The White Lotus Of The Good Dharma

Thus have I heard at one time.56 The Bhagavān was dwelling on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha together with a great saṅgha of twelve hundred bhikṣus,57 all of whom were solely arhats whose defilements had ceased; who were without kleśas; who had mastered themselves; who had liberated minds; who had completely liberated wisdom; who were noble beings;58 who were great elephants;59 who had done what had to be done; who had accomplished what had to be accomplished; who had put down their burden; who had reached their goals; who had ended engagement with existence; and who had liberated their minds through true knowledge, had perfectly attained all the powers of the mind, were renowned for their higher knowledge,60 [F.2.a] and were mahāśrāvakas.

1.�3

They were Brother Āj�āta�kauṇḍinya, Brother Aśvajit, Brother Vāṣpa, Brother Mahānāman, Brother Bhadrika, Brother Mahākāśyapa, Brother Uru�vilvā�kāśyapa, Brother Nadīkāśyapa, Brother Gayākāśyapa, Brother Śāriputra, Brother Mahā�maudgalyāyana, Brother Mahākātyāyana, Brother Aniruddha, Brother Revata, Brother Kapphiṇa, Brother Gavāṃpati, Brother Pilindavatsa, Brother Bakkula, Brother Mahākauṣṭhila, Brother Bharadvāja, Brother Nanda,61 Brother Upananda, Brother Sundarananda, Brother Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra, Brother Subhūti, Brother Rāhula, and other great śrāvakas; and the student Brother Ānanda; and also two thousand bhikṣus who were in training and had transcended training; and six thousand bhikṣuṇīs such as Mahāprajāpatī and bhikṣuṇī Yaśodharā, the mother of Rāhula, and her followers.

1.�4

Also present were eighty thousand bodhisattvas, all of whom were irreversible from great enlightenment; had attained retention; remained in great eloquence; turned the irreversible wheel of the Dharma; had attended many hundred thousands of buddhas; had planted the roots of merit with many hundred thousands of buddhas; [F.2.b] had praised many hundred thousands of buddhas whose bodies, speech, and minds were pervaded with love; and who were adept in entering the wisdom of the tathāgatas, had great wisdom, had fully realized the perfection of wisdom, were renowned in many hundreds of thousands of worlds, and had liberated many hundred thousands of hundred thousands of millions of beings. They were the bodhisattva mahāsattva Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva Mahā�sthāma�prāpta, the bodhisattva Sarvārthanāman, the bodhisattva Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva Anikṣiptadhura, the bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja, the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajya�samudgata, the bodhisattva Vyūharāja, the bodhisattva Pradānaśūra, the bodhisattva Ratnacandra, the bodhisattva Ratnaprabha, the bodhisattva Pūrṇacandra, the bodhisattva Mahāvikrāmin, the bodhisattva Anantavikrāmiṇ, the bodhisattva Trailokya�vikrāmiṇ, the bodhisattva Mahāpratibhāna, the bodhisattva Satata�samitābhiyukta, the bodhisattva Dharaṇīdhara, the bodhisattva Akṣayamati, the bodhisattva Padmaśrī, the bodhisattva Nakṣatrarāja, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, and the bodhisattva mahāsattva Siṃha. Also present were the sixteen excellent men, such as Bhadrapāla. They were Bhadrapāla, Ratnākara, Susārthavāha, Naradatta,62 Guhyagupta, Varuṇadatta, Indradatta, Uttaramati, [F.3.a] Viśeṣamati, Vardhamānamati, Amoghadarśin, Susaṃprasthita, Su�vikrānta�vikrāmiṇ, Anupamamati, Sūryagarbha, and Dharaṇīṃdhara.

These and the other eighty thousand bodhisattvas were present there.

1.�5

Also present was Śakra, the lord of the devas, with his retinue of twenty thousand devas, such as the deva Candra, the deva Sūrya, the deva Samantagandha, the deva Ratnaprabha, the deva Avabhāsaprabha, and the rest of the twenty thousand devas.

Also present were the four mahārājas and their retinue of thirty thousand devas: Mahārāja Virūḍhaka, Mahārāja Virūpākṣa, Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Mahārāja Vaiśravaṇa, the deva Īśvara, the deva Maheśvara, and a retinue of thirty thousand devas.

1.�6

Also present were Brahmā, the lord of the Sahā world realm, with a retinue of twelve hundred Brahmakāyika devas: the brahmā Śikhin, the brahmā Jyotiṣprabha, and the rest of the one thousand two hundred Brahmakāyika devas.

Also present were the eight nāga kings‍�the nāga kings Nanda, Upananda, Sāgara, Vāsuki, Takṣaka, Manasvin, Anavatapta, and Utpalaka‍�together with a retinue of many trillions of nāgas.

1.�7

Also present were the four kinnara kings‍�the kinnara king Druma, the kinnara king Mahādharma, the kinnara king Sudharma, and the kinnara king Dharmadhara‍�together with a retinue of many trillions of kinnaras.

Also present were devas who were of the four classes of gandharvas‍�Manoj�a, Manoj�asvara, Madhura, and the gandharva Madhurasvara‍�together with a retinue of many trillions63 of gandharvas.

1.�8

Also present were the four lords of the asuras‍�the asura lords Bali, Kharaskandha, Vemacitrin, [F.3.b] and Rāhu‍�together with a retinue of many trillions of asuras.

Also present were the four garuḍa lords‍�the garuḍa lords Mahātejas, Mahākāya, Mahāpūrṇa, and Maha�rddhi�prāpta‍�together with many trillions of garuḍas.

Also present was King Ajātaśatru of Magadha, the son of Vaidehī.

1.�9

At that time, the Bhagavān, surrounded by the fourfold assembly, was esteemed, honored, revered, respected, offered to, praised, and venerated. He had taught the Dharma teaching of the great extensive sūtra called The Great Elucidation, which is an instruction for bodhisattvas that is possessed by all the buddhas.

Sitting cross-legged on that Dharma seat, he entered the samādhi named the state of infinite instruction; his body became motionless and his mind became motionless.

1.�10

As soon as the Bhagavān entered that state there fell a rain of coral tree flowers, great coral tree flowers, and spider lily and great spider lily flowers,64 that fell upon the Bhagavān and his fourfold assembly. The whole buddha realm shook in six ways: it moved, moved strongly, quaked, quaked strongly, shuddered, and shuddered strongly. Then at that time the bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and upāsikās, the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, kings of regions, bala�cakra�vartins, and cakravartins of the four continents, together with their retinues who were gathered in that assembly, [F.4.a] were all gazing upon the Bhagavān with wonder, amazement, and joy.

1.�11

Then at that time, a light ray shone from the ūrṇā hair between the Bhagavān�s eyebrows into eighteen thousand buddha realms in the eastern direction. The light of that light ray pervaded all those buddha realms from the great Avīci hell up to the apex of existence. It illuminated all beings without exception in the six classes of existence in those buddha realms. It also illuminated the buddha bhagavāns who resided, lived, and remained in those buddha realms. The Dharma that those buddha bhagavāns taught was heard by all without exception.

1.�12

It illuminated in those buddha realms all the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, yogins, and yogācāras, both those who had attained the result and those who had not attained the result.

It illuminated in those buddha realms the bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas who practiced bodhisattva conduct through being skilled in methods, due to the many various ways of listening to the teachings, having objectives, and having aspirations.

It illuminated in those buddha realms the stūpas made of precious materials that contained the relics of the buddha bhagavāns who had passed into nirvāṇa.

1.�13

Then bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya thought, �Oh! The Tathāgata has shown this great miraculous sign. Why did the Bhagavān show this kind of great miraculous sign? The Bhagavān, while resting in this samādhi, [F.4.b] has revealed these kinds of inconceivable, marvelous, amazing, great miracles. Who can answer my question as to what this means? This Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta has served previous jinas, has planted the roots of merit, and has attended many buddhas. This Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta has also previously seen this kind of sign from past tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas, and he has previously heard numerous accounts of the great Dharma. I should ask Ma�juśrī.�

The bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and upāsikās, and the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans saw this light that was the great miraculous sign of the Bhagavān and were amazed, astonished, and intrigued.

1.�14

They thought, �Whom shall we ask about this great miraculous sign revealed by the Bhagavān?�

Then the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya instantaneously knew the thoughts in the minds of the fourfold assembly, and inquired of Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta, �Ma�juśrī, what was the cause and what the reason for the Bhagavān manifesting this wonderful illumination through a marvelous, astonishing, miraculous light that revealed these eighteen thousand beautiful, supremely beautiful buddha realms, among which are the tathāgatas and also the followers of the tathāgatas?�

1.�15

The bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya then spoke these verses to Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta: [F.5.a]

�Ma�juśrī, for what reason

Did this guide of men emit this single ray of light,

This greatly illuminating light

From the ūrṇā hair between his eyebrows? {1}

1.�16

�The rejoicing devas sent down

A great rain of sandalwood powder,

Divine, delightful perfumes,

And coral tree and spider lily flowers. {2}

1.�17

�They beautified this entire earth

And this fourfold retinue was filled with joy.

This entire realm shook terrifyingly

In six different ways. {3}

1.�18

�The light ray in the eastern direction

Filled eighteen thousand realms.

Those beautiful realms, the color of gold,

Were all illuminated in an instant. {4}

1.�19

�All the beings that are in those realms

From Avīci up to the highest existence,

Those who are in the six classes of beings,

Who pass away and are reborn in them, {5}

1.�20

�And also their various kinds of karma,

Their happy and unhappy existences are visible.

The good, the bad, and similarly the neutral,

Have all been seen by those who are present here. {6}

1.�21

�I see the buddhas, the lion-like lords of humans,

Teaching and revealing the Dharma,

Giving teachings to many millions of beings,

Speaking in verses with melodious voices. {7}

1.�22

�Each in their own realm gives forth

Their profound, vast, and marvelous speech.

They are teaching this Buddhadharma

Through trillions of parables and reasons. {8}

1.�23

�They teach the ultimate peace of nirvāṇa

To those beings that are afflicted by suffering,

Who are weary of birth and aging, and have no knowledge,

Saying, �Bhikṣus, this is the end of suffering.� {9}

1.�24

�They teach the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna,65

Describing this way of the Dharma

To those humans who have attained vast power,

Who have reached it through merit and seeing the buddhas. {10}

1.�25

�Also, they praise enlightenment

To those who are the offspring of the sugatas,

Who are seeking for the highest wisdom,

And accomplish various activities throughout all times. {11}

1.�26

�Ma�jughoṣa, while I am present here [F.5.b]

I see and hear such things that are there.

I shall describe merely an indication

Of billions66 of other different perceptions. {12}

1.�27

�I see within those many realms

Bodhisattvas as numerous as the Ganges sands.

They number not less than a thousand million

And give rise to enlightenment through various kinds of diligence. {13}

1.�28

�Some in that way give away gifts

Of wealth, money, gold, and silver;

Pearl jewelry, mother of pearl,67 and coral;

Male slaves, female slaves, chariots, horses, and sheep. {14}

1.�29

�Similarly, with a joyful mind they give

The gifts of palanquins adorned with jewels,

Dedicating this toward supreme enlightenment,

Saying, �May we attain that yāna!�68 {15}

1.�30

�Through this kind of giving of gifts

May I also quickly become one who has attained

That unique supreme yāna within the three realms,

Which is the Buddhayāna praised by the sugatas. {16}

1.�31

�Some of them similarly make gifts

Of chariots that are drawn by four horses,

With seats adorned by flowers and banners,

With flags of victory made of precious materials. {17}

1.�32

�Some give their sons and similarly their wives,69

And some give their own beloved flesh,

And, seeking this highest enlightenment,

They give their hands and feet when requested. {18}

1.�33

�Some give their heads and some their eyes,

And some give their perfect bodies.

They give these gifts with a serene mind,

Intent upon the wisdom of the tathāgatas. {19}

1.�34

�Ma�juśrī, I have seen some

Who forsake their prosperous kingdoms,

Giving up their harems, and likewise

All continents and all ministers and relatives. {20}

1.�35

�They come before the guides of the worlds

And for the highest peace they ask about the Dharma.

They put on the saffron robes

And shave off their hair and moustaches. {21}

1.�36

�I see some bodhisattvas

Who are bhikṣus living in the forests,

Dwelling in empty, solitary places,

Delighting in reciting the teachings. {22}

1.�37

�I see some bodhisattvas [F.6.a]

Who are dwelling resolutely in the mountains,

Meditating on this wisdom of the buddhas,

Contemplating it and observing70 it. {23}

1.�38

�Some give up all sensory pleasures

And meditate while having pure conduct.

Having developed the five higher knowledges

These children of the sugatas live in solitude. {24}

1.�39

�Some resolute ones, standing with legs together,

Join their palms in homage before the guides.

Feeling joy, with thousands of verses,

They praise the king who is the Lord of Jinas. {25}

1.�40

�Some who are fearless, mindful, and tamed

Are endowed with the wisdom of subtle conduct.

They ask the lords of humans about the Dharma,

And having listened to it, they become holders of the Dharma. {26}

1.�41

�I see some children of lords of jinas

In meditation here and there,

Teaching the Dharma to many millions of beings,

With many millions of parables and reasons. {27}

1.�42

�They are joyfully teaching the Dharma

And are inspiring many bodhisattvas.

They vanquish the māras with their armies and chariots,71

And they are loudly beating the drum of the Dharma. {28}

1.�43

�I see some who follow the teaching of the sugatas,

To whom humans, maruts, yakṣas and rākṣasas make offerings.

These children of the sugatas are not astonished,

Have no pride, are peaceful, and have peaceful conduct. {29}

1.�44

�They are primarily living in forests, but also

Their bodies are shining with light

That brings beings out from the hells

And also inspires them toward enlightenment. {30}

1.�45

�Some children of the jinas are maintaining diligence,

Forsaking completely all sleep.

Wandering around, living in forests,

Through diligence they are established in the highest enlightenment. {31}

1.�46

�Some are maintaining unimpaired, correct conduct

That is always as pure as a precious jewel.

Some have completely perfect conduct

And through conduct are established in the highest enlightenment. {32}

1.�47

�Some children of the jinas have the power of patience;

They have patience toward proud, aggressive72 bhikṣus, [F.6.b]

And similarly patience toward abuse and threats.73

Through patience they are established in the highest enlightenment. {33}

1.�48

�I see some bodhisattvas

Who forsake all delight in amusements.

They forsake foolish companions

And are steadfast in delighting in the company of noble ones. {34}

1.�49

�Having forsaken the mind�s distractions

They practice meditation with a one-pointed mind

For billions of years in forests and in mountains,

And through meditation are established in the highest enlightenment. {35}

1.�50

�And similarly there are those who give gifts

Of food and drink‍�both hard food and soft food‍�

And medicine for illness, not a little but a great amount,

Directly to the jinas and their saṅghas of students. {36}

1.�51

�They give thousands of millions of robes

Of the value74 of millions of millions.

They give robes with priceless value

Directly to the jinas and their saṅghas of students. {37}

1.�52

�They create billions of monasteries

Made from jewels and likewise sandalwood,

Adorned by a plenitude of seats and beds

That they donate directly to the sugatas. {38}

1.�53

�Some give, as places for resting during the day,

Beautiful, pure parklands

With a variety of flowers and fruits

To the Supreme Being and his disciples. {39}

1.�54

�With a feeling of joy they are giving

Various different gifts such as these.

Having given them they strive for enlightenment with diligence

And through generosity are established in the highest enlightenment. {40}

1.�55

�Some are teaching the Dharma of peace

Through many trillions of parables and reasons;

They are teaching billions of beings

And through knowledge are established in the highest enlightenment. {41}

1.�56

�Knowing the Dharma that is without activity,

They have entered nonduality, which is the same as space.

The children of the sugatas who are without attachment,

Through wisdom are established in the highest enlightenment. {42}

1.�57

�I see others,75 Ma�jughoṣa, following the teachings

Of sugatas who have passed into nirvāṇa. [F.7.a]

Many resolute bodhisattvas appear

Who honor the relics of the jinas. {43}

1.�58

�I see thousands of millions of stūpas,

As numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

They continually adorn millions of realms

And are created because of the children of the jinas. {44}

1.�59

�Thousands of millions of parasol standards

Made of the seven precious materials are erected.

In height they are five thousand yojanas

And their circumference is two thousand yojanas. {45}

1.�60

�Always with beautiful banners of victory

And the constant sound of bells and little bells,76

Humans, maruts, rākṣasas, and yakṣas make offerings

With flowers, perfumes, and similarly with music. {46}

1.�61

�The children of the sugatas are those who cause

These kinds of offerings to be made to the relics of the jinas,

Just as the blossoming coral trees

Beautify the ten directions. {47}

1.�62

�I and many millions of beings

Present here have seen all that;

The Jina, with this single light ray from his visage,

Has made this world and its devas blossom. {48}

1.�63

�Oh! The vast immaculate wisdom‍�

Oh! Of the powerful Supreme Being‍�

The one who today emitted a single light ray

And revealed many thousands of realms! {49}

1.�64

�We are amazed to have seen such a sign

As this, which is marvelous and immeasurable.

Tell us, Ma�jusvara, the meaning of this sign

And eliminate77 the doubts of the bodhisattvas.78 {50}

1.�65

�This delighted fourfold retinue

Is looking at you, hero, and at me.

Why did this Sugata today

Emit this kind of light?79 {51}

1.�66

�You, son of the sugata, give an explanation

That will bring joy and dispel doubt.

For what reason has there been

This emission of a vast light ray?80 {52}

1.�67

�Lord of the World, will you teach

The supreme qualities attained by the Sugata,

The supreme being, at the Bodhimaṇḍa?

Bodhisattva, will you explain them? {54}

1.�68

�The many thousands of revealed realms [F.7.b]

Are adorned by various brilliant jewels,

And buddhas with infinite vision are revealed.

This certainly has no little81 cause.� {55}

1.�69

Maitreya thus questioned the son of the Jina

To the delight of the humans, maruts, yakṣas, and rākṣasas.

The fourfold assembly waited there

For the explanation that Ma�jusvara would give. {56}

1.�70

Then Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta said to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya and the complete assembly of bodhisattvas, �Noble sons, the Tathāgata�s intention is to relate a great Dharma teaching.

�Noble sons, the Tathāgata�s intention is to send down a great Dharma rain, to sound the great Dharma drum, to erect the great Dharma banner, to light the great Dharma lamp, to blow the great Dharma conch, and to beat the great Dharma bherī drum.82 Noble sons, that is the intention the Tathāgata has formed today.

1.�71

�Noble sons, from previous tathāgatas there has come illumination with a light ray like this, and I think that just as it was revealed to me,83 just as I have seen an omen of this kind in the past from previous tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas, this tathāgata, too, intends to give a great Dharma teaching, to make others hear a great Dharma teaching, and has therefore created such an omen. Why is that? The Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha has revealed a miraculous omen of this kind, this illumination from a ray of light, because he intends to teach the Dharma that is not in accord with the entire world.

1.�72

�Noble sons, I remember that in a past time, even further back beyond incalculable, numberless, immeasurable, inconceivable, vast, completely countless asaṃkhyeya eons ago, [F.8.a] at that time, in that era, there appeared in the world the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tamed beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Candra�sūrya�pradīpa.

1.�73

�He taught the Dharma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end; has excellent meaning and excellent words; and is unalloyed, complete, pure, perfected, and concerns pure conduct.

1.�74

�To the śrāvakas he taught the Dharma conjoined with the four truths of the āryas, and nirvāṇa as the ultimate goal, as well as the process of dependent origination, in order that they might transcend birth, aging, sickness, death, misery, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and distress.

1.�75

�To the bodhisattva mahāsattvas he taught the Dharma that commences with the highest, complete enlightenment conjoined with the six perfections, and concludes with omniscient wisdom.

1.�76

�Noble sons, subsequent to that tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa, there appeared in the world a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha who was also named Candra�sūrya�pradīpa.

1.�77

�Ajita, in this way there appeared sequentially tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas who had the same name, Candra�sūrya�pradīpa, and the same family and same clan, which means there were twenty thousand tathāgatas of the Bharadvājasa family.

�Ajita, from the first of those twenty thousand tathāgatas until the last of those tathāgatas they taught the Dharma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end; [F.8.b] has excellent meaning and excellent words; and is unalloyed, complete, pure, perfected, and concerns pure conduct.

1.�78

�To the śrāvakas they taught the Dharma that has the four truths of the āryas and dependent origination, so that the śrāvakas might transcend the troubles of birth, aging, illness, death, misery, wailing, suffering, and unhappiness, and conclude in nirvāṇa.

�To the bodhisattvas mahāsattvas they taught the Dharma that commences with the six perfections and the highest, complete enlightenment, and concludes with omniscient wisdom.

1.�79

�Ajita, in this way, when the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa was previously a young man living in the capital, who had not yet entered homelessness, he had eight sons. The names of those princes were Mati, Sumati, Anantamati, Ratnamati, Viśeṣamati, Vi�mati�samuddhāṭin, Ghoṣamati, and Dharmamati.

�Ajita, those eight princes who were the sons of Bhagavān Candra�sūrya�pradīpa had great miraculous powers. Each one of them acquired and possessed four great continents and was the king of them. When they knew that the Bhagavān had abandoned the capital and heard that he had attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, they forsook all royal enjoyments and followed the Bhagavān into homelessness, and they all became dedicated to the highest, complete enlightenment and became dharmabhāṇakas. Those princes constantly maintained celibacy and planted roots of merit with many hundreds of thousands of buddhas.

1.�80

�Ajita, when the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa [F.9.a] had taught the Dharma teaching of the great extensive sūtra called The Great Elucidation, which is an instruction for bodhisattvas that is possessed by all the buddhas, then at that time, at that instant, that very moment, among that gathered assembly, sitting cross-legged upon the great Dharma seat, he rested in meditation in the samādhi named the basis of infinite elucidation; his body became motionless and his mind became motionless.

1.�81

�As soon as the Bhagavān rested in meditation there fell onto the Bhagavān a great rain of coral tree flowers, great coral tree flowers, spider lily flowers, great spider lily flowers, and divine flowers, which were scattered upon the Bhagavān and his assembly.

�The complete buddha realm shook in six ways: it moved, moved strongly, quaked, quaked strongly, shuddered, and shuddered strongly. Then at that time the bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, the upāsakas and upāsikās, the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, kings of regions, cakravartins, and cakravartins of the four continents, together with their retinues who were gathered in that assembly, were all gazing upon the Bhagavān with wonder, amazement, and joy.

1.�82

�Also at that time, a light ray shone from the ūrṇā hair between the Bhagavān�s eyebrows to twenty thousand buddha realms in the eastern direction. The light of that light ray pervaded all those buddha realms. Ajita, it was just like how these buddha realms are illuminated now. [F.9.b]

�Ajita, at that time, there were two hundred million bodhisattvas among the Bhagavān�s followers; those who were listening to the Dharma in that assembly saw the world illuminated by the radiance of that great light ray and were amazed, astonished, and intrigued.

1.�83

�Ajita, at that time, in that Bhagavān�s teaching there was a bodhisattva mahāsattva named Varaprabha who had eight hundred students. The Bhagavān arose from that samādhi and taught the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, first to the bodhisattva Varaprabha. For sixty whole intermediate eons he taught while sitting on the one seat with a motionless body and a motionless mind. The entire assembly also remained seated on the same seats with motionless bodies and motionless minds, listening to the Dharma from the Bhagavān for sixty eons. There was not a single being within that assembly who became fatigued and there were none whose minds became wearied.

1.�84

�When the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa had taught for sixty intermediate eons the Dharma teaching of the great extensive sūtra called The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, which is an instruction for bodhisattvas that is possessed by all the buddhas, then in that moment he announced his parinirvāṇa in front of the world with its many beings, including devas, māras, and Brahmā. He said, �Bhikṣus, tonight at midnight the tathāgata will pass away into the state of nirvāṇa that has no remainder of the skandhas.�

1.�85

�Then, Ajita, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa gave the prophecy of the highest, complete enlightenment to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Śrīgarbha84 [F.10.a] and declared to the assembly, �Bhikṣus, this bodhisattva mahāsattva Śrīgarbha will after me attain the highest, complete enlightenment and become the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Vimalanetra.�

�Then, Ajita, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Candra�sūrya�pradīpa that evening at midnight passed away into the state of nirvāṇa that has no remainder of the skandhas. The bodhisattva mahāsattva Śrīgarbha took up the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma and for eighty intermediate eons taught the teaching of that bhagavān who had passed into nirvāṇa.

1.�86

�Ajita, the eight sons of that bhagavān, such as Mati, became students of the bodhisattva Śrīgarbha. He ripened them for the highest, complete enlightenment. Subsequently they all saw a hundred thousand quintillion buddhas, honored them, and attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. The last of them became the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Dīpaṃkara.

1.�87

�One of the eight hundred students yearned for gain, yearned for honor, yearned for prestige, and desired fame, so the words and letters that had been taught did not engross him or take root in him. He became known as Yaśaskāma. Through the merit he had previously acquired, he pleased many quintillions of buddhas, and having pleased them he honored them, venerated them, respected them, made offerings to them, worshiped them, and revered them. [F.10.b]

1.�88

�At that time, Ajita, the bodhisattva Śrīgarbha was a dharmabhāṇaka. Do not have any doubt or uncertainty that he was someone else. Why is that? It is because at that time I was the dharmabhāṇaka Śrīgarbha. The bodhisattva Yaśaskāma had become lazy. Ajita, at that time, on that occasion, you were the lazy bodhisattva Yaśaskāma.

�Ajita, when in this teaching I saw the light ray of this kind that was the Bhagavān�s omen, I thought that the Bhagavān intended to teach the great extensive sūtra, the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

1.�89

Then Ma�juśrī Kumārabhūta taught that meaning extensively, at that time reciting these verses:

�I remember a time in the past,

Inconceivable, innumerable eons ago,

When there was a jina, a supreme being,

Whose name was Candra�sūrya�pradīpa.85 {57}

1.�90

�That guide of beings taught the good Dharma

And guided countless millions of beings.

He established many countless billions

Of bodhisattvas in wisdom.86 {58}

1.�91

�When that guide had been a prince,

He had eight sons at that time.

When they saw the great muni�s renunciation

They gave up all desires and themselves became renunciants. {59}

1.�92

�That lord of the world taught the Dharma,

The Supreme Infinite Teaching Sūtra.

It was also named The Very Extensive Sūtra,

And he taught it to billions of beings. {60}

1.�93

�As soon as that guide had taught

He sat cross-legged, and in that instant

The best of munis, sitting on the Dharma throne,

Meditated in the samādhi of the supreme infinite teaching. {61}

1.�94

�There fell a rain of divine flowers and coral tree flowers,

There was the sound of drums without drums being beaten,

And devas and yakṣas were present in the sky,

Making offerings to the supreme human. {62} [F.11.a]

1.�95

�At that moment the entire world shook.

There was then this wonder and marvel:

The Guide emitted a single, very beautiful

Ray of light from between his eyebrows. {63}

1.�96

�That ray of light shone into the east

And illuminated and beautified all the worlds

In the entirety of eighteen thousand realms,

Revealing the deaths and births of beings. {64}

1.�97

�Some realms that were made of jewels,

And some that were the color of beryl,

And various beautiful realms were revealed

Through the power of the Guide�s light ray. {65}

1.�98

�The devas and humans, the yakṣas and nāgas,

The apsarases, gandharvas, and kinnaras

Who were engaged in offering to the Sugata,

Were revealed to also be offering in those realms. {66}

1.�99

�The self-arisen buddhas themselves were visible,

As beautiful as pillars of gold.

Like gold in the midst of beryls,

They taught the Dharma in the midst of their followers. {67}

1.�100

�The śrāvakas there were beyond number;

Those śrāvakas of the sugatas were numberless.

All in each of those realms of those guides87

Were made visible by the light of the light ray. {68}

1.�101

�Children of the lords of men were revealed

Who were residing and practicing in the mountains,

Who were diligent, with unimpaired conduct,

Had faultless conduct, and were like precious jewels. {69}

1.�102

�Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Were all revealed by that light ray.

They had given away all their possessions,

Were resolute, had the power of patience, and delighted in meditation. {70}

1.�103

�The heart children of the sugatas were revealed;

They were immovable and unshakable,

Patient, delighting in meditation, and resting in samādhi,

Established through meditation in the highest enlightenment. {71}

1.�104

�Those at the level of true peace, who were without defilements

And who had great knowledge, were revealed.

They also taught the Dharma in many worlds,

Having such an activity through the power of the sugatas. {72}

1.�105

�When the fourfold assembly of protectors

Saw this power of Candrārkadīpa,88

They all were filled with joy [F.11.b]

And asked each other, �What is this?� {73}

1.�106

�Not long after the humans, maruts, and yakṣas made offerings,

The Guide of the World arose from samādhi

And he said at that time these words to Varaprabha,

The wise dharmabhāṇaka bodhisattva: {74}

1.�107

� �You who are wise, who are the eyes and path for the world,

You who are a trustworthy holder of my Dharma,

You who have been a witness to my Dharma treasure,

Teach it so that it will be of benefit to beings.� {75}

1.�108

�The numerous bodhisattvas were heartened89 by this,

Were filled with joy, and praised and lauded him.

Then throughout an entire sixty intermediate eons

That jina taught the supreme Dharma. {76}

1.�109

�The supreme highest Dharma that the protector of the world

Taught while he was seated upon a single seat,

All of it was held by the son of the jina,

By the dharmabhāṇaka Varaprabha. {77}

1.�110

�That jina taught the supreme Dharma

And brought happiness to many beings.

Then on that day the guide declared

Before the whole world and its devas: {78}

1.�111

� �I have taught this method of the Dharma;

I have explained exactly the nature of the Dharma.

