Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month concluded the chapter, it is time to begin again.
Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, ‘Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’
He said to the great multitude again, ‘Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’
He said to them once again, ‘Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’
Thereupon the great multitude of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, joined their hands together and said to the Buddha,
World-Honor done, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.
They said this three times. Then they said once again, ‘Tell us! We will receive your words by faith.’
Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing that they repeated their appeal even after they repeated it three times, said to them:
Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers.
The Daily Dharma from April 10, 2016, offers this insight:
Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
With these words, the Buddha prepares those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. “Understanding by faith” can be a difficult idea for those of us who believe faith is opposed to understanding; that it means believing something even though we do not understand it. The Buddha does not ask us to set aside our curiosity or our comprehension to practice his highest teaching. But he does say that it takes more than understanding to reach the wisdom he attained. As we apprehend more of what the Buddha teaches us, our confidence in him grows. As we set aside our doubts about the benefits of the Buddha Dharma, we increase our ability to see the world for what it is.
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