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

I digress.

In the past 11 months, I have been cycling through the Lotus Sutra every 32 days, posting each day a comment on that day’s reading. So today, while Purna and the “five hundred disciples” are promised their future Buddhahood and we are reminded of the seed of Buddhahood we possess in the Parable of the Pricess Gem, I just feel like it is time to mention what a Buddha world would look like.

After performing “the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asamkhya kalpas (and we are alerted in the footnotes that this is a finite period), Purna will become a Buddha called Dharma-Brightness in a kalpa called Treasure­Brightness on a world called Good-Purity:

The world of that Buddha will be composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, that is, as many Sumeru-worlds as there are sands in the River Ganges. The ground [of that world] will be made of the seven treasures. It will be as even as the palm of a hand. There will be no mountains nor ravines nor ditches. Tall buildings adorned with the seven treasures will be seen everywhere in that world, and the palaces of gods of that world will hang so low in the sky that gods and men will be able to see each other.

Here’s where it gets interesting:

There will be no evil regions nor women. The living beings of that world will be born without any medium. They will have no sexual desire.

The footnote explains: “It means that they will be born not through the medium of a mother or an egg or moisture but by their own karmas. It is held that those who are born without any medium appear in a moment in their adult forms.

They will have great supernatural powers, emit light from their bodies, and fly about at will. They will be resolute in mind, strenuous, and wise. They will be golden in color, and adorned with the thirty-two marks. They will feed on two things: the delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyana. There will be innumerable, asamkhya Bodhisattvas, that is, thousands of billions of nayutas of Bodhisattvas. They will have great supernatural powers and the four kinds of unhindered eloquence. They will teach the living beings of that world. There will also be uncountable Sravakas there. They will have the six supernatural powers including the three major supernatural powers, and the eight emancipations.

The world of that Buddha will be adorned with those innumerable merits.

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

Purna, foremost in expounding the Dharma, is joyous at the news he’s heard:

Thereupon Purna, the son of Maitrayani having heard from the Buddha the Dharma expounded with expedients by the wisdom [of the Buddha] according to the capacities of all living beings, and having heard that [the Buddha] had assured the great disciples of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and also having heard of the previous life of the Buddha, and also having heard of the great, unhindered, supernatural powers of the Buddhas, had the greatest joy that he had ever had, became pure in heart, and felt like dancing [with joy]. He rose from his seat, came to the Buddha, and worshipped him at his feet with his head. Then he retired to one side of the place, looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes, and thought:

The World-Honored One is extraordinary. What he does is exceptional. He expounds the Dharma with expedients by his insight according to the various natures of all living beings of the world, and saves them from various attachments. The merits of the Buddha are beyond the expression of our words. Only the Buddha, only the World-Honored One, knows the wishes we have deep in our minds.

The April 6, 2016, Daily Dharma discusses Purna’s observation and what it means in our daily lives:

In Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sutra, Pūrṇa has these words in mind while looking at the face of the Buddha. The thoughts we have are mostly words, and the words are about the things we want. Words can help us make sense of the world around us, especially the words the Buddha uses to teach us. But words can also confuse us when we mistake our expectations for the reality of the world. When the Buddha calls us to become Bodhisattvas, to realize that our happiness is linked to that of all beings, his words open a part of our mind with which we are not familiar. He asks us to set aside the habits we have learned from this world of conflict and see his world in a new way.

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

Last month, I focused on Purna, the son of Maitrayani. The Buddha reveals that his appearance as the Sravaka foremost in expounding the Dharma is only an expedient. He is really a Bodhisattva.

After the Buddha assures “these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me,” of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi one after another, the arhats come to understand “we were like men of no wisdom because we were satisfied with the wisdom of the Lesser Vehicle although we had already been qualified to obtain the wisdom of the Tathagata.”

They offer the Parable of the Priceless Gem and recognize that they had forgotten that they, like Purna, are really bodhisattvas.

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 Nirva]Ja 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.

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

Having focused last month on the The Parable of the Priceless Gem, I get to talk about Purna, the son of Maitrayani and foremost in expounding the Dharma. He is not what he seems, a Sravaka.

Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha [under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Sravaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asamkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

And in gathas:

Bhisus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahoodl
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the
Lesser Vehicle Will become Buddhas with this expedient in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

The remainder of the arhats who are promised future Buddhahood in this chapter all realize “we are Bodhisattvas in reality.”

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

Today we underline the emerging idea that there is only the Bodhisattva teaching and everyone will in time become a Buddha.

The chapter begins with Purna, who is considered to be foremost in expounding the Dharma among Sakyamuni’s top disciples. He will be foremost in expounding the Dharma many times again in the future. More to today’s point, he is not your ordinary sravaka:

Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Sravaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asamkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

To make the point clearer:

He will always make efforts to teach all living beings strenuously so that the worlds of those Buddhas may be purified. He will perform the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asamkhya kalpas, and then attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in this world.

And in gathas:

Bhiksus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahood]
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the Lesser Vehicle
Will become Buddhas with this expedient in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

Underline My sons, that is, the Bodhisattvas transform themselves into Sravakas or cause-knowers, and teach the people with innumerable expedients. We’ll come back to this in later chapters.

But back in this chapter, we have assurances of future Buddhahood for “these 1,200 Arhats” and in particular Kaundinya Bhiksu.

