The Voice of Wonderful Voice

Here [in Chapter 24] it might be relevant to remember that this display of light by Shakyamuni Buddha has happened in Chapter 1. There we learn that it has happened many times in the past, always signifying that the Buddha was about to preach the Dharma Flower Sutra. Should we assume that this meaning has simply been forgotten here? Or might it be the case that in the story of Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva the Dharma Flower Sutra is being preached in some way? But here its teaching is seen not so much as something oral or written, but as a kind of action. That is, Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva can be understood to be preaching or teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra not so much by words as by embodying it by taking on whatever forms are needed to help others. The voice of Wonderful Voice then, is wonderful not by being loud or beautiful but by being absent! His voice, in a sense, is his body, which takes on whatever form is needed by others.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p260