Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Having last month covered the merits of those who read, recite or keep this sutra, expound it to others, copies it, or causes others to copy it, we move to the concluding gathas.

Anyone who keeps this sutra
After my extinction
Will be able to obtain
Innumerable merits a previously stated.

He should be considered
To have already made various offerings.
He should be considered
To have already built a stupa
With a yasti soaring up to the Heaven of Brahman,
The upper part of it being the smaller,
A stupa which was adorned with the seven treasures,
And with thousands of billions of jeweled bells
Sounding wonderful when fanned by the wind
He should be considered to have already enshrined
My sarias in this stupa,
And offered flowers, incense, necklaces, heavenly garments,
And various kinds of music to it,
And lit lamps of perfumed oil around it for innumerable kalpas.

Anyone who keeps this sutra in the evil world
In the age of the decline of my teachings
Should be considered
To have already made these offerings.

Anyone who keeps this sutra should be considered
To have already built a monastery
Made of the cow-head candana,
installed with thirty-two beautiful halls,
Eight times as tall as the tala-tree,
Provided with delicious food and drink,
With wonderful garments and bedding
Wilh accommodations for one hundred thousand people,
With gardens, forests, and pools for bathing,
And with promenades and caves for the practice of dhyana.
He should be considered lo have already offered
That monastery to me in my presence.

Anyone who not only understands
This sutra by faith
But also keeps, reads and recites
And copies it, or causes others to it, copy it,
And strews flowers, incense,
And incense powder to a copy of it,
And lights lamps of the perfumed oil
Of umanas, campaka, and atimuktaka
Around the copy of this sutra
And offers the light thus produced to it,
Will be able lo obtain immmerable merits.
His merits will be as limitless as the sky.

Needless to say, so will be the merits of the person
Who keeps this satra, gives alms, observes the precepts,
Practices patience, prefers dhyana-concentrations,
And does not get angry or speak ill of others.

Anyone who respects the stupa-mausoleum,
Who is modest before bhiksus,
Who gives up self-conceit,
Who always thinks of wisdom,
Who does not get angry when asked questions,
And who expounds the Dharma
According to the capacities of the questioners,
Will be able to obtain innumerable merits.

When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.

You should think
“He will go to the place of enlightenment before long.
He will be free from asravas and free from causality.
He will benefit all gods and men.”

Erect a stupa in the place
Where he expounded even a gatha of this sutra
While he was standing,
Walking, sitting or reclining!
Adorn the stupa beautifully,
And make various offerings to it!

He is my son.
I will accept his place as mine.
I will be there.
l will walk, sit or recline there.

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 2, 2016, offers this:

When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter tells the variety of merits enjoyed by anyone who understands, however briefly, the ever-present nature of the Buddha. This reminder is not just for the great Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya. It is also for all of us who are awakening our Bodhisattva nature through this teaching. It is important for us to treat all people, especially those who share this practice of the Buddha Dharma with us, with the same respect we would give to the Buddha himself.

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