Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Yesterday, the Bodhisattvas who rose from the sky below the Saha world asked how the Buddha was doing. We open today with his response:

Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathagata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sutra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.

Again we are reminded that those in the congregation have been the disciples of Sakyamuni for “consecutive previous existences.”

Maitreya, who is destined to be the next Buddha in the Saha world, is puzzled by the arrival of this countless number of Bodhisattvas.

These Bodhisattvas have
Great powers, virtues and energy.
Who expounded the Dharma to them?
Who taught them?
Who qualified them to attain [perfect enlightenment]?

Under whom did they begin to aspire for enlightenment?
What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?
What sutra did they keep and practice?
What teaching of the Buddha did they study?

These Bodhisattvas have supernatural powers
And the great power of wisdom.
The ground of this world quaked and cracked.
They sprang up from under the four quarters of this world.

World-Honored One!
I have never seen them before.
I do not know
Any of them.

They appeared suddenly from underground.
Tell me why!
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Bodhisattvas
In this great congregation
Also want to know this.

The Buddha’s explanation does little to assuage Maitreya’s doubts.

Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asamkhya Bodhisattva-mahasattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-sarnyak-sambodhi in this Saha-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment.

Maitreya responds:

World-Honored One! It is difficult for anyone in the world to believe this. It is as difficult as to believe a handsome, black-haired man twenty-five years old who points to men a hundred years old and says, ‘They are my sons,’ or as to believe men a hundred years old who point to a young man and say, ‘This is our father. He brought us up.’ You are like the young man. It is not long since you attained enlightenment. But it is many thousands of billions of kalpas since the great multitude of these Bodhisattvas began to practice the Way strenuously in order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

And in gathas:

It is not long
Since you renounced the family of the Sakyas
And sat under the Bodhi-lTee
Near Gaya.

These sons of yours are innumerable.
They have practiced
The way to Buddhahood for a long time.
They have supernatural powers and the power of wisdom.

They have studied the Way of Bodhisattvas well.
They are not defiled by worldliness
Just as the lotus-flower
Is not defiled by water.

They sprang up from undergmund,
And are now standing before you respectfully.
This is difficult to understand.
How can we believe this?

You attained enlightenment quite recently.
But you have done so many things.
Remove our doubts!
Explain all this as it is!

Stay tuned! We’ll have the answer tomorrow!

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

We begin with the fourth peaceful practice:

Again, Manjusri! A Bodhisattva-mahasattva who keeps this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the latter days after [my extinction) when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should have great loving-kindness towards laymen and monks, and great compassion towards those who are not Bodhisattvas. He should think: ‘They do not know that the Tathagata expounded expedient teachings according to the capacities of all living beings. They do not hear, know or notice it, or ask a question about it or believe or understand it. Although they do not ask a question about this sutra, or believe or understand it, I will lead them and cause them, wherever they may be, to understand the Dharma by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom when I attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.’

Of course, the bigger problem is even hearing about the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma:

Manjusri! It is difficult to hear even the title of this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [even if you try to do so, walking about] innumerable worlds. Needless to say, it is more difficult to see, keep, read and recite this sutra.

The Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot

I am like the king. I am the great king of the Dharma in the triple world. I expound the Dharma and teach all living beings. Because I see that my soldiers led by generals, that is, by sages and saints, have already obtained extraordinary merits in their fight with the Mara of the five aggregates, with the Mara of illusions, and with the Mara of death, and that they have already eliminated the three poisons, left the triple world, and destroyed the nets of the Maras, I now expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with great joy. This sutra leads all living beings to the knowledge of all things. I did not expound it before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated it and few would have believed it.

And in gathas:

I am like the king.
I am the King of the Dharma.
I have the great power of patience
And the treasury of wisdom.
I save all living beings in the world by the Dharma
Out of my great compassion towards them.

The people were under the pressure
Of various sufferings.
They were fighting with the Maras
In order to emancipate themselves
From suffering.
Because I saw all this,
I expounded various teachings to them.
I expounded many sutras with skillful expedients.