Bhikṣus, today is the time of my nirvāṇa‍�

It will be at midnight on this night. {79}

1.�112

� �Be dedicated to this my teaching,

Attentively, and with deep faith;

Even during the passing of a quintillion eons

It is difficult to find a jina, a great rishi.� {80}

1.�113

�As soon as they heard the word nirvāṇa

Spoken by that supreme human,

The many children of the Buddha were distressed

And they experienced the greatest suffering. {81}

1.�114

�The king, the lord of humans,

Reassured the countless millions of beings:

�Bhikṣus, do not be afraid of my nirvāṇa.

There will come a buddha after me. {82}

1.�115

� �This wise bodhisattva Śrīgarbha,

Who has realized the immaculate wisdom,

Will reach the highest, supreme enlightenment,90

And he will become the jina Vimalāṅganetra.�91 {83}

1.�116

�At midnight of that night, causes ended

And he was extinguished92 like a flame.

His relics were very extensive; [F.12.a]

There were endless quintillions of stūpas. {84}

1.�117

�The bhikṣus and likewise the bhikṣuṇīs

Who were established in the path to supreme enlightenment

And were dedicated to the teaching of that Sugata

Were not few, but were as numerous as the Ganges sands. {85}

1.�118

�At the time, the dharmabhāṇaka bhikṣu

Varaprabha, who held his teaching,

Taught the supreme Dharma of that teaching93

During the entirety of eighty intermediate eons. {86}

1.�119

�He had eight hundred students,

And he ripened all of them.

They saw many millions of buddhas

And they honored those great sages. {87}

1.�120

�During that time, they practiced appropriately

And then they became buddhas in many worlds.

One after another, according to their sequence,

They prophesied the next one�s supreme enlightenment. {88}

1.�121

�In that succession of buddhas

The last one was Dīpaṃkara,

The sage, supreme deva, revered by multitudes,94

Who guided ten billion beings. {89}

1.�122

�In the past, the Sugata�s son

Who taught the Dharma, Varaprabha,

Had a student who was idle and covetous

And desirous of gain and the prestige of knowledge. {90}

1.�123

�He had an overwhelming longing for fame

And wandered from town to town.

He thus received the entire recitation of the teaching

But at that time he had not grasped the teaching. {91}

1.�124

�He thus gained this name of Yaśaskāma,

Which became renowned everywhere.

And he, through having accomplished

This good karma95 that was adulterated,96 {92}

1.�125

�He served ten billion buddhas

And made vast offerings to them.

Through thus practicing appropriately

He has here seen Buddha Śākyasiṃha. {93}

1.�126

�He will here become one who is in his final lifetime

And will subsequently attain supreme enlightenment.97

He will become a bhagavān in the Maitreya family

And he will guide ten billion beings. {94}

1.�127

�You were the one who, in that way,

Was the person idle during the time

Of the teaching of that sugata who had passed into nirvāṇa,

And at that time, I was the dharmabhāṇaka. {95} [F.12.b]

1.�128

�I, through that cause and that basis,98

Have seen today the same kind of omen

As the celebrated omen of the wisdom,

Which I previously saw at that time. {96}

1.�129

�The constant Lord of Jinas with all-seeing eyes,

The Śākya emperor who has seen the ultimate truth,

Also has the wish to speak and to give

The supreme teaching that I heard at that time. {97}

1.�130

�That omen will today be fulfilled:

Śākyasiṃha will be establishing

The skillful method of the guides;

The seal on the nature of phenomena will be taught. {98}

1.�131

�Be dedicated, have good aspiration, and place palms together;

The compassion that benefits the world will be taught.

An endless rain of the Dharma will fall,

Which will please those who are established in the cause of enlightenment. {99}

1.�132

�Whatever doubts there may be,

Whatever uncertainty or vacillation

They will be eliminated in those born from wisdom,

In the bodhisattvas fixed upon enlightenment.� {100}

1.�133

This concludes �The Introduction,� the first chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.� [B2]

Chapter 2: SKILL IN METHODS

2.�1

Then the Bhagavān mindfully and knowingly arose from that samādhi. Having arisen from it, he addressed Brother Śāriputra.99

�Śāriputra, the wisdom of the buddhas, which is profound, difficult to see, and difficult to understand, has been realized by the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. It is difficult for all śrāvakas and pratyeka�buddhas to know. Why is that? Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have served many hundred thousand quintillions of buddhas; they have practiced for the highest, complete enlightenment with many hundred thousand quintillions of buddhas; they have followed them for a long time; they have been diligent; [F.13.a] they have obtained marvelous, amazing Dharma; and they know the Dharma that is difficult to know.

2.�2

�Śāriputra, it is difficult to know the true meaning of the teachings given by the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. Why is that? They teach the Dharma that they have understood themselves though a diversity of skillful methods, visions of wisdom, illustrations of causes and reasons, supports, expressions, and modes of communication. Through these skills in methods, they liberate this and that being, here and there, from attachment. Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have reached the perfection of great skill in methods and the highest vision of wisdom.

2.�3

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas are endowed with the wonderful dharmas100 of the strength of101 the unimpeded, unobstructed vision of wisdom, as well as the fearlessnesses, the unique qualities, the powers, the strengths, the aspects of enlightenment, the dhyānas, the liberations, the samādhis, and the samāpattis, and they teach a variety of Dharma teachings.

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have obtained that which is a great marvel. Śāriputra, it is enough to say just that. Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas have obtained that which is a supreme marvel.

2.�4

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas should teach the dharmas of the tathāgatas themselves,102 which are the dharmas that tathāgatas know.

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas teach all dharmas. The tathāgatas know all dharmas.

�They know103 what those dharmas104 are, the way they are, their characteristics and their nature just as those dharmas are, the way those dharmas are, the characteristics those dharmas have, and the nature of those dharmas.� [F.13.b]

2.�5

At that time, the Bhagavān then taught that topic in detail by speaking these verses:

�There have been countless great heroes

In the world with its maruts and humans,

But all those beings were unable to know

Those guides in their entirety. {1}

2.�6

�No one is able to know

The nature of their strengths,

Liberations, fearlessnesses,

Or the nature of the buddhas� other dharmas. {2}

2.�7

�In the past their practice

In the presence of millions of buddhas

Was profound and subtle,

Difficult to know and difficult to see. {3}

2.�8

�They practiced bodhisattva conduct

For countless millions of eons.

And I have perfectly seen

At the Bodhimaṇḍa its result. {4}

2.�9

�Like the guides in other worlds

I have the knowledge of it

In exactly the way that it is

And its exact characteristics. {5}

2.�10

�It cannot be taught.

Its description cannot be known,

Except by bodhisattvas

Who maintain aspiration for it; {6}

2.�11

�There are no other beings

Present in the worlds

To whom this Dharma is taught

And who know this teaching. {7}

2.�12

�The wisdom of the jinas is beyond the scope

Even of the śrāvakas following the knower of the world,

Who have served him well and been praised by the Sugata,

Whose defilements have ceased and who are in their last bodies. {8}

2.�13

�If all of those worlds were filled

With beings who were the same as Śāriputra

And they all in unison contemplated it

They would still not understand the wisdom of the sugatas. {9}

2.�14

�Even if those who were as wise as you

Were to fill all the ten directions,

And if all ten directions were also filled in that same way

By those who are my other śrāvakas, {10}

2.�15

�And if they all today in unison

Were to contemplate the Sugata�s wisdom,

Even all of them together would still not know

The extent of my limitless buddha wisdom. {11} [F.14.a]

2.�16

�If pratyeka�buddhas who are without defilements,

Have sharp faculties, and are in their last bodies

Were to fill all the ten directions

Like reeds or a stand of bamboo, {12}

2.�17

�And if they were in unison to contemplate

Just a fraction of my superior Dharma

For endless quintillions of eons,

They would still not understand its meaning. {13}

2.�18

�If the ten directions were to be filled

By bodhisattvas who have newly entered the yāna,

Those who have served many millions of buddhas

And many dharmabhāṇakas of the definitive meaning, {14}

2.�19

�If they filled all worlds like stands of bamboo

Uninterruptedly at all times,

And if for countless millions of eons

That are as innumerable as the Ganges sands {15}

2.�20

�They were in unison to contemplate,

With subtle wisdom thinking of nothing else,

The Dharma that the Sugata has directly perceived,

It would still be beyond the scope of their understanding. {16}

2.�21

�If bodhisattvas who are irreversible‍�

Not a few, but as numerous as the Ganges sands‍�

Were to contemplate this without a thought of anything else,

Even for them this would be beyond the scope of their knowledge. {17}

2.�22

�The jinas in the worlds in the ten directions

Who understand the profound and very subtle Dharma,

Who are free of thinking and whose defilements have ceased,

Have for a long time been teaching this highest meaning. {18}

2.�23

�Those jinas, those great sages teach nothing else

Than exactly this kind of knowledge that I have.

Śāriputra, you should have complete aspiration

For that which the tathāgatas are teaching. {19}

2.�24

�I instruct all of these śrāvakas,

Those who are pratyeka�buddhas,

And those I have brought to nirvāṇa,

To liberate them from the continuity of suffering. {20}

2.�25

�I teach many dharmas in the world

So that here and there I bring liberation from attachment.

I give the teaching of the three yānas,

Which is my supreme skill in methods.� {21}

2.�26

In that assembly two hundred thousand great śrāvakas such as Āj�āta�kauṇḍinya, who were arhats, whose defilements had ceased [F.14.b] and who had attained power, and also bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who followed the Śrāvakayāna, and also those who followed the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna, all thought, �What is the cause and what is the reason why the Bhagavān has praised the skill in methods of the tathāgatas, and said, �This profound Dharma is the attainment of buddhahood� and �It is difficult for all śrāvakas and pratyeka�buddhas to understand it�? The Bhagavān has said there is but one liberation, and we have obtained the Buddha�s Dharma and we have attained nirvāṇa, and yet we do not know the meaning of what the Bhagavān has said.�

2.�27

Brother Śāriputra, knowing that the fourfold retinue was uncertain and in doubt, at that time said these words to the Bhagavān: �Bhagavān, what is the cause and what is the reason why the Bhagavān has in this way repeatedly praised the teaching of the Dharma of being wise in skill in methods, and repeatedly said, �I have realized this profound Dharma� and �It is difficult to know the intended meaning of the teaching�? I have never before heard this Dharma teaching from the Bhagavān. Also the fourfold retinue is uncertain and in doubt. What is the Tathāgata�s intended meaning? I request that the Bhagavān explain perfectly the profound Dharma of the tathāgatas, of which you have repeatedly spoken.�

2.�28

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited these verses: [F.15.a]

� �I have obtained countless strengths,

Liberations, and dhyānas�‍�

Sun of humans, for a long time today

You have spoken words of this kind. {22}

2.�29

�You are speaking about the Bodhimaṇḍa

Without anyone asking you to.

You are speaking about intended meaning

Without anyone asking you about it. {23}

2.�30

�Without anyone asking you to speak of it

You are praising your own conduct.

You speak of your attainment of wisdom

And you declare it to be profound. {24}

2.�31

�Those with power, whose defilements have ceased,

And those established in nirvāṇa

Are today in uncertainty,

Wondering what the Jina is saying. {25}

2.�32

�Those who are intent on pratyeka�buddhahood,

And the bhikṣus and likewise bhikṣuṇīs,

The devas, nāgas, and yakṣas,

And the gandharvas and mahoragas, {26}

2.�33

�They are uncertain, analyzing,

Talking among themselves,

And gazing at the supreme human.

Great sage, give us your elucidation. {27}

2.�34

�Within the teaching of the highest sage

I am supreme among the entirety

Of all the Tathāgata�s śrāvakas

Who are present here. {28}

2.�35

�And yet I am myself still uncertain,

Supreme human, of your point.

How conclusive is my nirvāṇa

Or the practice I have been taught? {29}

2.�36

�Emit the sound of the supreme drum

By relating the nature of this Dharma.

The heart children of the Jina are present here,

Gazing at the Jina with hands together in homage. {30}

2.�37

�There are devas and nāgas together with yakṣas and rākṣasas

In many billions, as numerous as the Ganges sands.

There are eighty thousand present of those

Who are intent upon supreme enlightenment. {31}

2.�38

�There are great monarchs, cakravartin kings

Who have come from billions of realms.

They have respectfully placed their hands together.

How can we make our practice perfect?� {32}

2.�39

When Śāriputra had thus spoken, the Bhagavān asked him, �Śāriputra,105 why should I teach this? What would be the reason? Śāriputra, if I were to teach the meaning of this, [F.15.b] it would alarm this world with its devas.�

Then Brother Śāriputra for a second time made his request to the Bhagavān, saying, �Bhagavān, I request that you teach this meaning. I request that the Sugata teach it. Why is that? Bhagavān, in this assembly there are many hundreds of beings, many thousands of beings, many hundred thousands of beings, many hundred thousand quintillions of beings, who have seen past buddhas and are endowed with wisdom, and they will have faith in the teaching of the Bhagavān, will have conviction in it, and will uphold it.�

2.�40

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited this verse:

�There are thousands of beings in this assembly

Who have faith in, delight in, and venerate the Sugata,

And they will understand the Dharma that you teach.

Therefore, king and lord of humans,106 I request that you clearly teach.� {33}

2.�41

Then the Bhagavān said a second time to Brother Śāriputra. �Śāriputra,107 if I were to teach the meaning of this it would alarm this world with its devas, and it would cause bhikṣus who have great pride to fall into a great abyss.�

2.�42

Thereupon the Bhagavān spoke this verse:

�I have taught enough of this Dharma.

This wisdom is subtle and cannot be analyzed.

There are many present who are foolish and proud.

They will not understand and will reject my teaching.� {34}

2.�43

Then Brother Śāriputra made a third request to the Bhagavān, saying, �I request that the Bhagavān teach. I request that the Sugata teach. Bhagavān, in this assembly there are many hundreds who are like me. Bhagavān, there are many hundreds of such beings, many thousands of such beings, many hundred thousands of such beings, many hundred thousand quintillions of such beings, and there are others who were ripened by the Bhagavān in their previous existences. [F.16.a] They will have faith in, have conviction in, and will uphold the Bhagavān�s teaching, and for a long time it will bring them benefit, welfare, and happiness.�

2.�44

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra recited these verses:

�Supreme human, teach the Dharma.

I, your senior son, make this request to you.

Here there are present billions of beings

Who will have faith in the Dharma you teach. {35}

2.�45

�These beings, who in their previous lives

You constantly ripened over a very long time,

Are all standing here with hands in homage.

They will have faith in this Dharma. {36}

2.�46

�There are twelve hundred here who are like me,

Who are established in the highest enlightenment.

Sugata, regard them and give your teaching

So that they will experience the highest happiness.� {37}

2.�47

Then the Bhagavān, knowing Brother Śāriputra had made this request for the third time, said these words to Brother Śāriputra: �Śāriputra, now that you have made this request to the Tathāgata three times, I have said what I had to say about your request. Therefore, Śāriputra, listen carefully and remember, for I will give you the teaching.�

2.�48

As soon as the Bhagavān had consented, more than five thousand arrogant bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās within that assembly rose from their seats, bowed down their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, and departed from the assembly. As a result of their arrogance they believed that they had obtained roots of merit when they had not obtained them, and believed they had realization when they did not have realization. They had become aware of their own error and departed from that assembly, the Bhagavān giving his permission to do so by remaining silent.

2.�49

Then the Bhagavān said to Brother Śāriputra, �Śāriputra, my assembly has become free of its dregs. [F.16.b] Śāriputra, it has become free of those who were worthless, while those for whom faith is essential remain. It is good that those who are arrogant have departed. Therefore, Śāriputra, I shall teach that meaning.�

�Excellent, Bhagavān!� Śāriputra replied, and he listened to the Bhagavān.

2.�50

�Śāriputra,� said the Bhagavān, �a tathāgata rarely teaches this kind of Dharma. Śāriputra, just as fig tree flowers rarely appear, a tathāgata rarely teaches this kind of Dharma. Śāriputra, believe me, I am speaking the truth. I am speaking correctly. I am not speaking otherwise.

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas� teaching that contains an inner meaning is difficult to understand. Why is that? Śāriputra, I teach the Dharma by using various definitions, expressions, and parables,108 using hundreds of thousands of different skillful methods.

2.�51

�Śāriputra, that Dharma109 cannot be analyzed. It is beyond the scope of sophists; it is what is known by a tathāgata. Why is that? Śāriputra, a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into the world in order to perform one deed, one action: a great deed and a great action.

�Śāriputra, what is a tathāgata�s one deed and one action, his great deed and great action, for which a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into the world? A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world for the sake of causing beings to acquire the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world [F.17.a] in order to reveal to beings the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will enter the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will realize the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. A tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha comes into this world in order that beings will enter the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

2.�52

�Śāriputra, a tathāgata appears in this world for that one deed and one action, for that one great deed and one great action, and with that one intention.

�Śāriputra, in that way a tathāgata accomplishes that one deed and one action, that one great deed and great action of the tathāgatas.110 Why is that? Śāriputra, I cause the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. I reveal the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause entry into the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom. Śāriputra, I cause entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

2.�53

�Śāriputra, I also I teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. There are no second or third yānas.

�Śāriputra, this is the true nature everywhere in all worlds in the ten directions. Why is that? Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas [F.17.b] who in the past have appeared in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions have known the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, they taught the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,111 supports, and skillful methods.112

2.�54

�Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas taught the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

�Śāriputra, all the beings who heard that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas in the past attained the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.�55

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas who in the future will appear in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions will also know the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, [F.18.a] they will teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,113 supports, and skillful methods.114

2.�56

�Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas will teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

�Śāriputra, all the beings who hear that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas in the future will attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.�57

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas who in the present have appeared in countless, innumerable worlds in the ten directions also know the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, they teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,115 supports, and skillful methods.116

2.�58

�Śāriputra, all those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. [F.18.b] It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

�Śāriputra, all the beings who hear that Dharma from those tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas will attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

2.�59

�Śāriputra, in that same way, I am a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha who knows the thoughts that are the various aspirations, natures, and intentions of beings. For the sake of many beings, for the benefit of many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and with compassion for the world, for the sake of a great number of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans, I teach the Dharma by using a variety of teachings on accomplishment, and various teachings on causes, reasons, parables,117 supports, and skillful methods.118

2.�60

�Śāriputra, I also teach the Dharma to beings through a single yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, ultimate omniscience. It is the teaching of the Dharma that causes the acquisition of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, reveals the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes entry into the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, causes the realization of the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom, and causes entry into the path to the vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom.

�Śāriputra, all the beings who now hear that Dharma from me [F.19.a] will also attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.

�Śāriputra, know that in this teaching there is no second yāna anywhere in any world in the ten directions, so how could there be a third?

2.�61

�However, when tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas appear during the degeneration of an eon, or when there is the degeneration of beings, degeneration through the kleśas, degeneration of view, or degeneration of lifespan, then, Śāriputra, when there is that turmoil119 of the degeneration of the era, many defilements, and beings have craving and few roots of merit,120 then, Śāriputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas with skill in methods teach that single Buddhayāna as a teaching of three yānas.

2.�62

�Śāriputra, those śrāvakas, arhats, and pratyeka�buddhas who do not listen to, do not engage in, and do not comprehend the activity of the tathāgatas that causes the acquisition of the Buddhayāna, you should know that they, Śāriputra, are not śrāvakas of the Buddha, and you should know that they are not his arhats or pratyeka�buddhas.

�Also, Śāriputra, those bhikṣus or bhikṣuṇīs who vow to become arhats do not possess the aspiration to the highest, complete enlightenment. They say, �I have cut myself off from the Buddhayāna; this is my last existence, my nirvāṇa.�

2.�63

�Śāriputra, know them to be arrogant. Why is that? Śāriputra, it is impossible that a bhikṣu arhat, whose defilements have ceased, who hears this Dharma in the presence of the Tathāgata, will be unable to have faith in it, unless it is after the Tathāgata�s nirvāṇa. Why is that? Śāriputra, at the time, after the Tathāgata�s nirvāṇa, [F.19.b] these śrāvakas will not preserve or teach121 this kind of sūtra.

2.�64

�Śāriputra, they will have no doubt concerning this Dharma teaching from other tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas. Śāriputra, have faith in me, trust in me, and have confidence122 in me.

�Śāriputra, the tathāgatas do not lie. This one yāna, Śāriputra, is the Buddhayāna.�

2.�65

At that time the Buddha taught this topic in detail by reciting these verses:

�The arrogant bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs,

Upāsakas, and upāsikās

Who are devoid of faith

Number no fewer than five hundred. {38}

2.�66

�Having impaired training,123

They saw this wrong of theirs,

And concealing their flaws,

The foolish ones departed.124 {39}

2.�67

�They do not have the good karma

For listening to this Dharma.

Knowing them to be the very dregs of this assembly

I, the Lord of the World, gave them leave. {40}

2.�68

�Those now present in my assembly

Are pure and free of the chaff.

All who are extraneous have departed

And these who remain are the essence. {41}

2.�69

�Listen to me, Śārisuta! The supreme beings,

The guides,125 the buddhas have taught

The perfect Dharma of the buddhas

With many hundreds of skillful methods. {42}

2.�70

�In that way I know the thoughts and the conduct

And the many aspirations of millions of beings,

And I know their various kinds of karma,

And the good actions they have previously accomplished, {43}

2.�71

�And I shall make those beings understand

Through various definitions and reasons,

And through hundreds of causes and parables,

And in those ways I will please beings.126 {44}

2.�72

�I teach through prose127 and likewise verse,

Histories, my previous lifetimes, accounts of miracles,

Prologues, hundreds of different analogies,

Prose put into verse, and similarly elucidations. {45}

2.�73

�I give the teaching of nirvāṇa to those

Who lack wisdom, who are attracted to inferior paths,

Who do not practice the way of the many millions of buddhas, [F.20.a]

Who are clinging to saṃsāra and suffer deeply. {46}

2.�74

�A self-arisen one performs this method

So that the wisdom of buddhahood may be realized.

But I have never said to them,

�You will become buddhas in this world.� {47}

2.�75

�Why is that? The Protector waits for an appropriate time,

And when he sees that time has come he teaches it.

That appropriate time has somehow arrived today

And that is why I shall teach the definitive truth. {48}

2.�76

�My teaching has nine aspects,

Which are taught according to the strengths128 of beings.

I teach with this method so that they will approach

The supreme gift that is wisdom. {49}

2.�77

�I give the teaching of the extensive sūtras

To those bodhisattvas129 who are always pure,

Who are wise,130 unsullied, and gentle,

Who have served many millions of buddhas. {50}

2.�78

�As their aspirations are fulfilled

And they have purity of conduct,

I say that they will be in a future time

Beneficial and compassionate buddhas. {51}

2.�79

�Hearing so, they all are filled with joy,

Thinking, �We will become buddhas, supreme among beings.�

And also, knowing their attitude,

I give them the teaching of the extensive sūtras. {52}

2.�80

�Those śrāvakas of the Guide who in this way

Have heard this teaching131 of mine,

They who have heard or retained even one verse,

Will all, without doubt, attain enlightenment. {53}

2.�81

�Apart from the skillful methods of supreme beings

Who give the teaching of separate yānas,

There is only one yāna; there is no second,

And there is never in the world a third. {54}

2.�82

�A lord of the world appears in the world

In order to teach the wisdom of buddhahood.

That is his one activity, there is no second:

The buddhas do not guide beings with a lesser yāna. {55}

2.�83

�A self-arisen one establishes beings

In that in which he is himself established:

In that very same buddhahood,

In the strengths, dhyānas, liberations, and powers. {56} [F.20.b]

2.�84

�If having attained preeminent, stainless enlightenment

I were then to establish even one being

In a lesser yāna, that would not be good:

I would have the fault of stinginess. {57}

2.�85

�I do not have the slightest stinginess;

I have no envy and no desire.

I have eliminated every bad quality.

I am a buddha and I understand beings. {58}

2.�86

�Just as the signs I am adorned by

Illuminate all these worlds,

I give the teaching of this seal of the Dharma�s nature

To the many hundreds of beings who are before me. {59}

2.�87

�This is what I think of, Śāriputra:

�How may all beings become

Possessed of a body with the thirty-two signs

And be self-luminous, self-arising knowers of the world?� {60}

2.�88

�Just as I saw and just as I thought,

And just as I resolved in the past,

My aspirations have been fulfilled

And I teach enlightenment and buddhahood.132 {61}

2.�89

�If, Śārisuta, I were to say to beings,

�Develop the desire for buddhahood,�

All who are ignorant would be bewildered133

And they would not follow my good advice. {62}

2.�90

�I have the knowledge of their nature;

They have not practiced the way in previous lifetimes.

They have attachment and cling to sensory pleasures.

They are stupefied by craving and bewildered by ignorance. {63}

2.�91

�Desire causes them to fall into the lower existences.

They are tormented within the six existences.

They increase the charnel grounds over and over.

They have little merit and are tortured by suffering. {64}

2.�92

�They constantly cling to the darkness of wrong views:

That things exist, do not exist, and similarly both exist and do not exist.

They rely upon the sixty-two fabricated views.

They remain fixated upon things that have no reality. {65}

2.�93

�They are treacherous, conceited, and incorrigible.

They are crooked, deceitful, fools with little learning.

Throughout billions of their lifetimes

They never hear these words from a buddha. {66} [F.21.a]

2.�94

�Śārisuta, I teach to them the method

That will bring an end to their suffering.

On seeing beings tortured by suffering

I then give to them the teaching of nirvāṇa. {67}

2.�95

�Thus I give all these Dharma teachings

Of eternal nirvāṇa and primordial peace,

While a bodhisattva134 who has perfected his practice

Will in a future time become a jina. {68}

2.�96

�Similarly, the three yānas that I teach

Are a skillful method of mine.

There is but one yāna, but one way‍�

There is but this one teaching of the guides. {69}

2.�97

�Those of you here who have doubt about this

Should dispel your doubt and your uncertainty.

The guides of the world do not teach anything else.

There is but this one yāna; there is no second. {70}

2.�98

�The tathāgatas who have appeared in the past,

The many135 thousands of buddhas who have entered nirvāṇa

In the countless eons of the past

Could never be enumerated. {71}

2.�99

�All those supreme beings

Gave many pure Dharma teachings

Through parables, causes, and reasons,

And through hundreds of skillful methods. {72}

2.�100

�All of them taught one yāna.

They brought countless billions

Of beings into that single yāna

And ripened them in that single yāna. {73}

2.�101

�The tathāgatas, in a world with its devas,

Knowing the aspirations and thoughts of beings,

Are teaching this supreme Dharma

With other various methods of the jinas. {74}

2.�102

�Those beings who in their presence

Are listening to the Dharma or have listened to it,

Who have practiced generosity, maintained good conduct,

Who have accomplished all practices with patience, {75}

2.�103

�Who have served with diligence and meditation,

Who have contemplated with wisdom these Dharma teachings,

And have created various kinds of merit:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {76}

2.�104

�Those beings who have followed the teaching

Of the jinas who have passed into nirvāṇa, [F.21.b]

And who are patient, peaceful, and self-controlled:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {77}

2.�105

�Those who make offerings to the relics

Of the jinas who have passed into nirvāṇa,

And have built countless thousands of stūpas

That are made of jewels, gold, and silver, {78}

2.�106

�And of crystals, and of emeralds,

That are made from pearls and chrysoberyls,

Of the best beryls and likewise sapphires:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {79}

2.�107

�Also those who make stūpas out of stone,

Those who make them from sandalwood and agarwood,

Those who make stūpas out of deodar cedar,

Those who make them from a combination of woods, {80}

2.�108

�And those who with delight make stūpas of jinas

From bricks or build them from clay,136

And those who for that purpose create them

In remote forests from piles of earth, {81}

2.�109

�And those children playing here and there

Who pile up sand

So as to create stūpas of the jinas:

They will all of them attain enlightenment.137 {82}

2.�110

�Similarly those who have others work

In order to create the precious images

Of statues that possess the thirty-two signs:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {83}

2.�111

�Those who make them from the seven precious materials,

Those who make them from copper and bronze,

Those who have made statues of the sugatas:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {84}

2.�112

�Those who have representations of the sugatas made

From lead, from iron, or from clay,

Or beautifully painted on cloth:138

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {85}

2.�113

�Those who paint their representations in murals,

Their entire bodies with a hundred signs of merit,

Whether they paint them themselves or have others do so:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {86}

2.�114

�Also those, whether adults or children,

Who in learning, or for their own amusement

Or to entertain others, draw those images [F.22.a]

On a wall with a fingernail or with a stick: {87}

2.�115

�They will all of them attain enlightenment,

All of them will become compassionate,

All of them will liberate millions of beings,

And they will make many become bodhisattvas. {88}

2.�116

�Those who make offerings of flowers and incense

To the relics of the tathāgatas,

To stūpas and images made of clay,

And to murals and stūpas made of earth; {89}

2.�117

�Those who cause music to be played for them

With the pleasant sounds of ḍamarus,139 conches, and bherī drums;140

Those who play well upon drums

As an offering to the perfectly enlightened ones;141 {90}

2.�118

�Those who do so with melodious lutes, cymbals, and gongs,

Mṛdaṅga drums,142 single-stringed lutes,143 and flutes,

Which bring delight,144 and are pleasant to hear:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {91}

2.�119

�Those who, in order to make offerings to the sugatas,

Make music with strings of little bells,145

With bowls of water,146 by clapping their hands,

And with sweet, lovely well-sung songs‍� {92}

2.�120

�Those who perform many kinds of offerings to the relics‍�

They will all become buddhas in the world.