The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilva-Kasyapa, Gaya-Kasyapa, Nadi-Kasyapa, Kalodayin, Udayin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svagata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-samodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.

With everyone dancing for joy with the news, we come to the Parable of the Priceless, in which a rich man sews a priceless gem into a friend’s garment while he sleeps. When he awakens he moves on, struggling to find food and shelter, satisfying himself with what work he can find, because he does not know he has this gem.

The point: These Arhats realize they forgot that in past lives the Buddha had instructed them on attaining Anuttara-samyak-samodhi.

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.

And in gathas:

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvana we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satisfying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

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

Purna, the son of Maitrayani, is one of the 10 great voice hearers. But he is not just any Sravaka:

Thereupon the Buddha said to the bhiksus:

“Do you see this Purna, the son of Maitrayani, I always praise him, saying that he is the most excellent expounder of the Dharma. I also praise him for his various merits. He strenuously protects my teachings, and helps me propagate them. He shows the Way to the four kinds of devotees, teaches them, benefits them and causes them to rejoice. He explains my right teachings perfectly, and gives great benefits to those who are performing brahma practices’ with him. No one except the Tathagata excels him in eloquence.

Purna is not an ordinary Sravaka seeking to remove himself from the World of Endurance. He is a son of the Buddha, a secret Bodhisattav:

Bhiksus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahood]
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the Lesser Vehicle
Will become Buddhas with this expedient
in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

After assuring the 1,200 Arhats of their future Buddhahood, the 500 Arhats tell the PARABLE OF THE PRICELESS GEM. Telling the Buddha that he is like the friend who sewed a priceless gem in the garment, they said:

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvana we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satsifying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

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

Purna, the son of Maitrayani having heard from the Buddha the Dharma expounded with expedients by the wisdom [of the Buddha] according to the capacilies of all living beings, and having heard that [the Buddha] had assured the great disciples of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sarnbodhi, and also having heard of the previous life of the Buddha, and also having heard of the great, unhindered, supernatural powers of the Buddhas, had the greatest joy that he had ever had, became pure in heart, and felt like dancing [with joy].

And so begins Chapter 8. The Buddha praises Purna as “the most excellent expounder of the Dharma.”

He strenuously protects my teachings, and helps me propagate them. He shows the Way to the four kinds of devotees, teaches them, benefits them and causes them to rejoice. He explains my right teachings perfectly, and gives great benefits to those who are performing brahma practices with him. No one except the Tathagata excels him in eloquence.

The Buddha reminds us that Purna appears to be a Sravaka only as an expedient for spreading the Dharma:

Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha [under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Sravaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asamkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

And in gathas:

Bhisksus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahoodl
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the Lesser Vehicle
Will become Buddhas with this expedient in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

The 1,200 Arhats, having heard of the future Buddhahood of Purna and the others, seek assurance of their opportunity and the Buddha complies, saying, “Now I will assure these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me, of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi one after another.” And if anyone feels left out he adds:

All the other Sravakas also will [become Buddhas].
Tell this to the Sravakas
Who are not present here!

The Arhats, who feel like dancing at the news, offer the Parable of the Priceless Gem to explain why they settled for the Lesser Vehicle.

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.”

And in gathas:

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that
The Nirvana we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satsifying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

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

Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī, is the subject of the opening. Of note: He praises the Buddha without asking anything in return.

‘The World-Honored One is extraordinary. What he does is exceptional. He expounds the Dharma with expedients by his insight according to the various natures of all living beings of the world, and saves them from various attachments. The merits of the Buddha are beyond the expression of our words. Only the Buddha, only the World-Honored One, knows the wishes we have deep in our minds.’

Pūrṇa, explains the Buddha, is the most excellent expounder of the Dharma: “No one except the Tathāgata excels him in eloquence.”

He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

And in gāthās:

He obtained great supernatural powers
And the four kinds of unhindered eloquence.
Seeing who was clever, and who was dull,
He always expounded the Pure Dharma.

He expounded the Dharma of the Great Vehicle
To hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings,
And caused them to dwell in the Dharma
So that the worlds of those Buddhas might be purified.

Eventually, after protecting and expounding the Dharma of innumerable Buddhas, “He will perform the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas, and then attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this world.”

In contrast to Pūrṇa’s joy, the twelve hundred Arhats thought: “How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

They understand that the teaching wasn’t withheld; they just did not remember that they carried that lesson. They offer The Parable of the Pricess Gem.

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, ‘Bhikṣus! 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 Nirvāṇa as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvāṇa [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-saṃbodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.”

(2013-02-01). The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma (Kindle Locations 4277-4282). Nichiren Buddhist International Center. Kindle Edition.

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

Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyaṇī and the preeminent preacher among the Buddha’s followers, approaches the Buddha with great joy but does not speak, does not request anything for himself. The Buddha praises Purna for strenuously protecting his teachings, and helping him propagate them. Although Purna appears to be a Śrāvaka, the Buddha explains that it is just an expedient while doing the work of the Buddha:

[Purna] always expounded the Dharma clearly and purely, with no doubtfulness. Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha [under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Śrāvaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asaṃkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

The Arhats, on the other hand, needed reassurance from the Buddha that they, too, would one day attain Buddhahood. After they receive that assurance they reproached themselves for having satisfied themselves with the Lesser Vehicle. They tell the story of the rich man who sews a priceless gem in the garment of a poor friend. The poor man struggles for survival unaware that he has this gem.

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