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.

Last month I skipped the Chapter 9 and focused instead on the promises that open Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma. So this time around I’ll discuss Ananda, who is foremost in hearing the sutras.

After Sakyamuni tells Ananda he will be come a Buddha named Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, eight thousand Bodhisattvas “who had just resolved to aspire [for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi] in this congregation” wondered why the Sravakas were being assured of their future Buddhahood but nothing had been said as yet about the great Bodhisattvas.

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 Anuttara­samyak-sarnbodhi 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-saIT1bodhi], according to his original vow. Therefore, now he has been assured of his future Buddhahood.”

As I’ve pointed out in discussing this section before, the lesson here sure looks a lot like: Those who can do; those who can’t teach. No criticism is meant of the teachers of the Dharma, but putting the Dharma into practice makes the theoretical real.

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

Having focused last month on the The Parable of the Priceless Gem, I get to talk about Purna, the son of Maitrayani and foremost in expounding the Dharma. He is not what he seems, a Sravaka.

Although he had the supernatural powers of Bodhisattvas, he performed brahma practices throughout his previous existence. Therefore, the people of the world of the Buddha [under whom he performed brahma practices] thought that he was a Sravaka. He benefited many hundreds of thousands of living beings with this expedient, and also caused innumerable, asamkhya people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He did the work of the Buddha, that is, taught all living beings so that the world of the Buddha might be purified.

And in gathas:

Bhisus, listen to me attentively!
The Way practiced by my sons
Is beyond your comprehension
Because they learned how to employ expedients.

Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Sravakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.

Saying to the innumerable living beings, [for instance,]
“We are Sravakas.
We are far from the enlightenment of the Buddha,”
They save them, and cause them to attain [Sravakahoodl
Even the lazy people who wish to hear the
Lesser Vehicle Will become Buddhas with this expedient in the course of time.

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Sravakas.
They are purifying my world
Though they pretend to want little
And to shun birth-and-death.
In the presence of the people,
They pretend to have the three poisons and wrong views.
They save them with these expedients.
They change themselves into various forms.
If I speak of all their transformations,
The listeners will doubt me.

The remainder of the arhats who are promised future Buddhahood in this chapter all realize “we are Bodhisattvas in reality.”

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.

Last month, I started at the end of the chapter with Sakyamuni’s explanation of the Magic City created in the form of the teaching of Nirvana to give a rest to the travelers on the long and arduous road of birth and death.

Today, I’ll begin with the turning of the wheel by Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata:

The wheel of this teaching could not be turned by any other one in the world, be he a sramana, a brahmana, a god, Mara or Brahman. The Buddha said, ‘This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is extinction of suffering. This is the Way to extinction of suffering.’

Then he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, saying, ‘Ignorance causes predisposition. Predisposition causes consciousness. Consciousness causes name-and-form. Name­and-form causes the six sense organs. The six sense organs cause impression. Impression causes feeling. Feeling causes craving. Craving causes grasping. Grasping causes existence. Existence causes birth. Birth causes aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. When ignorance is eliminated, predisposition is eliminated. When predisposition is eliminated, consciousness is eliminated. When consciousness is eliminated, name-and-form is eliminated. When name-and-form is eliminated, the six sense organs are eliminated. When the six sense organs are eliminated, impression is eliminated. When impression is eliminated, feeling is eliminated. When feeling is eliminated, craving is eliminated. When craving is eliminated, grasping is eliminated. When grasping is eliminated, existence is eliminated. When existence is eliminated, birth is eliminated. When birth is eliminated, aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation are eliminated.’

As a result the great multitude of gods and men emancipated themselves because they gave up wrong views. But that wasn’t enough for the 16 princes.

They said to the Buddha simultaneously, ‘World-Honored One! All these Sravakas of great virtue, many thousands of billions in number, have already done [what they should do]. World-Honored One! Expound to us the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi! If we hear that teaching, we will study and practice it. World-Honored One! We wish to have the insight of the Tathagata. You know what we have deep in our minds.’ …

The Buddha assented to the appeal of the sramaneras, but it was twenty thousand kalpas afterwards that he expounded to the four kinds of devotees the sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

The influence of sons on their father is a recurring theme in the Lotus Sutra. I’ll save for next month the debt owed to the 16 young sramanera bodhisattvas.

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

Today is all about the light that suddenly illumines the universe after Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttarra-samyak-sambodhi:

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.

In yesterday’s post, the 16 princes introduce the idea that without the light of a Buddha fewer people go to heaven and more go to evil regions. This is idea is underscored by the Brahman-heavenly-kings of each of the 10 directions. As example, the great Brahman-­heavenly-king called Great-Compassion of the worlds to the southeast traveled to the world of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata and said to him:

Great Saint, turn the wheel of the Dharma
And reveal the reality of all things!
Save the suffering beings
And cause them to have great joy!

If they hear the Dharma, some will attain enlightenment;
Others will be reborn in heaven.
The living beings in the evil regions will decrease;
And those who do good patiently will increase.

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

I’ll again skip over the promises of Buddhahood for Subhuti, Great Katyayana, Great Maudgalyayana and “the five hundred disciples of mine, in order to look closer at the opening of Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Having been here before, I know that the previous chapter’s tease

“Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.”

involves 16 princes who were the sons of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha before his enlightenment and the grandsons of a wheel-turning-holy-king.

Each of the sons had various playthings. When the sons heard that their father had attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.

No expedient needed to get these princes to put down their toys. I’ll leave the importance of the princes for later and focus now on their statement after the “Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.”

Having come [to that Buddha], the princes worshipped him at his feet with their heads, walked around him, joined their hands together towards him with all their hearts, looked up at the World­-Honored One, and praised him in gathas:

In order to save all living beings,
You, the World-Honored One,
Who have great powers and virtues,
[Made efforts] for many hundreds of millions of years.
Now you have become a Buddha.
You have finally fulfilled your vows. Congratulations!

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
When you were sitting,
You were quiet and peaceful.
You did not move your body, hands or feet
For ten small kalpas.
Your mind was tranquil, not distracted.
You have finally obtained tranquil extinction.
You now dwell peacefully in the Dharma-without-asravas.

Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

You are the Most Honorable One.
You have obtained the peaceful Dharma-without-asravas.
Not only we but also all gods and men
Will be able to obtain the greatest benefit.
Therefore, we bow and devote ourselves to you,
The Most Honorable One.

Without a Buddha fewer people go to heaven and more people go to the evil regions.

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

The Simile of Herbs uses various kinds and sizes of plant life to show how those who receive the rain of the Dharma will reach various stages of enlightenment according to their capacities.

I always find the explanation of plants and corresponding living beings to be very interesting.

Those who live among gods and men,
Or those who live with a wheel-turning-holy-king,
Or with King Sakra or with King Brahman,
May be likened to the small herbs.

Those who know the Dharma-without-asravas,
Who attained Nirvana,
And who obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
May be likened to the middle herbs.
So may those who live alone in mountains or forests,
Who practice dhyana-concentrations,
And who attained the enlightenment of cause-knowers.

Those who seek the stage of the World-Honored One,
Who practice endeavors and concentration of mind,
And who wish to become Buddhas,
May be likened to the large herbs.

My sons [, that is, the Bodhisattvas]
Who seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha exclusively,
Who believe that they will become Buddhas definitely,
And who have compassion towards others,
May be likened to the short trees.

The Bodhisattvas
Who turn the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma
By their supernatural powers,
And who save many thousands of myriads
Of millions of living beings,
May be likened to the tall trees.

And later on:

Both the Sravakas and the cause-knowers,
Who live in mountains or forests,
Who have reached the final stage
of their physical existence,
And who have attained enlightenment by hearing the Dharma,
May be likened to the herbs
Which have already grown up.

The Bodhisattvas
Who resolve to seek wisdom,
Who understand the triple world,
And who seek the most excellent vehicle,
May be likened to the short trees
Which have already grown up.

Those who practice dhyana,
Who have supernatural powers,
Who have great joy
When they hear that all things are insubstantial,
And who save all living beings
By emitting innumerable rays of light,
May be likened to the tall trees
Which have already grown up.

Imagine, those “who live among gods and men” are just small hebs compared to the wheel-turning Bodhisattvas.

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

The Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son offers the sravakas’ view of why the Buddha needed expedients. As mentioned last month, they were happy to receive the unexpected gift from their “rich father.” But there was more than baseness that prevented them from receiving the treasure of their “rich father.”

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has asravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvana-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.

Satisfied with “a day’s pay” they needed to be coaxed to accept the treasure of the Buddha’s enlightenment.

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

Parable of the Burning House

Last month I focused on the new car sales pitch for the Lotus Sutra. This month I want to focus on the reason for the expedient teaching.

