Category Archives: 21days

21days, Universal Sage

21 Days: The Elephant Walk

Programming note: Having completed the 21-day stay-cation retreat encouraged by Universal Sage Bodhisattva, I still have some things I want to say about the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and The Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva. For the next several days I will add this as an extended 21 Days series.

I can’t imagine any discussion of the The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva that doesn’t include the Elephant Walk (Reeves, p402-404). Enjoy.

The body of Universal Sage Bodhisattva is unlimited, the range of his voice is unlimited, and the forms of his image are unlimited. When he wants to come to this world he uses his own divine powers to shrink his body to a smaller size. Because the three hindrances of the people in Jambudvipa are heavy, through the power of his wisdom he transforms himself and rides a white elephant.

The elephant has six tusks and is supported by seven legs. Under its seven legs are seven live lotus flowers. The elephant is as white as snow, the most brilliant of whites. Even crystal or the Himalayas cannot be compared with it. The body of the elephant is four hundred and fifty leagues long and four hundred leagues tall.

At the tips of its six tusks are six bathing pools, and in each bathing pool grow fourteen lotus flowers, filling them all equally. The flowers bloom majestically, like the king of heavenly foliage. On each of these flowers sits a jade maiden, with a crimson face surpassing even that of a goddess. In the hands of each of the maidens five harps appear spontaneously, each accompanied by five hundred other musical instruments. Five hundred birds, as colorful as precious gems, including wild ducks, wild geese, and mandarin ducks, are among the leaves and flowers. On the elephant’s trunk there is a flower with a stalk the color of red pearl. The flower itself is gold in color and looks like a bud that has not yet blossomed.

After witnessing this, if anyone continues to repent and contemplates the Great Vehicle sincerely, unceasingly pondering over it with clear vision, they will be able to see the flower bloom and radiate a golden color.

The calyx of the lotus flower is made of kimshuka jewels and wonderful and pure mani jewels. Its stamens are made of diamonds. A transformed buddha can be seen sitting on the calyx of the lotus flower with a host of bodhisattvas sitting on the stamens. From between the eye brows of the transformed buddha comes a golden light, which goes into the elephant’s trunk with the color of a red lotus flower. This light comes out of the elephant’s trunk and enters its eyes. Then it shines from the elephant’s eyes and enters its ears. It then comes out of the elephant’s ears, illuminates the top of its head, and changes into a golden platform.

On the elephant’s head are three transformed attendants. One has a golden wheel in its hands, another holds a mani jewel, and another grasps a diamond pounder. When the attendant raises the pounder and points it at him, the elephant immediately takes a few steps. The elephant does not step on the ground but hovers in the air, seven feet above the earth, yet it leaves its footprints on the ground. The footprints have in them a Dharma wheel with a hub and a thousand spokes, all of them perfect. In each Dharma wheel is a great lotus flower, on which there is a transformed elephant. These elephants also have seven legs and walk behind the great elephant. Every time one of these elephants raises and brings down a foot, seven thousand elephants appear, all following behind the great elephant.

On the elephant’s trunk, the color of a red lotus flower, sits a transformed buddha, who emits light from between his eyebrows. This golden light, as before, enters the elephant’s trunk, which is the color of a red lotus flower. This light comes out of the elephant’s trunk and enters its eyes. Then it shines from the elephant’s eyes and enters its ears. It then comes out of the elephant’s ears and reaches the top of its head.

Gradually going up the elephant’s back, the light is transformed into a golden saddle adorned with the seven precious materials. On all four sides of the saddle are pillars made of the seven precious materials and decorated with sets of jewels, making a jeweled pedestal. On this pedestal there is a lotus flower stamen of the seven precious materials, and that stamen also has on it a hundred jewels. The blossom of that lotus flower is made of a great mani jewel.

The bodhisattva named Universal Sage sits there cross-legged. On his body, pure as a white jewel, are fifty lights of fifty different colors, forming a halo over his head. Golden light radiates from the pores of his body, and innumerable transformed buddhas are at the ends of the golden rays, accompanied by transformed bodhisattvas to serve them.

The elephant walks deliberately and carefully. Going slowly, he pours large jeweled lotus flowers before a follower. When this elephant opens its mouth, the jade maidens in the bathing pools on the elephant’s tusks play fine and wonderful music that praises the one true way of the Great Vehicle. Having seen this, the follower rejoices and shows respect, again reading and reciting the profound sutras, showing respect to the innumerable buddhas in all directions wherever they may be, to the Stupa of Abundant Treasures Buddha, to Shakyamuni Buddha, and to Universal Sage and other great bodhisattvas.

