Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

It’s time to start over on this story of two children whose efforts purify their father so that he can understand the Dharma by faith. These kids, Pure-Store and Pure-­Eyes by name, had many merits before any of this started.

The two sons had great supernatural powers, merit , virtues and wisdom. A long time ago, they had already practiced the Way which Bodhisattva should practice. They had already practiced the dana-paramita, the sila-paramita, the ksanti-pararnita, the virya-paramita, the dhyana-paramita, the prajna-paramita, and the paramita of expediency. They also had already obtained [the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-­kindness, joy and impartiality. They also had already practiced the thirty-seven ways to enlightenment. They had done all this perfectly and clearly. They also had already obtained the samadhis of Bodhisattvas: that is, the samadhi for purity, the samadhi for the sun and the stars, the samadhi for pure light, the samadhi for pure form, the samadhi for pure brightness, the samadhi for permanent adornment, and the samadhi for the great treasury of powers and virtues. They had already practiced all these samadhis.

On the topic of the four states of mind, the Daily Dharma from July 26, 2015, offers this:

They also had already obtained [the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-kindness, joy and impartiality.

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

In my attempt to limit myself to a single topic on each day I have to resist the temptation to talk only about my favorite topic each time. In Chapter 26, Dharanis, what I always want to discuss are the ten rakshasis and their mother, Hariti.

After offering their dharanis, they explain:

Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].

Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Samgha.

Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick’s Lotus World offers this explanation of the rakshasis and their mother, Hariti.

Rakshasas are a kind of flesh eating, blood drinking, or spirit draining demon or spirit. The tamer ones are known as yakshas and are the spirits of the trees, forests, and villages. They are considered a powerful type of hungry ghost. They appear as beautiful women (though they are sometimes shown with fangs) in courtly attire bearing various weapons or other symbolic objects.

• Kunti carries a spear.
• Insatiable carries a curved scepter in her right hand, while her left hand holds a flower vase.
• Black Teeth carries a banner in her left hand.
• Crooked Teeth carries a tray of flowers.
• Lamba holds a sword in her right hand and a sutra in her left.
• Plunderer of Energy of All Beings holds a staff with rings.
• Necklace Holding holds a garland in both hands.
• Many Hairs carries a banner in both hands.
• Flower Teeth carries the cintamani, or “wish-fulfilling gem.”
• Vilamba carries cymbals.

The ten rakshasis and their mother, Hariti, appear in Chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra and together offer dharanis for the protection of the teacher of the Lotus Sutra.

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

Having last month touched on World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva’s helpful offerings, I’ll focus this month on his wisdom:

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.

The Daily Dharma from Feb. 16, 2016, offers this perspective:

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.

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.

Having last month reviewed the traveling tips offered by All-Pure-Light-Adornment Buddha to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva before he traveled to the Saha world, I want to touch on the greeting Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva delivers.

World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure­Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not disrespectful to sramanas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not. Is Many-Treasures Tathagata, who passed away a long time ago and has now come here riding in the stupa of the seven treasures, hearing the Dharma or not? [Pure-Flower-Star-King Wisdom Buddha] also wishes to know whether Many-Treasure! Tathagata is peaceful and healthy, and able to stay long or not World-Honored One! Now I wish to see Many-Treasures Buddha World-Honored One! Show him to me!

This is the same line of questioning that the replicas of Sakyamuni pursued after they took their place on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees prior to the Stupa of Treasures being opened and again by the Bodhisattvas from Underground after their arrival.

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

Having last month detailed the string of comparisons that reveal the position of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, it’s time to follow up with the saving grace of the this sutra.