[I said:]
“To those who have little wisdom,
And who are deeply attached to sensual desires,
The Buddhas expound the truth that all is suffering.
Those [who hear this truth]
Will have the greatest joy that they have ever had.
The statement of the Buddhas that all is suffering
Is true, not false.
To those who are ignorant
Of the cause of all sufferings,
And who are too deeply attached
To the cause of suffering
To give it up even for a moment,
The Buddhas expound
The [eight right] ways as expedients.

The cause of suffering is greed.
When greed is eliminated,
There is nothing to be attached to.
The extinction of suffering
Is called the third truth.
In order to attain this extinction,
The [eight right] ways must be practiced.
Freedom from the bonds of suffering[,]
[That is, from illusions] is called emancipation.”

From what illusions can one be emancipated, however,
[By the practice of the eight right ways]?
He can be emancipated only from unreal things
[That is, from the five desires] thereby.
He cannot be emancipated from all illusions.
The Buddhas say
That he has not yet attained
The true extinction
Because he has not yet attained
Unsurpassed enlightenment.
I also do not think that I have led him
To the [true] extinction thereby.

I am the King of the Dharma.
I expound the Dharma without hindrance.
I appeared in this world
In order to give peace to all living beings.

It is little wonder that in the next chapter, Understanding by Faith, the elders of the congregation – the men living the life of wisdom – are surprised by the One Vehicle teaching.

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.’

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Parable of the Burning House

As mentioned last month, the Buddha is plenty strong enough to save a person but to what end? No, it is necessary for each of us to save ourselves. But first we need to realize we are in a burning house surrounded by predatory demons and the most horrendous dangers.

[I thought, ‘] I am the father of the world. I eliminated fear, despondency, grief, ignorance and darkness. I obtained immeasurable insight, powers and fearlessness. I have great supernatural powers, the power of wisdom, the paramita of expedients, the paramita of wisdom, great compassion, and great loving-kindness. I am not tired of seeking good things or of benefiting all living beings. I have appeared in the triple world, which can be likened to the rotten and burning house, in order to save all living beings from the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, stupidity, darkness, and the three poisons, to teach all living beings, and to cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. I see that all living beings are burned by the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. They undergo various sufferings because they have the five desires and the desire for gain. Because they have attachments and pursuits, they have many sufferings in their present existence, and will suffer in hell or in the world of animals or in the world of hungry spirits in their future lives. Even when they are reborn in heaven or in the world of humans, they will still have many sufferings such as poverty or parting from their beloved ones or meeting with those whom they hate. Notwithstanding all this, however, they are playing joyfully. They are not conscious of the sufferings. They are not frightened at the sufferings or afraid of them. They do not dislike them or try to get rid of them. They are running about this burning house of the triple world, and do not mind even when they undergo great sufferings.[‘]

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable.

Last month I discussed the Buddha’s explanation to Sariputra that “I always taught you in order to cause you to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.” And, more important to today’s discussion, “In order to cause you to remember the Way you practiced under your original vow, I now expound to the Sravakas this sutra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ ”

I will confess to a certain perplexity at the Buddha’s description of Sariputra in the far, far distant future as a Buddha called Flower-Light.

Sariputra! Although the world in which he appears will not be an evil one, that Buddha will expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles according to his original vow. The kalpa in which he appears will be called Great-Treasure-Adornment. Why will it be called Great-Treasure-Adornment? It is because in that world Bodhisattvas will be regarded as great treasures. The number of the Bodhisattvas [in that world] will be countless, inconceivable, beyond any mathematical calculation, beyond inference by any parable or simile. No one will know the number except the Buddha who has the power of wisdom. When those Bodhisattvas wish to go somewhere, jeweled flowers will receive their feet and carry them. Those Bodhisattvas will not have just begun to aspire for enlightenment. A long time before that they will have already planted the roots of virtue, performed the brahma practices under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, received the praises of the Buddhas, studied the wisdom of the Buddhas, obtained great supernatural powers, and understood all the teachings of the Buddhas. They will be upright, honest, and resolute in mind. The world of that Buddha will be filled with such Bodhisattvas.

Why does the Buddha say Flower-Light Buddha “will expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles according to his original vow”? Why would he not teach the Lotus Sutra? And why would the world of this Sravaka-turned-Buddha be set up as a world where Bodhisattvas will be regarded as great treasures? This appears to be a prediction unique to Sariputra. Why?