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

One after another, Subhuti, Great Katyayana and Great Maudgalyayana each receive assurances from Sakyamuni that they will become Buddhas in their future lives. Then he adds a blanket assurance:

The five hundred disciples of mine
Are powerful and virtuous.
They also shall be assured
Of their future Buddhahood.
They will become Buddhas
In their future lives.

The chapter ends by dangling this tidbit:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, opens with a description of infinity. It goes like this in gathas:

According to my remembrance,
There lived a Buddha, an Honorable Biped,
Called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence,
Countless kalpas ago.

Suppose someone smashed
All the earth-particles
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
Into ink-powder.

He went, [carrying the ink-powder with him,]
And inked a dot as large as a particle of dust
On the world at a distance of one thousand worlds.
He repeated the inking until the ink-powder was exhausted.

Suppose the worlds
Through which he went,
Whether they were inked or not,
Were smashed into dust.

It is innumerable kalpas,
More than the number
Of the particles of dust thus produced,
Since that Buddha passed away.

But perhaps just as important:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Sravakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhiksus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from asravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

The story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence’s enlightenment underscores the role played by gods, Brahman-heavenly-kings play and the four heavenly-kings play:

[Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Mara. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.

[Before he sat at the place of enlightenment,] the Trayastrimsa Gods prepared him a lion-like seat a yojana high under the Bodhitree so that he might be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi on that seat. When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.

[When he sat on that seat,] the four heavenly-kings beat heavenly drums, and the other gods made heavenly music and offered it to him. They continued these offerings also for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued these offerings until he passed away.

Before Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence left home, he had 16 sons. These sons act as a Greek chorus, urging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma:

You, the Hero of the World, are unequalled.
Adorned with the marks
Of one hundred merits,
You have obtained unsurpassed wisdom.
Expound the Dharma and save us
And other living beings of the world!

Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.

You, the World-Honored One, know
What all living beings have deep in their minds,
What teachings they are practicing,
And how much power of wisdom they have.

You know their desires, the merits they obtained,
And the karmas they did
In their previous existence.
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!

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

In the remainder of Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, Great Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, Maha-Katyayana and “the five hundred disciples of mine” received predictions of their future attainment of Buddhahood after making offerings to billions of Buddhas and completing the Way of Bodhisattvas.

The chapter ends with this teaser:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

That previous existence was a long, long time ago:

According to my remembrance,
There lived a Buddha, an Honorable Biped,
Called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence,
Countless kalpas ago.

Suppose someone smashed
All the earth-particles
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
Into ink-powder.

He went, [carrying the ink-powder with him,]
And inked a dot as large as a particle of dust
On the world at a distance of one thousand worlds.
He repeated the inking until the ink-powder was exhausted.

Suppose the worlds
Through which he went,
Whether they were inked or not,
Were smashed into dust.

It is innumerable kalpas,
More than the number
Of the particles of dust thus produced,
Since that Buddha passed away.

More important, given that time frame:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Sravakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence tried for ten small kalpas to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Gods and heavenly kings made offerings in order to help.

At the end of the period of ten small kalpas, the Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.

Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence had 16 sons before becoming a Buddha. Upon hearing their father had attained Buddhahood, the sons gave up their playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha. The sons praised the Buddha and urged him to Expound the Dharma:

You, the World-Honored One, know
What all living beings have deep in their minds,
What teachings they are practicing,
And how much power of wisdom they have.
You know their desires, the merits they obtained,
And the karmas they did
In their previous existence.
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!

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

Since today is Thanksgiving, I held over from yesterday the “meal of a great king” simile:

Great Hero, World-Honored One!
King of the Dharma of the Śākyas!
Give us your voice
Out of your compassion towards us!

If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.

Suppose a man came
From a country suffering from famine.
Now he saw the meal of a great king.
He did not partake of it in doubts and fears.
After he was told to take it by the king,
He took it at once.
We are like that man.
We know the defects of the Lesser Vehicle.
But we do not know how to obtain
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.

Although we hear you say [to us],
“You will become Buddhas,”
We are still in doubts and fears about it,
Just as that man was about the meal.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall be happy and peaceful.

In turn, the Buddha tells Subhūti he’ll attend on three hundred billion nayutas of Buddhas, and Kātyāyana on eight hundred thousand millions of Buddhas and then two billions of Buddhas and Maudgalyāyana eight thousand Buddhas and then two hundred billions of Buddhas. In the end, each “complete the Way of Bodhisattvas” and become Buddhas.

