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.