Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

In anticipation of tomorrow’s introduction to the concept of expedient teachings, I want to use Manjusri’s recollection of a time “innumerable, inconceivable, asamkya kalpas ago” during the reign of a Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light to illustrate how rare it is to hear the Lotus Sutra.

[Sun-Moon-Light] expounded the right teachings. His expounding of the right teachings was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The meanings of those teachings were profound. The words were skillful, pure, unpolluted, perfect, clean, and suitable for the explanation of brahma practices. To those who were seeking Sravakahood, he expounded the teaching of the four truths, a teaching suitable for them, saved them from birth, old age, disease, and death, and caused them to attain Nirvana. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, a teaching suitable for them. To Bodhisattvas, he expounded the teaching of the six paramitas, a teaching suitable for them, and caused them to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

After his extinction there appeared a Buddha also called Sun-­Moon-Light. After his extinction there appeared another Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. In the same manner, twenty thousand Buddhas appeared in succession, all of them being called Sun­-Moon-Light with the surname Bharadvaja.

Maitreya, know this! All those Buddhas were called Sun-Moon­-Light with the ten epithets. Their expounding of the Dharma was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end.

It was only the last Sun-Moon­-Light Buddha who exhibited the good omen illumining the worlds to the east.

Sun-Moon-Light Buddha emerged from his samadhi, and expounded the sutra of the Great Vehicle to Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva and others without rising from his seat for sixty small kalpas. It was called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ The hearers in the congregation also sat in the same place for sixty small kalpas, and their bodies and minds were motionless. They thought that they had heard the Buddha expounding the Dharma for only a mealtime. None of them felt tired in body or mind.

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

When I was in high school I joined the cross country running team. (It was the only team you didn’t have to tryout for; anyone who could finish the 2.1 mile race was on the team.) I was middling in my ability, not quite good enough for the varsity squad, but I thrived at the challenge of racing over hills and through valleys. I just couldn’t translate that enjoyment into distance running on a quarter-mile track. Eight times around the track to complete a 2-mile race seemed insufferable. I quit track and, as a result, got kicked off the cross country squad.

Which is why I find my enjoyment of this 32-day cycle through the Lotus Sutra so surprising. Around and around I go, lap after lap, with never a thought about quitting.

And so I start again. This will be the 9th cycle of posts and the third where I limit my focus to a single topic.

Last month, I began at the beginning with “Thus have I heard” and Ryusho Jeffus Shonin’s explanation of the alternate readings of those famous words.

This month I want to detail who is in the crowd for this sermon. It is meant to be such an impressive crowd.

The Buddha once lived on Mt. Grdhrakota 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-Prajapati 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 Bodhisattva, 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.

Sakra-Devanam-Indra was also present. Twenty thousand gods were attending on him. There were also Beautiful-Moon God, Universal-Fragrance God, Treasure-Light God, and the four great heavenly-kings. Ten thousand gods were attending on them. Freedom God and Great-Freedom God were also present. Thirty thousand gods were attending on them. Brahman Heavenly-King who was the lord of the Saha-World, Great Brahman Sikhin, and Great Brahman Light were also present. Twelve thousand gods were attending on them.

There were also the eight dragon-kings: Nanda Dragon-King, Upananda Dragon-King, Sagara Dragon-King, Vasuki Dragon­King, Taksaka Dragon-King, Anavatapta Dragon-King, Manasvin Dragon-King, and Utpalaka Dragon-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants. There were also the four kimnara-kings: Dharma Kimnara-King, Wonderful-Dharma Kimnara-King, Great-Dharma Kimnara-King, and Dharma­Keeping Kimnara-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four gandharva-kings: Musical Gandharva­King, Musical-Voice Gandharva-King, Beautiful Gandharva-King, and Beautiful-Voice Gandharva-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four asura-kings: Balin Asura-King, Kharaskandha Asura-King, Vemacitrin Asura-King, and Rahu Asura-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four garuda-kings: Great-Power-Virtue Garuda-King, Great-Body Garuda-King, Great-Fulfillment Garuda­King, and Free-At-Will Garuda-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

King Ajatasatru, who was the son of Vaidehi, was also present with his hundreds of thousands of attendants. They each worshipped the feet of the Buddha, retired, and sat to one side.

The impressiveness of the crowd quickly fades, though, as we advance through the sutra and the impressiveness of these “bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, men, nonhuman beings, the kings of small countries, and the wheel-turning-holy-kings” are completely eclipsed by the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from Underground who will arrive in Chapter 15.

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month, I covered Sakyamuni’s promise to “anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it.”

This month I start at the beginning with the arrival of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva:

World-Honored One! I heard the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, which you expounded in this Saha World, from a remote world in which lives Treasure-Power­Virtue-Superior-King Buddha. I came here with many hundreds of thousands of billions of Bodhisattvas in order to hear and receive [this Sutra. World-Honored One! Tell me how the good men or women who live after your extinction will be able to obtain this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma!

The Buddha said to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva:

The good men or women will be able to obtain this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after my extinction if they do the following four things: 1. secure the protection of the Buddhas, 2. plant the roots of virtue, 3. reach the stage of steadiness [in proceeding to enlightenment], and 4. resolve to save all living beings. The good men or women will be able to obtain this sutra after my extinction if they do these four things.

Underscore 4. resolve to save all living beings. This is a bodhisattva practice, not a lesser vehicle for Sravakas or Pratyekabuddhas.

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

Last month, I focused on the outcome of the effort of two sons who, at the invitation of their mother, convinced their father, a king, to hear the Buddha.

This month I’d like to focus on the role of the children. I find it interesting that this is not the first place in the Lotus Sutra where children are called on to demonstrate their “merits, virtues and wisdom” for the benefit of their elders. The 8-year-old dragon girl is the other example.

Having been inspired by his children to take faith, abdicating his throne, and “acting according to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma constantly and strenuously for eighty-four thousand years,” the king:

practiced the samadhi for the adornment of all pure merits. Then he went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala-tree, and said to that Buddha, ‘World-­Honored One! These two sons of mine did the work of the Buddha. They converted me from wrong views by displaying wonders. They caused me to dwell peacefully in your teachings. They caused me to see you. These two sons of mine are my teachers. They appeared in my family in order to benefit me. They inspired the roots of good which I had planted in my previous existence.’

Thereupon Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to King Wonderful-Adornment, ‘So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives. The teachers will do the work of the Buddha, show the Way [to them], teach them, benefit them, cause them to rejoice, and cause them to enter into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Great King, know this! A teacher is a great cause [of your enlightenment] because he leads you, and causes you to see a Buddha and aspire for Anuttara-­samyak-sambodhi. Great King! Do you see these two sons of yours, or not? They made offerings to six trillion and five hundred thousand billion Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges, in their previous existence. They attended on those Buddhas respectfully. They kept the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma under those Buddhas, and caused the people of wrong views to have right views out of their compassion towards them.’

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs.

Last month, I covered 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 dharani spells are offered by Medicine-King Bodhisattva to “the expounder of the Dharma’ in order to protect him”; by Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva “to protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma; by Vaisravana Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, to “protect this teacher of the Dharma out of my compassion towards all living beings”; by World-Holding Heavenly-King to “protect the keeper of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma”; and by the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother to protect “the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble.”

Only two of these – Medicine-King Bodhisattva and the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother – are singled out to receive merit for their efforts by the Buddha.

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha praised Medicine-King Bodhisattva, saying:

Excellent, excellent, Medicine-King! You uttered these dharanis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of your compassion towards him. You will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.

And in the case of the raksasis daughters and their mother:

The Buddha said to the raksasis:

Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.