Star-King Flower! This sutra saves all living beings. This sutra saves them from all sufferings, and gives them great benefits. All living beings will be able to fulfill their wishes by this sutra just as a man who reaches a pond of fresh water when he is thirsty, just as a man who gets fire when he suffers from cold, just as a man who is given a garment when he is naked, just as a party of merchants who find a leader, just as a child who meets its mother, just as a man who gets a ship when he wants to cross [a river], just as a patient who finds a physician, just as a man who is given a light in the darkness, just as a poor man who gets a treasure, just as the people of a nation who see a new king enthroned, just as a trader who reaches the seacoast. Just as a torch dispels darkness, this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma saves all living beings from all sufferings, from all diseases, and from all the bonds of birth and death. The merits to be given to the person who, after hearing this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, copies it, or causes others to copy it, cannot be measured even by the wisdom of the Buddha. Neither can the merits to be given to the person who copies this sutra and offers flowers, incense, necklaces, incense to burn, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, streamers, canopies, garments, and various kinds of lamps such as Lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of campaka oil, lamps of sumanas oil, lamps of patala oil, lamps of varisika oil, and lamps of navamalika oil [to the copy of this sutra].

The Daily Dharma from October 18, 2015, offers this insight:

Star-King-Flower! This sūtra saves all living beings. This sūtra saves them from all sufferings, and gives them great benefits. All living beings will be able to fulfill their wishes by this sūtra just as a man who reaches a pond of fresh water when he is thirsty, just as a man who gets fire when he suffers from cold.

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 considered that “all the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra,” this month I’ll use the gathas to review the Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

The Buddhas, the World-Saviors, have
Great supernatural powers.
They display their immeasurable, supernatural powers
In order to cause all living beings to rejoice.

The tips of their tongues reach the Heaven of Brahman.
Innumerable rays of light are emitted from their bodies.
For those who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
The Buddhas do these things rarely to be seen.

The sound of coughing of the Buddhas
And the sound of their finger-snapping
Reverberate over the worlds of the ten quarters,
And the ground [of those worlds] quakes in the six ways.

The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sutra after my extinction.

Even if I praise for innumerable kalpas
The keeper of this sutra,
To whom it is to be transmitted,
I cannot praise him highly enough.

His merits are as limitless,
As infinite, as boundless
As the skies of the worlds
Of the ten quarters.

Anyone who keeps this sutra
Will be able to see me. He also will be able to see Many-Treasures Buddha,
[The Buddhas of] my replicas,
And the Bodhisattvas whom I have taught today.

Anyone who keeps this sutra will be able to cause me to rejoice.
He also will be able to bring joy
To [the Buddhas of] my replicas
And also to Many-Treasures Buddha who once passed away.

He also will be able to see
The present, past and future Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarters,
Make offerings to them, and cause them to rejoice.

I smile in reading this. The “Buddhas joyfully display” their powers in response to the Bodhisattvas’ vow. And I am “able to bring joy/To [the Buddhas of] my replicas/And also to Many-Treasures Buddha” and “cause [present, past and future Buddhas] to rejoice” by keeping the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

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

It’s time to leave Never-Despising Bodhisattva and examine the Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas. And to start we need the context of why the Buddha and his replicas put on this display of their powers.

The powers we’re going to see are prompted by the vow made by the Bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground:

Thereupon the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas as many as the particles of dust of one thousand worlds, who had sprung up from underground, joined their hands together towards the Buddha with all their hearts, looked up at his honorable face, and said to him:

World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will expound this sutra in the worlds of the Buddhas of your replica and also in the place from which you will pass away. Why is that? It is because we also wish to obtain this true, pure and great Dharma, to keep, read, recite, expound and copy [this sutra], and to make offerings to it.

It’s worth noting that in the 12 months that I’ve been parsing the Lotus Sutra, I’ve apparently never offered these verses to explain exactly why the Buddha and his replicas go on to perform their supernatural powers.

So that’s that. Next month a cough and a finger snap.

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, the merits of the tongue, and the merits of the body, it’s time to finish up this with the merits of the mind.

