At the end of the fourteenth verse portion of this chapter occur the following lines:

“May this deed of merit
Extend to all creatures
That we with all the living
May together accomplish the Buddha-way!”

This is called “the closing verse of vows” because not only the practicers of the Lotus Sutra but all believers in Buddhism recite it as a closing verse in their sutra-chanting service. It is said that the spirit of the great vow and practice of Buddhists can be summed up in these few short lines. The words “this deed of merit” mean “this deed of merit of serving the buddhas.” This does not mean that the Brahma heavenly kings desire to receive some merit in compensation for their having presented their palaces to the buddhas. It goes without saying that the buddhas are not anxious to have material things. To serve the Buddha by presenting flowers and offerings is an expression of our worship of and gratitude to him. But the most important thing is to serve the Buddha through our practice, namely, to practice the Buddha-way after abandoning our ego, or “small self.” The sutra reciting service that we perform before Buddhist altars is one of our practices in which we forget the small self, abandoning it and devoting ourselves solely to the pursuit of the Buddha-way. Therefore, our sutra reciting service is also a great way of serving the Buddha.

Serving the Buddha should not be done merely for the sake of mental peace and a comfortable life. It should be our heartfelt desire that the merit of our practice of serving the Buddha extend to all living beings. It should be also our prayer to accomplish the Buddha-way together with all the living. Because the closing verse of vows has this deep significance, we should not merely learn it by heart but recite it earnestly as our great vow as Buddhists.