Chapter 28 teaches the four kinds of normative conduct appropriate to the Lotus Sutra: securing the protection of the Buddha, planting roots of goodness, joining a good congregation, and resolving to save all beings. It then teaches in various ways the protection of followers of the Lotus Sutra through the grace of the Bodhisattva Universal Sage (Samantabhadra), which in turn became Universal Sage’s vow to practice the faith.

The Lotus Sutra itself comes to an end here. Yet the Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva (which is in line with chapter 28 of the Lotus Sutra) immediately follows, and has been taken as the concluding sutra of the Lotus Sutra, just as the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings (in line with on the “innumerable meanings” found in chapter 1) was placed at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra and regarded as its opening sutra. The three sutras taken together are called “The Threefold Lotus Sutra.” The Contemplation of Universal Sage Sutra emphasizes the vow of Universal Sage to practice the faith, or the repentance part of his meditation on practice. The theory of reality repentance found in this sutra especially has received much attention. Reality repentance is the teaching that:

The whole ocean of hindrances from past actions
Arises from illusion.
If you want to repent, you should sit upright
And reflect on the true nature of things.
All sins are like frost and dew.
The sun of wisdom can dissipate them.

Here the key point has to do with meditation on emptiness. In other words:

What is sin? What is virtue? As the thought of self is itself empty, neither sin nor virtue is our master.

It recommends that:

You should recite the Great Vehicle
And meditate on the emptiness and formlessness of things . . .

The sutra itself calls this “repentance without Sin.”
This “repentance without sin” was later misunderstood to mean that there is neither sin nor evil. But originally it was based on being captivated by sin or evil, and it advocates getting rid of such captivation through meditation on emptiness. Tiantai Zhiyi created the Lotus samadhi or meditation on the basis of this reality repentance.

Chapter 27 tells a story about two princes who converted their father, a non-Buddhist king, to faith in the Lotus Sutra. These words are often quoted from it:

A buddha is as difficult to meet as an udumbara flower, or as a one-eyed tortoise meeting the hole in a floating log.

Chapter 26 teaches incantations (dharani) for the protection of the followers of the Lotus Sutra. The word dharani is translated into Japanese as “remembering all” (for the power of maintaining everything in memory), as “ability to hold” (for firmly keeping good teachings), and as “ability to block” (for firmly insulating oneself from bad teachings). Dharani, regarded as having efficacious power, are a kind of incantation, and are products of esoteric Buddhist thought.

The name “Mother of Demon Children” appears in this chapter. She swears to try to protect the followers of the Lotus Sutra. According to legend, she was originally a demon who snatched children and ate them, but after being admonished by the Buddha was transformed into a deity who protected children. The appearance of the name in this chapter provided an opportunity for faith in Mother of Demon Children to become popular within the Nichiren school.

If anyone resists our incantations
And makes trouble for a Dharma preacher,
Their heads will split into seven pieces. …

Good, good, if you can protect those who receive and keep even the name of the Dharma Flower Sutra, your blessings will be immeasurable.

People have often recited passages such as these. These phrases, the dharani, and Mother of Demons were all used to promote a kind of faith that is beneficial for combating calamity and inviting good fortune in this world.

Chapter 25, “The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World,” attracted so much respect among people that it became an independent sutra. Here Avalokiteshvara personifies the illumination of the entire world, perceiving it and responding with saving help. According to this chapter, it is possible to be rescued from the seven dangers—fire, water, people-eating demons, swords, demons, torture, and robbery— by chanting the name of the bodhisattva. One can also remove the three poisons—greed, anger, and stupidity. And those wanting to have a baby boy or a baby girl will be able to by doing the same.

In order to save people, Avalokiteshvara transforms himself into thirty-three different bodies according to people’s desires and capacity to understand—an act that symbolizes the bodhisattva’s infinite compassion. In brief, “this bodhisattva can confer fearlessness on living beings.” As one who confers fearlessness, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva removes peoples’ fears. That is, the purpose of this chapter is to encourage people to try to live their lives in faith without fear.

