Gemini Thinking
This illustration depicts the profound vision from Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra, focusing on Śākyamuni Buddha as he reveals the true nature of the Sahā-World to Maitreya Bodhisattva. Maitreya, whom the Buddha addresses as Ajita (the Invincible), is kneeling in the foreground with firm faith, flanked by a vast assembly of jeweled Bodhisattvas and monastically-robed Śrāvakas. The setting is transformed into a pure land: the ground is a flat expanse of luminous blue lapis lazuli, divided by gold-roped pathways. Orderly rows of jeweled trees line the paths, leading to magnificent, treasure-filled celestial palaces in the background. The central figure is Śākyamuni Buddha, radiating light and expounding the Dharma from a raised, ornate throne, appearing as he eternally resides on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa to those with eyes to see.
Ajita! The good men or women who hear of my longevity of which I told you, and understand it by firm faith, will be able to see that I am expounding the Dharma on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, surrounded by great Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. They also will be able to see that the ground of this Sahā-World is made of lapis lazuli, that the ground is even, that the eight roads are marked off by ropes of jāmbūnada gold, that the jeweled trees are standing in lines, and that the magnificent buildings are made of treasures.
Śākyamuni Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita – Invincible, in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We can hear this explanation as a promise of some great otherworldly vision which will be revealed to us if our faith is strong enough. We can also hear it as a promise that we will learn to deny that all the terrible things in the world as as bad as we think. But when we remember the Buddha telling us, “I do not see the world as others do,” then we realize that our faith brings us to the Buddha’s own mind, where we can accept this frightening and dangerous world for what it is, and work to make it better for all beings.
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