Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Today begins the “big reveal.” Śāriputra, foremost in wisdom, discovers he’s not so smart after all.

In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand.

And in gathas:

The Dharma cannot be shown.
It is inexplicable by words.
No one can understand it
Except the Buddhas
And the Bodhisattvas
Who are strong in the power of faith.

This revelation causes confusion, especially among those who thought they knew it all.

The great multitude at that time included Sravakas. [They also included] Ajinata-Kaundinya, and other Arhats, twelve hundred altogether, who had already eliminated asravas. [They also included] the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas, [that is, the four kinds of devotees] who had already aspired for Sravakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood. All of them thought:

“Why does the World-Honored One extol so enthusiastically the power of the Buddhas to employ expedients? Why does he say that the Dharma attained by him, is profound and difficult to understand, and that the true purpose of his teachings is too difficult for Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas to know? He expounded to us the teaching of emancipation. We obtained this teaching and reached Nirvana. We do not know why he says all this.”

And in gathas:

No one asks you about the Dharma you attained
At the place of enlightenment.
[The Dharma] is too difficult for me to measure.
[So it is for others; therefore,] no one asks you.

Although you are not asked, you extol the teachings
[Of the past Buddhas] which you practiced.
Your wisdom is wonderful.
It is the same wisdom that the other Buddhas obtained.

The Arhats-without-asravas
And those who are seeking Nirvana
Are now in the mesh of doubts, wondering:
“Why does the Buddha say all this?”

Having been here before and knowing where all this is going, I have a much better appreciation of what Sakyamuni is revealing. These guys know they’re not Buddhas and never considered asking how to become Buddhas. They have no idea what they’ve learned is only expedient used to help them free themselves enough to see that there is something more.

It’s no wonder that 5,000 people walk out when the Buddha finally accedes to Śāriputra’s request to explain himself. Their loss.

“Śāriputra! What is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds? The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to enter the Way to the insight of the Buddha. Sariputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”

The Buddha said to Śāriputra:

The Buddhas, the Tathagatas, teach only Bodhisattvas. All they do is for one purpose, that is, to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings, to cause them to obtain the insight of the Buddha.

Śāriputra! I also expound various teachings to all living beings only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. There is no other vehicle, not a second or a third. Śāriputra! All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters also do the same.

And…

I know that all living beings have various desires. I also know that they have attachments deep in their minds. Therefore, I expound various teachings to them with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses, that is to say, with various expedients according to their natures.

Śāriputra! I do all this for the purpose of causing them to realize the teaching of the One Buddha-Vehicle, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things. Śāriputra! There is not a second vehicle in the worlds of the ten quarters. How can there be a third?

The day ends with this:

“Sariputra and all of you present here! Understand the Dharma by faith with all your hearts! There is no vehicle other than the One Buddha-Vehicle.”

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory

Most interesting to me in this chapter is the way it sets up what will come in the following chapters. On the first day everyone witnesses what is happening in worlds in the east that are being illuminated by the Buddha. Today, Manjusri explains that what everyone sees today is exactly what he saw happen in a long-ago previous existence.

As Day 2 opens, Manjusri answers Maitreya’s question about whether Manjusri has ever seen such an omen before.

Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.

Good men! I met many Buddhas in my previous existence. At that time I saw the same good omen as this. Those Buddhas emitted the same ray of light as this, and then expounded a great teaching. Therefore, know this! I think that this Buddha also is emitting this ray of light, and showing this good omen, wishing to cause all living beings to hear and understand the most difficult teaching in the world to believe.

What’s important, in my view, is that the preaching and lessons seen today by the Buddha’s light and the teachings witnessed by Manjusri in a previous existence are the same as Sakyamuni has been practicing.

Manjusri explains that the previous Buddha, 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 skilful, 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 Nirvaoa. 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.

This Buddha was followed by 20,000 identical Buddhas who taught the same right teaching until the last Sun-Moon-Light decided to take it a step farther:

Thereupon the last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha expounded a sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ Having expounded this sutra, he sat cross-legged [facing the east] in the midst of the great multitude, and entered into the samadhi for the purport of the innumerable teachings. His body and mind became motionless.

Thereupon the gods rained mandarava-flowers, maha-mandarava-flowers, manjusaka-flowers, and maha-manjusaka-flowers upon the Buddha and the great multitude. The world of the Buddha quaked in the six ways. The great multitude of the congregation, which included bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kirpnaras, mahoragas, men, nonhuman beings, the kings of small countries, and the wheel turning-holy kings, were astonished. They rejoiced, joined their hands together [towards the Buddha], and looked up at him with one mind.

Thereupon the Tathagata emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand Buddha-worlds in the east just as this Buddha is illumining the Buddha-worlds as we see now.

When the last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha emerged from his samadhi he expounded the “Great Vehicle” for 60 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.

As an aside, I love that supernatural power of the Buddha – the power to make 60 small kalpas seem as though it lasted for only a mealtime.

So we have set the stage, alerting everyone to expect something big tomorrow.

One aside in this day’s reading is the story about Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva and a lazy disciple:

One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame-Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sutras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sutras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.

Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you.

And in gathas:

There was a lazy man
Among the disciples
Of Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma.
[The lazy man] was attached to fame and gain.

Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Seeking.

But he [later] did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.
He made offerings to them,
Followed them, practiced the Great Way,
And performed the six paramitas.
Now he sees the Lion-Like One of the Sakyas.

He will become a Buddha
In his future life.
He will be called Maitreya.
He will save innumerable living beings.
The lazy man who Lived after the extinction
Of [Sun-Moon-]-Light Buddha was
No one but you.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma, was I.

It makes me smile to imagine that our next Buddha was once a fame-seeking slacker. There’s hope for me yet!

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Around and around we go…

I understand that the list of names at the start of the Lotus Sutra can be off-putting, but each time I start over I again enjoy this introduction to what is to come.

The accomplishments of these people is amazing. For example, the 12,000 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.

Or the 80,000 Bodhisattva-mahasattvas:

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.

What’s even more impressive as this sutra opens is that absolutely everyone is represented: Gods, dragon kings, gandharva kings, asura kings, garuda kings and a king who had overthrown his father and helped Devadatta’s rebellion but repented.

Then we get to that light that the Buddha emits illuminating 18,000 worlds in the east. This wasn’t just light:

The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlighterunent by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvana. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the sariras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.

Maitreya tells what he sees and asks manjusri why this is happening:

Manjusri, Son of the Buddha!
Remove our doubts!
The four kinds of devotees
Are looking up with joy at you and me,
Wishing to know why this ray of light is emitted
By the World-Honored One.

Son of the Buddha, answer me!
Remove our doubts and cause us to rejoice!
For what purpose is the Buddha
Emitting this ray of light?

Does he wish to expound the Wonderful Dharma
Which he attained when he was sitting
At the place of enlightenment?
Does he wish to assure us of our future Buddhahood?

He shows us the worlds of the Buddhas
Adorned with many treasures.
We can see the Buddhas of those worlds.
This cannot be for some insignificant reason.

Manjusri, know this!
The four kinds of devotees and the dragons
Are looking at you, thinking:
“What is he going to say?”