The Deepest Desire of the Buddha

I am always thinking:
How can I cause all living beings
To enter the supreme way
And quickly become Buddhas?

These are the final words of the verses of eternity. The verses themselves are a summary of the entire chapter. These final words represent the deepest desire of the Buddha: his innermost heart of compassion. Ordinary people see the world as a defiled land, but the Buddha leads such people and saves them from the agonies of defilement, transforming their concept of reality as a lotus rises above the muddy water. And just as the Buddha’s lifespan is eternal, so also is his yearning to save all beings from sufferings. “I am always thinking” is his eternal wish. “The supreme way” is perfect enlightenment, and that means the same enlightenment which he himself enjoys—the enlightenment of a Buddha, which is to say, omniscience and its accompanying omnipotence. He concludes by desiring that all of us “quickly become Buddhas,” and attain this highest state for ourselves.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra