Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Having last month heard the merits to be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, it’s time for Medicine-King Bodhisattva’s dharani spells.

Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! Now I will give dharani-spells to the expounder of the Dharma in order to protect him.’

Then he uttered spells:

Ani (1), mani (2), manei (3), mamanei (4), shirei (5), sharitei (6), shamya (7), shabi-tai (8), sentei (9), mokutei (10), mokutabi (11), shabi (12), aishabi (13), obi (14), shabi (15), shaei (16), ashaei (17), agini (18), sentei (19), shabi (20), darani (21 ), arokya-basai-hashabi-shani (22), neibitei (23), abentarancibitei (24), atantahareishudai (25), ukurei (26), mukurei (27), ararei (28), hararei (29), shukyashi (30), asammasambi (31), botsudabikirijittei (32), darumaharishitei (33), sogyanekkushanei (34), bashabashashudai(35), mantara (36), mantarashayata (37), urntaurota (38), kyosharya(39), ashara (40), ashayataya (41), abaro (42), amanyanataya (43).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

‘World-Honored One! These dharanis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by six thousand and two hundred million Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.’

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha praised Medicine-King Bodhisattva, saying:

Excellent, excellent, Medicine-King! You uttered these dharanis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of your compassion towards him. You will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.”

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 29, 2016, offers this explanation:

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha praised Medicine-King Bodhisattva, saying: “Excellent, excellent, Medicine-King! You uttered these dhāraṇīs in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of your compassion towards him. You will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.”

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

Having last month started the chapter, it’s time to continue with examples of the supernatural powers of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva-­mahasattva.

Those who keep the name of this World-Voice­Perceiver Bodhisattva will not be burned when they are put into a conflagration [because they are protected] by the supernatural powers of this Bodrisattva. Those who call his name will be able to take ground when they are washed by an inundation. Suppose hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings are crossing an ocean in order to obtain gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, coral, amber, pearl, and other treasures, and suppose the ship carrying them is blown to the country of raksasa-devils by a storm. If one of the crew calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, all the crew will be saved from the attacks of the raksasas. Because of this, [this Bodhisattva] is called World-Voice-Perceiver.

If anyone calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is about to be killed, the sword or stick raised against him will suddenly break asunder, and he will be saved. If as many yaksas and raksasas as to fill one thousand million Sumeru­worlds hear a person call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when they come to him with the intention of killing him, those devils will not be able even to see him with their malicious eyes, and needless to say, kill him. If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things [in which he is bound up] will break asunder, and he will be saved. Suppose the chief of a party of merchants is leading his party carrying invaluable treasures along a dangerous road haunted by as many bandits as to fill one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and suppose one of the members of the party says [to others], ‘Good men! Do not be afraid! Call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva with all your hearts! This Bodhisattva gives fearlessness to all living beings. If you call his name, you will be saved from [the attacks of] these bandits.’ If the other members of the party hear this and say simultaneously, ‘Namas to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva,’ all of them will be saved because of their calling of his name. Endless-Intent! The supernatural powers of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva­mahasattva are as great as previously stated.

The Daily Dharma from April 15, 2016, offers this:

If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things [in which he is bound up] will break asunder, and he will be saved.

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month covered Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s ability to transform himself and this month continues with the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahasattva.

Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Saha-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Saha-World and expounds this sutra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Saha­World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know. He also does the same in the innumerable worlds of the ten quarters, that is, in as many worlds as there are sands in the River Ganges. He takes the shape of a Sravaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Sravaka. He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha. He takes the shape of another Bodhisattva and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by that Bodhisattva. He takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes these various shapes according to the capacities of those who are to be saved. He shows his extinction to those who are to be saved by his extinction. Flower-Virtue! Such are the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahasattva.

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 3, 2016, offers this:

Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā-World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom.

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Last month concluded The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, and now it’s time to start again.

Having sung this gatha, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?

Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha said to Gladly-Seen-­By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, ‘Good man! The time of my Nirvana is near at hand. The time of my extinction is coming. Prepare me a comfortable couch! I shall enter into Parinirvana tonight.’

Then he instructed Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, saying, ‘Good man! I will transmit all my teachings to you. [I also will transmit] to you all the Bodhisattvas and all my great disciples. [I also will transmit] to you my teachings for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. I also will transmit to you the one thousand Sumeru worlds made of the seven treasures, the jeweled trees, the jeweled platforms, and the gods attending on me. I also will transmit to you the sariras to be left after my extinction. Distribute my sariras far and wide and make offerings to them! Erect thousands of stupas [to enshrine them]!’

Having given these instructions to Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha entered into Nirvana in the last watch of that night. Having seen the extinction of the Buddha, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva was overcome with sorrow. He adored the Buddha all the more. He made a pyre of the candana grown on this shore of the sea, offered it to the body of the Buddha, and burned it. After it burned up, he collected the sariras. He made eighty-four thousand urns of treasures[, and put the sariras therein]. He erected eighty-four thousand stupas[, and enshrined the urns therein]. The stupas were higher than the Third Dhyana-Heaven. They were adorned with yastis. Many streamers and canopies were hanging down [from the stupas]. Many jeweled bells also were fixed [on the stupas].

The Daily Dharma from May 29, 2016, offers this insight:

Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Having last month begun the Transmission, it is time to complete the task.

In the future, when you see good men or women who believe in the wisdom of the Tathagata, you should expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to them, and cause them to hear and know [this sutra] so that they may he able to obtain the wisdom of the Buddha. When you see anyone who does not receive [this sutra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.

Having heard these words of the Buddha, the Bodhisattva­mahasattvas were filled with great joy. With more respect than ever, they bent forward, bowed, joined their hands together towards him, and said simultaneously. ‘We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!’

The Bodhisattva-mahasattvas said simultaneously twice more, ‘We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!’

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha, wishing to send back to their home worlds [Many-Treasures Buddha and] the Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters, said, ‘May the Buddhas be where they wish to be! May the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha be where it was!’

Having heard these words of the Buddha, not only the innumerable Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters and were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees, Many-Treasures Buddha, and the great multitude of the innumerable, asamkhya Bodhisattvas, including Superior-Practice, but also the four kinds of devotees including Sariputra and other Sravakas, and the gods, men and asuras of the world, had great joy.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 24, 2015, offers this:

When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.

Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

Having last month concluded the Day 25 portion of Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, it is time to return to the tale of Never-Despising Bodhisattva.

Setting the stage:

Thereupon the Buddha said to Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva-mahasattva:

Know this! Anyone who speaks ill of or abuses or slanders the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas or upasikas who keep the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will incur the retributions previously stated. (Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.) Anyone [who keeps this sutra] will he able to have his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind purified, that is to say, to obtain the merits as stated in the previous chapter.

Great-Power-Obtainer! Innumerable, limitless, inconceivable, asamkhya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Powerful­-Voice-King, 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 lived was called Free-From­-Decay; and his world, Great-Achievement. Powerful-Voice-King Buddha expounded the Dharma to the gods, men and asuras of his world. To those who were seeking Sravakahood, he expounded the teaching suitable for them, that is, the teaching of the four truths, saved them from birth, old age, disease and death, and caused them to attain Nirvana. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching suitable for them, that is, the teaching of the twelve causes. To the Bodhisattvas who were seeking Anuttara-­samyak-sambodhi, he expounded the teaching suitable for them, that is, the teaching of the six paramitas, and caused them to obtain the wisdom of the Buddha.

Great-Power-Obtainer! The duration of the life of Powerful-­Voice-King Buddha was forty billion nayuta kalpas, that is, as many kalpas as there are sands in the River Ganges. His right teachings were preserved for as many kalpas as the particles of dust of the Jambudvipa. The counterfeit of his right teachings was preserved for a many kalpas as the particles of dust of the four continents. The Buddha benefited all living being and then passed away. After [the two ages:] the age of his right teaching and the age of their counterfeit, there appeared in that world another Buddha also called Powerful-Voice-King, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Cone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. After him, the Buddhas of the same name appeared one after another, two billion altogether.

This is one of many places where the rareness of hearing the Lotus Sutra rather than the three vehicles – the teaching of the four truths, the teaching of the twelve causes and the teaching of the six paramitas – is underlined.

Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having covered the merits of the nose and the tongue, it is time for the merits of the body.

Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sutra, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the body. Their bodies will become as pure as lapis lazuli. All living beings will wish to see them. Some of the living beings in the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds are just born or have just died. All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women]. The Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru, and the other great mountains, and the living beings in those mountains also will be reflected on their bodies. [All the six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven and the living beings therein also will be reflected on their bodies. The Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas as well as the Buddhas who are expounding the Dharma, also will show their reflections on their bodies.

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

Anyone who keeps
This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to have his body purified like lapis lazuli
All living beings will wish to see him.

Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this] Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.

The gods, men, asuras,
Hellish denizens,
Hungry spirits and animals,
That is, all living beings
Of the on thousand million Sumeru-world
Will be reflected on his body.

The palaces of the gods in the heavens
Up to the Highest Heaven,
The Surrounding iron Mountains,
Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru,
And the great oceans also
Will be reflected on his body.

The Buddhas, Sravakas, Bodhisattvas who are sons of the Buddhas
[That is, the saints] of whom some live a solitary life
While others are espounding the Dharma to the multitude, Also will be reflected on his body.

Although he has not yet obtained the wonderful body
[Of the Bodhisattva who knows] the nature of the Dharma-without-asravas,
He will be able to have all thes things
Reflected on his pure and natural body.

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 3, 2016, offers this:

Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror,
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this] Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month concluded Day 23’s portion of The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, it’s time to return to the Merits of the Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahasattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! How many merits will be given to a good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?” He sang in a gatha:

How many merits will be given
To a person who rejoices
At hearing this sutra
After your extinction?

Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-­mahasattva: Ajita! Suppose a bhiksu, a bhiksuni, an upasaka, an upasika, or some other wise person, whether young or old, rejoices at hearing this sutra in a congregation after my extinction. After leaving the congregation, he or she goes to some other place, for instance, to a monastery, a retired place, a city, a street, a town, or a village. There he or she expounds this sutra, as he or she has heard it, to his or her father, mother, relative, friend or acquaintance as far as he or she can. Another person who has heard [this sutra from him or her], rejoices, goes [to some other place] and expounds it to a third person. The third person also rejoices at hearing it and expounds it to a fourth person. In this way this sutra is heard by a fiftieth person. Ajita! Now I will tell you the merits of the fiftieth good man or woman who rejoices at hearing [this sutra]. Listen attentively!

Suppose the Jambudvipa was filled with wonderful treasures such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, coral and amber; elephant-carts and horse-carts; and palaces and stately buildings made of the even treasures. Suppose a man who was seeking merits gave all those pleasing things [filling the Jambudvipa] to the living beings of four hundred billion asamkhya worlds according to their wishes. A world consists of the six regions. The living beings [of the six regions] are of one or another of the four kinds of births: oviparous, viviparous, from moisture, or without any medium: Some of them have form while others do not. Some have desire while others do not. Some have no feet while other have two feet or four or more. Having continued giving those alms to them for eighty years, this great almsgiver thought, ‘I gave those pleasing things to them according to their wishes. Now they are old and decrepit. They are more than eighty years old. Their hair is grey; and their faces, wrinkled. They will die before long. I will lead them by the Dharma of the Buddha.’

Then he collected them. He propagated the Dharma to them, led them by the Dharma, showed them the Dharma, taught them, benefited them, and caused them to rejoice. He caused them to attain in a moment the enlightenment of the Srotapanna, of the Sakrdagamin, of the Anagamin or of the Arhat, eliminate all asravas, practice deep dhyana-concentration without hindrance, and obtain the eight emancipations. What do you think of this? Do you think that the merits obtained by this great almsgiver were many or not?

Maitreya said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! I think that his merits were many, immeasurable and limitless. His merits were already immeasurable when he gave all those pleasing things to them. Needless to say, so were his merits when he caused them to attain Arhatship.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

Now I will tell you clearly. The merits of the person who gave The merits of the person who gave all those pleasing things to the living beings of the six regions of four hundred billion asaṃkhya worlds, and caused them to attain Arhatship are less than the merits of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Daily Dharma of March 29, 2016, offers this explanation:

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares the benefit created by someone who teaches innumerable beings and makes exorbitant offerings through following the pre-Lotus sūtras to the benefits of finding joy in the Buddha’s Highest teaching. This joy is not the same as just getting what we want, or being relieved from what we do not want. It is the joy of seeing the world for what it is, and our place in it as Bodhisattvas who exist for the benefit of all beings.

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Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Having last month covered the merits of those who do not speak ill of this sutra but rejoice at hearing it after my extinction, it’s on to the merits of those who read, recite or keep this sutra, expound it to others, copies it, or causes others to copy it.

Ajita! Anyone who, after hearing this sutra, keeps or copies it or causes others to copy it after my extinction, should be considered to have already built many hundreds of thousands of billions of monasteries, that is to say, innumerable monasteries, each of which was installed with thirty-two beautiful halls made of red candana, eight times as tall as the tala-tree, and spacious enough to accommodate one hundred thousand bhiksus. He also should be considered to have already furnished [those monasteries] with gardens, forests, pools for bathing, promenades, and caves for the practice of dhyana, and filled [those monasteries] with clothing, food, drink, bedding, medicine, and things for amusements, and offered [those monasteries] to me and to the Samgha of bhiksus in my presence. Therefore, I say, ‘Anyone who keeps, reads or recites this sutra, expounds it to others, copies it, causes others to copy it, or makes offerings to a copy of it after my extinction, need not build a stupa or a monastery, or make offering to the Samgha.’ Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sutra but also gives alms, observes the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

Anyone who reads, recites or keeps this sutra, expounds it to others, copies it, or causes others to copy it [in my lifetime,] should be considered to have already built stupas and monasteries, made offerings to the Samgha of Sravakas, praised them, praised Bodhisattvas for their merits by hundreds of thousands of billions of ways of praising, expounded this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to others with various stories of previous lives according to the meanings of it, observed the precepts without fallacy, lived with gentle persons, practiced patience, refrained from anger, become resolute in mind, preferred sitting in dhyana, practiced deep concentrations of mind, become strenuous and brave, practiced good teachings, become clever and wise, and answered questions satisfactorily. Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sutra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-­samyak-sambodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stupa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stupa just as they do to the stupa of a Buddha.

The Daily Dharma from Aug. 15, 2016, offers this:

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stūpa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stūpa just as they do to the stūpa of a Buddha.

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!”