Even those who make a little offering to the relics of a sugata,

Who play music on just one instrument, {93}

2.�121

�Or make an offering with just one flower,

Or make an offering with a distracted147 mind

To the image of a sugata in a mural,

They will eventually see millions of buddhas. {94}

2.�122

�Those who make the gesture of homage to a stūpa,148

Either completely or even with just one hand;

Or bow their head for just an instant,

Or similarly bow their body just one time; {95}

2.�123

�Or say �Homage to the Buddha� just one time

To those containers of the relics‍�

Even those who do so once with a distracted mind‍�

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {96}

2.�124

�Those beings who, at a time when the sugatas

Have passed into nirvāṇa or are present, [F.22.b]

Have heard this Dharma teaching�s name:

They will all of them attain enlightenment. {97}

2.�125

�The many millions of buddhas in the future,

Who are innumerable, beyond reckoning,

Those jinas, supreme lords of the world,

They will also teach these methods. {98}

2.�126

�They who guide millions of beings

To the immaculate wisdom of buddhahood,

Those guides of the world

Will have infinite skill in methods. {99}

2.�127

�There will never be even one being

Who has heard this Dharma teaching that will not become a buddha.

The prayer of the tathāgatas is:

�Having followed the path, may I make others follow it for enlightenment.� {100}

2.�128

�They will teach in the future times

Many thousand millions of entrances to the Dharma.

In buddhahood,149 they will teach the Dharma

Through teaching this single yāna.150 {101}

2.�129

�This way of the Dharma is always constant;

The nature of the Dharma is always illuminating.

The buddhas, the supreme humans, will know it

And will expound this single yāna of mine. {102}

2.�130

�The constancy of the Dharma, the eternality of the Dharma

Is always constant, unfluctuating in this world.

The buddhas in the center of the earth

Will expound buddhahood and skillfulness in methods. {103}

2.�131

�The buddhas, as numerous as the Ganges sands,

Present in the ten directions, to whom humans and devas make offerings,

Also teach this supreme yāna151

For the sake of the happiness of all beings. {104}

2.�132

�The buddhas expound skillfulness in methods,152

And they teach different kinds of yānas.

They also elucidate the single yāna,

This supreme level of peace. {105}

2.�133

�They teach through knowing the conduct of all beings

And similarly their thoughts and past practice,

Knowing their strengths and their diligence,

And through knowing their aspirations.153 {106}

2.�134

�The guides,154 through the power of wisdom,

Teach many causes, parables, and supports.

Knowing the various aspirations of beings

They teach various kinds of practices. {107} [F.23.a]

2.�135

�At this time, I, the guide who is a Lord of Jinas,

Have also appeared so that beings may attain happiness.

I teach this enlightenment of buddhahood

Through billions of various kinds of practices. {108}

2.�136

�Knowing the thoughts and aspirations of beings

I teach the Dharma in many different forms.

I gladden them through various methods:

That is the power of my own wisdom. {109}

2.�137

�I also see that destitute beings

Are without wisdom and merit.

They are sunk in saṃsāra, enveloped in misery,

And immersed in a continuum of suffering. {110}

2.�138

�Bound to craving, the fools are like yaks;155

They are continually blinded by desire.

They do not seek buddhahood that has great power;156

They do not search for the Dharma that ends suffering. {111}

2.�139

�Their minds are impeded in the six existences,

They adhere unshakably to incorrect views,

They experience suffering after suffering.

I have powerful compassion for them. {112}

2.�140

�Knowing this, I remained

At the Bodhimaṇḍa for three full weeks.

I contemplated this meaning in that way

While gazing there upon the tree.157 {113}

2.�141

�I stared, without blinking, at the lord of trees

While walking to and fro beneath it.158

�This wisdom is preeminent and marvelous.

These beings are unwise and blinded by ignorance.� {114}

2.�142

�At that time I was entreated by Brahmā,

Śakra, the four world guardians,

And also Maheśvara and Īśvara,159

And many billions of maruts. {115}

2.�143

�They all stood respectfully with palms together.

I contemplated my goal and how to accomplish it:

�If I speak the praises of enlightenment

To these beings who are oppressed by suffering, {116}

2.�144

� �Those with foolish minds will reject my Dharma,

And having rejected it, they will go to the lower realms.

It is best that I never say anything.

May I enter nirvāṇa, peace, on this very day.� {117}

2.�145

�I remembered the buddhas of the past

And the skill in methods that they had: [F.23.b]

�I too therefore shall teach this enlightenment

Of buddhahood divided into three categories.� {118}

2.�146

�I contemplated that meaning160 in this way,

And the other buddhas in the ten directions

Revealed their own bodies to me

And with their voices they declared, �Excellent! {119}

2.�147

� �Excellent,161 Muni, supreme Guide of the World,

Who, having attained the supreme wisdom,162

Is contemplating skill in methods,

Following the way of the guides of worlds. {120}

2.�148

� �We also, having realized the highest state,

Are teaching through a division into three.

Humans with inferior aspiration163 and lacking knowledge

Will not believe us if we say, �You shall become buddhas.�164 {121}

2.�149

� �Therefore we are employing skill in methods

Through a compilation of causes.

We are inspiring many bodhisattvas

By declaring what is the desired result.� {122}

2.�150

�I was filled with joy on having heard

The pleasant voices of the leaders of beings,

And filled with joy I said to those protectors,165

�Supreme great rishis, you speak meaningfully. {123}

2.�151

� �I too will act in the way that the wise ones,

The guides of the world, have described.�166

I have also been born during this dreadful chaos,

In the midst of the degeneracy of beings. {124}

2.�152

�And so, Śārisuta, knowing this,

At that time I walked to Vārāṇasī.

There, applying a method, I taught the five bhikṣus

The Dharma that is the state of pacification. {125}

2.�153

�Then my wheel of the Dharma was turned,167

And the word nirvāṇa appeared in the world.

The word arhat and likewise the word Dharma

And the word saṅgha also appeared at that time. {126}

2.�154

�I taught for numerous years,

Explaining the level of nirvāṇa.

At all times I taught in this way:

�This is the end of saṃsāra�s suffering.� {127}

2.�155

�Śāriputra, there came a time

When I saw infinite thousands of quintillions168

Of offspring of the highest of humans

Who had set out for the supreme, highest enlightenment. {128} [F.24.a]

2.�156

�They who had arrived before me

Stood respectfully with palms together.

They had heard the Dharma from the jinas

And were skilled in many kinds of methods. {129}

2.�157

�Then in that instant I had this thought:

�The time has come for me to teach the highest Dharma.

It is for that purpose that I was born into this world

And I shall teach here the highest enlightenment. {130}

2.�158

� �Those with foolish understanding, who conceptualize characteristics,

Who have become arrogant and who are lacking in wisdom

Will on this day not have faith in it.

But these bodhisattvas will listen to me.� {131}

2.�159

�At that time, fearlessly and joyfully,

Having abandoned every hesitation,

I spoke in the middle of the offspring of the sugatas

And inspired them toward enlightenment. {132}

2.�160

�Having seen children of the buddhas such as these,

You too should be one who has banished doubt.

These twelve hundred who have no defilements

Will all become buddhas in this world. {133}

2.�161

�Just like the nature of the past protectors

And like that of the jinas in the future,

I too have eliminated conceptualization

And will teach you in that way today. {134}

2.�162

�Sometimes, somewhere, somehow,

A leader of beings appears in a world.

When someone with infinite vision appears in a world

Then sometimes this kind of Dharma may be taught. {135}

2.�163

�Even in a million trillion eons it will be

Very difficult to find a supreme Dharma such as this.

It will be very difficult to find beings such as these

Who listen to the supreme Dharma and believe in it. {136}

2.�164

�They are as difficult to find as a fig tree flower

That is sometimes, somehow, somewhere seen.

It may be a beautiful sight for beings

And a marvel for the world and its devas. {137}

2.�165

�Therefore, I will teach the greatest marvel,

And whoever hears this well-taught Dharma,

Rejoices, and recites just one word of it

Will have made an offering to all the buddhas. {138}

2.�166

�Banish all doubt and uncertainty concerning this. [F.24.b]

I, the King of the Dharma, shall proclaim it.

I shall guide toward the highest enlightenment;

Here, I have no śrāvakas whatsoever. {139}

2.�167

�Śāriputra, you must keep this great secret.

And also all those who are my śrāvakas,

And these who are eminent bodhisattvas,

They must maintain this great secret of mine. {140}

2.�168

�Why is that? In the time of five degenerations

There are beings who are cruel and evil.

They are blinded by desires and have foolish judgment

And they will never develop the aspiration to enlightenment. {141}

2.�169

�In future times, beings will be confused,

And having heard this single yāna of mine

That has been taught by the Jina,

They will reject the discourse and go to hell. {142}

2.�170

�To those beings who will be modest and pure

And are intent upon the supreme, highest enlightenment,

To them I will relate without any fear

Endless praises of the single yāna. {143}

2.�171

�In this way, in the teaching of the guides,

This skill in methods, which is most excellent,

Has been taught many times in words with an implied meaning

That those who are untrained could not understand. {144}

2.�172

�Therefore, understanding the implied meaning taught

By the buddhas, the teachers of the world, the protectors,

Rejecting doubts and abandoning uncertainty,

You will become buddhas, so be joyous!� {145}

2.�173

This concludes �Skill in Methods,� the second chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.� [B3]

Chapter 3: THE PARABLE

3.�1

Then at that time, Śāriputra felt contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness he bowed with palms together toward the Bhagavān. Facing the Bhagavān, gazing solely upon the Bhagavān, he said to the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, I am astonished and amazed. I am overjoyed to have heard this kind of speech from the Bhagavān.

3.�2

�Why is that? Bhagavān, it is because I have never heard this kind of Dharma from the Bhagavān. When I saw other bodhisattvas and heard the names of the buddhas that those bodhisattvas will become in the future, and yet, still had not heard this kind of Dharma teaching from the Bhagavān, I imagined that I was deprived of that kind of vision of the tathāgatas� wisdom,169 and was extremely grieved and extremely distressed. [F.25.a]

�Bhagavān, whenever I went to stay alone in mountains, caves, forests, groves, river banks, or the foot of trees, and many other places for my daytime rest, I thought, �Everyone enters the nature of the Dharma equally, but we are being liberated by the Bhagavān through the Hīnayāna.�

3.�3

�At that time I thought, �The fault is ours, the fault is not the Bhagavān�s.� Why is that? If we had stayed170 when the Bhagavān was teaching the excellent Dharma, commencing with the highest, complete enlightenment, then, Bhagavān, we also would have been liberated in that Dharma. Also, Bhagavān, when the bodhisattvas were not present, we did not understand the Bhagavān�s teaching that had an implied meaning. We immediately heard, retained,171 meditated on, contemplated, and focused upon the first Dharma teaching given by the Tathāgata. Bhagavān, I have reprimanded myself for that day and night.

3.�4

�Bhagavān, I have heard from the Bhagavān this marvelous Dharma that I have never heard before. Bhagavān, today I have attained nirvāṇa. Bhagavān, today I have become calmed.172 Bhagavān, today I have attained complete nirvāṇa. Bhagavān, today I have attained arhathood. Bhagavān, today I have become the Bhagavān�s principal son, born from his heart and mouth, born from the Dharma, emanated from the Dharma, descended from the Dharma, and created from the Dharma. [F.25.b] Today I have become freed from sorrow.�

3.�5

Then at that time Brother Śāriputra addressed these verses to the Bhagavān:

�Great Guide, I am astonished.

I am content on hearing these words.

From now on, I will never have doubts.

I am ripened in this supreme yāna. {1}

3.�6

�The teaching of the Sugata is marvelous.

It clears away the doubts and misery of beings.

My defilements have ceased and there is no misery.

Hearing your speech has dispelled everything. {2}

3.�7

�Sitting and walking during the day

In forests, in groves, and under trees,

Dwelling in mountains and in caves

I contemplated with these thoughts: {3}

3.�8

� �Alas! I have been deceived by bad thoughts

Of the equal accessibility of the Dharma teachings, free of defilements.

I will not be teaching in future times

That which is the highest Dharma in the three realms. {4}

3.�9

� �Alas!173 I was deluded about the equal accessibility of the dharmas.

I am deprived of the thirty-two signs.

I am deprived of the shining color of gold.

I am devoid of all the strengths and the liberations. {5}

3.�10

� �Alas! I am deceived, and deprived also

Of the full eighty supreme,

Excellent features of a great muni,

And the unique eighteen qualities.� {6}

3.�11

�Having seen you who compassionately benefits the world,

I went to sit alone in the day�s time of rest.

I considered, �Alas! I have gone astray

From inconceivable, unobstructed wisdom!� {7}

3.�12

�Protector, in that way throughout day and night

I contemplated this over and over,

Thinking I shall ask the Bhagavān,

�Have I strayed or have I not?� {8}

3.�13

�This is how I was thinking, Lord of Jinas,

All the time, throughout day and night.

I saw many other bodhisattvas

Being praised by the Guide of the World. {9}

3.�14

�I heard this Dharma of the Buddha

That was taught with a hidden meaning.

The Jina taught at the Bodhimaṇḍa

An inconceivable, subtle, immaculate wisdom. {10} [F.26.a]

3.�15

�I was in the past attached to views.

I was an esteemed tīrthika mendicant.

Then the Lord, knowing my thoughts,

Taught me nirvāṇa174 to free me from those views. {11}

3.�16

�After I was liberated from all those views

I realized the emptiness of phenomena.

Therefore I believed I had attained nirvāṇa,175

But this was not what is called nirvāṇa. {12}

3.�17

�When one becomes a buddha, the highest being,

Humans, maruts, yakṣas, and rākṣasas come before you,

And you possess a body with the thirty-two signs.

That is when there is the attainment of nirvāṇa without remainder. {13}

3.�18

�I have dispelled all my pride,

Heard your words, and today I have attained nirvāṇa.

You prophesied my supreme enlightenment

In front of the world and its devas. {14}

3.�19

�When I first heard the words of the Guide

I experienced a powerful terror

That this might be the wicked Māra

Manifesting on this earth in the appearance of a buddha. {15}

3.�20

�When you taught through a quintillion

Causes, reasons, and parables, establishing

Buddhahood�s highest enlightenment,

Hearing that I had no doubt in the Dharma, {16}

3.�21

�At that time you taught how ten billion jinas

Of the past who had passed into nirvāṇa

Were established in skillful methods

And they also in that way taught the Dharma; {17}

3.�22

�That many future buddhas who will be in the world,

And the present ones who have seen the ultimate truth,

Will be teaching and in that way are teaching

The Dharma through hundreds of skillful methods. {18}

3.�23

�And you taught the nature of your own conduct,

Beginning with when you renounced your home,

And the way you realized the wheel of the Dharma,

And the way that you established the teaching of the Dharma. {19}

3.�24

�And then I knew that you were not Māra,

But a lord of the world teaching correct conduct.

That is not found in the activity of the māras

And that had been the doubt in my mind. {20}

3.�25

�When the gentle, profound, melodious

Speech of the Buddha filled me with joy,

All my uncertainties were dispelled

And in wisdom I remained free of doubt. {21} [F.26.b]

3.�26

�Without doubt I shall become a tathāgata

And the world and its devas will come before me.

Through words with an implied meaning, many bodhisattvas

Have been inspired toward the enlightenment of buddhahood.� {22}

3.�27

In response to these words from Brother Śāriputra, the Bhagavān said to him, �Śāriputra, before the world and its devas, with its Māra and Brahmā, its mendicants and brahmins, I declare to you, and reveal to you, Śāriputra, in the presence of twenty hundred thousand quintillion buddhas, that I have ripened176 you for complete enlightenment.

�Śāriputra, you have been my follower for a long time.177 Śāriputra, it is through the bodhisattva instructions and the great secret of the bodhisattvas that you have appeared here within my teaching.

3.�28

�Śāriputra, you do not remember your past conduct, prayers, bodhisattva instructions, and great bodhisattva secret, formed through your firm bodhisattva resolve. You have thus thought, �I have attained nirvāṇa.�

�Śāriputra, I wish to make you remember and understand your past conduct, prayers, and wisdom. So I will teach to the śrāvakas this great, extensive sūtra, the Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, which is an instruction for bodhisattvas, and is possessed by all the buddhas.

3.�29

�Śāriputra, in this way in the future, during countless, innumerable, incalculable eons, you will be the holder of the Dharma of many hundred thousand quintillions of tathāgatas, make all kinds of offerings to them, and perfectly complete these practices of the bodhisattva, and then you will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Padmaprabha.

3.�30

�Śāriputra, at that time, the bhagavān tathāgata Padmaprabha will have a realm named Virajā, [F.27.a] which will be level, delightful, good, beautiful, pure, prosperous, wealthy, peaceful, with an abundance of food,178 and filled with many humans and maruts. The ground will be beryl, divided eightfold like a checkerboard by golden cords,179 and within each square there will be jewel trees, which will always be adorned by flowers and fruits made of the seven precious materials.

3.�31

�Śāriputra, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Padmaprabha will teach the Dharma beginning with the three yānas. Moreover, Śāriputra, although that tathāgata will not appear during an eon of degeneration, he will nevertheless teach the Dharma in accordance with his previous prayers.

�Śāriputra, the name of that eon will be Adorned by Great Jewels. Śāriputra, why do you think that eon will be called Adorned by Great Jewels? Śāriputra, in that realm the bodhisattvas will be called great jewels (mahāratna), and at that time, in that era, in the realm Virajā there will appear so many bodhisattvas that they will be countless, incalculable, innumerable; only a tathāgata will be able to count them. That is why that eon will be called Adorned by Great Jewels.

3.�32

�Śāriputra, at that time the bodhisattvas180 in that buddha realm will be stepping upon jewel lotuses when they walk. Those bodhisattvas will not be novices, but will have practiced the roots of merit for a long time, practiced celibacy with many hundreds of thousands of buddhas,181 been praised by the tathāgatas, been dedicated to the wisdom of buddhahood, given rise to the development of the great higher knowledges, become skilled in all the ways of the Dharma, and will be kind and mindful.

3.�33

�Śāriputra, that buddha realm will be filled by that kind of bodhisattva. [F.27.b]

�Śāriputra, the lifespan of Tathāgata Padmaprabha will be twelve intermediate eons, not counting his youth. The lifespan of the beings there will be eight intermediate eons.

3.�34

�Śāriputra, when those twelve intermediate eons have passed, Tathāgata Padmaprabha will say, �Bhikṣus, this bodhisattva mahāsattva named Dhṛtiparipūrṇa will be next to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of buddhahood and will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Padma�vṛṣabha�vikrāmin.� After he gives to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Dhṛtiparipūrṇa the prophecy of his highest, complete enlightenment, he will then pass into nirvāṇa.

3.�35

�Śāriputra, the buddha realm of Tathāgata Padma�vṛṣabha�vikrāmin will have the same appearance as that of Padmaprabha.

�Śāriputra, after Tathāgata Padmaprabha passes into nirvāṇa the Dharma will remain for thirty-two intermediate eons, and then the outer form of the Dharma will remain for another thirty-two intermediate eons.�

3.�36

Thereupon the Bhagavān spoke these verses:

�In a future time you, Śārisuta,

Will become a jina, a tathāgata,

The all-seeing Padmaprabha,

Who will guide ten billion beings. {23}

3.�37

�You will honor many millions of buddhas,

You will accomplish powerful conduct,

You will develop the ten strengths,

And you will reach the supreme, highest enlightenment. {24}

3.�38

�After countless, incalculable eons

There will be the eon Many Jewels.

There will be a world named Virajā

That will be the pure realm of that supreme human. {25}

3.�39

�The ground will be covered with beryl [F.28.a]

And it will be adorned by cords of gold.

Present there will be hundreds of trees made of jewels

That are beautiful and adorned by flowers and fruits. {26}

3.�40

�There will be many mindful bodhisattvas there

Who are skilled in the accomplishment of perfect conduct.

Those who will be born into that realm

Will have trained in conduct with hundreds of buddhas. {27}

3.�41

�That jina in his final lifetime,

When he has passed beyond the time of his youth,

Will forsake desires, leave the worldly life,

And will attain the highest, complete enlightenment. {28}

3.�42

�The lifespan of that jina

Will be the same as twelve intermediate eons.

The lifespan of humans in that world

Will be eight intermediate eons. {29}

3.�43

�When that jina has passed into nirvāṇa

The Dharma will remain during the time

Of thirty-two intermediate eons in their entirety

In order to benefit the world and its devas. {30}

3.�44

�The Dharma will cease but its outer form

Will remain for a futher thirty-two intermediate eons.

The relics of that protector�s body will multiply

And the humans and maruts will continually honor them. {31}

3.�45

�That you will thus become a bhagavān,

Śārisuta, you should be delighted.

That is what you will become:

An unsurpassable supreme human.� {32}

3.�46

Then the fourfold assembly of bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās, as well as devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, having heard directly from the Bhagavān this prophecy of Brother Śāriputra�s highest, complete enlightenment, were contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness they presented the Bhagavān�s body with their own clothing. Śakra, the lord of devas, and Brahmā, the lord of Sahā, and another trillion devas also presented the Bhagavān�s body with divine clothing. They scattered divine coral tree and great coral tree flowers. [F.28.b] They waved182 divine cloths in the sky above him. They played a hundred thousand divine musical instruments and beat drums in the sky. A great rain of flowers fell and they proclaimed, �The Bhagavān previously turned the wheel of Dharma in the Ṛṣipatana deer forest183 in the land of Vārāṇasī, and on this day the Bhagavān has turned the highest Dharma wheel.�

3.�47

At that time those devas recited these verses:

�Unequaled individual, great hero,

In the land of Vārāṇasī

You turned the Dharma wheel

Of the arising and cessation of the skandhas. {33}

3.�48

�There took place the first turning

And here, Guide, this is the second.

You have taught today, Leader,

That which is difficult to believe. {34}

3.�49

�We have heard many dharmas

In the presence of the world�s lord,

But we have never before

Heard a dharma of this kind. {35}

3.�50

�Great hero, we are overjoyed by

The great rishi�s words with implied meaning.

Just as in the prophecy

To the fearless Ārya184 Śāriputra, {36}

3.�51

�May we also in that way become

Unsurpassable buddhas in the world,

And through words with implied meaning

Teach buddhahood�s highest enlightenment. {37}

3.�52

�Whatever good we do

In this or in other worlds,

And through pleasing the Buddha,

May we aspire for enlightenment.� {38}

3.�53

Then Brother Śāriputra said to the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, I have directly heard from the Bhagavān the prophecy of my attaining the highest, complete enlightenment. Bhagavān, I have no doubt. I am free of uncertainty.

�Bhagavān, these one thousand two hundred who have gained self-control were previously established as students by the Bhagavān, and were instructed thus, were taught thus: �Bhikṣus, the ultimate conclusion of the discipline of the Dharma is the transcendence of birth, aging, sickness, and death,185 the goal of nirvāṇa, being absorbed in nirvāṇa.� [F.29.a] Bhagavān, these bhikṣus, both those training and trained, have renounced the view of self, the view of production, the view of destruction, and all views. All of these two thousand186 śrāvakas of the Bhagavān think, �I reside on the level of nirvāṇa.�

3.�54

�Having heard from the Bhagavān this kind of Dharma, which they have never heard before, they are puzzled. Bhagavān, so that the fourfold assembly will be without doubt, and without uncertainty, and so that these bhikṣus will have their worries dispelled, I beseech the Bhagavān to teach them well.�

The Bhagavān said to Brother Śāriputra, �Śāriputra, knowing the different aspirations and different thoughts and natures of beings, a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha teaches the Dharma through various accomplishments, causes, reasons, parables, supports, definitions, and skillful methods in this way. Commencing with the highest, complete enlightenment, through all the teaching of the Dharma he inspires them to enter into this very Bodhisattva�yāna. Have I not already taught you this earlier?

3.�55

�However, Śāriputra, in order to teach that meaning extensively I shall teach you parables. Why is that? Some wise individuals will understand through parables the meaning of what has been said.

�As a parable, Śāriputra, in a village, a town, a market town, a district, a region, a country, or a capital, there was a householder who was old, an elder, advanced in years, aged, and was rich, wealthy, and had many possessions. His home was tall and extensive. It had been built a long time ago and had deteriorated. A hundred, two hundred, three, four, or five hundred people lived in it. It had only one entranceway. It was roofed with hay. Its terrace was crumbling. [F.29.b] The bases of its pillars were rotten. The walls and doors were disintegrating. A great fire started suddenly throughout the house from all sides. The man had many sons‍�five, ten, or twenty‍�and the man came out from the house. Śāriputra, the man then saw the great fire burning everywhere throughout his house. He was frightened and dismayed. He thought, �I have not been touched, I have not been burned by this great fire. I was able to quickly escape from the burning house through the door. But my sons, who are young, who are children, are engaged in enjoying themselves playing games inside the burning house. They are not aware that the house is burning, they have not understood it, do not know it, have not realized it, and so they will be burned in this great fire, and will experience great suffering. But they are not dismayed at the thought of being touched by that great fire, they do not think of that suffering, and do not think of escaping from the house.�

3.�56

�Śāriputra, the man was very strong and had very strong arms. He thought, �I am strong and I have strong arms. I shall gather all the children together and carry them on my hips out from the house.� Then he thought, �The house has only one door and that door is narrow. These young ones don�t stay still, are always running around, so I won�t be able to bring them out, and there will be the disaster of their agony in the great fire. So I should call out to them.�

3.�57

�Then he called out to the children, �There is a massive fire burning the house! Everything inside is going to be burned in this great fire! You will suffer disastrously! Children, come here! Come out!�

�The man gave that command wishing to help them, but the children, not knowing what �burning� meant were not dismayed, not frightened, and not terrified. [F.30.a] They did not think about it and did not come out, but ran and scampered around here and there, repeatedly looking out at their father. Why was that? They were like that because they were children.

3.�58

�Then the man thought, �A great fire is burning this house. My children and I are going to be afflicted disastrously by this great fire. But if I use a skillful method I will be able to bring the children out of the house.�

�The man knew what his children thought. He understood that they would wish for many different kinds of amusements, and many different kinds of things: a variety of delightful, desirable, pleasing, beautiful, and charming and pleasant things, which would be difficult to find.

3.�59

�Then the man, knowing their thoughts, called to the children, �Those toys that you delight in and marvel at, and that you are unhappy not to have obtained, which have many different colors and shapes, such as an ox-drawn cart, a goat-drawn cart, and a deer-drawn cart, which you think are delightful, desirable, pleasing, beautiful, charming, and pleasant, those I have placed outside at the entrance door of the house outside so that you can play with them. So come, run outside, and I will give each of you whatever you want. So come quickly for that reason!�

3.�60

�Those children, hearing that and the names of those things that they wished for, that they longed for, which they thought delightful, desirable, pleasing, beautiful, charming, and pleasant, in order to play with those things, quickly and zealously ran out from the burning house with great speed, calling out to each other, �Who will be first? Who will be first of all?� And as one body they quickly came running out of the burning house.

3.�61

�Then the man saw that they had come out safe and well, and were no longer in danger. Then they came to the village square, in the open air. He was delighted and joyful. He was free of sorrow, untroubled187 and unafraid. [F.30.b]

�Then the children went to their father and said, �Father, give to us the various kinds of toys for playing with, such as an ox-drawn cart, a goat-drawn cart, and a deer-drawn cart.�

3.�62

�Then, Śāriputra, the man gave all his sons carts drawn by powerful oxen that were as fast as the wind. The carts were made of the seven precious materials. They had seats. They had strings of small bells attached. They were high and stable. They were adorned with marvelous, amazing jewels. They were beautified by strings of jewels. They were decorated with flower garlands. They had cotton-filled cushions covered with calico and silk, and red backrests on both sides. Yoked to them were dazzling white oxen that were swift and that were held by many men. They had banners. He gave to each of his children an ox-drawn cart that was as fast as the wind.

3.�63

�Śāriputra, what was the reason for that? The man was rich, wealthy, and had many treasuries. He thought, �There is no reason why I should give inferior188 carts to my children. Why is that? All these children are my sons. All of them are dear and precious to me. If I have such great carts, I should treat them all equally, and not unequally. I have many treasuries, so not to speak of my own sons alone, I should give all beings this kind of great cart.� Then at that time those children, astonished and amazed, climbed onto those great carts.

�Śāriputra, what do you think? In that way, the man first promised three carts to those children, but afterward gave them all such great carts,189 magnificent carts. Does that mean that the man would be a liar?� [F.31.a]

3.�64

�No, Bhagavān, he would not be,� answered Śāriputra. �Sugata, it is not like that. The man through employing that skillful method brought those children out from the burning house in order to save their lives. That would not be a reason for his being a liar. Why is that? Bhagavān, it was only through saving their own bodies that they could obtain all those toys, and, Bhagavān, the man did not give just one cart to his children. Therefore, Bhagavān, the man was not a liar. Why is that? Bhagavān, first the man thought, �Using a skillful method I shall save the children from immense suffering.� Because of that approach, the man would not be a liar. That man had many treasuries and he thought of his children with affection, and wished to delight them. Not to speak of just giving them a great cart, he gave each one a cart with the same colors. Therefore, Bhagavān, the man would not be a liar.�

3.�65

When he had said that, the Bhagavān commended Śāriputra, �Excellent, excellent, Śāriputra! It is so, Śāriputra! It is exactly as you have said! In that same way a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha saves from all dangers, all violence, troubles, harm, suffering, unhappiness, the darkness of ignorance, the obscuration of the dark of blindness, and being in bondage.