Makes me want to practice.

lutus_anatomy_illustration
Lotus flower anatomy illustration circa 1844 showing the central calyx and the surrounding stamens.

The Threefold Lotus translation offers some helpful footnotes.

  • Three hindrances: Arrogance, envy and covetousness.
  • Six tusks: Suggesting the purity of the six sense organs: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
  • Seven legs: Suggesting the absence of the seven evils: killing, stealing, committing adultery, lying, speaking ill of others, improper language, and having a double tongue.
  • Transformed Buddha: The transformed body in which a Buddha manifests himself in order to save sentient beings.
21days, Blog

With the Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva

“World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me. I will expound the Dharma to them, show them the Way, teach them, benefit them, and cause them to rejoice.

Chapter 28: The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva

With the encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva I concentrated my mind on study and practice strenuously for three weeks. It was a very unusual 21 days.

Let me set the stage: On June 29, my wife left for Upstate New York to prepare her parents’ house for sale. Her flight home is schedule July 24. Ostensibly, I was left behind to care for our cats and watch over the house and perhaps harvest a few of those year-round “Honey, Do…” that ripen and demand to be harvested.

In reviewing my wife’s travel plans it occurred to me that I had an excellent opportunity from July 1 to July 21 to take up the encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva to concentrate my mind on study and practice strenuously for three weeks.

So I declared a 21-day stay-cation retreat, promising to wear my dark blue samue between sunrise and sunset including while preforming a daily one-hour walking meditation.

Before I started I imagined that I would add a half-hour midday service to my existing practice during which I would recite aloud a portion of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and, when that was completed, The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva (Reeves). But by the end of the first day I felt that was not ambitious enough. Beginning with Day 2, I began reciting all of both sutras as separate midday practices. Each takes about one hour to recite.

For the first two weeks I walked an hour, performed my morning service, recited first one sutra and then the other and finished the day with my regular evening service. Between each element I would read and write.

Still, I had this nagging feeling that “I have now made these offerings, yet I do not think that they are enough,” to quote Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva.

I wanted to recite the entire threefold Lotus Sutra in a single day. Better still, I wanted to recite it in shindoku on one day and in English the next. Since I don’t have shindoku versions of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, the English would suffice. I vowed to do this on Saturday and Sunday, the final two days of my 21-day stay-cation retreat.

During the final week, I tested how long it takes to recite one fascicle (there are eight in the Lotus Sutra, plus the other two sutras). And I pushed my entire practice – morning service, Innumerable Meanings, Contemplation of Universal Sage, evening service – into a single session to get a feel for sitting for hours in front of my altar.

On Friday, as a final exercise, I extended my morning service daimoku to one hour and added an hour of daimoku after each of the sutras and concluded by extending my evening service daimoku to one hour. I was chanting in front of my altar from 6:30am to after 5pm, with short breaks between elements.

As I prepared for Saturday and Sunday I had expectations that it would take, maybe, 12 hours to accomplish my morning service and recitation of the complete Lotus Sutra and my evening service. I was wrong.

On Saturday I did my morning walking meditation from 5:07am to 6:17am. I took a short nap and began my morning service just before 7am. The sutra of Innumerable Meanings required just under an hour and the eight fascicles of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku consumed 9 hours and 21 minutes. The Contemplation of Universal Sage took just over an hour. I finished a very abbreviated evening service at 9:50pm, having taken a handful of small breaks during the day. It had been a 14 hour and 54 minute day, not counting the walking meditation.

On Sunday, the final day of my retreat, I decided to skip the walking meditation and instead start with the instructions offered by Universal Sage (Reeves, p420):

If anyone wants to reach supreme awakening rapidly and see the buddhas in the ten directions and Universal Sage Bodhisattva in this life, they should purify themselves by taking a bath, putting on clean clothes, burning rare incense, and living in a secluded place. They should recite and read the Great Vehicle sutras and think about the meaning of the Great Vehicle.

I showered, dressed in a clean samue and began my morning service at 5:50am. The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings required an hour. The English recitation of the eight fascicles of the Lotus Sutra consumed 9 hours and 58 minutes. The Contemplation of Universal Sage took a little more than an hour. And I concluded a full evening service at 7:50pm, exhausted but happy that I had finished that day and the 21 days.

Over the next couple of weeks I expect to publish daily quotes from the two sutras to add to those I posted in the final 14 days of my 21-day stay-cation retreat.