And Next on 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

Which leads us to Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City. The Buddha begins by telling of a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence who died at a time in past so distant that we might as well consider it infinitely long ago. Despite that distance:

Yet I remember [the extinction of] that Buddha by my power of insight as vividly as if he had passed away today.”

And in gāthās:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhikṣus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from āsravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

Back to the story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence.

The duration of the life of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha was five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas. [Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Māra. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.

Gods and heavenly kings offered help and “At the end of the period of ten small kalpas, the Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.” The Buddha had 16 sons who upon hearing of their father’s transformation “gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.” The sons offer praise of their father the Buddha:

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-āsravas.
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.

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

Following the Buddha’s senior disciples’ “meal,” the World-Honored One, “having understood the wishes of the great disciples,” went on to assure Subhūti, Kātyāyana, Maudgalyāyana and “the five hundred disciples of mine” are all assured of their future Buddhahood. None of this will happen soon; none of these disciples will become Buddhas in this saha world.

Using Maudgalyāyana’s example:

This Great Maudgalyāyana will make various offerings to eight thousand Buddhas, respect them, and honor them. After the extinction of each of those Buddhas, he will erect a stūpa-mausoleum a thousand yojanas high, and five hundred yojanas wide and deep. He will make it of the seven treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby. He will offer flowers, necklaces, incense applicable to the skin, incense powder, incense to burn, canopies, banners and streamers to the stūpa-mausoleum. After that he will make the same offerings to two hundred billions of Buddhas. Then he will become a Buddha called Tamālapattracandana-Fragrance, the Tathāgata, 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 will become that Buddha will be called Joyfulness; and his world, Mind-Happiness. The ground [of his world] will be even, made of crystal, adorned with jeweled trees, and purified with strewn flowers of pearls. Anyone will rejoice at seeing it.

The chapter concludes with this bit of tease from the Buddha:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City, opens with a discussion of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha who lived so long ago that it stretches the definition of finite to some place very close to infinite.

Of particular interest to me today was the role played by the gods in helping Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence gain enlightenment:

[Before he sat at the place of enlightenment,] the Trāyastriṃśa Gods prepared him a lion-like seat a yojana high under the Bodhi-tree so that he might be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi on that seat. When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.

[When he sat on that seat,] the four heavenly-kings beat heavenly drums, and the other gods made heavenly music and offered it to him. They continued these offerings also for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued these offerings until he passed away.

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Today Subhūti learned he “will see three hundred billion nayutas of Buddhas, make offerings to them, respect them, honor them, praise them, perform brahma practices, complete the Way of Bodhisattvas, and become a Buddha” called Beautiful-Form in the world Treasure-Born in the kalpa Having-Treasures.

Kātyāyana was assured that after making “offerings to eight hundred thousand millions of Buddhas, attend on them, respect them, and honor them in his future life” and build stupas of the seven treasures for each after their extinction and making offerings to those stupas and then making “the same offerings to two billions of Buddhas,” he will become a Buddha called Jāmbūnada-Gold-Light.

And Maudgalyāyana “will make various offerings to eight thousand Buddhas, respect them, and honor them. After the extinction of each of those Buddhas, he will erect a stūpa-mausoleum a thousand yojanas high, and five hundred yojanas wide and deep. He will make it of the seven treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby. He will offer flowers, necklaces, incense applicable to the skin, incense powder, incense to burn, canopies, banners and streamers to the stūpa-mausoleum. After that he will make the same offerings to two hundred billions of Buddhas. Then he will become a Buddha called Tamālapattracandana-Fragrance…”

Becoming a Buddha at the time the Lotus Sutra was preached was no mean feat. But no one was left out:

The five hundred disciples of mine
Are powerful and virtuous.
They also shall be assured
Of their future Buddhahood.
They will become Buddhas
In their future lives.

The chapter ends with a teaser for what is to come in Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

The stage for Chapter 7 is set with a description of how long ago “a countless, limitless, inconceivable, asaṃkhya number of kalpas ago” was. This is the period of time since a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence passed away.

Most important, though:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Keeping in mind that teaser “about my previous existence,” we learn that before Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi he had sixteen sons.

And so Day 10 ends, pregnant with speculation as to what’s to come.