3.�66

�A tathāgata has wisdom, strengths, fearlessnesses, and the unique qualities of a buddha. He has great power through miraculous powers. He is a father to the world. He has reached the perfection of the supreme wisdom of skill in great methods. [F.31.b] He has great compassion. He has an untiring mind. He wishes to benefit. He is compassionate. He appears in the three realms that are like a house with a ruined upper story and roof burning with a great mass of suffering, and he liberates from desire, anger, and ignorance those beings who undergo birth, aging, illness, death, misery, wailing, suffering, unhappiness, the darkness of ignorance, the obscuration of the dark of blindness, and being in bondage, in order to bring them to the highest, complete enlightenment.

3.�67

�As soon as he appears he sees the beings who are being burned, roasted, pained, and tormented by birth, aging, illness, death, misery, wailing, suffering, and unhappiness. For the sake of pleasures, with their desire as the cause and basis, they experience many forms of suffering. In this lifetime their grasping is the basis for experiencing in their next life many kinds of sufferings in the hells, as animals, and in the realm of Yama.

3.�68

�The devas and humans experience the suffering of being poor, encountering what is unpleasant, and being separated from what is pleasant. While circling within a great mass of suffering, they take pleasure in amusements, are not afraid, are not terrified, and cannot be made to be terrified; they do not understand, are not aware, are not troubled, and do not wish to leave.

�They amuse themselves in the three realms, which are like a burning house, running back and forth. Even though they are afflicted by that great mass of suffering, they do not see it or identify it as suffering.

3.�69

�This, Śāriputra, is how a tathāgata sees: I am the father of these beings. I will liberate these beings from this mass of suffering. I shall give to these beings the inconceivable, incalculable bliss of the wisdom of buddhahood, which they will delight in, enjoy, take pleasure in, and amuse themselves with. [F.32.a]

�This, Śāriputra, is how a tathāgata sees: it is said I have the strength of wisdom, the strength of miraculous powers, but if I had no method and instructed these beings to attain a tathāgata�s wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses, those beings would not become liberated through those dharmas. Why is that? Those beings are attached to the five sensory pleasures, and delight in the three realms. They would not become liberated from birth, aging, illness, death, misery, wailing, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. They would not escape from the three realms, which are like a house with a dilapidated roof and rafters that are on fire, and in which they will be burned, roasted, pained, and tormented. So how could they enjoy the wisdom of buddhahood?

3.�70

�Śāriputra, the man with strong arms did not use the strength of his arms but used a skillful method to bring his children out from the burning house, and afterward gave them magnificent great carts. In the same way, Śāriputra, a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha has the wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses of a tathāgata, but instead of using the tathāgata�s wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses, through the wisdom of skill in methods he teaches three yānas in order to free beings from the three realms, which are like a dilapidated house with its roof and rafters on fire. He guides beings through the three yānas, which are the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna, and the Bodhisattva�yāna.

3.�71

�He says to them, �Do not take pleasure in the forms, sounds, smells, [F.32.b] tastes, and physical sensations of the three realms, which are like a house on fire. Through taking pleasure in these three realms and through craving for the five sensory pleasures, you will be burned, roasted, pained, and tormented. This is how one escapes from the three realms: obtain the three yānas‍�the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyeka�buddha�yāna, and Bodhisattva�yāna. This I promise you. I shall give you these three yānas. Dedicate yourself to them in order to escape from the three realms. Beings! These yānas are those of the āryas, they are praised by the āryas, and they bring great joy. Perfectly amuse yourself with them, enjoy them, and delight in them. Experience great joy through the powers, the strengths, the aspects of enlightenment, the dhyānas, the liberations, the samādhis, and the samāpattis. You will become possessed of perfect happiness of mind.

3.�72

�Śāriputra, those beings who are wise will believe in the Tathāgata, the father of the world. Having that belief they will be dedicated to the teachings of the Tathāgata. Some beings long to follow the way of listening190 to what is spoken. They are dedicated to the teachings of the Tathāgata in order to realize the four truths of the āryas as the cause of attaining nirvāṇa for themselves. They are called those who long for the Śrāvakayāna and they escape from the three realms. They are like the children in the parable who come out of the burning house because of their longing for a deer-drawn cart.

�There are others who long for wisdom, self-control, and tranquility without having a teacher. They are dedicated to the teachings of the Tathāgata in order to realize causes and conditions191 as the cause of attaining nirvāṇa for themselves. [F.33.a] They are called those who long for the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna and they escape from the three realms. They are like the children in the parable who come out of the burning house because of their longing for a goat-drawn cart.

3.�73

�Some beings long for omniscient buddhahood, for the wisdom of buddhahood, for self-arising wisdom, for wisdom without a teacher. They are dedicated to the teachings of the Tathāgata in order to benefit many beings, for the happiness of many beings, and‍�through great compassion for the world‍�for the sake of, the benefit of, and the happiness of devas, humans, and ordinary beings, as the cause for all beings attaining nirvāṇa, and in order to realize the wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses of a tathāgata. They are called those who long for the Mahāyāna and they escape from the three realms. That is why they are called bodhisattva mahāsattvas. They are like the children in the parable who come out of the burning house because of their longing for an ox-drawn cart.

3.�74

�Śāriputra, in the parable the man sees that he has brought the children out from the burning house, and that they are happy, fortunate, and saved. He knows that he is very wealthy, and so he gives each of the children an identical magnificent cart.

�Śāriputra, in that way the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha sees many millions of beings liberated from the three realms, which are filled with danger, fear, terror, and calamity. These beings come out through the doorway of the tathāgatas� teachings, and are freed from danger, fear, terror, and calamity and attain the bliss of nirvāṇa.

3.�75

�Śāriputra, at the time when he becomes a tathāgata, arhat, perfectly enlightened buddha, he knows that he possesses many treasuries of wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses, [F.33.b] he sees all beings as his children, and therefore brings all of them to complete nirvāṇa through the Buddhayāna. He does not teach any being to attain nirvāṇa for themselves. He brings all those beings to nirvāṇa through the great nirvāṇa, the tathāgatas� nirvāṇa.

�Śāriputra, the Tathāgata gives to those beings that are liberated from the three realms the enjoyable, delightful dhyānas, liberations, samādhis, samāpattis, and the supreme bliss192 of the āryas. All of these are of the same kind.193

�Śāriputra, it is like the man who promised three kinds of carts to his children and then gave each of them an identical great cart. He gave them all carts that were better than any other, that were made of the seven precious materials, adorned by all adornments, of the same color, and magnificent. Therefore he was not a liar.

3.�76

�In the same way, Śāriputra, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha, with this skill in methods, first teaches194 three yānas, and afterward brings beings to nirvāṇa through a single yāna. Therefore he is not a liar. Why is that? Śāriputra, the Tathāgata possesses many treasuries of wisdom, strengths, and fearlessnesses and he has the power to teach all beings the Dharma of omniscient wisdom.

�Śāriputra, it should be known that it is through this teaching, through the accomplishment of the wisdom of various skillful methods, that the Tathāgata teaches the single Mahāyāna.�

3.�77

Then the Bhagavān at that time recited these verses: [F.34.a]

�A man possesses a house

That is large, decaying, and dilapidated,

Its terrace crumbling,

The bases of its pillars rotten, {39}

3.�78

And the windows and pavilions bent out of shape.

The reeds and plaster of the walls are falling apart,

The old, decayed balconies have collapsed,

And the straw roof is disintegrating and falling. {40}

3.�79

�No fewer than five hundred beings

Are living inside

In numerous narrow rooms,

Filled with excrement, and disgusting. {41}

3.�80

�The rafters have all fallen apart,

The walls� reeds and panels have fallen apart,

And ten million vultures live inside,

And similarly pigeons and owls. {42}

3.�81

�There are vicious poisonous snakes

With virulent great poison everywhere.

Various kinds of scorpions and rats

And malevolent creatures live in there. {43}

3.�82

�There are many nonhumans everywhere

And it is fouled by feces and urine.

There are venomous insects, fireflies, and ants,

And dogs and jackals are howling. {44}

3.�83

�Dreadful hyenas are there

Devouring human corpses.

Many dogs and jackals are also there,

Coming out and staring at them. {45}

3.�84

�They are always weak and hungry,

Devouring here and there.

They are fighting and yowling.

That is the kind of terrifying house it is. {46}

3.�85

�Extremely ferocious yakṣas live there

Who are gnawing on human corpses.

Everywhere in every place there live

Centipedes, snakes, and vicious creatures. {47}

3.�86

�They make their nests everywhere

As dwellings for their offspring.

The numerous yakṣas devour

Those that are placed here and there. {48}

3.�87

�When the yakṣas are engorged,

Having ferociously eaten other beings, [F.34.b]

Their bodies nourished by the flesh of other beings,

They begin to fight violently. {49}

3.�88

�Dreadful, ferocious kumbhāṇḍas

Live there in that ruined abode,

Some a hand-span tall, some a cubit,

And some two cubits, wandering around. {50}

3.�89

�They seize the legs of dogs

And hold them, backs to the ground,

And squeeze their throats, menacing them

And delighting in injuring them. {51}

3.�90

�There are black, naked, thin,

Great pretas that have lived there long,

Extremely hungry, searching for food,

Here and there crying in pain and weeping. {52}

3.�91

�Some have a needle-sized mouth and some an ox�s head.

Some are the size of humans and some the size of dogs.

Their hair is in disarray and they wail,

Tormented by their craving for food. {53}

3.�92

�The yakṣas, piśācas, and pretas

Are brutes searching for food,

Looking in all four directions,

Always looking in through windows. {54}

3.�93

�The house is terrifying in that way.

It is huge, tall, and very weakened,

Dilapidated and almost a ruin,

And it is owned by a single person. {55}

3.�94

�That man has come out of his house

When the dwelling catches on fire,

Suddenly everywhere in all four directions,

With thousands of flames rising up. {56}

3.�95

�The bamboo and wood195 are burned by fire

And they make a terrifying, powerful sound.

The pillars and the wall panels are also burning

And the yakṣas and pretas are emitting cries. {57}

3.�96

�The many hundreds of vultures are burned,

The kumbhāṇḍas run around with burned faces,

And the many hundreds of snakes that are there

Scream and wail as they are being burned. {58}

3.�97

�The numerous piśācas are running around

And those without merit196 are burned by the fire.

Their teeth bite into each other

And they scatter their blood as they are being burned. {59}

3.�98

�The hyenas, their time to die having come, [F.35.a]

Are eating beings and eating each other.

The awful smell of burning vomit197

Spreads through the four directions of the world. {60}

3.�99

�The kumbhāṇḍas are eating

The fleeing centipedes.

The pretas run around with burning hair,

Tormented by hunger and thirst.198 {61}

3.�100

�That kind of terrifying residence

Is being burned by thousands of flames.

The man who is the owner of that house

Is gazing upon it, standing at the door. {62}

3.�101

He hears his sons who are inside,

Their minds fixed upon their games.

The children continue to be unaware

As they play, intoxicated by their games. {63}

3.�102

�Hearing them he quickly enters

In order to rescue his sons,199 thinking,

�I shall not let my children, all these boys,

Be quickly burned and annihilated.� {64}

3.�103

�He tells them of the evils of the house:

�Oh noble sons, this suffering is terrible.

Many kinds of beings are experiencing in this fire

Great sufferings, one after the other. {65}

3.�104

� �Many ferocious yakṣas, venomous snakes,

Kumbhāṇḍas, and pretas are living here.

Packs of hyenas, dogs, and jackals,

And also vultures are here seeking food. {66}

3.�105

� �There are many like that living in here.

Even without fire, it would be completely terrifying.

There is nothing here but this kind of suffering

And all around us a fire is burning.� {67}

3.�106

�He thus encourages those with child�s minds to leave.

But the children are intoxicated by their games.

They do not think about what their father has said

And neither do they pay it any attention. {68}

3.�107

�Then at that time the man thinks,

�I am suffering in thinking of my sons,

I shall not allow this fire to burn them

So that I am without sons and lineage.�200 {69}

3.�108

�Then at that time he thinks of a method:

�These children have a great longing for toys, [F.35.b]

But they do not have any toys in there to enjoy.

Such is the foolishness of these children. {70}

3.�109

�He calls to them, �Listen, children!

I have three different kinds of carts,

To which are yoked excellent goats, oxen, or deer,

And which are large, tall, and perfectly adorned. {71}

3.�110

� �They are outside the house.

Run outside and use them!

I have had them made for you.

Go out and you will be delighted!� {72}

3.�111

�The children, hearing201 of these kinds of carts,

Become eager and make haste.202

And at that very moment they all run out

And stand in the open air, freed from suffering. {73}

3.�112

�When the man sees his children have come out

He goes to the square in the center of town.

There he sits on a lion throne and says to them,

�Oh, today I have been made perfectly happy.203 {74}

3.�113

� �I have saved with difficulty these who were in distress.

My beloved sons, these twenty children of mine,

They were in a dreadful, awful house

That was filled with many terrifying beings. {75}

3.�114

� �It was burning, filled with a thousand flames,

And they were delighting in their games.

I have today saved them all

And therefore today I am perfectly happy.� {76}

3.�115

�Seeing their father sitting happily

The children come to him and say,

�Give us that which you have described‍�

Those three delightful carts! {77}

3.�116

� �You said to us in the house,

�I will give you three kinds of carts.�

Even if you do not have all these

The time has now come for you to give them.� {78}

3.�117

�That man has the power204 of treasuries

Of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls,

And a great deal of money205 and slaves.

And he has identical carts made for them. {79}

3.�118

�They are excellent ox-drawn carts made of jewels,

With railings and strings of little bells,

Adorned with parasols and banners,

And covered with a network of pearls and jewels. {80}

3.�119

�They are hung all over, here and there,

With garlands made of golden flowers.

They are covered with excellent cloth [F.36.a]

And spread over with the best white calico. {81}

3.�120

�Those carts are spread with the best cotton

And likewise with the softest silks.

They are covered with excellent rugs

Decorated with geese,206 that are worth billions.207 {82}

3.�121

�White, well-fed, strong oxen,

Of great size and beauty,

Are yoked to those precious carts

And are held by many people. {83}

3.�122

�This kind of excellent, superior cart

Is what the man gives to all his children,

And they feel delight and joy,

And amuse themselves going in every direction. {84}

3.�123

�In that way, Śārisuta, I am a great rishi.

I am the protector and the father of beings.

All of these beings are my sons,

Children attached to pleasures in the three realms. {85}

3.�124

�The three realms are like that house

Dreadful and filled with suffering.

It is entirely burning everywhere

With hundreds of births, old age, and illness. {86}

3.�125

�I am liberated from the three realms and at peace.

I reside in the forests and remain in solitude.

These three realms are my possession

And those who are burning within it are my sons. {87}

3.�126

�Knowing that I am their protector,

I teach them of the distress that is in there.

All these children, they do not listen to me,

Because their minds are fixated upon pleasures. {88}

3.�127

�I employ skillful methods

And teach them three yānas.

I teach them a method so that by knowing the many evils

In the three realms they may escape from them. {89}

3.�128

�Those sons who have relied upon me have gained

Great power, the six higher knowledges, and the three insights,

And have become the pratyeka�buddhas

And irreversible bodhisattvas who are here. {90}

3.�129

�To those who are like my sons, at this time

I teach this single Buddhayāna, O wise ones,

Through the best of parables.

Follow it, and you will all become jinas. {91} [F.36.b]

3.�130

�The wisdom of the buddhas, the supreme humans,

Is superior and beautiful,

Unique in all these worlds,

And a magnificent form that is worthy of homage. {92}

3.�131

�The strengths, the dhyānas, and likewise the liberations,

And numerous millions of samādhis,

They are the most excellent cart,208

Which the Buddha�s sons continually enjoy. {93}

3.�132

�They spend nights enjoying it,

And days, half-months, and months,

And likewise years and intermediate eons.

They spend ten billion eons doing so. {94}

3.�133

�It is this excellent cart made of jewels

That goes from here to the Bodhimaṇḍa,

Which the Sugata�s śrāvakas listen to

And which many bodhisattvas enjoy. {95}

3.�134

�Tiṣya, you should know this today:

You may search in all ten directions,

But there is no second yāna whatsoever

Other than as a skillful method of the superior beings. {96}

3.�135

�I am your father and you are my sons.

I have saved you from the suffering

Of being burned for many millions of eons

Within the terrifying three realms. {97}

3.�136

�I have thus taught you nirvāṇa.

You are freed from the suffering of saṃsāra,

But you have still not attained nirvāṇa.

You need to seek the yāna of buddhahood. {98}

3.�137

�You bodhisattvas who are gathered here,

Listen to my way to buddhahood.

Through this many bodhisattvas are trained.

This is the skillful method of the jinas. {99}

3.�138

�When beings take delight

In the lower, inferior yāna,209

At that time the Guide of the World teaches nothing

Other than the ārya�s truth of suffering. {100}

3.�139

�There are those with foolish minds

Who, being ignorant, do not see the source of suffering.

To them I teach the path that craving

Is the origin of the arising of suffering. {101}

3.�140

�The cessation of craving210 is perpetual nonattachment.211

This truth of cessation is my third truth. [F.37.a]

Humans are liberated by that and by nothing else;

It is through meditation on the path that they are liberated. {102}

3.�141

�From what, Śārisuta, are they liberated?

They are liberated from fixation on the unreal,

But they are still not liberated from everything.

The guides state that they have not attained nirvāṇa. {103}

3.�142

�Why do I say that this is not liberation?

Because this supreme, highest enlightenment is not attained.

I was born in this world in order to bring happiness.

That is the wish that I, the King of Dharma, have. {104}

3.�143

�This, Śāriputra, is my Dharma seal

That I teach today, at this later time.

You should teach this in every direction

In order to benefit the world and its devas. {105}

3.�144

�If, when you teach it, there are beings

Who say the words �This makes me rejoice�

And place this sūtra upon their head,

You should hold such people to be irreversible. {106}

3.�145

�The ones who have faith in this sūtra

Have seen the tathāgatas of the past.

And they are those who have honored them

And heard from them this kind of Dharma. {107}

3.�146

�The ones who have faith in this teaching of mine

Have seen me and have seen you,

Have seen this entire bhikṣu saṅgha of mine

And have seen all of these bodhisattvas. {108}

3.�147

�I have taught with great higher knowledge

This sūtra, which would bewilder foolish beings.

It is not within the scope of the śrāvakas,

And is not in the course of the pratyeka�buddhas. {109}

3.�148

�Śāriputra, if you have no aspiration for this,

What could be said for the other śrāvakas of mine?212

These follow because they have faith in me,

Without having knowledge through their own wisdom. {110}

3.�149

�You should not teach this to those who are proud,

Who are arrogant, and who are unsuitable.

The foolish are constantly intoxicated by desires.

Ignorant, they will reject the Dharma that is taught. {111}

3.�150

�They will reject this skillful method of mine,

This way of the buddhas that is always in the world.

They will frown and then reject this yāna.

Listen to what is the dreadful ripening of their karma. {112} [F.37.b]

3.�151

�Whether I am present or have passed into nirvāṇa,

When they have rejected a sūtra such as this

Or speak harshly to the bhikṣus,

This is the result that ripens for them; listen to me! {113}

3.�152

�When they die and depart from the human world

They will remain in Avīci for an entire eon.

And then for many intermediate eons

Those fools will die and fall into that place. {114}

3.�153

�When they die and depart from the hells

Then they will be reborn as animals.

They will become weak dogs and jackals,

And become playthings for others. {115}

3.�154

�Having contempt for my supreme enlightenment,

They will be black in color,

Have spots, sores, and itching,

Lose their body hair, and be very weak. {116}

3.�155

�They will always be abhorred among beings;

They will howl as they are hit by clods and stones.

Here and there they will be terrified by sticks;

Hungry and thirsty, they will be emaciated. {117}

3.�156

�Those with foolish minds who reject the way of the Buddha

Will become camels or donkeys

Who only think thoughts about food,

Carry loads, and are beaten by sticks and whips.213 {118}

3.�157

�Those fools will then become jackals,

Loathsome, one-eyed, and maimed,

Tormented by the village children

Who throw stones and clods at them. {119}

3.�158

�Then when those with foolish minds pass away

They will become creatures of great length,

Measuring five hundred yojanas,

And they will be stupid and dull, rolling back and forth. {120}

3.�159

�Having rejected this kind of sūtra

They will be legless, moving on their stomachs.

They will be eaten by many millions of creatures

And will experience extremely dreadful sensations. {121}

3.�160

�They who have no faith in my sūtra,

Whenever they obtain a human existence,

They will be maimed214 and crippled,

Humpbacked, one-eyed, stupid, and inferior. {122}

3.�161

�Those who have no faith in this enlightenment of the buddhas

Will encounter antipathy in this world.

A rotten smell will come from their mouths

And they will be possessed by yakṣas that enter their bodies.215 {123} [F.38.a]

3.�162

�They will be poor, menial workers.

They will always be powerless servants of others.

They will have many illnesses and harms216

And will live in the world without any protector. {124}

3.�163

�The one that they serve

Will not wish to pay them.

Even if paid, it will soon be lost.

Such will be the result of their bad karma. {125}

3.�164

�Any medicine that they obtain,

Even if given by an expert in its preparation,

Will only cause their illness to increase

And they will never be free of their sickness. {126}

3.�165

�Others will steal from them.

There will be disorder, riots, and strife.

Others will take away their wealth,

And they fall into this through their bad karma. {127}

3.�166

�The ones who reject my way to buddhahood

Will live in inopportune existences.

They will not see the appearance of a world protector,

A king who is the lord of men, teaching in this world. {128}

3.�167

�Such fools will not hear the Dharma;

They will be deaf and without thought.

Rejecting this kind of enlightenment,

They will never find peace. {129}

3.�168

�As the result of the bad karma of rejecting this sūtra

They will be paralyzed and crippled

For many thousand trillions of eons,

As numerous as the sand grains in the Ganges. {130}

3.�169

�Their gardens will be the hells.

Their homes will be the lower realms.

And they will always be in the form of

A donkey, pig, jackal, or dog.217 {131}

3.�170

�Even if they become a human,

At that time their adornments will be

Being blind, deaf, and stupid,

Always poor, and a servant to others. {132}

3.�171

�Illness will be their clothing:

There will be quintillions of sores on their bodies,

And likewise abscesses, itching, and pustules,

And likewise leprosy, white leprosy, and a rotten smell. {133}

3.�172

�They will have a strong belief in a self

And the strength of their anger will be great. [F.38.b]

Their desires will be very powerful

And they will take pleasure in the vaginas of animals. {134}

3.�173

�Śārisuta, if I were from today to describe

For an entire eon the harm that comes

To those who reject this sūtra,

I could not finish describing that harm. {135}

3.�174

�Śārisuta, I have truly taught to you

This very meaning that I see.

You should not teach such a sūtra as this

In the presence of foolish beings. {136}

3.�175

�You should teach this ultimate truth

To those who are learned,218 have heard much Dharma,

And who have mindfulness, are wise, have knowledge,

And are set upon supreme enlightenment. {137}

3.�176

�You should proclaim this ultimate truth

To those who have seen many millions of buddhas,

Who have developed immeasurable merit,

And have a stable, higher motivation. {138}

3.�177

�You should teach this sūtra directly

To those who are diligent and always kind,

Who for a long time have meditated on kindness,

And who have no concern for body or life. {139}

3.�178

�Proclaim this excellent sūtra to those

Who are considerate and respectful to each other,

Who do not rely on fools,

And are happy in mountain caves. {140}

3.�179

�Teach this sūtra

To those children of the buddhas

Whom you see serving kalyāṇamitras,

And who have given up sinful friends. {141}

3.�180

�Recite this sūtra in the presence

Of those children of the buddhas whom you see

To have unimpaired conduct, who are like precious jewels,

And have a vast possession of sūtras. {142}

3.�181

�Recite this sūtra in the presence

Of those who are without anger and always honest,

Who have compassion for all beings,

And are respectful in the presence of the Sugata. {143}

3.�182

�Give the teaching of this sūtra

To those who teach the Dharma in the center of an assembly,

Without impediment, their minds focused,

And who use quintillions of parables, {144}

3.�183

�And to those who with hands in homage upon their head

Are searching for the state of omniscience, [F.39.a]

Who travel in all the ten directions

Seeking a bhikṣu who has the excellent teaching. {145}

3.�184

�You should teach this supreme sūtra

To those who possess extensive sūtras,

Who do not long for anything else,

And do not retain even one verse from anywhere else. {146}

3.�185

�Just as when someone possesses a relic of the Tathāgata,

People go in search of it,

In that way they go in search of this sūtra

And, finding it, place it on the crown of their head. {147}

3.�186

�They never think about other sūtras,

Other worldly treatises that are

In that way the realm of fools.

You should reject them and teach this! {148}

3.�187

�Śāriputra, I could teach for a whole eon

The many thousand million features of those

Who are set upon the supreme, highest enlightenment;

It is in their presence that you should teach this sūtra.� {149}

3.�188

This concludes �The Parable,� the third chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.� [B4]

Chapter 4: THE ASPIRATION

4.�1

Then Brother Subhūti, Brother Mahākātyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, and Mahā�maudgalyāyana, having heard from the Bhagavān this kind of Dharma that they had never heard before, and having heard directly from the Bhagavān the prophecy of Brother Śāriputra�s attainment of the highest, supreme enlightenment, were amazed, astonished, and overjoyed.

At that time they rose from their seats, approached the Bhagavān, uncovered one shoulder, knelt on their right knees, and with palms together in homage to the Bhagavān, looking directly at the Bhagavān, they inclined their bodies, they bowed their bodies, they bowed well, bowed perfectly.

4.�2

They said to the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, we are old, aged, and decrepit. We are esteemed to be the elders in the saṅgha of bhikṣus. We are old, infirm, and are said to have attained nirvāṇa. [F.39.b] Bhagavān, we do not make the effort to attain unsurpassable complete enlightenment. We do not have the strength to make that effort.

�When the Bhagavān teaches the Dharma, when the Bhagavān is seated for a long time, we too are in the assembly for that Dharma teaching. Bhagavān, while we are reverentially seated there for a long time, we have pains in our limbs and other parts of our bodies, and pains in our main and secondary joints.

4.�3

�Therefore, Bhagavān, although we express all the emptiness, absence of attributes, and absence of aspiration in the Dharma that the Bhagavān is teaching, we have not hoped for the display of the buddha realms, the play of bodhisattvas, or the play of tathāgatas that are in these dharmas of the Buddha.219 Why is that? Bhagavān, we have escaped from the three realms and we are said to have attained nirvāṇa. Also we are old and decrepit.

4.�4

�Therefore, Bhagavān, even though we have taught and instructed other bodhisattvas in the highest, complete enlightenment, we ourselves, Bhagavān, have not given rise to a single wish for such a thing.220 Bhagavān, we were amazed and astonished to hear from the Bhagavān just now the highest, complete enlightenment being prophesied even for the śrāvakas.

4.�5

�Bhagavān, today we have unexpectedly heard words from the Tathāgata of a kind that we have never heard before, which is a great gain. Bhagavān, we have obtained a great jewel; Bhagavān, we have obtained a priceless great jewel. Bhagavān, we have obtained this kind of jewel without searching221 for it, without seeking it, without thinking of it, and without wishing for it.

4.�6

�Bhagavān, this is how it appears to us. [F.40.a] Sugata, this is how it appears to us.

�Bhagavān, it is like the following analogy. A person leaves his father, and having left him, goes to another land. Bhagavān, for many years, for twenty, thirty, forty, until fifty years, he is gone away and has turned into a grown man. He becomes a beggar and searches for sustenance. In order to have food and clothes he travels in every direction in many other lands. His father has come to one of these other lands. The father has much property, grain, treasure, and storehouses. He has much gold, silver, jewels, pearls, beryls, conches, crystals, corals, and gold and silver plate. He has many female slaves, male slaves, workers, and hirelings. He has many elephants, horses, carriages, cattle, and sheep. He has many servants. He is a wealthy man in that great land. He has considerable revenues, interest from loans, and farming and trading businesses.

4.�7

�Then, Bhagavān, the poor man, seeking food and clothes, wanders through a succession of villages, towns, market towns, districts, countries, and capitals, and at last arrives at the town where lives his father, who has much property, grain, treasure, and storehouses. The father always thinks of his son who has been missing for fifty years. yet, although he thinks of him, he says nothing of this to anyone else, but sorrows privately. He thinks to himself, �I have become old and decrepit. I have much property, grain, treasure, and storehouses. [F.40.b] But I do not have even one son. When my time comes to an end, will not all of this be without an owner and be dispersed?� In this way he thinks again and again of his son. �Alas! If only my son could take possession of this accumulation of wealth, I would be free of sadness.�

4.�8

�Then, Bhagavān, the poor man, wandering in search of food and clothes, comes to the residence of the man who has much money, gold, property, grain, treasure, and storehouses.

�Bhagavān, the poor man�s father is at the entrance to his home, accompanied by a great assembly of brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras gazing upon him. He is seated in great wealth upon a lion throne with a footstool, adorned in gold and silver. He is being fanned with yak-tail whisks, there is a canopy spread above him, the ground is bestrewn with pearls and flowers, and strings of jewels are hung as decorations.

4.�9

�Bhagavān, the poor man sees his father seated among such wealth at the entrance of his own residence encircled by a great crowd of householders as his attendants. As soon as he sees him he is shocked, frightened, afraid, and the hairs on his body stand on end. Terrified, he thinks, �I have suddenly come across this king or great minister. There is no reason for me to be here. I shall go to the street where the poor people live. There I can obtain food and clothing without any difficulty. I should not linger here. I do not want to be enslaved or seized,222 or encounter other kinds of harm.�

4.�10

�Then, Bhagavān, the poor man, frightened and terrified by the thought of continuous suffering,223 does not stay there but runs far away.

