Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Last month covered the “innumerable merits” of those who hear The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva. Now we reach the end of the chapter.
“Therefore, Star-King-Flower! I will transmit this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva to you. Propagate this chapter throughout the Jambudvipa in the later five hundred years after my extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Mara the Evil One, the followers of Mara, gods, dragons, yaksas, and kumbhandas should take advantage [of the weak points of the people of the Jambudvipa].
“Star-King-Flower! Protect this sutra by your supernatural powers! Why is that? It is because this sutra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people of the Jambudvipa. The patient who hears this sutra will be cured of his disease at once. He will not grow old or die.
Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flower and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keep this sutra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Mara. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’
In this way, those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha should respect the keeper of this sutra whenever they see him.
When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas obtained the dharanis by which they could understand the words of all living beings. Many-Treasures Tathagata in the stupa of treasures praised Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva, saying:
Excellent, excellent, Star-King-Flower! You obtained inconceivable merits. You asked this question to Sakyamuni Buddha, and benefited innumerable living beings.
The Daily Dhara from Nov. 21, 2016, offered this about our daily war with Mara:
Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keeps this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Māra. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’
The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Māra is the deity who creates confusion and delusion in the world. His army consists of those who reinforce these delusions and reward those who share them. Such rewards do not benefit those who receive them. They only serve to produce fear and attachment which creates misery in the world. With our practice of this Lotus Sūtra, we learn to recognize delusion for what it is, and reject the superficial benefits that come with it.
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