Chapter 24 uses the model of bodhisattva Wonderful Voice to describe the mental concentrations (samadhi) and divine powers of liberation that are acquired through faith. Here faith is meant to foster a kind of immovable and transcendent spirit drawn to involvement in the eddies of this changing world. The chapter emphasizes cultivating such an ability to be able to cope with this world as well as is possible.

Chapter 23 tells the story of a bodhisattva who burned his body and, in a later incarnation, burned his arms as offerings to the Buddha. The chapter praises the virtue of such actions. The term for burning one’s body as an offering comes from this story. The blessings of faith derived from this and the efficacy of such a faith are taught in this way:

Just like a clear, cool pool, it can satisfy all who are thirsty. Like fire to someone who is cold, like clothing to someone naked, like a leader found by a group of merchants, like a mother found by her children, like a ferry found by passengers, like a doctor found by the sick, like a lamp found by people in the dark, like riches found by the poor, like a ruler found by the people, like a sea lane found by traders, and like a torch dispelling the darkness, this Dharma Flower Sutra can enable all the living to liberate themselves from all suffering, disease, and pain, loosening all the bonds of mortal life.

And in the chapter we can find such words as:

If anyone is sick, when they hear this sutra their sickness will quickly disappear and they will neither grow old nor die.

We may think that faith gives a person strength and power to overcome life’s difficulties and physical illnesses, and the words above may be quoted for this purpose. Yet in later times such words were taken literally, and so people developed faith in the Lotus Sutra for the purpose of receiving worldly benefits.

However, the main idea of chapter 23 ultimately has to do with transcending mortal life—that is, they have to do with “cutting the bonds of life and death” and “defeating the armies of life and death.”

…blowing the conch of the Dharma and beating the drum of the great Dharma, save all living beings from the sea of old age, sickness, and death.

In chapter 21, the bodhisattvas, centering around Superior Practice Bodhisattva, are given the mission to propagate the Dharma (the “special entrustment”), and in chapter 22 this is extended to all the bodhisattvas (the general entrustment”). Those so entrusted make vows to dedicate themselves to following the Buddha’s orders and to working to embody the truth. “We will respectfully do all that the World-Honored One has commanded. Please, World-Honored One, do not worry about that.” A very similar vow can be seen in chapter 13.

When the Buddha’s entrustment orders were completed, the stage of the drama returned from the air to Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa on the ground, and those who received the mission distributed themselves around the Sahā world. The main story line of the Lotus Sutra ends here. The remaining six chapters are supplemental, yet the merits and efficacy of faith are emphasized and taught in various distinct ways in them. Thus, these chapters came to be highly regarded among the people.

In chapter 22, the Dharma is entrusted to all others. Thus, the entrustment in chapter 21 was later called a “special entrustment,” because it was directed only toward the bodhisattvas, such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva, who had welled up from the earth. The entrustment of chapter 22 was called the “general entrustment,” because it is directed to all others. Those who are entrusted with the Dharma swear to fulfill the mission of the Buddha.

Thus, the entrustment of the Buddha’s mission to bodhisattvas is completed and the Stupa of Abundant Treasures Buddha, which had been suspended in the air, returned to where it originally came from, the assembled embodiment buddhas of Shakyamuni returned to their respective lands, and the bodhisattvas returned to this actual Sahā world—generally a reiteration of the significance of being born into this world. This is how the curtain falls on the second group of chapters.

The special entrustment, general entrustment, and the like signify the transmission of the Buddha’s mission to those who put truth into actual practice, thereby propagating it in society. Such assurance symbolizes the paragon of Mahayana Buddhism and has a deep relationship with the Mahayana bodhisattvas.

In this context, we should think again about the location of the “Entrustment” chapter. This chapter is about entrusting the Dharma or the mission to others. It is placed last in all versions, except for the extant Sanskrit texts and Kumarajiva’s translation. In Kumarajiva’s translation it is located after chapter 21, “Divine Powers of the Tathagata.” After examining the content and title of the chapter, I think this location is proper, as the chapter brings a long story and the second group of chapters to a conclusion.