Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month focused on the arrogant bhiksus and bhiksunis who walked out on the Buddha’s explanation of why he uses expedients. And now I rejoice:

I caused all living beings to rejoice
By telling them stories of previous lives,
Parables, similes and discourses,
That is to say, by employing various expedients
Because I knew their thoughts,
The various teachings they were practicing,
Their desires, their natures,
And the good and evil karmas they have previously done.

The sutras were composed of prose, gathas, and geyas.
The contents of them were
Miracles, parables, similes, upadesas,
And stories of the previous lives
Of Buddhas and of their disciples.
The reasons why the sotras were expounded were also given.

I expounded the teaching of Nirvana to the dull people
Who wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
Who were attached to birth and death,
And who were troubled by many sufferings
Inflicted on them because they have not practiced
The profound and wonderful teachings under innumerable Buddhas.

I expounded this expedient teaching in order to cause them
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.
I never said to them:
“You will be able to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.”
I never said this
Because time was not yet ripe for it.
Now is the time to say it.
I will expound the Great Vehicle definitely
I expounded various sutras of the nine elements
According to the capacities of all living beings.
I expounded various sutras
Because those sutras were a basis for the Great Vehicle.

Underline those sutras were a basis for the Great Vehicle.

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Last month I covered the Buddha’s explanation of the One Great Purpose of the Buddhas in preaching the Dharma. Now, it is time to return to the beginning.

Thereupon the World-Honored One emerged quietly from his samadhi, and said to Sariputra:

The wisdom of the [present] Buddhas is profound and immeasurable. The gate to it is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. [Their wisdom] cannot be understood by any Sravaka or Pratyekabuddha because the [present] Buddhas attended on many hundreds of thousands of billions of [past] Buddhas, and practiced the innumerable teachings of those Buddhas bravely and strenuously to their far-flung fame until they attained the profound Dharma which you have never heard before, [and became Buddhas,] and also because [since they became Buddhas] they have been expounding the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings in such various ways that the true purpose of their [various] teachings is difficult to understand.

Sariputra! Since I became a Buddha, I [also] have been expounding various teachings with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, and with various similes. I have been leading all living beings with innumerable expedients in order to save them from various attachments, because I have the power to employ expedients and the power to perform the paramita of insight.

And pair that with the final declaration of Day 3’s reading:

Sariputra and all of you present here! Understand the Dharma by faith with all your hearts! There is no vehicle other than the One Buddha-Vehicle.

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Last month, covered what Mañjuśrī recalled having seen in the worlds illumined by the light of that long-ago Buddha. Now I’ll pause to consider the lesson intended by the story of Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva and one of his followers:

One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame­Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sutras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sutras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.

Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you.

And in gathas:

There was a lazy man
Among the disciples
Of Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma.
[The lazy man] was attached to fame and gain.

Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Se􀀋king.

But he [later] did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.
He made offerings to them,
Followed them, practiced the Great Way,
And performed the ix paramitas.
Now he sees the Lion-Like One of the Sakyas.

He will become a Buddha
In his future life.
He will be called Maitreya.
He will save innumerable living beings.

The lazy man who Lived after the extinction
Of [Sun-Moon-]-Light Buddha was
No one but you.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma, was I.

This concept that the next Buddha was once a less-than-stellar student gives me hope for my future lives.

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 8, 2016, offers this perspective:

Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

And so it starts again. Moving, as I do, one point at a time, I’m back at the beginning to underscore the importance of those present.

Thus have I heard. The Buddha once lived on Mt. Grdhrakuta in the City of King-House. He was accompanied by twelve thousand great bhiksus. They were Arhats. They had already eliminated asravas, and had no illusions. They had already benefited themselves, broken off the bonds of existence [in the world of birth and death], and obtained liberty in their minds. They included Ajnata-Kaundinya, Maha-Kasyapa, Uruvilva-Kasyapa, Gaya-Kasyapa, Nadi-Kasyapa, Sariputra, Great Maudgalyayana, Maha-Katyayana, Aniruddha, Kapphina, Gavarppati, Revata, Pilindavatsa, Bakkula, Maha-Kausthila, Nanda, Sundarananda, Purna, who was the son of Maitrayani, Subhuti, Ananda, and Rahula. They were great Arhats well known to the multitude.

There were also two thousand [Sravakas], some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. Maha-Prajapatri Bhiksuni was present with her six thousand attendants. Yasodhara Bhiksuni, the mother of Rahula, was also present with her attendants.

There were also eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahasattvas. They never faltered in [seeking] Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence according to the wishes [of all living beings], made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and planted the roots of virtue under those Buddhas, by whom they had always been praised. They had already trained themselves out of their compassion towards others, entered the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha, obtained great wisdom, and reached the Other Shore so that their fame had already extended over innumerable worlds. They had already saved many hundreds of thousands of living beings. They included Manjusri Bodhisattva, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva, Constant­Endeavor Bodhisattva, Never-Resting Bodhisattva, Treasure­Palm Bodhisattva, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Treasure-Moon Bodhisattva, Moon-Light Bodhisattva, Full-Moon Bodfosattva, Great-Power Bodhisattva, Immeasurable­Power Bodhisattva, Transcending-Triple-World Bodhisattva, Bhadrapala Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Accumulated­Treasure Bodhisattva, and Leading-Teacher Bodhisattva. Eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahasattvas such as these were present.

Having passed this point more than 13 times before, I appreciate the importance of these people. These Arhats and Sravakas will hear promises denied to them in other sutras. And equally important (from this modern observer’s perspective) the inclusion of women of prominence, who will also hear a new truth denied them in other sutras.

Watch and listen. Something special is coming.