Day 1 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 21 of 21

And concluding three weeks of reading The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, I offer this meaning (Reeves, p37-38):

“Good sons, after leaving the king of trees, when I turned the Dharma wheel of the four truths for the five men at Deer Park in Varanasi, Ajnata-Kaundinya and the others, I taught that all things are originally empty and calm, ceaselessly changing, arising and perishing in an instant.

“When I spoke in various places during the middle period, proclaiming the twelve causes and conditions and the six transcendental practices for monks and the group of bodhisattvas, I also taught that all things are originally empty and calm, ceaselessly changing, arising and perishing in an instant.

“Now, preaching the Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, I also teach that all things are originally empty and calm, ceaselessly changing, arising and perishing in an instant.

“Good sons, this is why the teachings at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end are the same in expression but different in meaning. Since the meaning is different, so too the understandings of living beings differ. And since understandings differ, so too attainments of the Dharma, of its fruits, and of the Way differ.

“Good sons, at the beginning, though I taught the four truths for those who sought to be śrāvakas, eight million heavenly beings came down to hear the Dharma and aspired to become awakened. In the middle, though I preached the profound twelve causes and conditions in various places for those who sought to be pratyekabuddhas, innumerable living beings aspired to become awakened or continue as śrāvakas. Next, though I proclaimed over many eons the practice of bodhisattvas by teaching the equality of the twelve literary forms of the Great Wisdom Sutra, and the vast Flower Garland Sutra, hundreds of thousands of monks, tens of thousands of millions of human and heavenly beings, and innumerable other living beings could remain as stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners, or arhats in the Dharma of causes and conditions appropriate for pratyekabuddhas.

“Good sons, for this reason, it is known that while the teaching is the same, the meanings differ. Since the meanings differ, so too the understandings of living beings differ. And since understandings differ, so too attainments of the Dharma, of its fruits, and of the Way differ. Thus, good sons, from when I attained the Way and stood to teach the Dharma for the first time until I proclaimed the Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings today, I have never ceased preaching about suffering, emptiness, impermanence, no enduring self, the absence of greatness, the absence of pettiness, original non-arising, present non-extinction, one character, absence of character, Dharma character, Dharma nature, non-corning, non-going, and the four modes by which all the living are driven.

“Good sons, this is why all buddhas everywhere respond to the variety of voices without a forked tongue and with one sound. Though each has only one body, they show bodies as innumerable and numberless as the sands of hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of Ganges. In each body, they display a number of similar types, countless as the sands of hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of Ganges. And in each type, they show forms as countless as the sands of hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of Ganges.

“Good sons, accordingly, this is the inconceivable and profound sphere of all the buddhas. The two vehicles cannot comprehend it, and even bodhisattvas at the tenth stage cannot reach it. Only among buddhas can it be fathomed well.

“Good sons, this is why I teach that the wonderful, profound, and unexcelled Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings is truly correct in logic, unsurpassed in value, and protected by the buddhas of the past, present, and future. No demonic or non-Buddhist ways can damage it, nor can any wrong view of life and death defeat or destroy it.

“Therefore, bodhisattva great ones, if you want to attain unexcelled awakening quickly, you should practice and study the profound, unexcelled Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings.”

Day 20 of 21

21days, Universal Sage

Day 20 of 21

As I have recited The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva over these three weeks, this quote (Reeves, p417) has always stood out as something I will want to refer to in the future. So, for safe keeping, I offer this mark of the great Dharma:

The Buddha then said to Ananda: “After the extinction of the Buddha, if his disciples want to repent of their evil and bad actions, they only have to read and recite the Great Vehicle sutras. These sutras of the Expansive Teaching are the eyes of the buddhas. By means of these sutras the buddhas have been able to attain five kinds of eyes, and from them are born the three kinds of buddha bodies. This is the mark of the great Dharma, marking the ocean of nirvana. From such an ocean the three kinds of pure buddha bodies are born. These three kinds of bodies are a field of blessings for human and heavenly beings, and most worthy of offerings. If anyone recites and reads the sutras of the Great Vehicle, the Expansive Teaching, it should be known that they have the blessings of a buddha and, having extinguished their various evils long ago, are born of buddha-wisdom.”

Day 19 of 21Day 21 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 19 of 21

As I have recited The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings again and again for these three weeks, this quote (Reeves, p33-34) has always stood out as something I will want to refer to in the future. So, for safe keeping, I offer this gateway:

The Buddha said to Magnificently Adorned Bodhisattva and the eighty thousand bodhisattvas: “Good sons, there is a unique gateway to the Dharma that leads bodhisattvas to attain supreme awakening quickly. If a bodhisattva learns this gateway to the Dharma, he will attain supreme awakening.”