The good men or women who keep, read, recite expound or copy this sutra after my extinction, will be able to obtain twelve hundred merits of the mind. When they hear even a gatha or a phrase [of this sutra] with their pure minds, they will be able to understand the innumerable meanings [of this sutra]. When they understand the meanings [of this sutra] and expound even a phrase or a gatha [of thi sutra] for a month, four months, or a year, their teachings will be consistent with the meanings [of this sutra], and not against the reality of all things. When they expound the scriptures of non-Buddhist schools, or give advice to the government, or teach the way to earn a livelihood, they will be able to be in accord with the right teachings of the Buddha. They will be able to know all the thoughts, deeds, and words, however meaningless, of the living beings of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds each of which is composed of the six regions.

And in gathas…

Their minds will become pure, clear, keen and undefiled.
They will be able to recognize with their wonderful minds
The superior, mean and inferior teachings.
When they hear even a gatha [of this sutra],
They will be able to understand
The innumerable meanings of [this sutra].

When they expound [this sutra]
In good order according to the Dharma
For a month, four month or a year,
They will be able to understand at once
The thought of gods, dragons, men, yaksas, demigods,
And of all the other living beings
Inside and outside this world
Composed of the six region
Because they keep
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

They also will be able to hear and keep
The Dharma expounded to all living beings
By the innumerabl Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters Who are adorned with the marks of one hundred merits.

When they think over the innumerable meaning [of this sutra],
And endlessly repeat the expounding of those meanings,
They will not forget or mistake the beginnings and ends [of quotations]
Because they keep the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

They will see the reality of all things.
Knowing the position [of this sutra in the series of sutras], And the names and words [of this sutra], according to the meanings of it.
They will expound [this sutra] as they understand it.

They will expound the Dharma
Already taught by the past Buddhas.
Therefore, they will be fearless
Before the multitude.

The Daily Dharma from Nov. 10, 2015, offers this:

When they expound the scriptures of non-Buddhist schools, or give advice to the government, or teach the way to earn a livelihood, they will be able to be in accord with the right teachings of the Buddha.

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 dealt with the example of the propagation of the Lotus Sutra contained in the story of the 50th “good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this sutra” here and here, it’s time to move to the Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva­-Mahasattva:

The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merit of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind.

The Daily Dharma of June 4, 2016, offers this:

The Buddha gives this teaching in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another reminder that the practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not take us out of the world of conflict we live in. Instead, it helps us to use the senses we have, in ways we did not think were possible, to see the world for what it is. Merits in this sense are not status symbols. They are an indication of clarity, of our faculties not being impeded by anything that blocks their capacity.

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

Throughout the Lotus Sutra we hear of the role played by gods and other heavenly beings. This is probably one of the most “foreign” aspects of the teaching for me. It is also one of the things I most enjoy since it underscores the universal nature of the teaching and the position of the teaching in that universe. So for today I reiterate the response of the gods to the Buddha’s list of benefits everyone received upon hearing of his longevity.

When the Buddha said that these Bodhisattva-mahasattva had obtained the great benefits of the Dharma, [the gods] in heaven rained mandarava-flowers and maha-mandarava-flowers on the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees. They also rained those flowers on [the two Buddhas:] Many-Treasures Tathagata, who had passed away a long time ago, and Sakyamuni Buddha, both of whom were sitting on the lion-like seat in the stupa of the seven treasures. They also rained those flowers on the great Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees. They also rained the fine powder of the incense of candana and aloes [on them]. Heavenly drums automatically sounded wonderful and deep in the sky. [The gods] also rained thousands of heavenly garments and hung many necklaces made of pearls, mani gems or free-at-will gems over the nine quarters. They also burned priceless incense which was put in incense-burners of many treasures. The incense-burners automatically went around the great congregation, and the odor of the incense was offered to all the members of the congregation. Above each of the Buddhas [sitting under the trees], Bodhisattvas lined up vertically one upon another to the Heaven of Brahman, holding canopies and streamers. They praised the Buddhas, singing innumerable verses with their wonderful voices.