Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

This is one of my favorite chapters. I enjoy the story of the sons doing the work of the Buddha to make it possible for their father to “understand the Dharma by faith” and the lesson that “The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives.”

Today, though, I was struck by the realization that the Buddha speaks to everyone, not just to one segment of the gathering or a specific individual. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha addresses everyone only in Chapters 12, Devadatta; 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata; and 27, King Wonderful Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

1. Introductory – “Thus have I heard.”
2. Expedients – addresses Sariputra
3. A Parable – Sariputra speaks
4. Understanding by Faith – “men living the life of wisdom…” speak
5. The Simile of Herbs – addresses Maha-Kasyapa
6. Assurance of Future Buddhahood – addresses bhiksus
7. The Parable of a Magic City – addresses bhiksus
8. The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples – Purna speaks
9. The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Sravakas Who Have Something More to Learns and the Sravakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn – Ananda and Rahula speak
10. The Teacher of the Dharma – addresses Medicine-King Bodhisattva
11. Beholding the Stupa of Treasures – event
12. Devadatta – addresses “Bodhisattvas, gods, men and the four kinds of devotees”
13. Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra – Medicine-King and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahasattvas speak
14. Peaceful Practices – Manjusri Bodhisattva-mahasattva speaks
15. The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground – Bodhisattva-mahasattvas speak
16. The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata – addresses “the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others”
17. The Variety of Merits – addresses Maitreya
18. The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra – Maitreya speaks
19. The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma – addresses Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva-mahasattva
20. Never-Despising Bodhisattva – addresses Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva-mahasattva
21. The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata – Bodhisattvas from underground speak
22. Transmission – addresses bodhisattvas
23. The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva – Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva speaks
24. Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva – event (emitted rays of light)
25. The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva – Endless-Intent Bodhisattva speaks
26. Dharanis – Medicine-King Bodhisattva speaks
27. King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a  Bodhisattva – addresses “the great multitude”
28. The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva – Universal-Sage Bodhisattva speaks

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs.

Before we get to the spells offered to the protection of the teachers of the Lotus Sutra we get reaffirmation of the merits to be given to “the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”

The Buddha said to Medicine-King Bodhisattva:

“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”

“Very many, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”

Medicine King Bodhisattva offers spells to protect the expounder of the Lotus Sutra and Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva utter dharanis to protect “the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”

I enjoy the concept of protecting “weak points,” as in:

If he keeps these dharanis, this teacher of the Dharma will not have his weak points taken advantage of by any yaksa, raksasa, putana, krtya, kumbhanda or hungry spirit.

We each have our weak points, the things we are hesitant to do or likely to neglect.

Following the Bodhisattvas, we have the Heavenly Kings offering their protection. This involvement of the gods in protecting those who expound or read the Lotus Sutra is reinforced every time we took at the Great Mandala Gohonzon. Vaisravana, the Heavenly King of the North, is in the upper left corner and World-Holding Heavenly-King is in the upper right corner.

Also appearing in the Mandala Gohonzon and in this chapter of the Lotus Sutra are the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother, the Mother-Of-Devils, Hariti. Of the ten daughters, my favorite is “Plunderer of Energy of All Beings.” Having suffered depression for many years, I feel I’ve known her for a lifetime.

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

World-Voice Perceiver is presented as a superhero who saves the day, and I’m fine with that. But I prefer the way he is first introduced:

Good man! If many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings hear [the name of] World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and call his name with all their hearts when they are under various sufferings, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will immediately perceive their voices, and cause them to emancipate themselves [from the sufferings].

World-Voice Perceiver causes people to emancipate themselves.

OK. So the rest of the chapter paints a very different picture:

If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things [in which he is bound up] will break asunder, and he will be saved.

One can imagine something more along the line of “emancipate themselves” with this:

Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Endless-Intent! World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva has these great supernatural powers. He gives many benefits to all living beings. Therefore, they should constantly think of him.

As with Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva (yesterday), World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva takes the shape needed in order to expound the Dharma in the most efficacious way to all living beings.

Endless-Intent! This World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva does these meritorious deeds. He takes various shapes, walks about many worlds, and saves the living beings [of those worlds]. Make offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva with all your hearts! This World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva-mahasattva gives fearlessness [to those who are] in fearful emergencies. Therefore, he is called the ‘Giver of Fearlessness’ in this Saha-World.

Given the Buddha’s suggestion to “make offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva,” I’m looking for an explanation for what happens next:

The Endless-Intent Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Now I will make an offering to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.” From around his neck, he took a necklace of many gems worth hundreds of thousands of ryo of gold, and offered it [to the Bodhisattva], saying, “Man of Virtue! Receive this necklace of wonderful treasures! I offer this to you according to the Dharma!

