Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Much can be said about Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and the advice for visitors offered by Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha, but for me the meat of this chapter is “the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahasattva.”

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sutra to others in various places. He became King Brahman, King Sakra, Freedom God, Great-Freedom God, a great general in heaven, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, a wheel-turning-holy-king, the king of a small country, a rich man, a householder, a prime minister, a brahmana, a bhiksu, a bhiksuni, an upasaka, an upasika, the wife of a rich man, that of a householder, that of a prime minister, that of a brahmana, a boy, a girl, a god, a dragon, a yaksa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kimnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being. [After he transformed himself into one or another of these living beings,] he expounded this sutra, and saved the hellish denizens, hungry spirits, animals, and all the other living beings in the places of difficulties. When he entered an imperial harem, he became a woman and expounded this sutra.

Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Saha-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Saha-World and expounds this sutra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Saha­World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know. He also does the same in the innumerable worlds of the ten quarters, that is, in as many worlds as there are sands in the River Ganges. He takes the shape of a Sravaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Sravaka. He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha. He takes the shape of another Bodhisattva and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by that Bodhisattva. He takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes these various shapes according to the capacities of those who are to be saved. He shows his extinction to those who are to be saved by his extinction. Flower-Virtue! Such are the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahasattva.

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

With the conclusion of the story of Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva as the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we are reminded of the merits of keeping “even a single gatha of four lines of this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Why? Because…

Star-King-Flower! Just as the sea is larger than the rivers, this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is more profound than any of the other sutras expounded by the Tathagatas. Just as Mt. Sumeru is the largest of all the mountains including earth mountains, black mountains, the Small Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, and the Ten Treasure Mountains, this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is above all the other sutras. Just as the Moon God is brighter than the stars, this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma gives us more light than any of the other sutras numbering thousands of billions. Just as the Sun God dispels all darkness, this sutra drives away all the darkness of evils. Just as the wheel-turning-holy-king is superior to the kings of small countries, this sutra is more honorable than the other sutras. Just as King Sakra is the king of the thirty-three gods, this sutra is the king of all the sutras. Just as the Great Brahman Heavenly-King is the father of all living beings, this sutra is the father of all the sages and saints, of the Sravakas who have something more to learn, of the Sravakas who have nothing more to learn, and of those who aspire for Bodhisattvahood. Just as Srota-apannas, Sakrdagamins, Anagamins, Arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas are superior to ordinary men, this sutra is superior to any of the other sutras expounded either by Tathagatas or by Bodhisattvas or by Sravakas. The person who keeps this sutra is superior to any other living being. Just as Bodhisattvas are superior to Sravakas or to Pratyekabuddhas, this sutra is superior to any other sutra. Just as the Buddha is the king of the Dharma, this sutra is the king of all the sutras.

Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

This first time through under my single-topic rule allows me to focus on a followup to yesterday’s message and offer why the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma can be heard only once in hundreds of millions of billions of kalpas.

To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathagata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathagata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathagata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra. Therefore, keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sutra, and act according to the teachings of it with all your hearts after my extinction! In any world where anyone keeps, reads, recites, expounds or copies this sutra, or acts according to its teachings, or in any place where a copy of this sutra is put, be it in a garden, in a forest, under a tree, in a monastery, in the house of a person in white robes, in a hall, in a mountain, in a valley, or in the wilderness, there should a stupa be erected and offerings be made to it because, know this, the place [where the stupa is erected] is the place of enlightenment. Here the Buddhas attained Anuttara­samyak-sambodhi. Here the Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dhanna. Here the Buddhas entered into Parinirvana.

This isn’t some ordinary sutra.

I shall not be able to tell all the merits of this sutra to those to whom this sutra is to be transmitted even if I continue telling them by my supernatural powers for many hundreds of thousands of billions of asamkhyas of kalpas.

Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

My self-imposed single-topic restriction leaves me wondering how to approach both the story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva as a previous life of Sakyamuni and the next chapter where we see the reaction of Sakyamuni to the vow of the Bodhisattvas from Underground to expound the Lotus Sutra everywhere after Sakyamuni’s extinction.

And having no obvious choice, I’ll ignore all of that and instead underscore what I see as the bottom line of the tale of Never-Despising Bodhisattva:

This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Can be heard only once
In hundreds of millions of billions of kalpas,
That is, in an inconceivable number of kalpas.

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,
Expound this sutra only once
In hundreds of millions of billions of kalpas,
That is, in an inconceivable number of kalpas.

Therefore, anyone who hears this sutra
And practices the Way
After my extinction,
Should have no doubts about [this sutra].

He should expound this sutra with all his heart;
Then he will be able to meet Buddhas
Throughout all his existences,
And quickly attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

No doubts here.