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.
Last month I discussed the initial turning of the wheel of the Dharma by Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata and the plea of the 16 princes to go beyond the teaching for Sravakas and to expound the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi!
The Buddha assented to the appeal of the sramaneras, but it was twenty thousand kalpas afterwards that he expounded to the four kinds of devotees the sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’
When the Buddha completed the expounding of this sutra, the sixteen sramaneras kept, recited and understood this sutra in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. The sixteen sramaneras, [ who were] Bodhisattvas, received this sutra by faith. Some Sravakas understood it by faith, but the other Sravakas and other living beings, thousands of billions in number, doubted it.
It took the Buddha eight thousand kalpas to complete the expounding of this sutra. During that time he did not take a rest. Having completed the expounding of this sutra, the Buddha entered a quiet room and practiced dhyana-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas. Seeing him practicing dhyanaconcentration quietly in the room, the sixteen Bodhisattvasramaneras each sat on a seat of the Dharma, expounded the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees for eighty-four thousand kalpas, and saved six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. They showed them the Way, taught them, benefited them, caused them to rejoice and to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sarµbodhi.
Bodhisattvas practice the Six Perfections or pāramitās. One of those is patience.
It took the Buddha 20,000 kalpas before he started expounding the Lotus Sutra and it took another 8,000 kalpas to complete.
But more to the point is this quote from the Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:
Our practice includes the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Twelve-Link Chain of Causation, the Six Paramitas, and it is all contained in the Lotus Sutra and the Odaimoku of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. When we strive to live according to the fundamental truths of Buddhism and follow the teachings in the Lotus Sutra by chanting the sutra and the Odaimoku, we create a life that manifests our inherent Buddha potential and allows us to live a life of indestructible happiness.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra