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.

Having last month heard Ānanda’s reaction to his prediction of Buddhahood, we come to Rāhula’s future.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Rāhula:

“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Walking-On-Flowers-Of-SevenTreasures, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will make offerings to as many Buddhas, as many Tathāgatas, as the particles of dust of ten worlds. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will become the eldest son of those Buddhas just as you are now mine.

“The adornments of the world of Walking-On-Flowers-Of­-Seven-Treasures Buddha, the number of the kalpas for which that Buddha will live, the number of his disciples, the duration of the preservation of his right teachings, and the duration of the preservation of the counterfeit of his right teachings will be the same as in the case of Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power­King Tathāgata.

“After you become the eldest son of the [Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King] Buddha, you will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [, and become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven­Treasures Buddha].”

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

When I was a crown prince,
Rāhula was my eldest son.
When I attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He received the Dharma, and became the son of the Dharma.

In his future life he will see
Many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Become the eldest son of those Buddhas, and seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha with all his heart.

Only I know his secret practices.
He shows himself
To all living beings
In the form of my eldest son.

He has many thousands of billions of merits.
His merits are countless.
He dwells peacefully in the Dharma of the Buddha,
And seeks unsurpassed enlightenment.

Rev. Ryusho Jeffus‘ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this about Rāhula:

It is the ordinary day-to-day practice that each of us performs that is actually the great secret practice of Rahula. It isn’t fame or acquiring a big name that is required to attain enlightenment. It isn’t being famous that will lead others to practice the Lotus Sutra. It is our practice of the Lotus Sutra in our everyday lives that will enable countless others just like us to ultimately take faith in the Lotus Sutra. We should not be discouraged, instead we can look at Rahula who will become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven-Treasures Buddha and we too can walk on the flowers of the seven treasures of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

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.

Having last month heard the complaint of the Bodhisattvas who are miffed that no Bodhisattva has been offered a prediction of Buddhahood, we hear Ānanda’s reaction to his prediction of Buddhahood.

Having heard from the Buddha that he was assured of his future Buddhahood, and that his world would be adorned, Ānanda was able to fulfill his wish. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. At that moment he recollected the store of the teachings of many thousands of billions of past Buddhas perfectly and without hindrance as if he had heard those teachings just now. He also recollected his original vow.

Thereupon Ānanda sang in gāthās:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
You reminded me of the teachings
Of innumerable Buddhas in the past
As if I had heard them today.

Having no doubts, I now dwell peacefully
In the enlightenment of the Buddha.
I will expediently become the attendant
Of future Buddhas, and protect their teachings.

The Daily Dharma from Nov. 27, 2016, offers this:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
You reminded me of the teachings
Of innumerable Buddhas in the past
As if I had heard them today.

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.

Having last month covered the prediction of future Buddhahood for Ananda, we hear the complaint of the Bodhisattvas who are miffed that no Bodhisattva has been offered a prediction of Buddhahood.

There were eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire [for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi] in this congregation. They thought, ‘As far as we have heard, even great Bodhisattvas have never been assured of their future Buddhahood. Why have these Sravakas been so assured?’

Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing what the Bodhisattvas had in their minds, said to them:

“Good men! Ananda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ananda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings. He also will protect the store of the teachings of future Buddhas, teach Bodhisattvas, and cause them to attain [Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi], according to his original vow. Therefore, now he has been assured of his future Buddhahood.”

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 19, 2016, offers this:

Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings.

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.

Having last month covered the prediction of future Buddhahood for Ananda, we repeat what was said in gathas:

Now I announce to the Samgha:
Ananda, the keeper of the Dharma,
Will make offerings to Buddhas,
And then attain perfect enlightenment.

He will be called
Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King.
His world will be pure, and called
Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory.

He will teach as many Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.
He will be exceedingly powerful and virtuous.
His fame will extend over the worlds of the ten quarters.

The duration of his life will be immeasurable
Because he has compassion towards all living beings.
His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life;
The counterfeit of them, for twice as long as his right teachings.

Under him, as many living beings
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will obtain the seeds
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The importance of Ananda is underscored by his position as one of the 10 great disciples.

“Voice-hearers” (Sanskrit, shravaka) refers to those monastic disciples who heard the voice of the Buddha in person. From the stand­point of Mahayana Buddhism, the voice-hearers are Hinayana disciples who listened and followed the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. … Traditionally ten major disciples are listed. They are representative of the different qualities that were valued by Hinayana Buddhism:

Śāriputra, foremost in wisdom
Mahakashyapa, foremost in ascetic practices
Ananda, foremost in hearing the sutras
Subhuti, foremost in understanding emptiness
Purna, foremost in expounding the Dharma
Maudgalyayana, foremost in supernatural powers
Katyayana, foremost in explaining the Dharma
Aniruddha, foremost in clairvoyance (the divine eye)
Upali, foremost in observing the precepts
Rahula, foremost in inconspicuous practice

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.

Having last month covered the need to withhold criticism of those who follow this most excellent sutra, it’s time to return to Ananda and Rahula and the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn.