4.�11

�However, Bhagavān, the wealthy man, seated on the lion throne at the entrance to his residence, [F.41.a] recognizes224 his son as soon as he sees him. The sight makes him happy, thrilled, overjoyed, and delighted. He thinks, �This is marvelous! I have seen the one who is to inherit my money, gold, property, grain, treasures, and storehouses. I have become old and aged. I have been thinking of this over and over, and he has arrived here!�

4.�12

�Then, Bhagavān, that man who had been pained by longing for his son, in that very instant, that very moment, commands some people who can run quickly, �Friends, go and quickly bring that man to me.�

�So, Bhagavān, those men run quickly to catch the poor man.

4.�13

�However, Bhagavān, the poor man then becomes frightened, terrified, and alarmed. The hairs on his body stand on end. In dismay, he yells and screams dreadful cries of distress. He cries out, �I have done you no wrong!�

�But those men forcibly bring back the poor man, wailing. The poor man, afraid, frightened, terrified, and alarmed, his hairs standing on end, in dismay, thinks, �I should not be killed!�225 He faints and falls to the ground, unconscious.226

4.�14

�His father comes near and says to the men, �Don�t bring this man in this way!� He sprinkles cold water on him and says nothing more. Why? The householder knows that the poor man aspires for something inferior, while he has a high status. He also knows that this is his son.

�At the time, Bhagavān, the householder, using a skillful method, does not at all declare, �This is my son!�

4.�15

�Then, Bhagavān, that householder instructs another man, [F.41.b] �Hey, you there,227 go to that poor man and say to him, �Oh, you have been freed, go wherever you want to!� �

�That man listens to this order, goes to the poor man, and says to him, �Hey, you have been freed, go wherever you want to!�

�When the poor man hears those words he is amazed and astonished. He gets up from the ground, leaves that place, and goes to the street of the poor people in order to seek clothing and food.

4.�16

�The householder then uses a skillful method in order to bring the poor man to himself. He employs two people of low caste and shoddy appearance228 and says to them, �Go to the man who came here, taking my instruction that he be given a daily wage229 to induce him to work in my home. If he asks, �What work can I do?� say to him, �You can work with the two of us clearing away the rubbish heap.� �

4.�17

�So the two men go looking for the poor man, and they perform their task. Those two men and the poor man are then employed by the wealthy man and clear away the rubbish heap in his residence. They make their home in a straw hut beside the wealthy man�s house.

4.�18

�The rich man, through a round window, sees his son clearing away the rubbish, and seeing him he is again astonished. The householder then takes off his garlands and jewelry, takes off his soft, clean, beautiful clothes, puts on dirty clothes, and comes down out from his residence, holding a basket in his left hand, and with his limbs dirtied with earth.

4.�19

�He greets his son from afar, and approaches him. Having approached, he says, �Don�t stay here, take baskets and carry the rubbish away.� Using this method he is able to converse with his son. Then he says, �Oh, you should work here. You should not go elsewhere. I shall give you a greater wage. [F.42.a] Whatever it is you need you can unhesitatingly ask me for it, whether it is the price of a bowl, the price of a water pot, the price of a cooking pot, the price of wood, the price of salt, or the price of food or clothes. I have an old cloth, sir, and if you need it ask for it and I will give to you. Oh, whatever kind of utensil it is that you need, sir, I will give it to you. You230 be happy! Think of me as if I were your father. Why? It is because I am older and you are younger. You have done much work for me by clearing away the rubbish heap. My, you have done this work without deceit, deception, dishonesty, pride, hypocrisy, or ingratitude. My, I have not seen you to have even one fault, such as I have perceived in other men who work. From this day on you will be like my own son born from me.�

4.�20

�Then, Bhagavān, that householder calls that that poor man �son,� and the poor man thinks of the householder as being his father.

�Bhagavān, the householder who longed for his son in that way has him clearing away the rubbish heaps for twenty years. After twenty years have passed, the poor man has no anxiety about coming in and out of the householder�s residence, and lives there in the straw hut.

4.�21

�By that time, Bhagavān, the householder has become weaker, and he perceives that he is approaching the time of his death. He says to the poor man, �Oh, you, come here! I have much money, gold, property, grain, treasure, and storehouses. I have become very weak. I wish to give them to [F.42.b] someone who will take them, who will preserve them. All this you should know. Why is that? Just as I have been the owner of this wealth, so are you. You will not waste anything of mine.�

4.�22

�So, Bhagavān, the poor man in this way comes to know of that householder�s great amount of money, gold, property, grain, treasure, and storehouses. He has no desire for them. He does not ask for any of it, not even something the value of a prastha of flour.231 He continues to live in the straw hut, thinking the thoughts of a poor person.

�Then, Bhagavān, the householder sees that his son has developed, and is capable of preserving his wealth; he sees that his mind is refined, such that his outlook is heightened232 and he is distressed by his previous poor man�s way of thinking‍�he is disgusted by it, ashamed of it, and loathes it.

4.�23

�As he is approaching the time of his death he summons the poor man and presents him to a great gathering of many kinsmen. Then he openly pronounces in the presence of the king, the ministers, the townspeople, and the citizens of the land, �Listen, all of you, this is my own rightful son, of such and such a town, whom I lost fifty years ago. His name is such and such. My name is such and such. In order to find him I came here from that town. This is my son. I am his father. Whatever it is that I own, all of it I bestow upon him. He has full knowledge of even the least of the possessions that I have.�

4.�24

�Then, Bhagavān, the poor man, hearing at that time those words, is amazed and astonished. He thinks, �Suddenly I have obtained such money, gold, property, grain, treasure, and storehouses!�

�Bhagavān, in the same way we are like the Tathāgata�s sons [F.43.a] and the Tathāgata, just like that householder, has said to us, �You are my sons.�

4.�25

�Bhagavān, we are pained by the three sufferings. What are those three? They are the suffering of suffering, the suffering of the composite, and the suffering of change. Within saṃsāra, we have had an inferior aspiration. Therefore, Bhagavān, we have contemplated many Dharma teachings that are similar to a rubbish heap, and we have been devoted to them, intent upon them, and dedicated to them.

4.�26

�Bhagavān, we have sought and requested nirvāṇa alone, just like that daily wage. Therefore, Bhagavān, we have been satisfied by the attainment of nirvāṇa. We thought that we had obtained a great deal, and were devoted to, intent upon, and dedicated to these dharmas from the Tathāgata.

4.�27

�The Tathāgata knew our inferior aspiration, and therefore the Bhagavān tolerated us233 and did not say to us, �This is the Tathāgata�s treasure of wisdom, which will be yours.�

�Bhagavān, through a skillful method you have bestowed upon us our inheritance of the Tathāgata�s treasure of wisdom.

4.�28

�Bhagavān, we had no desire for it. We thought, �We have obtained a great deal,� meaning nirvāṇa from the Tathāgata, which is like that daily wage.

4.�29

�Bhagavān, beginning with the Tathāgata�s wisdom, we have explained his whole immense Dharma teaching to the bodhisattva mahāsattvas; we have revealed, taught, and explained the Tathāgata�s wisdom, Bhagavān, but we ourselves have had no aspiration for it. Why is that? The Tathāgata, with a skillful method, knew our aspirations, and we did not know, did not understand when the Bhagavān said that we are true sons of the Tathāgata.234 [F.43.b]

4.�30

�The Bhagavān has made us remember our inheritance of the Tathāgata�s wisdom. Why is that? It is because we are true sons of the Tathāgata, but we have also had inferior aspiration. If the Bhagavān sees strength in our aspiration, the Bhagavān declares us to be bodhisattvas.

4.�31

�The Bhagavān has given us two tasks to perform: in the presence of the bodhisattvas we are said to be those with inferior aspiration; and this, in turn, inspires them to the enlightenment of buddhahood. When the Bhagavān sees strength in our motivation then he declares this.

4.�32

�In this way, Bhagavān, we say, �We have unexpectedly, without desiring it, obtained the jewel of omniscience that we did not long for, did not search for, did not seek for, did not think of, and did not wish for, just like the sons of the Tathāgata.� �

4.�33

Then at that time Mahākāśyapa recited these verses:

�We are amazed and astonished

And overjoyed to have heard your words.

We have on this day unexpectedly

Heard the pleasant speech of the Guide. {1}

4.�34

�In just a moment we have obtained today

A multitude of great, excellent jewels.

We are all astonished to have heard

That which we had not thought of nor wished for at all. {2}

4.�35

�It is like when a person who is foolish

And who is influenced by foolish people

Abandons his father�s residence

And wanders through other lands.235 {3}

4.�36

�The father at that time is sorrowful,

Knowing that his son has fled,

And for no fewer than fifty years

In sorrow he searches the ten directions. {4}

4.�37

�Then in seeking for his son [F.44.a]

He arrives at another great city

Where he establishes a residence

And possesses the five sensory pleasures. {5}

4.�38

�He has much money, gold, and silver;236

Property, grain, conch,237 crystal, and coral;

And many elephants, horses, and foot soldiers,

Cows, cattle, and also sheep. {6}

4.�39

�He has revenues, interest from loans, and similarly land,

Male slaves, female slaves, and a crowd of servants.

He is attended to by billions of beings

And is always a favorite238 of the king. {7}

4.�40

�The citizens make the gesture of homage to him

As do the villagers who live in the villages.

Many merchants come to see him,

And through many activities pay him service.239 {8}

4.�41

�That man who is wealthy in that way

Has become old, aged, and feeble.

Continually, day and night,

His thoughts are of sadness over his son. {9}

4.�42

� �My son, who was so foolish,

Ran away fifty years ago.

I possess such vast treasure as this,

And I am close to the time of my death.� {10}

4.�43

�At that time, his son, the fool,

Is always poor and wretched.

He wanders from village to village

Seeking food and also a garment. {11}

4.�44

�While he is searching he sometimes

Obtains something and sometimes nothing.

He becomes emaciated and seeks refuge240 from others,

His body covered by skin infections and itches. {12}

4.�45

�He arrives at the city

Where his father lives.

While he is seeking food and clothing

He eventually comes to his own father�s house. {13}

4.�46

�The rich man who has great wealth

Is seated on a lion throne at the entrance.

He is encircled by many hundreds of people

And a canopy is spread in the air above him. {14}

4.�47

�All around him are his trusted people.

Some are counting wealth and money,

Some are writing out documents,

And some are calculating interest. {15}

4.�48

�When the poor man sees there

This beautified residence of the householder, [F.44.b]

He thinks, �Where have I arrived today?

This must be the home of a king or a minister. {16}

4.�49

� �May I do nothing wrong here

Or be seized and pressed into forced labor!�

Thinking this, the man runs away,

Asking where is the street of the poor people. {17}

4.�50

�The rich man, sitting on his lion throne,

Becomes overjoyed on seeing his son.

He dispatches some messengers after him,

Saying, �Bring me this poor man!� {18}

4.�51

�They immediately seize that man,

Who faints as soon as he is seized,

Thinking, �I am certainly about to be slain!

What use are food and clothes to me now?� {19}

4.�52

�The wise, rich man sees this and thinks,

�This unwise fool has inferior aspiration,

And he will not believe, �This wealth is for me!�

He will not believe, �This is my father!� � {20}

4.�53

�He arranges there for some people,

Inferior beings in ragged clothes,241

Crooked, one-eyed, and maimed,

Saying, �Seek that working man! {21}

4.�54

� �Say that I will give him a double wage

To do the work of clearing away

My rotting heap of rubbish

And unhealthy urine and feces.� {22}

4.�55

�The man hears those words and

Comes and cleans that place.

He makes his abode there

In a straw hut beside that residence. {23}

4.�56

�The rich man is always looking

Through a round window at the man,

Thinking, �My son, with inferior aspiration,

Works at clearing away rubbish heaps.� {24}

4.�57

�He comes down, holding a basket

And wearing dirty clothes.

He comes up to that man and scolds him,

Saying, �You are not working!� {25}

4.�58

� �I give you double wages,

I give you double oil for the feet,

I give you food with salt,

I also give you vegetables and cloth!� {26}

4.�59

�In that way he rebukes him at that time,

And then the wise one increases their bond,

Saying, �You do your work well here! [F.45.a]

You are truly my son, have no doubt about it.� {27}

4.�60

�Then, gradually, he brings him into the house,

And for an entire twenty years

He gives that man work to do,

And by degrees makes the man confident. {28}

4.�61

�He stores242 the crystal, money, and pearls

There inside this residence.

He keeps a count of it all

And keeps all that wealth in mind. {29}

4.�62

�The fool lives alone in the hut

Outside of that residence.

In his mind he has the thoughts of a poor person,

Thinking, �I do not own any of this property.� {30}

4.�63

�When the rich man knows, �My son has

In this way heightened his outlook,�

He invites a crowd of friends and kinsmen

And says, �On this one I shall bestow all my wealth.� {31}

4.�64

�He holds a gathering of the royal family,

The citizens, and many merchants.

He states in the middle of that assembly,

�This is my son, whom I lost a long time ago. {32}

4.�65

� �Fifty full years passed by after that,

And since I saw him another twenty.

I lost him in the city of such and such a name,

And it was in search of him that I came here. {33}

4.�66

� �This man is the owner of all that I possess.

I bestow it all without remainder upon him.

He may use his father�s wealth

And I give to him my entire family fortune.�243 {34}

4.�67

�That man is astonished;

He thinks of his previous poverty,

His inferior aspiration, and his father�s qualities:

�Today I have obtained my family fortune and I am happy.� {35}

4.�68

�In that same way the Guide,

Knowing we had inferior aspiration,

Did not proclaim, �You will become buddhas!�

But said, �You, śrāvakas, are my sons!� {36}

4.�69

�The Lord of the World has said to us,

�Kāśyapa, teach the unsurpassable path

To those set upon supreme enlightenment.

Through meditation on that path they will become buddhas.� {37}

4.�70

�Thus instructed by the Sugata,

We teach the highest path

With quintillions of causes and parables [F.45.b]

To many bodhisattvas with great strength. {38}

4.�71

�The sons of the Jina, having listened to us,

Meditate on the supreme path to enlightenment244

And immediately receive the prophecy,

�You will become buddhas in this world.� {39}

4.�72

�In that way we work for the Guide

Just like that trustworthy man,

Taking care of this treasure of the Dharma

And teaching it to the sons of the Jina. {40}

4.�73

�Thinking with a poor man�s outlook,

Though we gave to others the treasure of the Buddha

And taught them the wisdom of the Jina,

We did not wish for the wisdom of the Jina. {41}

4.�74

�We believe we have personal nirvāṇa

And have no other wisdom than that.

We were never gladdened by hearing

Descriptions of the realms of the buddhas. {42}

4.�75

� �All these dharmas are immaculate, peaceful,

And devoid of cessation and birth.

And there is no dharma that exists in this.�

When we contemplated that we had no faith in it. {43}

4.�76

�For a long time we have had no wish

For the highest wisdom of buddhahood.

We never made any prayers of aspiration

For the ultimate conclusion taught by the Jina. {44}

4.�77

�In this body that concludes in nirvāṇa,

We have meditated a long time on emptiness.

We are freed from the pain of suffering in the three realms.

We have carried out the teaching of the Jina. {45}

4.�78

�We have never developed a longing

For that which we teach to the progeny of the Jina,

That Dharma that we have taught to those

Who are set upon supreme enlightenment. {46}

4.�79

�The self-arisen Master of the World

Tolerated us, awaiting the right time.

Examining our aspiration, he did not teach us

The true meaning of the teachings with implied meaning. {47}

4.�80

�With timely skillful method

That very wealthy man [F.46.a]

Constantly trained his son who had inferior aspiration,

And when he was trained bestowed his wealth upon him. {48}

4.�81

�The Lord of the World has accomplished what is difficult,

Through teaching with skillful methods.

He has trained the sons who have inferior aspiration

And, having trained them, given them this wisdom of the buddhas. {49}

4.�82

�Just like the poor man who obtained wealth,

We are astonished that suddenly today

We have obtained in the Buddha�s teaching

This principal, immaculate, chief result. {50}

4.�83

�We have maintained for a long time the good conduct

In the teachings of the Knower of the World

And today, Lord, we have obtained the result

Of that good conduct we have previously practiced. {51}

4.�84

�We have practiced in the teachings of the Guide

The completely pure, highest celibacy.

And today we have obtained its exceptional result,

Which is a vast and immaculate peace. {52}

4.�85

�Today, Lord, we who are śrāvakas245

Will proclaim the highest enlightenment.

We will teach the word enlightenment,

Therefore we will be formidable śrāvakas. {53}

4.�86

�Today, Lord, we who are arhats246

Have become worthy of receiving the offerings

Of the world and its devas, māras,

Brahmakāyikas, and by all beings. {54}

4.�87

�Who is there who could repay you

Even by striving for many millions of eons?

You accomplish that which is difficult to do,

The difficult deeds that are in this mortal world. {55}

4.�88

�It would be difficult to repay your kindness

Even with one�s hands, feet, and head;

Even if one were to carry you on one�s head and shoulders

For as many eons as sand grains in the Ganges; {56}

4.�89

�Even if one were to give meals, food, drink, and clothes,

Bedding and seats, and stainless247 upper robes;

Even if one were to give temples constructed from sandalwood,

Which are spread with sewn-together calico cloths; {57}

4.�90

�Even if one were to always make offerings to the Sugata

Of many different kinds of medicine when there is sickness [F.46.b]

For as many eons as there are sand grains in the Ganges‍�

Even that would never be able to repay your kindness. {58}

4.�91

�Those who have the qualities of greatness, who are unequaled,

Who have great miraculous powers and are established in the strength of patience,

The buddhas, those great immaculate kings, the jinas,

Have patience for such fools as these. {59}

4.�92

�The Lord of Dharma, the Lord of the Entire World,

The Great Lord, the Lord who is the Guide of the World

Teaches the Dharma to those who are involved in the characteristics of appearances,

At all times adapting to them in that way. {60}

4.�93

�Knowing the various states of beings,

He teaches many kinds of accomplishment.

Knowing their various aspirations,

He teaches the Dharma through thousands of causes.248 {61}

4.�94

�The Tathāgata, knowing the conduct

Of all beings and individuals,249

Teaches the Dharma in various ways

And reveals this highest enlightenment.� {62}

4.�95

This concludes �The Aspiration,� the fourth chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

Chapter 5: HERBS

5.�1

Then the Bhagavān said to Brother Mahākāśyapa and the other great sthaviras, �Excellent! Excellent, Kāśyapa! It is excellent, Kāśyapa, that you have praised the true qualities of the Tathāgata. Kāśyapa, those are qualities of the Tathāgata. There are immeasurably and innumerably more than those. It would not be easy to enumerate them entirely even in countless eons.

5.�2

�Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata is the Lord of the Dharma. He is the principal King of All the Dharmas. Kāśyapa, whatever Dharma the Tathāgata presents, and the way he presents it, that is how it is. Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata presents all dharmas correctly.250 He presents them through the wisdom of a tathāgata, so that those dharmas lead to the state of omniscience. The Tathāgata sees the stages of meaning in all the dharmas. [F.47.a] He has attained the superior motivation concerning all the dharmas. He has attained the supreme, highest wisdom of skillful methods in bringing certainty in all the dharmas. Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha teaches the wisdom of omniscience, he brings the realization of omniscience, and he presents the wisdom of omniscience.

5.�3

�Kāśyapa, it is like this: There are all the plants, bushes, herbs, and forest trees of many different colors and different kinds, and herbs with various names that grow on the plains, the mountains, and mountain valleys in this world realm of a billion worlds. A great cloud filled with water rises up, and having risen covers all the worlds in the all-containing realm of a billion worlds. Having covered them all, rain falls simultaneously and equally everywhere on all of them.

5.�4

�Kāśyapa, the young and tender stems, branches, leaves, and petals,251 and the half-grown stems, branches, leaves, and petals, and the fully grown stems, branches, leaves, and petals among the plants, bushes, herbs, and forest trees in this world realm of a billion worlds all drink the element of water released from the great cloud in accordance with their strength and location. That great water with a single taste that was released from one great cloud appropriately makes the seeds sprout, develop, and grow. Similarly it produces flowers and fruits. Each one of those acquires its own individual name. There are multitudes of herbs and multitudes of seeds all on the same earth that are soaked by the water that has a single taste.

5.�5

�Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha appears in the world in that way. Just as the great cloud rises, the Tathāgata appears [F.47.b] and causes the entire world, with its devas, humans, and asuras, to hear his speech.

5.�6

�Kāśyapa, just as that great cloud covers all the worlds in the all-containing world realm of a billion worlds, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha emits sound before the world with its devas, humans, and asuras, so that they hear his voice, declaring, �Devas and humans! I am the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha! I have crossed over and I bring across! I am liberated and I liberate! I am relieved and I bring relief! I have attained nirvāṇa and bring others to the attainment of nirvāṇa! With perfect wisdom I have correct knowledge of this world and the next world! I am omniscient and all-seeing! Devas and humans, you should come to me in order to hear the Dharma! I am one who makes known the path! I am one who teaches the path! I am one who knows the path! I am one who is skilled in the path!�

5.�7

�In that way, Kāśyapa, many hundred thousand quintillions of beings come to the Tathāgata in order to hear the Dharma. The Tathāgata knows their higher and lower levels of capacity and diligence and provides them with Dharma teachings. I have taught many different kinds of Dharma discourses to various kinds of individuals so as to delight them, please them, bring them joy, and bring them benefit and happiness. Through those teachings those beings will have happiness in this life and at death will be reborn in happy existences. Wherever they are reborn, even though they enjoy many desires, they will listen to the Dharma, and having heard the Dharma they will become devoid of obscurations and finally they will enter the Dharma of omniscience, in accordance with their strength, location, and power.

5.�8

�Kāśyapa, it is like when a great cloud covers all the worlds in the all-containing realm of a billion worlds and lets fall rain equally everywhere on the plants, bushes, herbs, and forest trees, and satisfies them with water. [F.48.a] The plants, bushes, herbs, and forest trees drink the water in accordance with their strength, location, and power, and each of them grows in accordance with their individual species.

�Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha teaches the Dharma in that way. The entire Dharma has one taste‍�the one taste of liberation, freedom from desire, cessation, and the ultimate wisdom of omniscience.

5.�9

�Kāśyapa, the beings who listen to, retain, and practice the Dharma that the Tathāgata teaches do not comprehend, know, or understand themselves. Why is that? Kāśyapa, it is the Tathāgata who knows those beings‍�who they are, how they are, and what kind they are; what they think, how they think, and why they think; what they meditate on, how they meditate, and why they meditate; and what they attain, how they attain it, and why they attain it.

�Kāśyapa, it is the Tathāgata who has direct knowledge of them, direct perception of them, and sees them as they are.

5.�10

�Kāśyapa, I have realized the one taste of the Dharma: the one taste of liberation, ultimate nirvāṇa, the eternal nirvāṇa, the single level, and the domain of space. However, in order to preserve the faith of beings‍�the beings who are on this and that level, higher, middling, and lower, like the plants, bushes, herbs, and forest trees‍�I do not immediately teach them the wisdom of omniscience.

5.�11

�Kāśyapa, you are astonished because you were not able to penetrate into the Tathāgata�s teaching that contained an implied meaning. Why was that? Kāśyapa, it is because the teachings with implied meaning given by the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas [F.48.b] are difficult to understand.�

5.�12

Then the Bhagavān taught this meaning in detail, at this time giving his teaching in verses:

�I am the Dharma King who has appeared in the world.

I am the crusher of existence.

Knowing their aspirations

I teach the Dharma to beings. {1}

5.�13

�With unwavering understanding I have maintained

The teaching of the great heroes for a long time.

They also possess that which is secret,

Which they do not teach to beings. {2}

5.�14

�That wisdom is difficult to understand

For the foolish who suddenly hear it.

They will have doubts, complete misunderstanding,

And they will fall away and wander. {3}

5.�15

�I teach according to their range

And according to their strength.

By using different meanings,

I make their view correct. {4}

5.�16

�Kāśyapa, there is a cloud

That appears in the world

And spreads over the land

And covers over everything. {5}

5.�17

�That great cloud, flashing with lightning,

Is completely filled with water.

It resounds with sound,

Bringing joy to all beings. {6}

5.�18

�It obscures the sunlight

And it cools the land.

When it is within hand�s reach,

Its rain falls everywhere. {7}

5.�19

�Although it falls equally,

The mass of water is vast.

It flows everywhere,

Satiating this earth. {8}

5.�20

�Whatever herbs there are

That grow from this ground;

Plants, bushes, and forest trees,

Small trees and great trees; {9}

5.�21

�The many kinds of crops

That will become green;

Whatever grows on mountains,

In ravines, forests, and dells, {10}

5.�22

�The cloud satiates them all.

It satiates the parched earth

And the plants, bushes, and forest trees,

And it bathes the herbs. {11}

5.�23

�Those waters have one taste.

They fall from the cloud and remain here.

The plants and bushes drink them

According to their strength and location. {12}

5.�24

�The small trees and the great trees, [F.49.a]

Whether young, middling, or full grown,

They drink the water according to their strength,

And having drunk it they grow as they wish. {13}

5.�25

�Because the rain falls from the cloud, the great herbs

Grow their stems, hollow stalks, and skins,

Their spreading branches and their leaves,

And likewise their fruits and flowers. {14}

5.�26

�According to their strength and location,

The fallen rain, which has a single taste,

Germinates each and every thing

That is dwelling within its seed. {15}

5.�27

�Kāśyapa, in that way the Buddha in this world

Appears like a rain-bearing cloud over the world.

The Lord of the World, having appeared, teaches,

Expounding the true practice to beings. {16}

5.�28

�In that way the great Rishi,

Revered by the world and its devas, proclaims:

�I am the Tathāgata, the supreme human, the Jina,

Appearing like a cloud in this world. {17}

5.�29

� �I bring satiation to all beings who have withered bodies

And are attached to the three existences.

I bring happiness to those who are withered by suffering

And give them their desires and nirvāṇa. {18}

5.�30

� �Multitudes of devas and humans, listen to me!

Approach so that you may look upon me!

I am the Tathāgata, the unsurpassable Bhagavān!

I have been born into this world to bring liberation. {19}

5.�31

� �I teach thousands of millions of beings.

I shall fully reveal to them the pure Dharma.

Its true nature is a single equality,

Which is liberation and nirvāṇa. {20}

5.�32

� �I teach the Dharma with one voice,

Doing so always for the sake of enlightenment.

It has equality and has no inequality.

There is no desire, and there is no aversion. {21}

5.�33

� �I never need to be appeased,

I have no affection or malice for anyone.

I teach the Dharma equally to all beings,

As if others were all one being. {22}

5.�34

� �I teach the Dharma and do nothing else. [F.49.b]

Whether walking, standing, or sitting,

Whether seated on a cushion, or lying on a bed,

I never give rise to weariness. {23}

5.�35

� �I bring satiation to all the world,

Like a cloud that rains equally on all,

With an outlook of equality, on the superior and inferior,

On those with good conduct and those without good conduct, {24}

5.�36

� �And the same for people who have lost their practice,

And those who are endowed with proper practice and conduct,

Those who hold the view, and those who have lost the view,

And those who have the true view, and those who have a pure view. {25}

5.�37

� �I teach the Dharma to those with little capacity,

To those with inferior and those with higher understanding.

I have eliminated all weariness

And perfectly send down a rain of the Dharma. {26}

5.�38

� �Listening to me, according to their strengths,252

They are established on various levels:

As beautiful devas and humans,253

As Śakras, Brahmās, and as cakravartins. {27}

5.�39

� �Listen! I shall explain all

These tiny, minute herbs,

Those that are small in the world,

And the other medium and large herbs.254 {28}

5.�40

� �Those humans who know the immaculate Dharma

And remain in the attainment of nirvāṇa,

Those who have the six higher knowledges and the three insights

Are declared to be the tiny herbs. {29}

5.�41

� �Those humans who dwell in mountain defiles

And aspire to pratyeka�buddhahood,

Those who have a medium pure understanding,

Are declared to be the medium-sized herbs. {30}

5.�42

� �Those who aspire to be the leaders of beings,

Thinking, �I will be a buddha, lord of devas and humans,�

And are practicing diligence and dhyāna,

Are declared to be the highest herbs. {31}

5.�43

� �Those dedicated children of the Sugata,

Who practice kindness and whose conduct is peaceful,

And have no doubts about the Leader of Beings

Are in this way said to be the trees. {32}

5.�44

� �Those who turn the wheel of irreversibility,

Are brave and established in strengths and miracles,

And liberate many millions of beings

Are declared to be the great trees. {33} [F.50.a]

5.�45

� �The Jina teaches the Dharma equally,

Like the rain falling equally from a cloud.

Those who have various higher knowledges

Are like the herbs upon the surface of the ground. {34}

5.�46

� �Understand the method of the Tathāgata

Through the teaching of this analogy.

While he teaches one Dharma

The various words255 are like the drops of rain. {35}

5.�47

� �I send down a rain of the Dharma

That satiates all these beings in the world.

The Dharma that is taught has but one taste

But beings contemplate it according to their abilities. {36}

5.�48

� �When it rains, the plants and bushes,

The medium-sized herbs,

The trees and big trees

In all ten directions are beautified. {37}

5.�49

� �The Dharma256 thus benefits the world constantly,

Satiating the entire world with Dharma.

