Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month covered the prediction of future Buddhahood for Ananda, we hear the complaint of the Bodhisattvas who are miffed that no Bodhisattva has been offered a prediction of Buddhahood.

There were eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire [for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi] in this congregation. They thought, ‘As far as we have heard, even great Bodhisattvas have never been assured of their future Buddhahood. Why have these Sravakas been so assured?’

Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing what the Bodhisattvas had in their minds, said to them:

“Good men! Ananda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ananda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings. He also will protect the store of the teachings of future Buddhas, teach Bodhisattvas, and cause them to attain [Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi], according to his original vow. Therefore, now he has been assured of his future Buddhahood.”

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 19, 2016, offers this:

Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings.

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Having last month covered Purna’s past efforts in gathas, we continue with predictions for his future.

In the future also he will make offerings
To innumerable Buddhas, protect their right teachings,
Help them propagate their teachings,
And purify their worlds.

He will always fearlessly expound the Dharma
With expedients.
He will save countless living beings
And cause them to have the knowledge of all things.

He will make offerings to many Tathagatas
And protect the treasure-store of the Dharma.
After that he will be able to become a Buddha
Called Dharma-Brightness.

His world will be called Good-Purity.
It will be made of the seven treasures.
His kalpa will be called Treasure-Brightness.
There will be Bodhisattvas [in his world],
Many hundreds of millions in number.
They will have great supernatural powers.
They will be powerful and virtuous.
They will be seen throughout that world.

Innumerable Sravakas will organize the Samgha.
They will have the three major supernatural powers,
The eight emancipations,
And the four kinds of unhindered eloquence.

The living beings of that world will have no sexual desire.
They will be born without any medium.
They will be adorned with the marks [of the Buddha].
They will not think
Of any other food [than the two kinds of food]:
The delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyana.
There will be neither women nor evil regions
In that world.

Purna Bhiksu will be able to obtain
All these merits,
And have his pure world
Inhabited by many sages and saints.
I have innumerable things to say of him.
I have told you only a few of them.

Each time Day 13 reaches Purna becoming the Buddha Dharma-Brightness in a world called Good-Purity I feel compelled to comment on the idea of a world without sexual desire or women and where “They will be born without any medium.” See this and this. Without women or sexual desire it sort of makes the whole “They will not think / Of any other food [than the two kinds of food]: / The delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyana” seem less impressive. What else is there to distract them? OK. I’m being silly. I’ll do better tomorrow.

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.

Having last month having covered the setup before the Parable of the Magic City, now we review the parable.

“I will tell you a parable. Once upon a time there was a dangerous, bad road five hundred yojanas long. It was so fearful that no men lived in the neighborhood. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man, clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road. He took them along this dangerous road, but halfway the people got tired of walking. They said to him, ‘We are tired out. We are also afraid of the danger of this road. We cannot go a step farther. Our destination is still far off. We wish to go back.’

“The leader, who knew many expedients, thought, ‘What a pity!

They wish to go back without getting great treasures.’ Having thought this, he expediently made a city by magic at a distance of three hundred yojanas from the starting-point of this dangerous road. He said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home.’

“Thereupon the worn-out people had great joy. They said, ‘We have never had such joy as this before. Now we shall be able to get off this bad road and become peaceful.’

“Then they made their way forward and entered the magic city.

They felt peaceful, thinking that they had already passed [through the bad road]. Seeing that they had already had a rest and relieved their fatigue, the leader caused the city to disappear, and said to them, ‘Now the place of treasures is near. I made this city by magic in order to give you a rest.’

The Daily Dharma of Jan. 20, 2017, offers this:

He said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home.

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Having last month finished the travels of the Brahman-heavenly-kings, we return to the light at the top of Day 11.

“When Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, five hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’ The palaces of the gods of those worlds, including the palace of Brahmans, also quaked in the six ways. The great rays of light which illumined all those worlds were brighter than the rays of light emitted by those gods.