Now I know that they can understand the Sutra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Therefore, I expound it to them lastly
Just as the king took the brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it [to the bravest man lastly].

When I read this today it struck me that for the 27 years I professed my devotion to the Lotus Sutra prior to joining Nichiren Shu, I had not fought with the Mara of the five aggregates, with the Mara of illusions, or with the Mara of death. Mara who? I might have asked. Each day, twice a day, since joining Nichiren Shu I pray: “May I purify my mind, limit my desires, learn to be content, feel free to experience the quiet unassuming joys of life and learn to abandon all attachments formed in the mind!” Like the child in the burning house who did not realize the danger he was in, I needed to be led outside to where I could appreciate the real value of the Lotus Sutra. Without that understanding, chanting devotion to the Lotus Sutra was nothing more than a prosperity gimmick sold as a magical elixir to make everything better. The Lotus Sutra is not a stand-alone document; it is the culmination of all of the Buddha’s teachings.

Today’s quote from Rev. Ryusho Jeffus‘ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra fits in here:

The Buddha is saying in the Simile of Herbs that all along – even as he was teaching appropriate to Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas – he was in essence teaching in a way that was preparing for the Lotus Sutra. These initial teachings are all part of the Lotus Sutra. That is why it is important that people not come to a conclusion that the Lotus Sutra replaces or does away with the previous teachings of the Buddha. We have to think of the teachings as being on a continuum that is leading to the ultimate truth revealed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra.

Before we end the day we need to discuss what happens when “Bodhisattva-mahasattvas, more than eight times the number of the sands of the River Ganges, who had come from the other worlds,” ask the Buddha for the job of expounding this Sutra in the Saha World.

Thereupon the Buddha said to those Bodhisattva-mahasattvas:

No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sutra because there are Bodhisattva-mahasattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Saha-World. They are each accompanied by attendants also numbering sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges. They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sutra after my extinction.

And with that said up spring an uncountable hoard of Bodhisattva-mahasattvas from “sky below this Saha-World.”

A period of fifty small kalpas elapsed from the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas’ springing up from underground till the finishing of the praising of the Buddhas by the various ways by which Bodhisattvas should praise Buddhas. All this while Sakyamuni Buddha sat in silence. The four kinds of devotees also kept silence for the fifty small kalpas. By his supernatural powers, however, the Buddha caused the great multitude to think that they kept silence for only half a day. Also by the supernatural powers of the Buddha, the four kinds of devotees were able to see that the skies of many hundreds of thousands of billions of worlds were filled with those Bodhisattvas.

We will learn soon enough that these are old friends, but we get a big hint when they speak to the Buddha:

World-Honored One, are you peaceful?
Are you in good health?
Are you not tired
With teaching the living beings?
Are they ready
To receive your teaching,
Or are they not?
Do they not fatigue you?

These are not disciples focused solely on themselves, worried about whether or not the Buddha will promise them a clear path to enlightenment.

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Today opens with 80 billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahasattvas who want to the Buddha to give them the task of expounding the sutra. According to the English/Sanskrit Glossary in the back of the Lotus Sutra, nayuta is the equivalent of one hundred thousand million. So we’re talking 80 billion times one hundred thousand million. That’s a lot. But keep that number in mind when we get to the far greater number of Bodhisattvas who rise up from the space beneath the earth later in the sutra. In any event, these are not ordinary Bodhisattvas. These had “already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dharanis.”

They offer to “expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches” but don’t get a response.

In order to follow the wish of the Buddha respectfully, and also to fulfill their original vow, they vowed to the Buddha with a loud voice like the roar of a lion:

World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will go to any place [not only of this Saha-World but also] of the worlds of the ten quarters, as often as required, and cause all living beings to copy, keep, read and recite this sutra, to expound the meanings of it, to act according to the Dharma, and to memorize this sutra correctly. We shall be able to do all this only by your powers. World-Honored One! Protect us from afar even when you are in another world!