World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva did not consent to receive it. Endless-Intent said to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva again, “Man of Virtue! Receive this necklace out of your compassion towards us!”

Thereupon the Buddha said to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva:

Receive it out of your compassion towards this Endless-Intent Bodhisattva, towards the four kinds of devotees, and towards the other living beings including gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, men and non-human beings!

Thereupon World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva received the necklace out of his compassion towards the four kinds of devotees, and towards the other living beings including gods, dragons, men and nonhuman beings. He divided [the necklace] into two parts, and offered one part of it to Sakyamuni Buddha and the other to the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha.

From the gathas:

On many hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas
He attended and made a great and pure vow.
I will tell you about his vow in brief.
If you hear his name, and see him,
And think of him constantly,
You will be able to eliminate all sufferings.

And:

World-Voice-Perceiver will save
All living beings from misfortunes
And from innumerable sufferings of the world
By the wonderful power of his wisdom.

And finally:

He see the truth of all things and their purity.
He sees all things with his great wisdom.
He sees all things with loving-kindness and compassion.
Think of him constantly! Look up at him constantly!

All darkness is dispelled by the light of his wisdom
As spotless and as pure as the light of the sun.
The light destroys the dangers of wind and fire,
And illumines the whole world brightly.

His precepts out of his loving-kindness brace us up as thunderbolts.
His wishes out of his compassion are as wonderful as large clouds.
He pours the rain of the Dharma as sweet as nectar,
And extinguishes the fire of illusions.

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.

A light from Sakyamuni shines on a world on the other side of “one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds” from this Saha world. Why there? And why does everyone just know stuff?

When [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva] was illumined by the light of Sakyamuni Buddha, he said to the Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha:

“World-Honored One! I wish to visit the Saha-World, bow to Sakyamuni Buddha, attend on him, and make offerings to him. I also wish to see Manjusri Bodhisattva, who is the Son of the King of the Dharma. [I also wish to see] Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva, Superior-Practice-Intent Bodhisattva, Adornment-King Bodhisattva, and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva.”

The fun in the Lotus Sutra is the wonder I feel when I read it. I ought to be doubtful or critical in the same way that I was critical as a child when I heard stories of the Christian Bible. But I’m not. I love the stories of the Lotus Sutra unconditionally.

Picture this conversation between the Buddha in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World and Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

Thereupon Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha said to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

“Do not despise that world! Do not consider it to be inferior [to our world]! Good Man! The Saha-World is not even. It is full of mud, stones, mountains’ and impurities. The Buddha [of that world] is short in stature! So are the Bodhisattvas [of that world]. You are forty-two thousand yojanas tall. I am six million an eight hundred thousand yojanas tall. You are the most handsome. You have thousands of millions of marks of merits, and your light is wonderful. Do not despise that world when you go there! Do not consider that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of that world are inferior [to us]! Do not consider that that world is inferior [to ours]!”

The Daily Dharma for March 29, 2015, discussed the meaning of this warning:

The instruction [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva] receives from his Buddha reminds us that no matter what advantages we have gained from our practice of the Buddha Dharma, these do not make us any better or worse than those we are determined to benefit.

When Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva causes “82,000 lotus flowers of treasures” to appear near where Sakyamuni was preaching the Lotus Sutra, Manjusri asks what the omen means and when the Buddha explains, Manjusri asks:

“World-Honored One! What root of good did he plant and what kind of meritorious deed did he do in order to obtain this great supernatural power? What samadhi did he practice? Tell us the name of the samadhi! We also wish to practice it strenuously so that we may be able to see how tall he is and how he behaves himself. World-Honored One! Cause me to see him by your supernatural powers when he comes!”

Tonight it struck me that Manjusri, the Buddha in waiting, needs help “to see how tall he is and how he behaves himself.”

As a child I would often enjoy sitting quietly and listening in on conversations between adults. These were mostly about political campaigns and strategies. It is with the same childish wonder that I imagine listening in to the message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha for Sakyamuni:

World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not disrespectful to sramanas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not. Is Many-Treasures Tathagata, who passed away a long time ago and has now come here riding in the stupa of the seven treasures, hearing the Dharma or not? [Pure-Flower-Star-King·Wisdom Buddha] also wishes to know whether Many-Treasures Tathagata is peaceful and healthy, and able to stay long or not.

One of the lessons of the Lotus Sutra that I have taken to heart is the Bodhisattva practice, the practice for others. Describing Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, Sakyamuni says:

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 other 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 kimara, 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 Saha World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know.

Yes! To know what I should know. What a wonderful ambition.