It is this light that we celebrate, for without the Buddha’s presence it would be very dark.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1 offers this:

With the Lotus Sutra and our Buddhist practice we can even illuminate the sufferings we are experiencing as well as those we have experienced and with the wisdom learned we can forge a future with different outcomes. No matter how dark or how long darkness has existed in our lives, just as a light illuminates a cave that has been dark for hundreds of years, the Lotus Sutra can bring light and enlightenment to our lives.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Having last month concluded Chapter 7’s portion of Day 10, we return to the Chapter 6 and the prediction of future Buddhahood for Subhuti.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, having understood the wishes of the great disciples, said to the bhiksus:

“In his future life, this Subhuti will see three hundred billion nayutas of Buddhas, make offerings to them, respect them, honor them, praise them, perform brahma practices, complete the Way of Bodhisattvas, and become a Buddha on the final stage of his physical existence. He will be called Beautiful-Form, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice< the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The kalpa in which he will become that Buddha will be called Having-Treasures; and his world, Treasure-Born. The ground [of his world] will be even, made of crystal, adorned with jeweled trees, and devoid of mounds, pits, rubble, thorns and dirt. Jeweled flowers will cover the ground to purify it. The people of that world will live in buildings of wonderful treasures. His disciples in Sravakahood will be numberless, beyond calculation or comparison. The Bodhisattvas will be many thousands of billions of nayutas in number. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be twelve small kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twenty small kalpas. The counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved also for twenty small kalpas. That Buddha will always stay in the sky, expound the Dharma to the multitude, and save innumerable Bodhisattvas and Sravakas.

So I wonder: Does the prediction that Subhuti will become a Buddha who always stays in the sky as he expounds to the Dharma to the multitude have something to do with his position among the 10 top voice hearers as the “foremost in understanding emptiness“? Not a big deal; just curious.

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Having last month given the Assurance of Future Buddhahood for Maha-Kasyapa in prose, we repeat it in gathas:

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what lw had said, sang in gathas:

I will tell you, bhiksus.
I see this Kasyapa
With the eyes of the Buddha.
He will become a Buddha
In his future life
After innumerable’ kalpas from now.

He will see in his future life
Three hundred billions
Of Buddhas, of World-Honored Ones.
He will make offerings to them,
And perform brahma practices
To obtain the wisdom of the Buddha.
Having made offerings
To the Most Honorable Bipeds,
He will study and practice
Unsurpassed wisdom,
And become a Buddha on the final stage
Of his physical existence.

The ground [of his world] will be pure.
It will be made of lapis lazuli.
Many jeweled trees
Will stand on the roadsides.
The roads will be marked off by ropes of gold.
Anyone will rejoice at seeing them.

Fragrance will be sent forth from the trees;
And beautiful flowers will be strewn
On the ground, which will be adorned
With various wonderful things.
The ground will be even,
And devoid of mounds and pits.

The number of the Bodhisattvas
Will be beyond calculation.
They will be gentle.
They will have great supernatural powers.
They will keep the sutras of the Great Vehicle
Expounded by the Buddhas.

The Sravakas will have already eliminated asravas,
And reached the final stage of their physical existence.
They will become sons of the King of the Dharma.
Their number also will be beyond calculation.
Even those who have heavenly eyes
Will not be able to count them.

The duration of the life of that Buddha
Will be twelve small kalpas.
His right teachings will be preserved
For twenty small kalpas.
The counterfeit of his right teachings
Will be preserved also for twenty small kalpas.
All this is my prophecy
About the World-Honored One called Light.

Lotus World offers this about the prediction for Buddhahood of Maya-Kasyapa, who is present in Nichiren’s Gohonzon:

In the Lotus Sutra, the voice-hearers fall into three groups of superior capacity, intermediate capacity, and lesser capacity, depending on the manner in which they are able to understand the One Vehicle. Mahakashyapa, Katyayana, and Subhuti comprise the intermediate category. They require the preaching of parables, such as the parable of the burning house in Chapter 3, in order to comprehend the One Vehicle.