This part of this chapter and the opening of the next offer an interesting perspective when you place Nichiren’s experience in the mix. These Bodhisattvas anticipate they’ll get a rude reception after the extinction of the Buddha:

In order to speak ill of us, in order to slander us
In the midst of the great multitude,
In order to say that we are evil,
They will say to kings, ministers and brahmanas,
And also to householders and other bhiksus,
‘They have wrong views.
They are expounding
The teachings of heretics.’
But we will endure all this
Because we respect you.

And…

There will be many dreadful things
In the evil world of the kalpa of defilements.
Devils will enter the bodies [of those bhiksus]
And cause them to abuse and insult us.

We will wear the armor of endurance
Because we respect and believe you.
We will endure all these difficulties
In order to expound this sutra.

We will not spare even our lives.

In the next chapter we answer the question “How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahasattva expound this sutra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

The Buddha said to him:

A Bodhisattva-mahasattva who wishes to expound this sutra in the evil world after [my extinction) should practice four sets of things.

First, he should perform proper practices, approach proper things, and then expound this sutra to all living beings.

Manjusri! What are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahasattva should perform? He should be patient, mild and meek. He should not be rash, timorous, or attached to anything. He should see things as they are. He should not be attached to his nonattachment to anything. Nor should he be attached to his seeing things as they are. These are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahasattva should perform.

On the topic of whom to approach, we get a long list of people not to approach and things not to do followed by a caveat:

When they come to him, he should expound the Dharma to them according to their capacities, but should not wish [to receive anything from them].

And in gathas:

When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.

Nichiren’s critics used the next section as a counter to his criticisms:

Second, Manjusri! A Bodhisattva-mahasattva who wishes to expound this sutra in the age of the decline of the teachings after my extinction should perform the following peaceful practices. When he expounds or reads this sutra, he should not point out the faults of other persons or sutras. He should not despise other teachers of the Dharma. He should not speak of the good points or bad points or the merits or demerits of others. He should not mention Sravakas by name when he blames them. Nor should he do so when he praises them. He should not have hostile feelings against them or dislike them. He should have this peace of mind so that he may not act against the wishes of the hearers.

And in gathas:

A bhiksus who expounds this Sutra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
With patience
After my extinction,
Will be emancipated
From jealousy, anger, and other illusions,
That is to say, from all obstacles.
He will have no sorrow.
He will not be spoken ill of.
He will not be in fear.
He will not be threatened with swords or sticks,
Or driven out [of his monastery].

A man of wisdom
Who controls his mind
As previously stated
Will be peaceful.
His merits will be innumerable.
You would not be able to tell the number of them
By any parable or simile even if you tried to do so
For thousands of billions of kalpas.

Additional peaceful practices:

A Bodhisattva-mahasattva who wishes to keep, read and recite this sutra in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should not nurse jealousy against others, or flatter or deceive them. He should not despise those who study the Way to Buddhahood in any way. He should not speak ill of them or try to point out their faults. Some bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas or upasikas will seek Sravakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the Way of Bodhisattvas. He should not disturb or perplex them by saying to them, ‘You are far from enlightenment. You cannot obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things because you are licentious and lazy in seeking enlightenment.’ He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others. He should have great compassion towards all living beings.

And in gathas:

Anyone who wishes to expound this sutra
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.

He should not despise others,
Or have fruitless disputes about the teachings.
He should not perplex others by saying to them:
“You will not be able to attain Buddhahood.”

Any son of mine who expounds the Dharma
Should be gentle, patient and compassionate
Towards all living beings.
He should not be lazy.

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

In this chapter we underline with examples that the teaching of the Lotus Sutra applies to everyone and all are eligible to become Buddhas.

We begin with a story about Sakyamuni’s past life as a king who made a vow to attain unsurpassed Bodhi.

