Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Having last month heard how World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva eliminates suffering in gāthās, we conclude Chapter 25.

World-Voice-Perceiver will save
All living beings from misfortunes
And from innumerable sufferings of the world
By the wonderful power of his wisdom.

He has these supernatural powers.
He employs various expedients with his wisdom.
In the ten quarters there is no ksetra
In which he does not appear at all.

Hell, the region of hungry spirits, and the region of animals,
That is the [three) evil regions will be eliminated.
The sufferings of birth, old age, disease and death
Will gradually be eliminated.

He sees the truth of all things and their purity.
He sees all things with his great wisdom.
He sees all things with loving-kindness and compassion.
Think of him constantly! Look up at him constantly!

All darkness is dispelled by the light of his wisdom
As spotless and as pure as the light of the sun.
The light destroys the dangers of wind and fire,
And illumines the whole world brightly.

His precepts out of his loving-kindness brace us up as thunderbolts.
His wishes out of his compassion are as wonderful as large clouds.
He pours the rain of the Dharma as sweet as nectar,
And extinguishes the fire of illusions.

Suppose you are in a law-court for a suit,
Or on a battlefield, and are seized with fear.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
All your enemies will flee away.

His wonderful voice [comes from] his perceiving the voice of the world.
It is like the voice of Brahman, like the sound of a tidal wave.
It excels all the other voices of the world.
Therefore, think of him constantly!

Do not doubt him even at a moment’s thought!
The Pure Saint World-Voice-Perceiver is reliable
When you suffer, and when you are confronted
With the calamity of death.

By all these merits, he sees
All living beings with his compassionate eyes.
The ocean of his accumulated merits is boundless.
Therefore, bow before him!

Thereupon Earth-Holding Bodhisattva rose from his seat, proceeded to the Buddha, and said to him:

“World-Honored One! Those who hear of his supernatural powers by which he opened the universal gate without hindrance, and which are expounded in this chapter of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, know this, will be able to obtain not a few merits.”

When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Universal Gate, the eighty-four thousand living beings in the congregation began to aspire for the unparalleled Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Nichiren offers this perspective on Chapter 25:

The chapter “Bodhisattva Voice Perceiver” is also known as the chapter “Universal Gate.” Since the first half of this chapter tells of the merits of a person who pays homage to the Bodhisattva World Voice Perceiver (Avalokiteśvara), this chapter is named “Voice Perceiver.” It is also named “Universal Gate” since the latter half tells of the merits of a person who takes refuge with the Lotus Sutra which the Bodhisattva Voice Perceiver maintains.

Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady Nichinyo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4, Faith and Practice, Pages 133-134