In the Lotus Sutra, Mahakashyapa, along with Subhuti, Katyayana, and Maudgalyayana all express their joy at hearing the teaching of the One Vehicle in Chapter 4. These four disciples then tell the Buddhist version of the parable of the prodigal son in that same chapter. In chapter five, the Buddha addresses the parable of the herbs to these four. In Chapter 6, the Buddha predicts the future buddhahood of these four disciples beginning with Mahakashyapa, who he announces will become Light Tathagata of the world Light Virtue.
Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month considered the sravakas appreciation of what the Buddha had accomplished, we conclude Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he tries to do so
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.
No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he bows to you respectfully,
And offers you his hands, feet or anything else.

No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he carries you on his head or shoulders
And respects you from the bottom of his heart
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
Or even if he offers you
Delicious food, innumerable garments of treasures,
Many beddings, and various medicines,
Or even if he erects a stupa-mausoleum
Made of the cow-head candana,
And adorns it with treasures,
Or even if he covers the ground
With garments of treasures
And offers them to the Buddha
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.

The Buddhas have
Great supernatural powers.
Their powers are rare, immeasurable,
Limitless and inconceivable.

The Buddhas are the Kings of the Dharma
They are free from asravas, from cause and effect.
The Buddhas practice patience
In order to save inferior people.
They expound the Dharma according to the capacities
Of the ordinary people who are attached to forms.

The Buddhas expound the Dharma
In perfect freedom.
Knowing the various desires and dispositions
Of all living beings,
They expound the Dharma
With innumerable parables
And with innumerable similes
According to their capacities.

Some living beings planted the roots of good
In their previous existence.
Some of the roots have fully developed.
Seeing all this, the Buddhas understand
The capacities of all living beings,
And divide the teaching of the One Vehicle into three,
According to the capacities
Of all living beings.

Tomorrow in the Simile of Herbs we’ll get the Buddha’s side of this concept of the dharma being different according to the capacities of living beings. For now, I’ll add today’s quote from Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1 and place it in the context of the poor son and his path toward carving his own image of himself as the inheritor of his father’s wealth.

When we think of carving an image of the Buddha I suspect that generally we think in terms of taking some material and simply carving a Buddha. But if we think about this in terms of our lives and sculpting our day and lives we can see another meaning to this.

If we want ourselves to be like the Buddha, an image of the Buddha, we need to carve it out of our lives. Every day, slowly and carefully, chipping away at all the things in our lives that are keeping us from being Buddhas.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Having last month concluded Chapter 3, A Parable, it’s time to discuss Understanding by Faith.

Thereupon the men living the life of wisdom: Subhuti, Maha­Katyayana, Maha-Kasyapa, and Maha-Maudgalyayana felt strange because they heard the Dharma from the Buddha that they had never heard before, and because they heard that the World-Honored One had assured Sariputra of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They felt like dancing with joy, rose from their seats, adjusted their robes, bared their right shoulders, put their right knees on the ground, joined their hands together with all their hearts, bent themselves respectfully, looked up at the honorable face, and said to the Buddha:

“We elders of the Sangha were already old and decrepit [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi]. We did not seek Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi because we thought that we had already attained Nirvana, and also because we thought that we were too old and decrepit to do so.’ You have been expounding the Dharma for a long time. We have been in your congregation all the while. We were already tired [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi]. Therefore, we just cherished the truth that nothing is substantial, the truth that nothing is different from any other thing, and the truth that nothing more is to be sought. We did not wish to perform the Bodhisattva practices, that is, to purify the world of the Buddha and to lead all living beings [to Buddhahood] by displaying supernatural powers because you had already led us out of the triple world and caused us to attain Nirvana. Neither did we wish at all to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, which you were teaching to Bodhisattvas, because we were already too old and decrepit to do so. But now we are very glad to hear that you have assured a Sravaka of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. We have the greatest joy that we have ever had. We have never expected to hear such a rare teaching all of a sudden. How glad we are! We have obtained great benefits. We have obtained innumerable treasures although we did not seek them.

The Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this:

The elders of the congregation, as represented here by those telling the Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son, have come to realize that they had been guilty of thinking that the truth and reality of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi as a possibility in their lives was not something they could actually realize and so they did not seek it. If in your life, at the very core of your life, deep down in the essence of what makes you you, if you are unable to believe you are fundamentally at that deep level a Buddha, then it is likely you will not actually live a life of possibility. If that belief, or even hope, or even faith is lacking then it will be difficult on your own to make the necessary causes to actually manifest it. It will in a sense become as if a negative feedback loop.Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month covered the owner of this burning house and his dilemma in gathas, we consider the expedient used to save the children.