The entire world having been satiated,

Flowers arise from the herbs. {38}

5.�50

� �The medium-sized herbs that grow

Are the arhats whose defilements have ceased,

And the pratyeka�buddhas who in the forests

Practice257 the well-taught Dharma. {39}

5.�51

� �Many unwavering bodhisattvas, endowed with mindfulness,

Who have comprehended the entirety of the three realms,

Who are seeking this supreme enlightenment,

Are like the continually growing trees. {40}

5.�52

� �Those who have miraculous powers and reside in the four dhyānas,

Who are overjoyed to hear the teaching of emptiness,

And who radiate thousands of light rays

Are said to be the great trees.� {41}

5.�53

�Kāśyapa, the Dharma is taught in this way:

Like the rain falling equally from a cloud

And an endless multitude of human flowers,

A multitude of great herbs grow. {42}

5.�54

�I teach the Dharma that I have myself realized,

And teach buddhahood�s enlightenment at the appropriate time.

My skill in methods is supreme,

And that of all the guides of the world. {43} [F.50.b]

5.�55

�In this way I teach the true ultimate truth:

All those śrāvakas have not attained nirvāṇa.

When they have practiced the way of enlightenment

Then all those śrāvakas will become buddhas.258 {44}

5.�56

�Moreover, Kāśyapa, the Tathāgata guides beings equally, without any inequality.

�Kāśyapa, it is like this: The light of the sun and moon illuminates the entire world. The light shines equally, without any inequality, on the good and the bad, the high and the low, the aromatic and the foul-smelling.

5.�57

�Kāśyapa, in that way the light of the omniscient wisdom of the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas brings the Dharma equally to all beings who have been born in the five states of existence, whatever their aspirations, whether they are of the Mahāyāna, of the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna, or of the Śrāvakayāna. In that way the wisdom of the Tathāgata is never lacking and never superfluous,259 so that there is thus the attainment260 of merit and wisdom. [B5]

5.�58

�Kāśyapa, there are not three yānas. It is only because of the different practices of beings that there are said to be three yānas.�

5.�59

Then Brother Mahākāśyapa asked the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, if there are not three yānas, why at this time are there said to be the designations of śrāvakas, pratyeka�buddhas, and bodhisattvas?�

The Bhagavān said to Brother Mahākāśyapa, �Kāśyapa, it is like this: A potter makes all bowls from clay equally. Some of them become bowls that hold molasses, some of them become bowls that hold ghee, and some of them become bowls that hold curds or milk, some of them become bowls that hold bad and impure substances. [F.51.a] There is no difference in their clay. It is only because of the substances placed within them that they are said to be different kinds of bowls.

�Kāśyapa, in that way there is this one yāna, which is the Buddhayāna, and there is no second or third yāna.�

5.�60

Then Brother Mahākāśyapa asked the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, when beings with different aspirations depart from the three realms, do they have the one nirvāṇa or is there a second or third nirvāṇa?�

�Kāśyapa,� replied the Bhagavān, �nirvāṇa is the realization of the equality of all phenomena, and therefore there is the one nirvāṇa, and there is no second or third nirvāṇa.

5.�61

�Kāśyapa, some wise beings will understand the meaning through the teaching of a parable, and therefore I shall teach you a parable.

5.�62

�Kāśyapa, it is like this: A man who is blind from birth says, �There are no forms with good color or bad color. There is no one who sees forms with good color or bad color. There are no sun and moon. There are no stars. There are no planets. There is no one who sees planets.�

�Then some other people say in front of that born-blind man, �There are good colors and bad colors. There are those who see forms with good color or bad color. There are a sun and moon. There are stars. There are planets. There are those who see planets.�

5.�63

�The born-blind man does not have faith in those people, and does not believe what they have said.

�A physician who knows every illness sees the blind man and thinks, �That man has an illness because of his past bad karma. Every illness is one of four261 kinds: caused by air, caused by bile, caused by phlegm, or caused by their combination.� [F.51.b]

5.�64

�Then the physician thinks again and again as to what method would cure the man of his illness. He thinks, �The medicines that are available here will not be able to cure him, but there are four kinds of herbs on the king of mountains, the Himalayas.� What are these four? First there is the one named endowed with all colors and tastes,262 the second is called freedom from all illness,263 the third is called elimination of all poisons,264 and the fourth is called bestowing happiness anywhere.265 Those are the four herbs.

5.�65

�Then the physician, feeling compassion for the born-blind man, contemplates by what method he would be able to go to the king of mountain ranges, the Himalayas. He goes there and, searching for them, he climbs up, climbs down, and traverses their slopes. Searching in that way he finds the four herbs. After finding them, some he gives after grinding them with his teeth, some he gives after crushing them, some he gives after mixing them with other substances and then cooking them, some he gives after mixing them with other substances uncooked, some he gives after piercing a point on the body with a needle, some he gives after burning them with fire, and some he gives after mixing them with each other, and also mixing them with food, drink, and so on. Through the application of these methods the born-blind man gains sight.

5.�66

�When he has gained sight he sees outside and inside, far and near, the light of the moon, the sunlight, the stars, the planets, and all forms. He says, �Oh, I was so stupid before in not believing what was taught to me, not accepting what was said. Now I can see everything! I am freed from blindness!�

�At that time there are rishis who have the five higher knowledges: divine sight, divine hearing, the knowledge of others� minds, memory of previous lives, and mastery of miraculous powers. They say to the man, �Oh, all you obtained is your sight. If you have no other knowledge, why are you proud? You have no wisdom. [F.52.a] You have no sagacity.�

5.�67

�They also say to him, �You know, when you are sitting inside a house, you do not see the forms that are outside. You do not know the kind thoughts or malicious thoughts of beings. You do not know, do not hear, the sounds of people speaking, or the sounds of drums, conches, and so on, which are five yojanas away. You are not able to travel one krośa without taking a step with your feet. You are not able to remember the activity of being conceived and growing in your mother�s womb. So how can you be sagacious? How can you say that you see everything? Oh, you think that light is darkness. You think that darkness is light!�

5.�68

�Then that man says to the rishis, �Through what method and through what good actions can I attain such wisdom as that, and through your benevolence attain these qualities?�

� �If you wish for those you must dwell in a solitary place,� say the rishis to that man, �or, staying in a cave, you should contemplate the Dharma. You should forsake all the afflictions of the mind. If in this way you have the qualities of a mendicant, you will attain higher knowledge.�

5.�69

�That man then adopts that goal and entering homelessness he resides in solitude. With a one-pointed mind he abandons craving for this world and attains the five higher knowledges. Having obtained the five higher knowledges, he thinks, �I did not attain any qualities whatsoever through the other actions I had performed in the past. Now I can go wherever I think of. In the past, I had little wisdom and little insight. I was blind.�

�Kāśyapa, I have made this parable so that its meaning can be understood. Its meaning should be seen in this way:

5.�70

�Kāśyapa, the blind man represents the beings who dwell in the saṃsāra of the five266 kinds of existences. Those who do not know the good Dharma generate the black darkness of the kleśas and have the blindness of ignorance. Those who are blind with ignorance accumulate formations. [F.52.b] Through the factor of formation there is name-and-form, and so on until the arising of a great mass of sheer suffering. In that way they are blinded by ignorance. The Tathāgata has compassion for the beings in saṃsāra, and although he has transcended the three realms he has love for them like that of a father for his only son. With great compassion he goes to the three realms. The Bhagavān looks with eyes of wisdom upon the beings who are afflicted and wandering in the cycle of saṃsāra and do not know how to leave saṃsāra. Seeing them he knows, �These beings, because of their previous good actions, have little anger and great desire, while these have little desire and great anger; some have little wisdom, some are wise; and some are ripened and pure, and some hold wrong views.� The Tathāgata, using a skillful method, teaches three yānas to those beings.

5.�71

�The rishis with the five higher knowledges and pure vision are the bodhisattvas who have developed the aspiration for enlightenment, attained receptivity to the birthlessness of phenomena, and attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.

�The great physician should be seen to be the Tathāgata.

�The born-blind man should be seen to be beings who are blinded by ignorance.

5.�72

�Air, bile, and phlegm should be seen as desire, anger, ignorance, and the sixty-two fabricated views.

�The four kinds of herbs should be seen as (1) the doorway of emptiness, (2) the doorway of the absence of attributes, (3) the doorway of the absence of aspiration, and (4) nirvāṇa.

�The herbs are given in such and such a way so as to cure such and such an illness, and in that way through meditation on the doorways to liberation‍�emptiness, the absence of attributes, [F.53.a] and the absence of aspiration‍�they bring an end to ignorance. Because of the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of formation, and so on until there is the cessation of the great mass of sheer suffering. And thus their minds neither dwell on virtue nor on sin.

5.�73

�The born-blind man who gains sight should be seen as those who follow the Śrāvakayāna and the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna. They cut through the bondage of saṃsāra�s kleśas. Freed from the bondage of the kleśas, they are liberated from the six existences of the three realms. Therefore, those following the Śrāvakayāna think and say, �There is no other Dharma for attaining complete buddhahood and I have attained nirvāṇa.� Then the Tathāgata teaches them the Dharma, saying, �How can one who has not attained the entire Dharma have nirvāṇa?� and he then leads them to the attainment of enlightenment. Having gained realization they see the world of the three realms in the ten directions as empty, like an emanation, like an illusion, like a dream, a mirage, and an echo. They see that all phenomena are unborn and unceasing, without bondage or liberation, without darkness and without light.

�The ones who thus see and hear these profound dharmas see, without seeing, the different thoughts and aspirations of beings that fill the entire three realms.�

5.�74

Then the Bhagavān, teaching this in greater detail, recited these verses:

�The light of the sun and moon

Shines equally upon humans,

Both those with qualities and the sinful,

Without increase or diminution. {45}

5.�75

�The wisdom light of the Tathāgata

Shines equally like the sun and moon,

And it guides all beings

Without diminution or excess. {46} [F.53.b]

5.�76

�A potter makes clay pots

Equally from the same clay

But they become pots

For molasses, milk, ghee, or water. {47}

5.�77

�Some are for impurities

And others for curds,

Though the potter makes the pots

By using the same clay. {48}

5.�78

�A pot is characterized in accordance

With the substance that is contained within it.

In the same way there is no difference between beings

But there are those who become tathāgatas because of their aspirations. {49}

5.�79

�They describe separate yānas

But the Buddhayāna is the definitive one.267

If there is no knowledge of the circle of saṃsāra

There can be no knowledge of nirvāṇa. {50}

5.�80

�The one who knows emptiness

And that phenomena are without self

Truly knows the enlightenment

Of the bhagavāns, of the buddhas. {51}

5.�81

�Someone who is classified as having

Medium wisdom is said to be a pratyekajina.

Someone who is lacking268 the knowledge of emptiness

Is proclaimed to be a śrāvaka. {52}

5.�82

�The one who comprehends all phenomena

Is said to be a perfectly enlightened buddha.269 {53}

5.�83

�Someone who is born blind says,

Not having ever seen

The sun, moon, planets, or stars,

�There are no forms whatsoever.� {54}

5.�84

�A great physician has great compassion

For the one who is born blind,

And goes to the Himalayas,

Ascending, descending, and traversing them. {55}

5.�85

�From the mountains he finds herbs

Of four kinds such as the one called

Endowed with all colors and tastes,270

And he blends them together. {56}

5.�86

�Some he grinds with his teeth,

And others he crushes, or moreover

Inserts them into a limb with a needle�s point,

Thereby using them on the born-blind man. {57}

5.�87

�The blind man gains his sight and sees the sun,

The moon, the planets, and the stars,

And then he thinks that in the past

He had spoken out of ignorance. {58}

5.�88

�In that way, beings have great271 ignorance

Like the born-blind man, and continue in saṃsāra.

Because they do not know the cycle of dependent origination

Their path is the river of suffering.272 {59}

5.�89

�The supreme all-knowing one,273 [F.54.a]

The Tathāgata, the great physician,

Who has the nature of compassion,

Appears in the world that is stupefied by ignorance. {60}

5.�90

�That Teacher, skillful in methods,

Teaches the good Dharma.

To those in the highest yāna he teaches

The supreme enlightenment of buddhahood. {61}

5.�91

�The Guide expounds the medium

To those who have medium wisdom,

And also describes another enlightenment

To those who are frightened of saṃsāra. {62}

5.�92

�Śrāvakas274 who have freed themselves

From the three realms understand in this way:

�I have gained the attainment

Of peace, of stainless nirvāṇa. {63}

5.�93

� �I have understood the entire Dharma

And thereby attained immortal nirvāṇa.�275 {64}

5.�94

�Then the great rishis have

Great compassion for the once-blind man,

And they say, �You are a fool!

Do not think, �I am wise!� {65}

5.�95

� �When you are staying

In the interior of a house,

You, who are an ignoramus,

Do not know what is outside. {66}

5.�96

� �How can you, ignoramus, say you have knowledge

When still, while you are inside,

You do not know what is done

Or not done on the outside? {67}

5.�97

� �You are not even able to hear

The sounds that are made

Merely five yojanas distant,

Let alone any further. {68}

5.�98

� �You are not able to know

What malicious thoughts others have

Or what kind thoughts they have,

So how can you be proud? {69}

5.�99

� �You are not able to go even one krośa

Without having to take a step.

You have immediately forgotten

Whatever happened in your mother�s womb. {70}

5.�100

� �Someone who is called omniscient

Is someone who has the five higher knowledges.

You are stupid and know nothing,

And yet you say, �I am omniscient.� {71}

5.�101

� �If you wish to be omniscient,

You must attain higher knowledge.

In order to accomplish higher knowledge

You must contemplate in solitude

The pure Dharma, and then through that

You will accomplish higher knowledge.�276 {72}

5.�102

�Having that as his goal he enters solitude

And contemplates with perfect concentration.

He attains the five higher knowledges,

And soon possesses those qualities. {73} [F.54.b]

5.�103

�In that way, all the śrāvakas

Believe they have attained nirvāṇa.

The Jina teaches to them,

�This is not nirvāṇa, it is a rest. {74}

5.�104

� �This way of teaching

Is the method of the buddhas.

There is no other nirvāṇa

Than omniscience‍�strive to attain it! {75}

5.�105

� �The infinite wisdom of the three times,

And the excellent six perfections;

Emptiness, the absence of attributes,

And the elimination of aspiration; {76}

5.�106

� �The aspiration to enlightenment,

And the other dharmas that lead to nirvāṇa;277 {77}

5.�107

� �The four brahmavihāras, the methods of attracting disciples,

And whatever else has been taught,

Has been taught by the supreme rishis

For the purpose of guiding beings. {78}

5.�108

� �The one who knows that phenomena

Have the nature of dreams and illusions,

Are without an essence like a plantain tree

And are the same as echoes, {79}

5.�109

� �That one knows the nature

Of the entire three realms,

Has no bondage, is liberated,

And knows nirvāṇa. {80}

5.�110

� �All phenomena are empty and equal,

And their nature is without diversity or differentiation.

If that is not perceived,

There is no insight into any phenomenon. {81}

5.�111

� �The one with great wisdom sees

The entire dharmakāya.

There are no three yānas at all;

There is only the single yāna. {82}

5.�112

� �All phenomena are the same;

All are the same, always the same.

Knowing that, one knows

Nirvāṇa, deathlessness, and peace.� � {83}

5.�113

This concludes �Herbs,� the fifth chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

Chapter 6: THE PROPHECIES TO THE ŚRĀVAKAS

6.�1

When the Bhagavān had finished reciting those verses, he announced to the complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, �Oh bhikṣus! I declare to you,278 I make it known to you, that this śrāvaka bhikṣu of mine, Kāśyapa, will serve three hundred billion buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them.279 He will hold the Dharma of those buddha bhagavāns. [F.55.a] In his last life, in an eon named Mahāvyūha, in a world named Avabhāsaprāptā, he will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct,280 the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Raśmiprabhāsa. His lifespan will be twelve intermediate eons. His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons, and the outer form of his Dharma will remain for a further twenty intermediate eons. His buddha realm will be pure and clean, without stones, pebbles, or gravel, without chasms or cliffs, without drains or cesspools.281 It will be flat, pleasant, beautiful, delightful, made of beryl, adorned by jewel trees, divided eightfold like a checkerboard by golden cords,282 and filled with flowers. There will be many hundred thousands of bodhisattvas there. There will be countless hundred thousand quintillions of śrāvakas there. The evil Māra and his followers will not appear there. Even if Māra and Māra�s followers were to appear there they would become dedicated to maintaining the Dharma taught by the bhagavān tathāgata Raśmiprabhāsa.�

6.�2

Thereupon the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�Bhikṣus, I see with my buddha�s eyes

That this sthavira, Kāśyapa, will become a buddha

In a future time, after countless eons

Of making offerings to supreme humans. {1}

6.�3

�This Kāśyapa will see

A full three hundred billion jinas.

Bhikṣus,283 for the wisdom of buddhahood

He will practice celibacy during that time. {2} [F.55.b]

6.�4

�He will make offerings to those supreme humans

And will accomplish the highest wisdom.

In his last lifetime he will become

A lord of the world, an unequaled great rishi. {3}

6.�5

�His realm will be most perfect,

Excellent, pure, and beautiful,

Pleasing in appearance, constantly delightful,

And adorned by cords of gold. {4}

6.�6

�It will be divided like a checkerboard and in each square

There will be a variety of trees made of jewels

And the aroma of a spreading, pleasing incense

Will be in this realm, O bhikṣus. {5}

6.�7

�It will be adorned by many flowers;

It will be beautified by a variety of flowers.

There will be no chasms or cliffs.

It will be flat, excellent, and beautiful. {6}

6.�8

�There will be many billions of bodhisattvas there

With very disciplined minds and great miraculous powers.

There will be many thousands who will hold

The extensive sūtras of the Protector. {7}

6.�9

�There will be śrāvakas of the Dharma King

Who are in their last lives, without defilements.

One could never be able to know their number

Even if one were to count with divine knowledge for eons. {8}

6.�10

�He will live for twelve intermediate eons.

His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons,

And the outer form of his Dharma for twenty intermediate eons.

It is thus that Raśmiprabhāsa will appear.� {9}

6.�11

Then Brother Sthavira Mahā�maudgalyāyana, Brother Subhūti, and Brother Mahākātyāyana, with trembling bodies and unblinking eyes, stared at the Bhagavān, and all three of them in their minds recited these verses:

6.�12

�Great hero, Arhat!

Śākya Lion! Supreme human!

Through your love for us

Speak the Buddha�s words. {10}

6.�13

�Supreme human, knowing

That there is for us this definite opportunity,

Jina, sprinkle amrita upon us

And give to us a prophecy. {11}

6.�14

�Just as when, during a famine, [F.56.a]

Someone who finds good food

Shows what they have, and says,

�I have found food!� {12}

6.�15

�Likewise, while contemplating the lower yāna

We are longing in that same way‍�

Like beings during a famine‍�

For the attainment of the Buddha�s wisdom. {13}

6.�16

�The great Muni, the perfect Buddha,

Has not yet given us his prophecy.

This is like not being able to enjoy the food

That has been placed in our hands. {14}

6.�17

�Hero, though we thus long

To hear your unsurpassable words,

When we have received the prophecy

Then we will have attained nirvāṇa. {15}

6.�18

�Great hero, compassionate one

Whose wish is to bring benefit, give us the prophecy!

Great Muni, may there be an end

To the poverty of our minds.� {16}

6.�19

At this, the Bhagavān, knowing in his own mind the thoughts that were in the minds of those great śrāvakas, those sthaviras, said to that complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, �Bhikṣus, this great śrāvaka of mine, the sthavira Subhūti, will serve three hundred thousand million buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them. And he will practice celibacy throughout that time and attain enlightenment. Having completed these activities, in his last life he will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct,284 the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Śaśiketu. His buddha realm will be named Ratnasaṃbhava. The eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa. The realm will be level, delightful, made of crystal, adorned by jewel trees, without chasms or cliffs, without drains or cesspools,285 [F.56.b] and filled with beautiful flowers. People will live within enjoyable kūṭāgāras. There will be many śrāvakas there. It will not be possible to know an end of counting them. There will be many hundred thousands of bodhisattvas there. The lifespan of that bhagavān will be twelve intermediate eons. His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons, and the outer form of his Dharma will remain for a further twenty intermediate eons. That bhagavān will be constantly teaching the Dharma while being suspended in midair, guiding many hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas and hundreds of thousands of śrāvakas.�

6.�20

Thereupon the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�Listen to me, bhikṣus! I declare to you today,

And I make it known to you today

That this sthavira, Subhūti, my śrāvaka,

Will in a future time become a buddha. {17}

6.�21

�He will see a full three hundred billion buddhas,

Those with great power,

And for the sake of the wisdom of buddhahood

He will practice appropriate conduct during that time. {18}

6.�22

�In his last lifetime, this hero

Will have a body with the thirty-two signs.

He will be a great rishi like a golden pillar,

With compassion and benefit for the world. {19}

6.�23

�His excellent realm will be beautiful,

Pleasant, and attractive for a multitude of beings.

He will live there as a friend for the world

And will liberate quintillions of beings. {20}

6.�24

�There will be many bodhisattvas with great power

Who will turn the irreversible wheel.

They will have sharp faculties in the Jina�s teachings

And will be beautifying that buddha realm. {21}

6.�25

�He will have many, countless śrāvakas,

Whose number will be beyond measure,

With the six higher knowledges, the three insights, great miracles,

And established in the eight liberations. {22} [F.57.a]

6.�26

�He will have inconceivable miraculous powers

And he will teach this highest enlightenment.

Devas and humans as numerous as the Ganges sands

Will constantly place their hands together in homage to him. {23}

6.�27

�He will remain for twelve intermediate eons.

His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons.

The outer form of the supreme human�s Dharma

Will remain for another twenty intermediate eons.� {24}

6.�28

Next, the Bhagavān said to that complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, �Bhikṣus, I declare to you,286 I make it known to you, that this śrāvaka of mine, the sthavira Mahākātyāyana, will serve eighty thousand million buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them. When those tathāgatas have passed into nirvāṇa, he will make stūpas for those tathāgatas. They will be made of the seven precious materials, which are gold, silver, beryl, crystal, red pearls, emerald, and white coral. They will be a thousand yojanas in height and five hundred yojanas in circumference. He will make offerings to those stūpas of flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, ointments, powders, cloths, parasols, banners, flags, and banners of victory. Moreover, beyond that and further beyond, he will serve in that way two hundred million buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them. Then in his last life he will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Jāmbūnada�prabhāsa. His buddha realm will be completely pure, level, delightful, attractive, beautiful, [F.57.b] made of crystal, adorned by jewel trees, divided by cords of gold, and filled with beautiful flowers. There will be no hells, animals, realm of Yama, or asura realm. It will be filled there with many devas and humans, beautified by many hundred thousands of śrāvakas, and adorned by many hundred thousands of bodhisattvas. The lifespan of that bhagavān will be twelve intermediate eons. His Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate eons, and the outer form of his Dharma will remain for a further twenty intermediate eons.�

6.�29

Thereupon the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�Bhikṣus, all of you listen to me today,

To these infallible words that I speak.

This śrāvaka of mine, sthavira Kātyāyana,

Will make offerings to the guides. {25}

6.�30

�When the guides of the world pass into nirvāṇa

He will create many stūpas for them.

He will honor them in many ways

And make offerings to them of incense and flowers. {26}

6.�31

�When he has attained his last lifetime

He will become a jina in a completely pure realm.

He will completely perfect this wisdom

And will teach ten thousand million beings. {27}

6.�32

�He will be honored by the world and its devas.

He will be a powerful, illuminating buddha.

His name will be Jāmbūnadābhāsa,

And he will liberate millions of devas and humans. {28}

6.�33

�In that realm there will be innumerable,

Countless multitudes of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas.

They will all eliminate becoming and ceasing,

And beautify the teaching of the Buddha.� {29}

6.�34

Lastly, the Bhagavān said to that complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, �Bhikṣus, I declare to you,287 I make it known to you, that this śrāvaka of mine, the sthavira Mahā�maudgalyāyana, will serve twenty-eight thousand buddhas, [F.58.a] will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them. When those tathāgatas have passed into nirvāṇa, he will make stūpas for those tathāgatas. They will be made of the seven precious materials, which are gold, silver, beryl, crystal, red pearls, emerald, and white coral. They will be a thousand yojanas in height and five hundred yojanas in circumference. He will make offerings to those stūpas of flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, ointments, powders, cloths, parasols, banners, flags, and banners of victory. Moreover, beyond that and further beyond, he will serve in that way two million quintillion buddhas, will venerate them, honor them, make offerings to them, praise them, and respect them. Then in his last life, he will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Tamāla�patra�candana�gandha. His buddha realm will be named Manobhirāma. The name of the eon will be Ratiprapūrṇa. His buddha realm will be completely pure, level, delightful, attractive, beautiful, made of crystal, adorned by jewel trees, strewn with flower petals, and filled with many devas and humans. Hundreds of thousands of rishis will dwell there, who are śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. His lifespan will be twenty-four intermediate eons. [F.58.b] His Dharma will remain for forty intermediate eons, and the outer form of his Dharma will remain for a further forty intermediate eons.�

6.�35

Thereupon the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�This my śrāvaka, Maudgalyagotra,

Having departed from this human body,

Will see twenty thousand jinas, protectors,

And moreover another eight thousand. {30}

6.�36

�He will during that time practice celibacy,

Seeking this wisdom of buddhahood.

He will in that time serve in many ways

Those guides, those supreme humans. {31}

6.�37

�For a thousand million eons he will hold

The stainless Dharma they have taught.

When those sugatas have passed into nirvāṇa

He will make offerings to their stūpas. {32}

6.�38

�He will make beautiful stūpas of precious materials

Together with victory banners for those supreme jinas.

He will offer flowers, incense, and music

To those compassionate benefiters of the world. {33}

6.�39

�Then when he is in his last lifetime,

In a realm that is beautiful and delightful,

He will become a compassionate benefiter of the world

Who has the name Tamāla�patra�candana�gandha. {34}

6.�40

�The lifespan of that sugata will be

A full twenty thousand intermediate eons.

He will constantly be giving the teaching

Of this way to buddhahood to humans and devas. {35}

6.�41

�Then there will be many śrāvakas of that jina,

As numerous as the sands of ten billion Ganges,

Who in the teaching of that sugata will attain

The six higher knowledges, the three insights, and great miracles. {36}

6.�42

�There will be many irreversible bodhisattvas,

Many thousands of them there

Who will mindfully engage in diligence

And be dedicated to the teaching of that sugata. {37}

6.�43

�Even when that jina288 has passed into nirvāṇa

His Dharma will remain during the time

Of a full forty intermediate eons

And its outer form will remain for the same length of time. {38}

6.�44

�These five289 śrāvakas of mine with great miraculous powers,

Whose highest enlightenment I have prophesied, [F.59.a]

Will in a future time be self-arisen jinas,

So their conduct you should hear from me.� {39}

6.�45

This concludes �The Prophecies to the Śrāvakas,� the sixth chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

Chapter 7: THE PAST

7.�1

�Bhikṣus, in the past, in a time gone by, beyond and even further beyond the most countless, innumerable, incalculable, unquantifiable, inconceivable asaṃkhyeya eons ago, at that time, in that era, in an eon named Mahārūpa, in a world named Saṃbhavā, there appeared in that world the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū.

7.�2

�Bhikṣus, how long has it been since that tathāgata appeared? Bhikṣus, it is like this: A man crushes all the earth of the worlds in this realm of a billion worlds into powder. Then that man takes a single smallest particle of dust from those worlds and goes beyond a thousand worlds in the eastern direction and puts it down. Then that man takes a second290 smallest particle of dust, and passing beyond an even further thousand worlds puts down that second291 smallest particle of dust. In that way the man removes the entire element of earth into the eastern direction.

7.�3

�Bhikṣus, what do you think? Is it possible to calculate the end, the furthest extent of those worlds?�

�Bhagavān, it�s impossible.� they answered. �Sugata, it�s impossible.�

7.�4

�Bhikṣus,� continued the Bhagavān, �a mathematician, a great mathematician could calculate the number of the worlds in which particles were placed and the number of those in which a particle was not placed. [F.59.b] However, they could not through their enumeration know the number of the hundred thousands of quintillion of eons that have passed since the bhagavān tathāgata Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū passed into nirvāṇa.

7.�5

�Bhikṣus, there has been such an inconceivable, such an immeasurable length of time since that tathāgata passed into nirvāṇa, but through possessing the power of the vision of a tathāgata�s wisdom, I remember that nirvāṇa as if it were yesterday or today.�

7.�6

Thereupon the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�I remember that many eons ago in the past,

At that time there was a supreme human,

A great muni named Abhi�j�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū,

A supreme jina who appeared in the world. {1}

7.�7

�If someone were to make into the smallest particles of dust

All the worlds in a realm of a billion worlds,

And were to take from there a single smallest particle,

And having traversed a thousand worlds put it down, {2}

7.�8

�And then were they similarly to deposit a second and a third,

And were they to move all the dust in that way

So that this world realm would become vacant

And all that dust would have been taken away, {3}

7.�9

�Those smallest particles of dust

In those worlds would be uncountable.

If all those dust particles that had been created

Were each to represent a hundred eons, {4}

7.�10

�Even the many countless millions of eons

That all those dust particles represent

Could not convey how many eons have come to an end

Since that sugata passed into nirvāṇa. {5}

7.�11

�That is how long since that guide�s nirvāṇa,

And since his śrāvakas and bodhisattvas thrived.

I remember, through the wisdom of the Tathāgata,

Exactly what occurred as if it were today or yesterday. {6}

7.�12

�Bhikṣus, such is my wisdom,

The limitless wisdom of the Tathāgata.

