Back on May 19 I explained the addition of the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua to my “decorations” that line a corner shelf adjacent to my altar.

Working my way through the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua reminded me that I also have a copy of the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, who is represented among my “decorations” by a wooden Jizo Bosatsu figure. I decided to add that sutra behind Jizo. My wife thinks I’m going overboard, but I enjoy the symmetry.

On page 5 of the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, Śākyamuni says:

“Manjushri, the awesome spiritual vows of this Bodhisattva are inconceivable. If good men or women in the future hear this Bodhisattva’s name, praise him, behold or bow to him, call his name, make offerings to him, or if they draw, carve, cast, sculpt, or paint images of him, such people will be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three one hundred times and will never fall into the evil paths.”

And on pages 50-51:

The Buddha told the Bodhisattva Universally Expansive, “If, in the future, good men or good women, upon hearing Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahāsattva’s name, place their palms together, praise him, bow to him, or gaze at him in worship, they will overcome thirty eons’ worth of offenses.

Universally Expansive, if good men or women gaze upon and bow but once to painted or drawn images of the Bodhisattva or ones made of clay, or stone, or lacquer, or gold, or silver, or bronze, or iron, they will be reborn one hundred times in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and will eternally avoid falling into the evil destinies. If their blessings in the heavens come to an end and they are born in the human realm, they will become national leaders who suffer no loss of benefits.

I personally like the thought of such benefits, but that’s not my focus here. Instead, I look at the Bodhisattvas as exemplars to be emulated.

In Taigen Dan Leighton’s Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression, he writes:

In fully employing the bodhisattva figures as archetypes, we must also realize the tentative, artificial nature of archetypes. The archetypal aspects of the bodhisattva figures are helpful as patterns. We can feel a sense of what it might mean to behave and function as a bodhisattva ourselves by examining the fearless insight and eloquence of Mañjuśrī, the luminous helpful activity of Samantabhadra, the unmediated, unconditional generosity of Avalokiteśvara, the faithful witness of Jizō, the patience and loving concern of Maitreya, the clever, illuminating displays of Vimalakirti, and the selfless decision and determination of Siddhārtha Gautama. However, all of their kindness and efforts are only manifest and real when we see the bodhisattva figures not as theoretical or mythological, but as actualities expressed in our world.

Beyond all the archetypal patterns, the life of the bodhisattva is in ordinary, everyday activity. In simple acts of kindness and gestures of cheerfulness, bodhisattvas are functioning everywhere, not as special, saintly beings, but in helpful ways we may barely recognize. The bodhisattvas are not glorified, exotic, unnatural beings, but simply our own best qualities in full flower.

Jizo Bosatsu is next to the “Jeweled Vehicle” on the right end of my corner shelf of “decorations.”