In order to save them
From burning to death,
He told them
Of the dangers of the house:
“There are demons and poisonous vermin here.
Flames have already spread all over.
Many sufferings are coming
One after another endlessly.
There are poisonous snakes,
Lizards, vipers,
Yaksas, kumbhanda demons,
Small foxes, foxes, dogs,
Crested eagles, eagles,
Kites, owls and centipedes here.
They are unbearably hungry and thirsty.
They are dreadful.
These sufferings are difficult to avoid.
Worse still, there is a big fire.”

Though the children heard his warning,
They were still engrossed in playing.
They did not stop playing
Because they were ignorant.

The rich man
Thought:
“They are ignorant.
My anxiety deepens
There is nothing pleasant
In this house.
But they are engrossed
In playing.
They do not listen to me.
They will be burned to death.”

At the time
He thought of an expedient.
He said to them:
“I have many kinds of toys.
They are beautiful carts
Made of wonderful treasures.
They are sheep-carts, deer-carts,
And large bullock-carts.
They are outside the gate.
Come out!
I made those carts
For you.
Play with them
As you like!”

Hearing of the carts from him,
They ran out,
Striving to be first,
And reached an open place.
They were now free
From the sufferings.

The Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers a reminder of why we’re here:

The story of the Burning House is a way of retelling the important teaching of the Buddha of this single Buddha way which sets aside various other paths which before were seen as unique. The Buddha wishes for all people to leave the life of suffering and attain enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas. That is the one great purpose for the appearance of any Buddha in any realm of any time. The Buddha, being a skillful teacher, realized at the beginning that people would not be able to grasp the very complex teaching of enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas. He also realized people would doubt they had such a capacity. Even today, many people still cling to the notion they are not good enough, or they are not worthy of attaining such an indestructible life of true joy and cessation of suffering.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month started Sariputra’s doubts in gathas, we now remove the mesh of doubts.

I once was attached to wrong views,
And became a teacher of the aspirants for the teaching of Brahman.
You expounded to me the teaching of Nirvana,
And removed my wrong views because you understood me.
I gave up all those wrong views,
And attained the truth that nothing is substantial.

At that time I thought
That I had attained extinction.’
But now I know
That the extinction I attained is not the true one.
When I become a Buddha in the future,
I shall be adorned with the thirty-two marks,
And respected
By gods, men, yaksas, and dragons.
Only then I shall be able to say
That I have eliminated all [illusions].

In the midst of the great multitude,
You said to me, “You will become a Buddha.”
Hearing this truthful voice,
All my doubts are gone.

When I had heard this from you,
I was much frightened and perplexed; I thought:
“The Buddha troubles me.
Isn’t he Mara in the form of a Buddha?”

You skillfully expound the Dharma with various parables and similes,
And with various stories of previous lives.
Now my mind is as peaceful as the sea.
Hearing you, I have removed the mesh of doubts.

You said:
“The innumerable Buddhas in the past
Expounded the Dharma with expedients.
The numberless Buddhas at present
Also expound the Dharma
With expedients.
So will the countless Buddhas
In the future.”

You appeared in this world,
Left your home, attained enlightenment,
And now turn the wheel of the Dharma,
Also with expedients.

You expound the true teaching;
Papiyas does not.
Therefore, I know
That you are not a transformation of Mara.
I thought that the Dharma was expounded by Mara
Because l was in the mesh of doubts.

I hear your gentle voice.
Your voice is deep and wonderful.
You expound the Pure Dharma.
My heart is filled with great joy.
All my doubts are gone.
I have obtained true wisdom.

I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.

The Daily Dharma from Nov. 5, 2016, offers this:

You skillfully expound the Dharma with various parables and similes,
And with various stories of previous lives.
Now my mind is as peaceful as the sea.
Hearing you, I have removed the mesh of doubts.