I sought the Great Dharma strenuously
Because I wished to save all living beings.
I did not wish to benefit myself
Or to have the pleasures of the five desires.

Although I was the king of a great country,
I sought the Dharma strenuously.
I finally obtained the Dharma and became a Buddha.
Therefore, I now expound it to you.

The king learned the dharma from a seer named Asita. “He caused me…”

The seer at that time was a previous life of Devadatta. Devadatta was my teacher. He caused me to complete the six paramitas. He caused me to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality. He caused me to have the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have my body purely gilt. He caused me to have the ten powers and the four kinds of fearlessness. He caused me to know the four ways to attract others. He caused me to have the eighteen properties and supernatural powers [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have the power of giving discourses. I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.

Devadatta, the most evil of men of Sakyamuni’s time, was once his teacher and in the future will a Buddha who expounds the Dharma.

The other example of the universality of the Lotus Sutra comes from the daughter of Dragon-King Sagara, who was taught my Manjusri.

To begin we learned that those taught by Manjusri only heard the One Vehicle:

All these Bodhisattvas had been led [into the Way to Bodhi] by Manjusri. They had already performed the Bodhisattva practices. [Up in the sky] they [began to] expound the six paramitas. Some of them were formerly Sravakas. When they were Sravakas, they expounded the Sravaka practices in the sky. Now they were acting according to the truth of the Void of the Great Vehicle.

As Manjusri explained:

In the sea I expounded only the Sotra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

And who was his best pupil? Who “has already been qualified to become a Buddha quickly?” None other than an 8-year-old female dragon.

In reading the dragon girl’s qualifications I was reminded of the Sidney Poitier movies of my childhood. In these discussions of race relations, Poitier’s character was always so overqualified for his job, that to dislike him could only be attributed bias based on the color of his skin.

The qualifications of the daughter of Dragon-King Sagara:

She is eight years old. She is clever. She knows the karmas of all living beings. She obtained dharanis. She keeps all the treasury of the profound and hidden core expounded by the Buddhas. She entered deep into dhyana-concentration, and understood all teachings. She aspired for Bodhi in a ksana, and reached the stage of irrevocability. She is eloquent without hindrance. She is compassionate towards all living beings just as a mother is towards her babe. She obtained all merits. Her thoughts and words are wonderful and great. She is compassionate, humble, gentle and graceful. She [has already been qualified to] attain Bodhi[, and to become a Buddha quickly].

Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva argues against the idea of Buddhahood being something that can be attained quickly. Sariputra argues against the idea of a woman becoming a Buddha at all:

You think that you will be able to attain unsurpassed enlightenment [and become a Buddha] before long. This is difficult to believe because the body of a woman is too defiled to be a recipient of the teachings of the Buddha. How can you attain unsurpassed Bodhi? The enlightenment of the Buddha is far off. It can be attained only by those who perform the [Bodhisattva] practices with strenuous efforts for innumerable kalpas. A woman has five impossibilities. She cannot become 1. the Brahman-Heavenly-King, 2. King Sakra, 3. King Mara, 4. a wheel-turning-holy-king, and 5. a Buddha. How can it be that you, being a woman, will become a Buddha, quickly [or not]?

The daughter of the dragon-king proves the naysayers wrong and in the process completes the assurance that anyone and everyone is qualified to become a Buddha by following the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

In the next chapter we reinforce this message when Sakyamuni notices that his step-mother, Maha-Prajapati Bhiksuni, feels she hasn’t been assured of her future attainment of Buddhahood.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Gautami:

Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautami! I have already said that I assured all the Sravakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi].

Again, the sex of the practitioner is irrelevant. The important thing is to adopt the Bodhisattva practices. As Sakyamuni explains to the mother of Rahula, Yasodhara Bhiksuni:

You will perform the Bodhisattva practices under hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas in the future. You will become a great teacher of the Dharma under those Buddhas. You will walk the Way to Buddhahood step by step, and finally become a Buddha in a good world.