“World-Honored One, what is this gateway to the Dharma called? What does it mean? How does a bodhisattva practice it?”

The Buddha replied: “Good sons, this unique gateway to the Dharma is called innumerable meanings. A bodhisattva who wants to practice and study the gateway to the Dharma of innumerable meanings should observe that all things were originally, will be, and are in themselves empty and tranquil in nature and character; not large or small, not subject to arising or extinction, not fixed or movable, and neither advancing nor retreating. Like empty space, they are non-dualistic.

“All living beings, however, make delusory distinctions: weighing whether something is this or that; whether it is a gain or a loss. Bad thoughts come to them, producing a variety of evil actions. They transmigrate within the six states undergoing all kinds of suffering and harm, from which they cannot escape during innumerable billions of eons. Seeing this clearly, bodhisattva great ones cultivate sympathy and show great kindness and compassion in the desire to extricate others from suffering. What’s more, they penetrate deeply into all things.

“In accord with the character of Dharma, all things emerge. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things live. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things change. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things perish. In accord with the character of Dharma, bad things emerge. In accord with the character of Dharma, good things emerge, live, change, and perish. Bodhisattvas, observing these four modes and being thoroughly familiar with them from one end to the other, should next observe clearly that none of these things continues to live even for a moment, but emerges and perishes every moment, each emerging, living, changing, and perishing in an instant.

“After seeing this, the abilities, natures, and desires of living beings can be seen. As natures and desires are innumerable, sermons are innumerable, and as sermons are innumerable, meanings are innumerable. The innumerable meanings emerge from one Dharma. This one Dharma is characterless. Accordingly, this characterlessness manifests all characters. Neither having character nor being characterless is called true character.

“The compassion that bodhisattva great ones display after dwelling at peace in this true character of reality is clear and not in vain. They are truly capable of relieving living beings from suffering. Having given them relief from suffering, they teach the Dharma again, delighting all living beings.

“Good sons, if a bodhisattva practices well the gateway to the Dharma of innumerable meanings in this way, the bodhisattva will for certain attain supreme awakening soon.”

Cultivating sympathy and showing great kindness and compassion – the gateway to the Dharma of innumerable meanings.

Day 18 of 21Day 20 of 21

21days, Universal Sage

Day 18 of 21

Today in my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice I cover Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva. That chapter opens like this:

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha [faced the east and] emitted rays of light from the fleshy tuft on his head, that is, from one of the marks of a great man, and also from the white curls between his eyebrows. The light illumined one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds, that is, as many worlds in the east as there are sands in the River Ganges. There was a world called [All-] Pure-Light-Adornment [in the east] beyond those worlds. In that world was a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. He expounded the Dharma to a great multitude of innumerable Bodhisattvas who were surrounding him respectfully. The ray of light, which was emitted from the white curls [between the eyebrows] of Śākyamuni Buddha, also illumined that world.

For me, the first time I read this, it brought up a question. Back in Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, we’re told that Śākyamuni, as a requirement before opening the Stupa of Treasures, was required to “call back all the Buddhas of his replicas who will be expounding the Dharma in the worlds of the ten quarters at that time.” Or as Reeves puts it, “Let the buddhas who are embodiments of that buddha and are preaching the Dharma in the worlds of the ten directions return together and assemble in one place.”

So I wondered, whether, after all of Śākyamuni’s replicas returned, were there any Buddhas left in the universe? Or, in other words, are all Buddhas replicas of the eternal Śākyamuni?

The reference in Chapter 24 to a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom seemed to suggest that there are other Buddhas in the universe besides Śākyamuni and his replicas.

And then upon reading The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, the question became a bit more complicated.

First we meet the Buddha Good Virtue (Reeves, p413):

From the sky of the eastern direction will come a voice saying: “Here is a buddha, a world-honored one named Good Virtue, who also is embodied in innumerable buddhas who sit crosslegged on lion seats under jewel trees. All these world-honored ones, in the concentration of universal manifestation of bodily forms, speak to a follower, praising him and saying: ‘Good, good, good son! You have now read and recited the Great Vehicle sutras. What you have recited is in the sphere of the buddhas.’ “

And then we meet the Buddha Sandalwood Virtue (Reeves, p415):

When a follower thinks in this way, a voice in the sky will say: “In the southern direction there is a buddha named Sandalwood Virtue, who also is embodied in countless other buddhas. All these buddhas teach the Great Vehicle and cut off sins and evils.

