Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.
Having last month introduced Powerful-Voice-King Buddha, we meet Never-Despising Bodhisattva.
There lived arrogant bhisus in the age of the counterfeit of the right teachings of the first Powerful-Voice-King Tathagata, that is, after the end of the age of his right teachings which had come immediately after his extinction. [Those arrogant bhiksus] were powerful. At that time there lived a Bodhisattva called NeverDespising. He took the form of a bhiksu.
Great-Power-Obtainer! Why was this bhiksu called NeverDespising? It was because, every time he saw bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas or upasikas, he bowed to them and praised them, saying, ‘I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why is that? lt is because you will be able to practice the Way of Bodhisattvas and become Buddhas.’
He did not read or recite sutras. He only bowed to the four kinds of devotees. When he saw them in the distance, he went to them on purpose, bowed to them, and praised them, saying, ‘I do not despise you because you can become Buddhas.’
A quote from Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1, underlines the importance of Never-Despising Bodhisattva, who took the form of a bhiksu:
The Buddha, in a previous life as Never-Despising Bodhisattva, is frequently used as an inspiration for how we honor the lives of all beings, bowing to the Buddha in each life. Yet, this Bodhisattva also is an inspiration for the courage to practice in less than ideal circumstances.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1