Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

My self-imposed one-topic limit leaves me choosing between Purna’s expedient role and the Arhats who introduce the Parable of the Priceless Gem. So this first time through under the one-topic limit I’ll go with the obvious.

The Parable of the Priceless Gem, which assures us of a treasure we have had all along, a priceless gem given to us but forgotten.

You, the Buddha, are like his friend. We thought that we had attained extinction when we attained Arhatship because we forgot that we had been taught to aspire for the knowledge of all things by you when you were a Bodhisattva just as the man who had difficulty in earning his livelihood satisfied himself with what little he had earned. You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhiksus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago. [You have forgotten this; therefore,] I expounded the teaching of Nirvana as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvana [which I taught you as an expedient].’

World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.

I’ll come back to Purna next month.

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Today’s conclusion of Chapter 7 poses a real dilemma for me since several major points are made, not counting the actual parable for which the chapter is titled. But since this is the first time through with this one-topic limit, I’ll start with the point of the The Parable of the Magic City.

I am like the leader.
I am the leader of all living beings.
I saw that halfway some got tired
With the seeking of enlightenment,
And that they could not pass through the dangerous road
Of birth-and-death and illusions.
Therefore, I expounded to them the teaching of Nirvana
As an expedient to give them a rest, saying:
“You have already eliminated sufferings.
You have done everything you should do.”

Now I see that they have already attained Nirvana
And that they have become Arhats.
Therefore, I now collect the great multitude,
And expound to them the true teaching.

The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [vehicles] were taught only as resting places.

Next month I’ll take on the princes, one of whom is Sakyamuni, and how they convinced the Buddha to expound the Lotus Sutra, and the month after perhaps I’ll point out how we have the same teachers life after life.

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Today’s reading is all about the light that illumines all the worlds of the 10 directions when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. The Brahman-heavenly-kings of each direction gather up their flower trays and their palaces and head off into the light to find out if a god of great virtue or a Buddha has appeared somewhere in the universe.

Great Brahman-heavenly-king Sikhin representing the five hundred billion worlds of the zenith explains it this way:

How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.

The All-Knower, the Most Honorable One of Gods and Men,
Opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar,
And saves all living beings
Out of his compassion towards them.

There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.

The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.

They do not hear the Dharma from a Buddha.
Because they did evils,
Their appearances are getting worse;
And their power and wisdom, decreasing.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.

Now you have appeared for the first time after a long time,
And become the eyes of the world.
You have appeared in this world
Out of your compassion towards all living beings,
And finally attained perfect enlightenment.
We are very glad.
All the others also rejoice at seeing you,
Whom they have never seen before.

Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
We offer them to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!

Also note that everyone arriving at the world of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. We’ll come back to them tomorrow.

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

It’s not so much what’s said today about the future Buddhahood of the senior disciples that interests me as the promises of what is to come in the Lotus Sutra.

At the end of Chapter 6, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood, we get a teaser:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

And in the opening of Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, we are reminded of why we should pay attention to this story of a long, long, long ago Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Sravakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhiksus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from asravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

Today and yesterday; yesterday and today.

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Today’s reading covers the Simile of the Herbs and this gathas section resonates the clearest on this reading.

I see all living beings equally.
I have no partiality for them.
There is not ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ to me.
I transcend love and hatred.

I am attached to nothing.
I am hindered by nothing.
I always expound the Dharma
To all living beings equally.
I expound the Dharma to many
In the same way as to one.

I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.

I am not tired of giving
The rain of the Dharma to all living beings.
I have no partiality for them,
Whether they are noble or mean,
Whether they observe or violate the precepts,
Whether they live a monastic life or not,
Whether they have right or wrong views,
Whether they are clever or dull.

Those who hear the Dharma from me
Will reach various stages
[Of enlightenment]
According to their capacities.

We are different; the Dharma is not. Each of us grows to our own capacity; the Buddha loves us all unconditionally.