With my subtle and immaculate memory [F.60.a]

I know many hundreds of eons. {7}

7.�13

�Bhikṣus, the lifespan of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū was fifty-four hundred thousand quintillion eons. Before that bhagavān attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, he went to the sublime, supreme Bodhimaṇḍa. He conquered and defeated the entire army of Māra. Having defeated and conquered it, he thought, �I shall attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.�

7.�14

�While those qualities had not yet manifested, he sat on the Bodhimaṇḍa at the foot of the Bodhi tree for an entire intermediate eon. He sat there for a second intermediate eon but still did not attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. During a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, an eighth, a ninth, and a tenth intermediate eon he sat on the Bodhimaṇḍa at the foot of the Bodhi tree, with legs always crossed, never standing up, with his mind unwavering and his body motionless, but even so, during that time those qualities did not manifest for him.

7.�15

�Bhikṣus, the devas of Trāyastriṃśa erected for that bhagavān, who had come to the sublime, supreme Bodhimaṇḍa, a great lion throne, which was five hundred yojanas high, for the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. As soon as that bhagavān sat on the Bodhimaṇḍa, the Brahmakāyika devas sent down a rain of flowers up to ten yojanas around the Bodhimaṇḍa, and from the sky a breeze would come that removed all the withering flowers. In that way a rain of flowers fell and fell continuously on the Bhagavān sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa. [F.60.b] They fell on that bhagavān throughout the entire ten intermediate eons. That rainfall of flowers continued to fall until the nirvāṇa of that bhagavān, being tossed down upon that bhagavān.

7.�16

�The devas of the paradises of the four mahārājas, in order to honor the Bhagavān seated at the sublime, supreme Bodhimaṇḍa, played the divine drums of paradise and played them throughout the entire ten intermediate eons. The delightful divine music continued until the time of the great nirvāṇa of the Bhagavān.

7.�17

�Bhikṣus, after ten intermediate eons had passed, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. When the Bhagavān was young he had had sixteen sons of his own, and they immediately knew that he had attained buddhahood. The eldest of those sons was named J�ānākara.

7.�18

�Bhikṣus, each of these sixteen young princes enjoyed delightful, captivating, and beautiful amusements of many kinds.

7.�19

�Bhikṣus, when the sixteen young princes knew that the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū had attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, they abandoned their many different kinds of delightful amusements and, encircled and accompanied by their weeping292 mothers and wet nurses, and encircled and accompanied by their grandfather,293 who was the cakravartin king Mahākośa, [F.61.a] the king�s ministers, and many hundred thousands of quintillions of beings, they went to the Bodhimaṇḍa where the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū was seated, in order to serve him, venerate him, honor him, make offerings to him, praise him, and respect him.

7.�20

�When they arrived there, they bowed their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān three times, and with hands together in homage, in front of the Bhagavān they fittingly praised him with these verses:

7.�21

� �You have the six great higher knowledges, you are unsurpassable,

And you have perfected yourself for endless eons,

In order to bring liberation to all beings.

You have fulfilled here your excellent intention. {8}

7.�22

� �You have endured hardship for ten intermediate eons,

Practicing being seated upon one seat.

You have never moved your body,

Hands, or feet, or gone anywhere. {9}

7.�23

� �Your mind is at peace and perfectly stilled,

You are never agitated or disturbed,

You never have any distraction,

You remain in perfect, immaculate peace. {10}

7.�24

� �You have attained this supreme enlightenment

Through goodness, bliss, happiness, and harmlessness.

In that way, this is our good fortune;

Lord of Men, Lion, we increase our virtue. {11}

7.�25

� �All these suffering beings have no protector;

Their eyes gouged out, they are deprived of happiness.

They do not know the path that will end suffering,

And do not have the diligence to attain liberation. {12}

7.�26

� �For a long time they have been increasing lower existences,

And factors depriving them of divine rebirths.

They never hear the words of the Jina

And the entire world is in the darkness of ignorance. {13} [F.61.b]

7.�27

� �Knower of the World, you have attained today

The state of sublime, immaculate peace.

We and the world are in your care.

Protector, we go to you for refuge.� {14}

7.�28

�Bhikṣus, those sixteen children, young princes, with these verses fittingly praised the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū. They then said, �Bhagavān, we request you to teach the Dharma for the benefit and welfare of devas and humans and of the great multitudes of beings. Sugata, we request you to teach the Dharma!� They thus requested the bhagavān to turn the wheel of the Dharma, and they made a further request through these verses:

7.�29

� �You with the signs of a hundred merits,

Unequaled guide, great rishi, teach the Dharma!

You have attained the superior, highest wisdom.

Teach it to this world and its devas‍� {15}

7.�30

� �Liberate us and these beings!

Teach the wisdom of the tathāgatas

So that we and these beings

Will attain this highest enlightenment. {16}

7.�31

� �You fully comprehend conduct and wisdom;

You know previous motivations and merit

And the aspirations of all beings.

Turn the supreme, unsurpassable wheel!� {17} [B6]

7.�32

�Bhikṣus, when the bhagavān , the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds in each of the ten directions shook and were filled with a great light. [F.62.a]There were in all those worlds the unfortunate existences in between worlds where there was complete darkness. The moon and sun with their great miraculous power, their great might, and their great brilliance could not with their light illuminate them. They could not with their color bring color there or with their brilliance bring brilliance.294 The great light appeared even in those places. The beings who had been reborn between the worlds saw each other and knew that each other were there and they said, �Oh my! There are other beings who have been born here! Oh my! There are other beings who have been born here!�

7.�33

�In all those worlds the paradises and heavenly residences shook in six ways, even as far up as the paradise of Brahmā, and were filled with a great light, which transcended the divine power of the devas.

�Bhikṣus, in that way, at that time, those worlds shook and were filled by a great light.

7.�34

�The airborne palaces of the Brahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds in the east became very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic.

7.�35

�Bhikṣus, those Brahmās wondered, �These airborne palaces of the Brahmās have become very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic. Who is this a sign of?�

7.�36

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds came to each other�s homes295 and spoke with each other.

7.�37

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmā named Sarva�sattva�trātā [F.62.b]296 spoke these verses to the great assembly of Brahmās:

7.�38

� �Today we are all very happy.

These excellent airborne palaces are shining,

Glorious, bright, and beautiful.

Why has this happened today? {18}

7.�39

� �It will be good to find its meaning.

What deva�s son has been born today?

Through whose power has there appeared

Today this kind of unprecedented event? {19}

7.�40

� �Perhaps a buddha, a king who is lord of humans,

Has appeared in some world today

And, as a sign of that, these splendors

Have shone in the ten directions today.� {20}

7.�41

�Bhikṣus, then all the Mahābrahmās who lived in those fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds and who had gathered together each entered his own divine Brahmā palace and, holding a basket of divine flowers that was the size of Sumeru, flew in their airborne palaces297 into the four directions.

7.�42

�Bhikṣus, when they went to the west those Mahābrahmās saw in the west the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, who had come to the sublime, highest Bodhimaṇḍa and was seated on a lion throne at the foot of the Bodhi tree. Before him were assembled devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, who were gazing upon him, and the sixteen young princes, who were requesting him to turn the wheel of the Dharma. When they saw that, they approached the Bhagavān, and bowed their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān many hundreds of thousands of times, and upon the Bhagavān they tossed and scattered flowers from their baskets the size of Sumeru. [F.63.a] They strewed flowers up to a distance of ten yojanas from the Bodhi tree. They offered their divine Brahmā palaces to the Bhagavān, saying, �Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, accept these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Sugata, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās.�

7.�43

�Bhikṣus, then those Mahābrahmās each offered to the Bhagavān their own airborne palace, and at that time, in the presence of the Bhagavān, they fittingly praised him with these verses:

7.�44

� �You, the inconceivable, wonderful Jina,

Compassionate, helper of the world, have appeared.

You have been born as Lord, Teacher, and Guru,

And today have taken the ten directions into your care. {21}

7.�45

� �We have come from a total of

Fifty298 quintillion worlds.

We have come to pay homage to the Jina

And have given up our excellent airborne palaces. {22}

7.�46

� �Through the karma we created in the past

We have these brilliant, beautiful airborne palaces.

Accept them out of compassion for us.

Knower of the world, enjoy them in whatever way you wish.� {23}

7.�47

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās in the presence of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū fittingly praised him with those verses, and then said to the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, turn the wheel of the Dharma in the world! Bhagavān, teach nirvāṇa! Bhagavān, liberate beings! Bhagavān, take this world into your care! [F.63.b]

7.�48

� �Bhagavān, teach the Dharma to the world including its devas, māras, and brahmakas, to beings including mendicants and brahmins, and to the devas, asuras, and humans. Then there will be benefit for many beings, happiness for many beings, compassion for the world, and welfare, benefit, and happiness for a great multitude of beings, devas, and humans.�

7.�49

�Bhikṣus, then those fifty hundred thousand quintillion Mahābrahmās, speaking as one voice, recited these verses to the Bhagavān:

� �Bhagavān, teach the Dharma!

Supreme human, teach!

With the power of kindness, teach!

Free beings from suffering! {24}

7.�50

� �The Lamp of the World is difficult to find,

Like the flower of a fig tree.

Great hero, you have appeared.

Tathāgata, we supplicate you.� {25}

7.�51

�Bhikṣus, the Bhagavān gave his assent by saying nothing to the Mahābrahmās.

7.�52

�Bhikṣus, at that time the airborne palaces of the Brahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds in the southeast became very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic.

7.�53

�Bhikṣus, those Brahmās wondered, �These airborne palaces of the Brahmās have become very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic. Who is this a sign of?�

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds came to each other�s homes299 and spoke with each other.

7.�54

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmā named Adhi�mātra�kāruṇika spoke these verses to the great assembly of Brahmās: [F.64.a]

7.�55

� �Friends, whose omen is this

That has appeared on this day?

Today our airborne palaces are beautified.300 {26}

7.�56

� �Has there come here today

A deva who is endowed with merit?

Is it through his power

That all these airborne palaces have been beautified? {27}

7.�57

� �Or has a buddha, a supreme human

Appeared in this world

And through his power

Our palaces have become like this? {28}

7.�58

� �We should all search together.

This is not something of little importance.

I have never before

Seen an omen such as this. {29}

7.�59

� �We should go into the four directions

And travel through millions of realms.

Clearly in this world today

There will be the appearance of a buddha.� {30}

7.�60

�Bhikṣus, when they went into the west those Mahābrahmās saw in the west the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, who had come to the sublime, highest Bodhimaṇḍa and was seated on a lion throne at the foot of the Bodhi tree. Before him were assembled devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, who were gazing upon him, and the sixteen young princes, who were requesting him to turn the wheel of the Dharma. When they saw that, they came to the Bhagavān, and bowed their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān many hundreds of thousands of times, [F.64.b] and upon the Bhagavān they threw and scattered flowers from the baskets the size of Sumeru. They strewed flowers up to a distance of ten yojanas from the Bodhi tree.

7.�61

�They offered their divine Brahmā palaces to the bhagavān, saying, �Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, accept these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Sugata, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās.�

7.�62

�Bhikṣus, then those Mahābrahmās each offered to the Bhagavān their own airborne palace, and at that time, in the presence of the Bhagavān they fittingly praised him with these verses:

� �Homage to you, the unequaled great rishi.

Deity above deities, with the voice of an avadavat,

Guide of the World and its devas,

We praise you who benefits and is kind to the world. {31}

7.�63

� �Lord, it is wondrous that after a long time,

You have somehow appeared in the world today.

A full eight thousand eons in this world of beings302

Has been devoid of buddhas.303 {32}

7.�64

� �An entire eight thousand304 eons

Has been devoid of a supreme human.

During that time the lower existences have multiplied

And rebirths as devas have diminished. {33}

7.�65

� �Now, through our merit, there has appeared in the world

The compassionate helper, the King of Dharma.

He is our eyes, our recourse, and refuge,305

Our protector, father, and likewise, friend.� {34}

7.�66

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās in the presence of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū fittingly praised him with those verses, and then said to the Bhagavān, [F.65.a] �Bhagavān, turn the wheel of the Dharma in the world! Bhagavān, teach nirvāṇa! Bhagavān, liberate beings! Bhagavān, take this world into your care!

7.�67

�Bhikṣus, then those fifty hundred thousand quintillion Mahābrahmās, speaking as one voice, recited these verses to the Bhagavān:

� �Great Muni, turn the wheel of the Dharma!

Teach the Dharma in the ten directions!

Liberate beings tormented by the phenomena of suffering!

Bring joy and happiness to beings! {35}

7.�68

� �Through hearing that, enlightenment will be attained.

They will go to the realm of the devas,

They will all avoid rebirth as an asura,

And be disciplined, peaceful, and completely happy.� {36}

7.�69

�Bhikṣus, the Bhagavān gave his assent by saying nothing to the Mahābrahmās.

7.�70

�Bhikṣus, at that time the airborne palaces of the Brahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds in the south became very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic.

7.�71

�Bhikṣus, those Brahmās wondered, �These airborne palaces of the Brahmās have become very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic. Who is this a sign of?� [F.65.b]

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds came to each other�s homes306 and spoke with each other.

7.�72

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmā named Sudharma spoke these verses to the great assembly of Brahmās:

� �Friends, for no reason, with no cause,

All our airborne palaces are shining.

This is some sign that has appeared in this world.

We must seek well for the meaning of this. {37}

7.�73

� �No fewer than hundreds of eons have passed

Without such a sign having ever appeared.

Either a deva has been born here

Or a buddha has appeared in this world.� {38}

7.�74

7.�75

�Bhikṣus, when they went into the west those Mahābrahmās saw in the west the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū who had come to the sublime, highest Bodhimaṇḍa and was seated on a lion throne at the foot of the Bodhi tree. Before him were assembled devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans who were gazing upon him, and the sixteen young princes, who were requesting him to turn the wheel of the Dharma. When they saw that they came to the Bhagavān, and bowed their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān many hundreds of thousands of times, and upon the Bhagavān they tossed and scattered flowers from their baskets the size of Sumeru. They strewed flowers up to a distance of ten yojanas from the Bodhi tree. They offered their divine Brahmā palaces to the Bhagavān, saying, �Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, accept these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, [F.66.a] enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Sugata, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās.�

7.�76

�Bhikṣus, then those Mahābrahmās each offered to the Bhagavān their own airborne palace, and at that time, in the presence of the Bhagavān, they fittingly praised him with these verses:

� �It is difficult to see the guides.

You have arrived well and have defeated existence�s desires.

After a very long time you are seen today.

After a full hundred eons you have appeared. {39}

7.�77

� �Lord of the World, quench the thirst of beings.

Never seen before, you have somehow appeared.

Just as the fig tree flower is rarely found,

In that way, Guide, you have been seen. {40}

7.�78

� �Guide, these airborne palaces of ours

Today were beautified through your power.

You who see all, please accept them,

And enjoy them out of compassion for us.� {41}

7.�79

� �Bhagavān, teach the Dharma to the world, including its devas, māras, and brahmakas, to beings including mendicants and brahmins, and to the devas, asuras, and humans. Then there will be benefit for many beings, happiness for many beings, compassion for the world, and welfare, benefit, and happiness for a great multitude of beings, devas, and humans.� [F.66.b]

7.�80

�Bhikṣus, then those fifty hundred thousand quintillion Mahābrahmās, speaking as one voice, recited these verses to the Bhagavān:

� �Guide, Bhagavān, teach the Dharma!

Turn the wheel of the Dharma!

Beat the drum of the Dharma!

Blow the conch of the Dharma! {42}

7.�81

� �Send down the rain of the Dharma onto the world!

Teach perfectly with your beautiful voice!

Teach the Dharma as we request,

And liberate quintillions of beings!� {43}

7.�82

�Bhikṣus, the Bhagavān gave his assent by saying nothing to the Mahābrahmās.

7.�83

�The same occurred in the southwest, the same in the west, the same in the northwest, the same in the north, the same in the northeast, and in the downward direction.

7.�84

�Bhikṣus, at that time the airborne palaces of the Brahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds in the upward direction became very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic.

7.�85

�Bhikṣus, those Brahmās wondered, �These airborne palaces of the Brahmās have become very beautiful, bright, radiant, glorious, and majestic. Who is this a sign of?�

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās who were in the fifty hundred thousand quintillion worlds came to each other�s homes308 and spoke with each other.

7.�86

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmā named Śikhin spoke these verses to the great assembly of Brahmās:

� �Friends, what is the reason why this has occurred?

Why have the airborne palaces become brilliant?309

Their majesty, color, and brightness

Have exceptionally increased for what reason? {44}

7.�87

� �We have never seen such a thing as this before.

No one has ever heard of such a thing before.

Today this place has been filled by this light.

What is the cause for this extreme beauty? {45} [F.67.a]

7.�88

� �Perhaps some deva has appeared here

Who is endowed with good karma,

And what has occurred is because of his power.

Or there is the rare appearance of a buddha in this world.� {46}

7.�89

7.�90

�Bhikṣus, when they went into the west those Mahābrahmās saw in the west the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, who had come to the sublime, highest Bodhimaṇḍa and was seated on a lion throne at the foot of the Bodhi tree. Before him were assembled devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, who were gazing upon him, and the sixteen young princes, who were requesting him to turn the wheel of the Dharma. When they saw that, they came to the Bhagavān, and bowed their heads to the Bhagavān�s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān many hundreds of thousands of times, and upon the Bhagavān they threw and scattered flowers from the baskets the size of Sumeru. They strewed flowers up to a distance of ten yojanas from the Bodhi tree. They offered their divine Brahmā palaces to the Bhagavān, saying �Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, accept these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Bhagavān, for the sake of showing compassion to us, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās. Sugata, enjoy these airborne palaces of the Brahmās.�

7.�91

�Bhikṣus, then those Mahābrahmās each offered to the Bhagavān their own airborne palace, and at that time, in the presence of the Bhagavān they fittingly praised him with these verses:

� �It is excellent to see the buddhas,

The lords of the worlds, the protectors, [F.67.b]

The buddhas who in these three realms

Liberate beings from their bondage. {47}

7.�92

� �The all-seeing lords of the worlds

See into the ten directions.

They open the door to deathlessness

And liberate many beings. {48}

7.�93

� �In the past there have been

Countless empty eons.

The lords of jinas were not seen

And the ten directions were blind. {49}

7.�94

� �There was an increase in the dreadful hells,

And among the asuras and the animals.

Thousands of millions of beings

Took rebirth among the pretas. {50}

7.�95

� �There was a diminution of rebirths as devas,

And at death beings went to the lower existences.

The Dharma of the buddhas was not heard

And these existences were sinful. {51}

7.�96

� �There was a diminution among all beings

Of the wisdom of the way of pure conduct.

Their happiness was destroyed

And the concept of happiness was lost. {52}

7.�97

� �They performed incorrect practices

And followed that which was not the Dharma.

They were not subdued by a lord of the world

And fell into the lower existences. {53}

7.�98

� �Lamp of the World, you are now seen.

After a long time, you have come.

You, compassionate one, have appeared here

For the sake of all beings. {54}

7.�99

� �You have joyfully and happily attained

The unsurpassable wisdom of the buddhas.

We rejoice in what you have attained,

As does the world and its devas. {55}

7.�100

� �Leader, it is through your power

That our airborne palaces have become magnificent.

Hero, we offer them to you.

Great Muni, accept them. {56}

7.�101

� �Guide, please enjoy them

Out of compassion for us.

And then we and all beings

Will reach the highest enlightenment.� {57}

7.�102

�Bhikṣus, the Mahābrahmās in the presence of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū fittingly praised him with those verses, and then said to the Bhagavān, �Bhagavān, turn the wheel of the Dharma in the world! [F.68.a] Bhagavān, teach nirvāṇa! Bhagavān, liberate beings! Bhagavān, take this world into your care!

� �Bhagavān, teach the Dharma to the world including its devas, māras, and brahmakas, to beings including mendicants and brahmins, and to the devas, asuras, and humans. Then there will be a benefit for many beings, happiness for many beings, compassion for the world, and welfare, benefit, and happiness for a great multitude of beings, devas, and humans.�

7.�103

�Bhikṣus, those fifty hundred thousand quintillion Mahābrahmās, speaking as one voice, now recited these verses to the Bhagavān:

� �Turn the highest, supreme wheel!

Beat the drum of deathlessness!

Liberate beings from the net of suffering!

Teach the path to nirvāṇa! {58}

7.�104

� �Teach the Dharma that we request!

Take us and this world into your care!

Speak with your beautiful voice

That has been accomplished through billions of eons!� {59}

7.�105

�Bhikṣus, thereupon the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, knowing what was requested by the many hundred thousand quintillions of Brahmās and the sixteen young princes, at that time, in accord with Dharma, turned the Dharma wheel that had never been turned by any mendicant, brahmin, deva, māra, or Brahmā in the world:

� �This is suffering. This is the origin of suffering. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.� This was repeated three times so that there were twelve turnings of the Dharma wheel.

7.�106

� �Bhikṣus, in this way, through the factor of ignorance there is formation. Through the factor of formation there is consciousness. [F.68.b] Through the factor of consciousness there is name-and-form. Through the factor of name-and-form there are the six āyatanas. Through the factor of the six āyatanas there is contact. Through the factor of contact there is sensation. Through the factor of sensation there is craving. Through the factor of craving there is grasping. Through the factor of grasping there is becoming. Through the factor of becoming there is birth. Through the factor of birth there is old age, death, misery, wailing, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. In that way there arises a great mass of sheer suffering.

7.�107

� �Through the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of formation. Through the cessation of formation there is the cessation of consciousness. Through the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of name-and-form. Through the cessation of name-and-form there is the cessation of the six āyatanas. Through the cessation of the six āyatanas there is the cessation of contact. Through the cessation of contact there is the cessation of sensation. Through the cessation of sensation there is the cessation of craving. Through the cessation of craving there is the cessation of grasping. Through the cessation of grasping there is the cessation of becoming. Through the cessation of becoming there is the cessation of birth. Through the cessation of birth there is the cessation of old age, death, misery, wailing, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. In that way there is the cessation of the great mass of unalloyed suffering.� In that way he taught dependent origination extensively.

7.�108

�Bhikṣus, in that way the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū turned the Dharma wheel before the world with its devas, māras, and brahmakas, and before the assembly with its mendicants and brahmins.

7.�109

�In that moment, in that instant, sixty hundred thousand quintillion beings became free of grasping and their minds were liberated from the defilements. They all became meditators possessed of the three insights, the six higher knowledges, and the eight liberations.

7.�110

�Bhikṣus, in conclusion, the Bhagavān taught the Dharma a second time, and then he taught the Dharma a third [F.69.a] and a fourth time.

�Bhikṣus, each time the Bhagavān taught the Dharma, as many beings as there are grains of sand in a hundred thousand quintillion Ganges Rivers became free of grasping, and their minds were liberated from the defilements.

7.�111

�Bhikṣus, after that, his śrāvaka saṅgha became innumerable.

7.�112

�Bhikṣus, at that time the sixteen young princes, having faith, together renounced home for homelessness. They all became mendicants who were wise, had clear minds,311 sharp minds,312 were learned, had practiced under hundreds of thousands of buddhas, and were dedicated to the highest, complete enlightenment.

7.�113

�Bhikṣus, the sixteen mendicants said to the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, �Bhagavān, these many thousands of quintillions of the Tathāgata�s śrāvakas have through the Dharma teaching of the Bhagavān accomplished great miraculous abilities, great power, and great might. Bhagavān, that being so, out of compassion give us the teachings that commence with the highest, complete enlightenment, so that we also may be students of the Tathāgata. Bhagavān, our goal is to have the visions of the Tathāgata�s wisdom; Bhagavān, this is evident to you. Bhagavān you know the thoughts of all beings, and you know our thoughts.�

7.�114

�Thereupon, bhikṣus, as soon as they saw that those princes, those young boys, had become renunciants and mendicants, half the retinue of the cakravartin, numbering eighty-four hundred thousand quintillion beings, themselves all became renunciants.

7.�115

�Bhikṣus, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha [F.69.b] Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū knew the aspiration of those mendicants and, after twenty thousand eons had passed, he taught the fourfold assembly that instruction for bodhisattvas possessed by all the buddhas, the great extensive sūtra, the Dharma teaching entitled The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.

�Bhikṣus, at that time the sixteen mendicants acquired, maintained, and understood that teaching of the Bhagavān.

7.�116

�Bhikṣus, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū then gave to the sixteen mendicants the prophecy of their complete enlightenment.

7.�117

�Bhikṣus, śrāvakas aspired to the teaching given by the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, and the sixteen mendicants and many hundred thousands of quintillions attained freedom from doubt.313

7.�118

�Bhikṣus, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū gave this Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma uninterruptedly for a hundred thousand eons. He then entered the temple in order to be alone.

7.�119

�Bhikṣus, the tathāgata stayed alone in the temple in that way for eighty-four thousand eons.

7.�120

�Bhikṣus, the sixteen mendicants, knowing that the Bhagavān was staying in solitude, each set up a Dharma seat, a lion throne, sat upon it, and extensively taught for eighty-four thousand eons this Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma to the fourfold assembly. [F.70.a]

7.�121

�Bhikṣus, each mendicant bodhisattva taught as many hundred thousand quintillions of beings as there are grains of sand in sixty Ganges Rivers. They inspired them, brought them joy, and made them retain it, and ripened them for the highest, complete enlightenment.

7.�122

�Bhikṣus, at that time, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Mahābhij�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū, after eighty-four thousand eons had passed, mindfully and knowingly arose from his samādhi. After the Bhagavān had arisen from his samādhi, he went to where his Dharma seat was. He came to the arranged seat and sat upon it.

7.�123

�Bhikṣus, as soon as the Bhagavān sat on the Dharma seat, he looked upon the gathered assembly and addressed the saṇgha of bhikṣus: �Bhikṣus, these sixteen mendicants are amazing, wonderful, and wise; they have been honoring many hundred thousands of quintillions of buddhas, they have been perfectly practicing proper conduct, they have been encouraging beings to receive the wisdom of the buddhas, they have been introducing beings to the wisdom of the buddhas, and they have been teaching the wisdom of the buddhas. Bhikṣus, you must continue to honor these sixteen mendicants. Bhikṣus, those noble sons who follow the Śrāvakayāna, the Pratyeka�buddha�yāna, or the Bodhisattva�yāna, who do not reject or malign the Dharma teaching, will all quickly attain the highest, complete enlightenment. They will all attain the wisdom of the Tathāgata.�

7.�124

�Bhikṣus, those sixteen noble sons taught again and again this Dharma teaching of The White Lotus of the Good Dharma within the teaching of that bhagavān.

�Bhikṣus, each of those bodhisattvas, those sixteen mendicant bodhisattva mahāsattvas, [F.70.b] guided to enlightenment as many hundred thousand quintillions of beings as there are grains of sand in sixty Ganges Rivers. All those beings, in all their lifetimes, became renunciants with those sixteen, gazed upon them, and heard the Dharma from them. They served four hundred thousand million buddhas and some are still serving buddhas.

7.�125

�Bhikṣus, you should aspire to this and comprehend it. Those sixteen young princes who as youths were mendicants who taught the Dharma in the Bhagavān�s teaching all attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, and they are all now present, living, and remaining. In their separate buddha realms in the ten directions they are teaching the Dharma to many hundred thousand quintillions of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas.

7.�126

�Bhikṣus, they are like this: In the eastern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Akṣobhya in the realm named Abhirati and there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Merukūṭa.

�Bhikṣus, in the southeastern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Siṃhaghoṣa and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Siṃhadhvaja.

7.�127

�Bhikṣus, in the southern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Ākāśa�pratiṣṭhita and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Nitya�pari�nirvṛta.

�Bhikṣus, in the southwestern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Indradhvaja and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Brahmadhvaja.

7.�128

�Bhikṣus, in the western direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Amitāyus and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Sarva�loka�dhātū�padra�vodvega�pratyuttīrṇa. [F.71.a]

�Bhikṣus, in the northwestern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Tamāla�patra�candana�gandhābhij�a and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Merukalpa.

7.�129

�Bhikṣus, in the northern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Meghasvaradīpa and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Meghasvararāja.

�Bhikṣus, in the northeastern direction there is the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Sarva�loka�bhayacchambhita�tva�vidhvaṃsana�rakara and the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha named Śākyamuni.

7.�130

�Those sixteen attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood in this central world realm named Sahā.

7.�131

�Bhikṣus, those beings who within the teaching of that bhagavān heard the Dharma from us when we were mendicants, from each of us bodhisattvas,314 those hundreds of thousands of beings as numerous as the sand grains in the Ganges River were guided by us toward the highest, complete enlightenment.

�Bhikṣus, they still remain on the level of the śrāvakas but have been ripened for the highest, complete enlightenment. They will in the course of time attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Why is that? Bhikṣus, it is because it is difficult to aspire to the wisdom of a tathāgata. [F.71.b]

7.�132

�Bhikṣus, who are those countless hundred thousands of quintillions of beings, who are as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, whom I caused to hear the Dharma of omniscience when I was a bodhisattva in the teaching of that bhagavān? Bhikṣus, at that time, on that occasion, you were those beings.

�Bhikṣus, in the future times when I have passed into nirvāṇa, there will be śrāvakas who will hear of the practices of the bodhisattva, but they will not think, �We are bodhisattvas.� They will all have the concept of nirvāṇa, and they will enter into nirvāṇa.

7.�133

�Bhikṣus, however, I will be dwelling in other worlds under other names, and they will be reborn there, seeking the wisdom of the tathāgatas and they will hear, �There is only one nirvāṇa of the tathāgatas. There is no second nirvāṇa other than that.�

�Bhikṣus, that practice of the teaching of the Dharma should be known to be the skillful method of the tathāgatas.