At this point it appears reasonable to conclude, at least based on this sutra, that Śākyamuni and his replicas are not the only Buddhas, and not only are there other Buddhas, but those Buddhas have replicas.

We even get Abundant Treasures Buddha in the Stupa emanating Buddhas (Reeves, p422):

Having said this, followers should continue repenting, and after seven days the Stupa of Abundant Treasures Buddha will spring out of the earth. With his right hand, Shakyamuni Buddha will open the door of the stupa, where Abundant Treasures Buddha will be seen deep in the concentration of universal manifestation of bodily forms. From all the pores of his body he will emit rays of light as numerous as the grains of sands of the Ganges. In each of the rays will be hundreds of thousands of billions of transformed buddhas.

And then there is this (Reeves, p409):

When the great assembly has gathered together like a cloud, they will see Shakyamuni Buddha emitting rays of golden light from the pores of his whole body, in each of which are hundreds of millions of transformed buddhas. From the tufts of white hair between their eyebrows, the sign of a great man, the embodiment buddhas will emit rays of light that stream into the head of Shakyamuni Buddha. Seeing this, from all the pores of their bodies the embodiment buddhas will also emit rays of golden light, in each of which are transformed buddhas, numerous as the grains of sands in the Ganges.

So here he have Śākyamuni emanating Buddhas and those Buddhas turn around and emanate more Buddhas. Turtles all the way down.

malasia-buddha-tower
Thousands of little Buddha statues stretching up to the ceiling.

Day 17 of 21Day 19 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 17 of 21

Concluding this review of the stages of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we consider the final three.

At the eighth stage, having found someone who has received this sutra:

[T]hey will make them revere and believe it exactly as if they saw the body of the Buddha, cherish and enjoy it, receive and embrace, read and recite, copy, and honor this sutra, follow and practice it according to the Dharma, firmly observing morality and endurance. At the same time, they will practice generosity and be deeply compassionate. And they will everywhere teach this unexcelled Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings for the sake of people.

If anyone for a long time does not at all recognize sin or blessedness, they will be shown this sutra, and with all sorts of skillful means be firmly led to have faith in it. Through the power of this sutra, their faith will be aroused, and they will convert suddenly. After having their faith aroused, they will bravely persevere, acquiring the virtues and powers of this sutra, and attaining the Way and its fruit. In this way, through the blessing of having undergone transformation, these good sons or good daughters, in their male and female bodies, will attain acceptance of the non-arising of all things, reach the upper stage, and, with bodhisattvas as their attendants, lead living beings quickly to fulfillment, purify buddha-lands, and soon attain unexcelled awakening. Good sons, this is called the eighth amazing power of blessing of this sutra./blockquote>

At the ninth stage those who dance with joy and everywhere explain this sutra’s meaning:

[T]hey will instantly destroy the heavy hindrance of sins resulting from actions in the past and become purified. They will acquire great eloquence, gradually take on the marks of transcendental practices, attain various concentrations, including very courageous concentrations, enter the great gateway of incantations, and rise to the upper stage quickly through the power of diligent perseverance. They will be embodied everywhere in all the lands of the ten directions and will save and free all the living beings who suffer greatly in the twenty-five states of existence. Such power can be seen in this sutra. Good sons, this is called the ninth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Finally the ultimate blessing for practicing for others:

[B]ecause of their powers of leading others to the practice of this sutra and to attaining the Way and its fruits, done through the power of working good-heartedly to transform others, all these good sons or good daughters in their bodies will be able to pursue innumerable teachings about incantation. As common people, from the beginning they will naturally make innumerable countless great vows and oaths, and deeply aspire to fulfill them in order to save all living beings. They will realize great compassion, thoroughly relieve the suffering of living beings, gather many good roots, and abundantly benefit all. They will extend the abundance of the Dharma and give water to the withered and dehydrated. They will generously give living beings the medicine of the Dharma, setting them all at ease, gradually elevating their views to live at the stage of the Dharma cloud. They will spread benevolence widely, always being kind and leading the living who suffer into the track of the Way. These people will be able to attain supreme awakening before long. Good sons, this is called the tenth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

All done through the power of working good-heartedly.

Day 16 of 21Day 18 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 16 of 21

Continuing with the fifth and sixth stages of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we move from all “living beings” to the “good sons or daughters” who have progressed this far.