Thereupon Ananda and Rahula thought, ‘We are always thinking: How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood!’ They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, worshiped his feet with their heads, and said to him:

World-Honored One! We think that we also are qualified to be assured [of our future Buddhahood]. Only you, the Tathagata, are our refuge. We are known to all gods, men and asuras of the world. Ananda always protects the store of the Dharma as your attendant. Rahula is your son. If you assure us of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, the wishes not only of us but also of others will be fulfilled.

Thereupon the two thousand disciples [composed of the two kinds of Sravakas]: the Sravakas who had something more to learn and the Sravakas who had nothing more to learn, also rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together with all their hearts, looked up at the World-­Honored One, begged him just as Ananda and Rahula did, and stood to one side of the place.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Ananda:

In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One.

You will attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asamkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.

Ananda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddas or Tathagatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathagatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

The promise that Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King will reign for “many thousands of billions of asamkhyas of kalpas” and his right teachings will be preserved “for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings,” reminds me that someday in the future I want to write down all of the future Buddhas and their lifespans and ponder why some will live so long and others for only, say, 12 kalpas. Not that 12 kalpas is a short time, but why the difference?

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.

Having last month covered how anyone who keeps this sutra in the future should be considered to have been dispatched by Sakyamuni, I conclude the day’s reading with the need to withhold criticism of those who follow this most excellent sutra.

Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions.
Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.

Whoever for as long as a kalpa
Joins his hands together towards me
And praises me with innumerable gathas
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Will obtain innumerable merits
Because he praises me.
Whoever praises the keeper of this sutra
Will obtain even more merits.

For eight thousand million kalpas
Offer to the keeper of this sutra
The most wonderful things to see,
Hear, smell, taste and touch!

If you make these offerings,
And hear [this sutra] even for a moment,
You will rejoice and say,
“Now I have obtained great benefits.”

Medicine-King! I will tell you.
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Is the most excellent sutra
That I have ever expounded.

The Daily Dharma from May 6, 2016, offers this:

Medicine-King! I will tell you.
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Is the most excellent sūtra
That I have ever expounded.

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.

Last month explained that among the four characteristics of those who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is that they gave up their own benefits to benefit others.

Each day as I recite the Invocation, I say the following lines:

Honor be to our Founder,
The Great Bodhisattva Nichiren Shonin,
Dispatched by Our Original Buddha.

And today I recited these complementary lines from the Lotus Sutra:

Offer flowers and incense of heaven,
Jeweled garments of heaven,
And heaps of wonderful treasures of heaven
To the expounder of the Dharma!

Join your hands together and bow
To the person who keeps this sutra
In the evil world after my extinction,
Just as you do to me!

Offer delicious food and drink,
And various garments to this son of mine,
And yearn to hear the Dharma [from him]
Even if for only a moment!

Anyone who keeps this sutra in the future
Should be considered
To have been dispatched by me
To the world of men in order to do my work.

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.

Last month I listed four characteristics of those who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. One of those characteristics is that they gave up their own benefits to benefit others. This recalls to mind Day 10’s discussion of why the great disciples must spend spend billions of lifetimes serving Buddhas before they finally attain enlightenment.

In Chapter 10, in the gathas section, the Buddha explains:

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.

Know that he can appear wherever he wishes!
He should be considered
To have appeared in this evil world
In order to expound the unsurpassed Dharma.

And each day I am reminded of a real example of this when I recite this line from the English version of the Invocation:

Honor be to our Founder, the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren Shonin, Dispatched by Our Original Buddha.

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.

Last month I promised to answer the question: Who are these people who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?

People worthy of respect:

Medicine-King! If anyone asks you who will become a Buddha in his future life, answer that such a person as previously stated [anyone who 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] will! Why is that? The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and offer flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments and music to a copy of this sutra, or just join their hands together respectfully towards it, should be respected by all the people of the world. All the people of the world should make the same offerings to them as they do to me.

Who gave up their own benefits to benefit others:

Know this! These good men or women are great Bodhisattvas. They should be considered to have appeared in this world by their vow to expound the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma out of their compassion towards all living beings, although they already attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [in their previous existence]. Needless to say, those who keep all the passages of this sutra and make various offerings to this sutra [are great Bodhisattvas]. Medicine­King, know this! They should be considered to have given up the rewards of their pure karmas and appeared in the evil world after my extinction in order to expound this sutra out of their compassion towards all living beings.

Dispatched by the Buddha:

The good men or women who expound even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma even to one person even in secret after my extinction, know this, are my messengers. They are dispatched by me. They do my work. It is needless to say this of those who expound this sutra to many people in a great multitude.

Beyond reproach:

Medicine-King! An evil man who speaks ill of me in my presence with evil intent for as long as a kalpa is not as sinful as the person who reproaches laymen or monks with even a single word of abuse for their reading and reciting the Sntra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

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.

Having covered Ananda, Rahula and the two thousand Sravakas, of whom some had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn, I’m free to open Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

When I recite the Lotus Sutra each day I enjoy imagining myself delivering a performance before a crowd of people. I wave my hands about and shout or whisper. This is one of my favorite performance sections.

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, dragon­kings, yakdad, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, 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-sambodhi.’

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.

Next month: Who are these people who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?