Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.
Last month, covered what Mañjuśrī recalled having seen in the worlds illumined by the light of that long-ago Buddha. Now I’ll pause to consider the lesson intended by the story of Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva and one of his followers:
One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called FameSeeking. 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-Seking.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 ix 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.
This concept that the next Buddha was once a less-than-stellar student gives me hope for my future lives.
The Daily Dharma from Sept. 8, 2016, offers this perspective:
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.
Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva sings these verses in Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story he tells about Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva (Gumyō, Yaśaskāma). This shows that each of the innumerable Bodhisattvas who are helping us to become enlightened use different ways of reaching people. Even those enmeshed in the suffering of self-importance, who use this Wonderful Dharma to make themselves seem superior to others, simply because they are leading others to this teaching, they too are creating boundless merit.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com