised dhyāna-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas, the Buddha emerged from his samadhi, came back to his seat of the Dharma, sat quietly, and said to the great multitude, ‘These sixteen Bodhisattva-śramaṇeras are rare. Their sense organs are keen; and their wisdom, bright. In their previous existence, they already made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, performed brahma practices under those Buddhas, kept the wisdom of those Buddhas, showed it to the living beings [of the worlds of those Buddhas], and caused them to enter into it. All of you! Approach these [Bodhisattva­sramaneras] from time to time and make offerings to them! Why is that? It is because anyone, be he a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha or a Bodhisattva, who believes this sūtra expounded by these sixteen Bodhisattvas, keeps it, and does not slander it, will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, the wisdom of the Tathāgata.’”

On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 2 of 21.