First the dragon’s newborn child:

[E]ven though they still have attachments and afflictions and have not distanced themselves from affairs of ordinary men, they will reveal the way of great bodhisattvas. Extending a day to a hundred eons or shortening a hundred eons to a day, bringing joy to other living beings, they will convince them. Good sons, these good sons or good daughters are just like the son of a dragon who can make clouds appear and cause rain to fall seven days after he is born. Good sons, this is called the fifth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Then the king’s heir:

[E]ven though they still have afflictions, they will teach the Dharma to living beings, separating them from afflictions of life and death and enabling them to cut off all suffering. After hearing it, living beings will put it into practice, and become no different from the Buddha-Tathagata with respect to the blessings of the Dharma, the blessings of the fruit, and the blessings of the Way.

Suppose a king, due to travel or being ill, leaves the management of the affairs of the country to a prince, though the prince is only a child. Then the prince, by order of the great king, will lead all the government officials according to the Dharma and propagate good policies, so that every citizen of the country follows his orders exactly, as if the king himself were governing.

It is the same with good sons or good daughters embracing this sutra. During the Buddha’s lifetime or after his extinction, even though they themselves cannot yet live in the first stage of immobility, these good sons will teach and promulgate the Dharma as the Buddha did, and if living beings, hearing them, practice it wholeheartedly, they will cut off afflictions and attain the blessings of the Dharma, the blessings of the fruit, and the blessings of the Way. Good sons, this is called the sixth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Day 15 of 21Day 17 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 15 of 21

Continuing with the fourth stage of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we find ourselves in a transition between “living beings” who help Bodhisattvas and beginner Bodhisattvas.

Living beings:

[T]hey will become brave, and, even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will save others. Together with bodhisattvas they will become part of the entourage of the buddha-tathagatas, who will always preach the Dharma to them. Hearing it, they will receive and embrace the Dharma in accord with their capacities and never oppose it. Moreover, they will teach it for people everywhere as occasion demands.

A beginner Bodhisattva who hears this sutra:

[T]hough not yet able to realize ultimate truth, or shake the three-thousand-great-thousand-fold world, or turn the great Dharma wheel with a thunderous buddha-voice, this bodhisattva will be admired by all the four groups and the eight guardians of Buddhism, and great bodhisattvas will be in his entourage. Entering deeply into the secret Dharma of the buddhas, he will explain it without errors or mistakes. He will always be protected by the buddhas and especially showered with affection, because he is a beginner in learning. Good sons, this is called the fourth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Between these two perspectives on the fourth blessing, we learn where Bodhisattvas come from:

The Buddha is the king; this sutra is his wife; their coming together results in the birth of their child, a bodhisattva.

Day 14 of 21Day 16 of 21

21days, Innumerable

Day 14 of 21

Continuing with the second and third stages of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we consider what accrues “if living beings can hear this sutra even once, even only one verse or phrase…”

[T]hey will master a hundred thousand myriad meanings. Yet in an innumerable number of eons they will not be able to explain the Dharma they received and embraced. Why is this? It is because the meanings of this sutra are innumerable.

Good sons, suppose that from one seed a hundred million seeds grow, and from each of those hundred million seeds another hundred million seeds grow, and this is repeated so that the seeds become innumerable. This sutra is like this. From one teaching a hundred thousand meanings grow, and from each of these hundred thousand meanings a hundred million meanings grow, and this is repeated so that the meanings become unlimited and innumerable. This being the case, this sutra is called Innumerable Meanings. Good sons, this is called the second amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Not being able to explain the Dharma received seems pointless until you get to the next blessing.

[T]hey will master a hundred thousand myriad meanings. Even though they still have afflictions, it will be as if they do not. Even though they move through birth and death, they will not know fear. They will have compassion and sympathy for all the living. They will be brave in following all the teachings.

Just as a powerful man can easily shoulder and hold heavy things, the same is true of anyone who embraces this sutra. They can bear well the heavy treasure of unexcelled awakening and carry the living out of the way of birth and death on their backs. Even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will be able to save others. Just as the captain of a ferry who has to rest on this shore due to serious illness and inability to control his four limbs can cross over with a good solid ship that has everything needed to cross over to the other shore, one who embraces this sutra, though staying on this shore of ignorance, old age, and death due to the hundred and eight kinds of serious bodily illnesses with which he is afflicted in the five states of existence, can be saved from birth and death through practicing this powerful Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings as it is taught, saving living beings. Good sons, this is called the third amazing power of blessing of this sutra.

Even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will be able to save others. That is a real blessing.

Day 13 of 21Day 15 of 21