7.�134

�Bhikṣus, when a tathāgata sees that the time has come for his passing into nirvāṇa, he sees that his followers are pure, with deep dedication and realization of the Dharma of emptiness,315 and have acquired dhyāna and great dhyāna.

�Bhikṣus, a tathāgata, knowing the time has come, assembles all the bodhisattvas and all the śrāvakas, and then proclaims to them this meaning: �Bhikṣus, there is no second yāna or nirvāṇa in this world at all, let alone a third. Bhikṣus, that is the skillful method of the tathāgatas. Seeing that beings have been depraved for a long time, delight in the inferior, and are attached to desires, then, bhikṣus, the tathāgata teaches them nirvāṇa in accordance with their aspirations.� [F.72.a]

7.�135

�Bhikṣus, it is like this: A group of beings, in order to go to an island of jewels, comes to a jungle that is five hundred yojanas wide. They have a single guide who is wise, bright, clever, intelligent, and has brought many travelers through that difficult jungle.

�That great group of beings becomes tired, exhausted, and frightened. They say, �O noble guide, we are tired, exhausted, frightened, and miserable. We are going to turn back. This jungle goes on too far.�

7.�136

�Bhikṣus, the guide who has skill in methods, knowing that the people wish to turn back, thinks, �These distressed people must not fail to reach the great island of jewels!� Then with compassion for them he employs a skillful method. He conjures up in the middle of the jungle a miraculous city that is more than a hundred yojanas, or two hundred yojanas in size. He says to those people, �Do not be afraid! Do not turn back! Rest in this great region! Here you may do whatever you wish! There you will rest and attain relief from misery.316 Then the one who has more to accomplish can go on to the great island of jewels.�

�Bhikṣus, those people who entered the jungle are astonished and think, �We are freed from the jungle. We will stay here where we have attained relief from misery.�

7.�137

�Bhikṣus, those people enter the miraculous city and believe they have arrived at their destination. They believe they have crossed through the jungle, and they believe they have gained tranquility317 and relief from misery. When the guide knows that they have rested, he causes the miraculous city to vanish. [F.72.b]

�When it has vanished he says to them, �This great city was conjured up by me for you to rest in. We are close to the great island of jewels so you beings should go there.�

7.�138

�Bhikṣus, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha is the guide for you and all beings.

�Bhikṣus, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha sees that the great jungle of kleśas is to be left behind, departed from, and abandoned. But if these beings hear only of the wisdom of the buddhas they will be afraid and turn back, thinking, �The accomplishment of the wisdom of the buddhas involves many hardships!� and they will not set out toward it.

7.�139

�The Tathāgata knows the weakness of the aspirations of beings. Just as the guide conjured up a miraculous city for beings to rest in, and when they had rested told them that this was a miraculous city, in that way, bhikṣus, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha employs a great skillful method so that beings may rest. He describes and teaches two levels of intermediate nirvāṇas. Those are the level of the śrāvakas and the level of the pratyeka�buddhas.

7.�140

�Bhikṣus, while the beings are dwelling on those levels, then, bhikṣus, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha says to them, �Bhikṣus, you have not done what needs to be done, you have not accomplished what needs to be accomplished! Bhikṣus, you are close to the wisdom of the Tathāgata. Look and see! Understand! That which is your nirvāṇa is not nirvāṇa. Bhikṣus, the three yānas that the tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas teach are their skillful method.� �

7.�141

Then the Bhagavān taught this in detail through verses: [F.73.a]

�The guide of the world, Abhi�j�ā�j�ānābhi�bhū

Was seated upon the Bodhimaṇḍa.

For ten full intermediate eons,

He did not attain enlightenment‍�insight into ultimate truth. {60}

7.�142

�Devas, nāgas, asuras, and guhyakas

Were dedicated to making offerings to that Jina.

A rain of flowers rained down there

For the enlightenment and buddhahood of this guide of humans. {61}

7.�143

�They played drums up above in the sky

In order to honor and make offerings to that jina,

And they greatly sorrowed that the Jina

For a long time did not realize the highest state.318 {62}

7.�144

�Then after ten intermediate eons had passed

Bhagavān Anābhibhū attained enlightenment.

At that time, the devas, humans,319 nāgas,320 and asuras

All rejoiced and were overjoyed. {63}

7.�145

�The sixteen young heroes who were the sons

Of that guide of humans, the one wealthy in qualities,

Leading thousands of millions of beings,

Came before the highest Lord of All Humans. {64}

7.�146

�They bowed to the feet of the Guide

And requested him, �Lion who is Lord of Humans,

Teach the Dharma! With your excellent speech

Satisfy us who are in this world. {65}

7.�147

� �Great Guide, after a long time your appearance

Is known in the worlds in the ten directions.

There are omens that have aroused beings.

The airborne palaces of the Brahmās have been shaken. {66}

7.�148

� �In the eastern direction five hundred

Thousand million worlds have been shaken.

The supreme airborne palaces of the Brahmās

Have become endowed with extreme brilliance. {67}

7.�149

� �Seeing omens such as these

They have come before the Lord, the Guide of the World,

And they have scattered flowers over the Guide

And offered to you all of their airborne palaces. {68}

7.�150

� �They request you turn the wheel

And praise you through verses.

But, King and Lord of Humans, you are remaining silent,

As if to say, �It is not yet time for me to teach the Dharma.� {69}

7.�151

� �It has been the same in the southern direction

And similarly in the west, below, and in the north,

And the same above and in the intermediate directions, [F.73.b]

And billions of Brahmās have arrived here. {70}

7.�152

� �They have scattered flowers upon the Guide

And bowed to the feet of the Leader.

They have brought to you all their airborne palaces

And have praised you and again supplicated you. {71}

7.�153

� �You with infinite vision, turn the wheel!

In many millions of eons you are difficult to find.

Reveal the power of kindness that you have developed in the past

And open the door to deathlessness.� {72}

7.�154

�The one with infinite sight knew their request

And taught the Dharma in many ways.

He taught the four truths extensively,

And the dependent origination of all that occurs. {73}

7.�155

�The one with infinite sight explained

Ignorance as the first cause, and the suffering of death:321

�Know that the death of humans and

All these faults originate from birth.� {74}

7.�156

�As soon as he taught the Dharma

In infinite various ways,

Eighty quintillion beings who heard it

Quickly reached the level of the śrāvakas. {75}

7.�157

�Then the following second time

That the Jina taught many dharmas,

Beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Instantaneously became śrāvakas. {76}

7.�158

�After that, at that time, the saṅgha

Of the world�s guide became innumerable.

Even if you were to count them for a quintillion eons

You would not reach the end of them. {77}

7.�159

�Those sixteen princes,

Who were his own young sons,322

Those mendicants requested the Jina,

�Guide, teach us the highest Dharma! {78}

7.�160

� �May we become knowers of the world

Just like you, supreme among all beings!323

May all of these beings who exist

Become just like you, the hero with pure sight!� {79}

7.�161

�The Jina, knowing the aspiration

Of the youths who were his own sons,

Taught the highest, supreme enlightenment

Through many quintillions of parables. {80}

7.�162

�He taught through many thousands of causes, [F.74.a]

Displaying higher knowledge and wisdom.

The Lord of the World taught the true conduct,

Just as is practiced by wise bodhisattvas. {81}

7.�163

�The Bhagavān taught this extensive sūtra,

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma,

Through no fewer than thousands of verses

As numerous as the sand grains of the Ganges. {82}

7.�164

�The Jina, having taught that sūtra,

Entered the temple where the Lord of the World

Contemplated in meditation on one seat

For an entire eighty-four eons. {83}

7.�165

�The mendicants, knowing that the Guide

Was seated in the temple and was not coming out,

Proclaimed to many millions of beings

The immaculate wisdom and peace of this buddhahood. {84}

7.�166

�They each arranged their own throne

And taught upon it this very sūtra,

And in that way fulfilled that role

Within the teaching of that sugata. {85}

7.�167

�Each of those sons of the Sugata

At that time taught beings as numerous

As the sand grains of sixty thousand Ganges

And guided an endless number of beings. {86}

7.�168

�When the Jina had passed into nirvāṇa,

Following their proper conduct,324 they saw millions of buddhas,

And together with those who had listened to them

They made offerings to those supreme humans. {87}

7.�169

�They engaged in conduct that was vast and superior

And attained enlightenment, buddhahood in the ten directions.

Those sixteen sons of the Jina became

Two jinas in each of the directions. {88}

7.�170

�At that time, those who had listened to them

All became the śrāvakas of those jinas,

And attained this enlightenment

In stages through various methods. {89}

7.�171

�I also was one among them

And you all have listened to me.

Therefore you are still my śrāvakas

And using methods I lead you all to this enlightenment. {90}

7.�172

�In that past time there was this cause, this condition,

Because of which I am teaching the Dharma,

And because of which I am leading you to enlightenment.

So, bhikṣus, have no fear in these circumstances. {91} [F.74.b]

7.�173

�If there were a dreadful, terrible jungle

That was uninhabited, with no shelter or refuge,

With many wild beasts and no water

And which was terrifying for the foolish, {92}

7.�174

�And if many thousands of people

Were to enter into that jungle,

And that jungle was uninhabited and long,

A full five hundred yojanas, {93}

7.�175

�And if there were a wealthy, mindful, learned,325

Brave,326 educated, and fearless person

Who was there as their guide

In that terrifying, dreadful jungle, {94}

7.�176

�Those many thousands of beings would become exhausted

And at that time they would say to the guide,

�Noble sir, we are exhausted and we cannot go on.

It is our wish that we turn back today!� {95}

7.�177

�He who is wise and who is skilled

Would think of a method by which he might lead them:

�Alas, all of these foolish persons

Will deprive themselves of the jewels if they turn back. {96}

7.�178

� �I shall today through my miraculous powers

Cause a great city to appear

That is adorned with a billion houses

And beautified by temples and gardens. {97}

7.�179

� �I shall manifest ponds and rivers

Adorned with groves and flowers.

I shall create a beautiful wall and gates,

And men and women without an equal. {98}

7.�180

� �And having manifested all that I shall say to them,

�Do not be afraid, but be happy!

You have now reached this perfect city;

Enter it and quickly fulfill your needs.� � {99}

7.�181

�In order that they might gain relief

And that they would not turn back, he says,

�You have passed through the dreadful jungle

So now be at ease and be happy.� {100}

7.�182

�When he sees that they are all rested,

He gathers them together327 and says to them,

�Come here, and listen to what I have to say!

This city is a manifestation of my miraculous powers. {101}

7.�183

� �I had seen that you were exhausted

And this was to prevent your turning back.

This was my skillful method.

Be diligent and proceed to the island!� {102} [F.75.a]

7.�184

�Bhikṣus, I328 am like that guide‍�

The guide of ten thousand million beings.

See the exhausted beings as those

Who cannot break out through the eggshell of the kleśas. {103}

7.�185

�I thought that for their benefit

I should create this nirvāṇa as a rest.

On the level of the arhat you have accomplished your goal,

Which is the cessation329 of all suffering. {104}

7.�186

�When I see that you are all

Arhats who are upon this level,

Then I gather you all together

And tell you truly what the Dharma is. {105}

7.�187

�When the rishis teach that there are three yānas,

That is the skillful method of the guides.

There is one yāna; there is no second.

Two are taught so that there may be a rest. {106}

7.�188

�Bhikṣus, therefore on this day I declare

That just this is not nirvāṇa.

You must develop a powerful diligence

In order to attain omniscient wisdom. {107}

7.�189

�When you attain omniscient wisdom,

The qualities of a jina, the ten strengths,

And a body that has the thirty-two signs,

Then you will be a buddha, and that is nirvāṇa. {108}

7.�190

�This is the nature of the teaching of the guides:

They teach nirvāṇa so that beings may rest.

Knowing that they have rested in nirvāṇa,

They lead all to omniscient wisdom.� {109}

7.�191

This concludes �The Past,� the seventh chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.� [B7]

Chapter 8: THE PROPHECY TO THE FIVE HUNDRED BHIKṢUS

8.�1

Brother Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra, having heard directly from the Bhagavān about this wisdom insight into skillful methods, about the teachings with implied meaning, and having heard the prophecies made to the great śrāvakas, and having heard of the connections with the past, and having heard of the preeminence of the Bhagavān, was astonished and amazed, without worldly concerns, and filled with delight and joy. Then with great delight and joy and great reverence for the Dharma, he rose from his seat, bowed down to the feet of the Bhagavān, [F.75.b] and thought, �Bhagavān, it is wonderful! Sugata, it is wonderful! The tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas accomplish that which is extremely difficult‍�they teach the Dharma to beings according to the different concerns of the world, through many wisdom insights into skillful methods, and they liberate330 beings attached to this and that.331 Bhagavān, what are we able to do? The Tathāgata is the one who knows our aspirations and our past.�

8.�2

He bowed down to the Bhagavān�s feet and then sat to one side and with his hands placed together in homage gazed unblinking upon the Bhagavān.

Then the Bhagavān, seeing the thoughts in the mind of Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra, said to the complete saṅgha of bhikṣus, �Bhikṣus, look upon my śrāvaka Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra. He is the best teacher among those who teach the Dharma within my332 saṅgha of bhikṣus, and he is praised for having many true qualities. He is dedicated to holding the Dharma in many ways within my teaching. He tirelessly teaches the Dharma, bringing joy to the four assemblies, encouraging them, and inspiring them. He is able to teach the Dharma. He is able to aid those who maintain celibacy.

�Bhikṣus, other than the Tathāgata, there is no one who can match Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra in meaning or in words.

8.�3

�Bhikṣus, what do you think? If you think that he has been a holder solely of my Dharma, bhikṣus, you should not regard him in that way. Why is that? Bhikṣus, I remember that in the past, in a time gone by, he was a holder of the Dharma of nine hundred and ninety million buddhas. Just as he is now the supreme teacher of my Dharma, [F.76.a] so he was for all of them. For all of them he was someone who had realized emptiness. For all of them he was someone who had attained discernment. For all of them he was someone who had realized the higher knowledge of a bodhisattva. He was someone who taught the Dharma with complete certainty. He was someone who taught the Dharma free of doubt. He was someone who taught the Dharma in its purity. In the teaching of those buddha bhagavāns he practiced the conduct of celibacy throughout his life, and everywhere he was known as a śrāvaka. By this method, he benefited innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of beings. He ripened innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. At all times he has served beings through the activity of a buddha. At all times he has been purifying his own buddha realm, and has been dedicated to ripening beings.

8.�4

�Bhikṣus, he has been the primary teacher of the Dharma for the seven tathāgatas, the first of whom was Vipaśyin and of whom I am the seventh.333

�Bhikṣus, in the future in this fortunate eon, this Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇī�putra will be the principal teacher of the Dharma within the teachings of the thousand buddhas less four, and he will be a holder of their teaching. In the same way, in the future he will hold the entire Dharma of innumerable, countless buddha bhagavāns. He will benefit innumerable, countless beings. He will ripen innumerable, countless beings for the highest, complete enlightenment. He will be someone who is continuously dedicated. He will be dedicated to purifying his own buddha realm and ripening beings. He will in this way perfect his bodhisattva conduct [F.76.b] and after innumerable, countless eons he will attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. He will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Dharmaprabhāsa. He will appear in this very buddha realm.

8.�5

�Bhikṣus, at that time this buddha realm will be like billion-world world realms as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River combined into one buddha realm. The ground will be made of the seven precious materials. It will be as level as the palm of a hand. There will be no mountains. It will be filled with kūṭāgāras made of the seven precious materials. The airborne palaces of the devas will be close so that the devas can see the humans, and the humans can see the devas.

8.�6

�Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, there will be no lower existences and there will be no women. All the beings there will be born miraculously. They will practice celibacy with their immaterial bodies. They will emit their own light. They will have miraculous powers. They will fly through the air. They will have diligence. They will have mindfulness. They will have wisdom. They will have golden bodies adorned by the thirty-two signs of a great being.

8.�7

�Bhikṣus, at that time, in this buddha realm, those beings will have two kinds of food. What will they be? They will be the food of joy in the Dharma and the food of joy in meditation. He will have innumerable, countless hundred thousand quintillions of bodhisattvas. All of them will have attained the higher knowledges, have the realization of the discernments, and be skilled in instructing334 beings. His śrāvakas will be beyond number and they will all have great miraculous abilities, great power, the eight liberations, and dhyāna. That buddha realm will have limitless qualities of this kind. The eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa. The world will be named Suviśuddhā. [F.77.a] At that time, the lifespan will be innumerable, countess eons. When the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Dharmaprabhāsa has passed into nirvāṇa his Dharma will remain for a long time. That world will be filled with stūpas made of precious materials.

�Bhikṣus, in that way the buddha realm of that bhagavān will have inconceivable qualities.�

8.�8

That is what the Bhagavān said. The Sugata having spoken these words, the Teacher then pronounced these verses:

�Bhikṣus, listen to me, to this meaning:

The way in which my son has practiced conduct,

Has trained well in skillful methods,

And how he has practiced bodhisattva conduct. {1}

8.�9

�Knowing that beings here aspire to the inferior

And are frightened of the powerful yāna,

The bodhisattvas became śrāvakas

And manifested the attaining of pratyeka�buddha enlightenment. {2}

8.�10

�Through many hundreds of skillful methods

They ripen many bodhisattvas,

Saying, �We who are śrāvakas

Are far from the supreme, highest enlightenment.� {3}

8.�11

�Through practicing that conduct

Millions of beings become ripened.

Even those with inferior aspiration and laziness

All eventually become buddhas. {4}

8.�12

�They practice their conduct unobserved,

Saying, �We are śrāvakas with little to accomplish.�

Dismayed by all death and rebirth,

They purify their own realms. {5}

8.�13

�They teach as if they themselves have desire

And also have anger and ignorance,

Knowing that beings have attachment to views,

And so they resort to having those views. {6}

8.�14

�My śrāvakas have acted in many such ways,

Liberating beings through such methods.

If I were to teach all of their modes of conduct

It would render humans without wisdom insane. {7} [F.77.b]

8.�15

�Bhikṣus, this Pūrna, my śrāvaka,

Has practiced under billions of past buddhas;

Has been a holder of their Dharma,

Seeking for this wisdom of buddhahood. {8}

8.�16

�At all times he has been their principal śrāvaka,

Greatly learned, and fearlessly giving various teachings.

He has been continuously joyful and never wearied,

Fulfilling always the activities335 of the buddhas. {9}

8.�17

�He always has understanding through the great higher knowledges,

And has the attainment of the discernments.

He knows the scope of the faculties of beings

And always teaches the completely pure Dharma. {10}

8.�18

�He teaches the Dharma that is supreme,

Ripens thousands of millions of beings

In this supreme, unsurpassable yāna,

And is purifying his own realm. {11}

8.�19

�In a future time, similarly

He will make offerings to millions of buddhas,

Be a holder of their supreme Dharma,

And will be purifying his own realm. {12}

8.�20

�He always teaches the Dharma fearlessly

And through billions of skillful methods,

And ripens many beings

For immaculate omniscience. {13}

8.�21

�He will make offerings to the guides of humans

And he will always be a holder of the supreme Dharma,

And then will become a self-arisen buddha in the world,

And will be famous in all directions as Dharmaprabhāsa. {14}

8.�22

�His realm will be completely pure,

Constantly excellent, made of the seven precious materials.

That eon will be named Ratnāvabhāsa,

And his realm will be named Suviśuddhā. {15}

8.�23

�There will be many billions of bodhisattvas

Who have great higher knowledge and are supremely skilled.

They will exist throughout that realm

And will have pure minds and great miracles. {16}

8.�24

�In the same way there will be billions of śrāvakas

Who at that time will be the saṅgha of the Guide.

They will have the eight liberations, dhyāna, great miracles,

And have the realization of the discernments. {17}

8.�25

�All the beings who will be in that realm

Will delight in the practice of celibacy.336

They will all be golden and be born miraculously, [F.78.a]

And have bodies that possess the thirty-two signs. {18}

8.�26

�They will have no concept of food

Other than joy in the Dharma and joy in dhyāna.

There will be no women there,

And no lower existences, no lower realms. {19}

8.�27

�Pūrna will have that kind of supreme realm

That possesses such a perfection of qualities

And is completely filled with virtuous beings;

I have described just a few of them.� {20}

8.�28

Then the twelve hundred who had mastered themselves thought, �The Bhagavān has given prophecies to those great śrāvakas, and it would be marvelous and wonderful if the Tathāgata were to give a prophecy to each one of us also.�

8.�29

The Bhagavān knew the thoughts that were in the minds of those great śrāvakas and said to Brother Mahākāśyapa, �Kāśyapa, I shall next give prophecies to these twelve hundred who have mastered themselves and are in my presence.

8.�30

�Kāśyapa, the great śrāvaka bhikṣu Kauṇḍinya, after sixty-two hundred thousand quintillion buddhas, and even further beyond that, will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Samanta�prabhāsa.

8.�31

�Kāśyapa, there will be five hundred tathāgatas who have that same name. Five hundred great śrāvakas will be next after Kauṇḍinya to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and all of them will have the name Samanta�prabhāsa. They are Gayākāśyapa, Nadīkāśyapa, Uru�vilvā�kāśyapa, Kāla, Kālodāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphiṇa, Bakkula, Cunda, [F.78.b] Svāgata, and the rest of the five hundred who have gained mastery over themselves.�

8.�32

Then the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�Kauṇḍinyagotra, this śrāvaka of mine,

Will become a tathāgata, a lord of the world.

In a future time, after endless eons,

He will guide billions of beings. {21}

8.�33

�He will become a jina named Samantaprabha.

His realm will be completely pure,

After endless eons, in a future time,

After seeing many, endless buddhas. {22}

8.�34

�He will shine and have the strengths of a buddha.

His words will be renowned in the ten directions.

Billions of beings will be in his presence

And he will teach them the supreme, highest enlightenment. {23}

8.�35

�There the dedicated bodhisattvas

Will enter their airborne palaces

And they will dwell there in contemplation,

Always with pure conduct and excellent337 behavior. {24}

8.�36

�They will listen to the Dharma of the supreme human

And also constantly travel to other realms

Where they will praise thousands of buddhas

And make vast offerings to them. {25}

8.�37

�In an instant they will also return

To the realm of the Guide.

That supreme human, named Prabhāsa,

Will have that kind of powerful conduct. {26}

8.�38

�The lifespan of that sugata

Will be a full sixty thousand eons.

And when that protector has passed into nirvāṇa.

His Dharma will remain for twice as long. {27}

8.�39

�The outer form of his Dharma, too,

Will remain for a duration three times as long.

When the Dharma of that protector has disappeared,

Devas338 and humans will be in suffering. {28}

8.�40

�There will then be, in succession,

A full five hundred guides,

Supreme humans, jinas,

With the same name: Samantaprabha. {29}

8.�41

�All of them will have the same manifestation

Of miraculous powers and a buddha realm.

Their assemblies and their Dharma will be the same,

And the duration of their Dharma will also be the same. {30} [F.79.a]

8.�42

�Their names and their worlds with their devas

Will all be exactly the same as

What I have previously described

For the supreme human Samanta�prabhāsa. {31}

8.�43

�These compassionate benefiters

Will successively prophesy the others,

Saying, �After me,339 it will be

Just as I have taught to all the world.� {32}

8.�44

�Kāśyapa, from today you should hold in this way

These who have mastered themselves, who number

No less than five hundred, and also others of my śrāvakas,

And you should speak of this to other śrāvakas also.� {33}

8.�45

Then those five hundred arhats, on hearing the prophecy of their attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, felt contented, delighted, elated, and joyful. With happiness and gladness they approached the Bhagavān, bowed their heads to his feet, and said to him, �Bhagavān, we confess this offence of ours: we have been always continuously thinking, �This is our nirvāṇa,� or, �We have attained nirvāṇa.� Bhagavān, we lacked understanding, lacked skill, and lacked knowledge. Why is that? We thought, �There is the attainment of buddhahood through the wisdom of the tathāgatas, but we are satisfied with a limited wisdom.�

8.�46

�As an analogy, imagine if there were a man who went to a friend�s home, and became drunk or fell asleep. Then the friend sews a priceless jewel into the hem of his clothing, saying, �This is a precious jewel!� The man then rises from his seat and leaves. He goes to another country and there he runs into misfortune. He undergoes great difficulties and hardship in his search for food and clothing. When he finds just a little food he is delighted and overjoyed. [F.79.b]

8.�47

�Bhagavān, then that man�s old friend who had sewn the priceless jewel in the hem of that man�s clothing sees him, and says to him, �Oh, my friend! Why are you undergoing this hardship seeking for food and clothing? I sewed a precious jewel, a priceless jewel that could fulfill all your desires, into the hem of your clothes so that you could live happily. My friend, I have given you that precious jewel. My friend, I have sewn that precious jewel in the hem of your clothing. My friend, you have not looked for it at all, wondering, �When was it sewn in? Who sewed it in? Why did he sew it in?� Oh my friend, you are a fool that you have accepted to undergo such hardship in searching for food and clothing! My friend, take this precious jewel and go to the big city, and in the big city with that jewel obtain all the wealth that you want!�

8.�48

�Bhagavān, it is likewise that the Tathāgata has previously taught the practice of bodhisattva conduct and the aspiration for omniscience, but we did not know it, we did not understand it.

8.�49

�Bhagavān, therefore our thoughts were of nirvāṇa, the level of the arhat. Bhagavān, we have lived in great hardship. Bhagavān, we have been content to seek limited wisdom. Because we have never ceased from our prayers for omniscient wisdom, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has made us understand, saying, �You bhikṣus, do not think that this is nirvāṇa! Bhikṣus, there are the roots of merit in your beings that I have ripened in the past. It was through my skillful method that through my teaching and speaking of the Dharma you came to think, �This is nirvāṇa!� �

�In that way the Bhagavān has made us understand, and today has given us the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment.� [F.80.a]

8.�50

At that time, Āj�āta�kauṇḍinya and the five hundred who had gained mastery over themselves recited these verses:

�We are delighted and overjoyed to have heard

Such a supreme reassurance as this,

The prophecy of our highest, complete enlightenment.

We pay homage to you, the Guide with infinite vision. {34}

8.�51

�We confess our fault in your presence:

We were foolish, unwise, and unknowing,

And within the teachings of the Sugata

We were content with mere nirvāṇa. {35}

8.�52

�It is as if there were a man

Who went into the home of his friend.

His friend was someone who was very wealthy

And gave him much to eat and drink. {36}

8.�53

�Having satisfied him with food

He gave him a jewel of great value,

Sewing it into the hem of his upper robe,

And he was happy to have given it to him. {37}

8.�54

�Then that fool, he departed.

He left and went to another town.

He fell into hardship, was destitute and in need,

Searching for food in a state of distress. {38}

8.�55

�He gained relief from misery through finding food,

But he did not think of obtaining a great amount to eat.

He had forgotten that he possessed the jewel.

He did not remember that it was in the hem of his clothing. {39}

8.�56

�Then when his old friend saw him,

The friend duly admonished him that he possessed

The jewel that he had given him, back in his house,

And showed him the jewel in the hem of his clothing. {40}

8.�57

�The jewel had such power

That when the man saw it he became supremely happy;

He became very wealthy, had the power of treasure,

And obtained the pleasures of the five senses. {41}

8.�58

�Bhagavān, we are just like that:

We are unaware of the past prayers

That the Tathāgata has given us

In many lifetimes in the past, a long time ago. {42}

8.�59

�Bhagavān, we have the understanding of fools.

Within the Sugata�s teaching we are without knowledge.

We were content with nirvāṇa alone,

And did not think of any higher goal. {43} [F.80.b]

8.�60

�The friend to the world has made us realize,

�There is no nirvāṇa such as this.�

It is the supreme wisdom of the highest beings

That nirvāṇa is the supreme bliss. {44}

8.�61

�We have heard this supreme prophecy

That is vast, extensive, and diverse.

Lord, these successive prophecies

Have made us happy, delighted, and overjoyed.� {45}

8.�62

This concludes �The Prophecy to the Five Hundred Bhikṣus,� the eighth chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

Chapter 9: THE PROPHECIES TO ĀNANDA, RĀHULA, AND TWO THOUSAND BHIKṢUS

9.�1

At that time, Brother Ānanda thought, �May I obtain a prophecy like these!� Thinking that, contemplating it, and wishing for it, he rose from his seat and bowed down to the Bhagavān�s feet. Brother Rāhula also, thinking, contemplating, and wishing for the same thing, bowed down to the Bhagavān�s feet, and they said, �Bhagavān, may we have such an opportunity! Sugata, may we have such an opportunity! Bhagavān, you are our father, our progenitor, our refuge, our support, and our protector. Bhagavān, we are honored by the world with its devas, humans, and asuras as the sons of the Bhagavān, the attendants of the Bhagavān, and the keepers of the Dharma treasure of the Bhagavān. Therefore, Bhagavān, it would be fitting if the Bhagavān were quickly to give us the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment.�

9.�2

Moreover, more than two thousand bhikṣus, those in training and those passed beyond training, rose from their seats, removed their upper robe from one shoulder, and with hands together in homage stood facing the Bhagavān, gazing upon him and contemplating the wisdom of the Buddha, and thought, �May we also obtain the prophecy of our attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment!�

9.�3

Then the Bhagavān [F.81.a] said to Brother Ānanda, �You, Ānanda, in a future time, will appear in the world as the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a.

9.�4

�You will honor, venerate, show respect for, and make offerings to six hundred and twenty million buddhas, receive the Dharma from them, and uphold their teaching. You will attain the highest, complete enlightenment and ripen for complete enlightenment hundreds of thousands of quintillions of bodhisattvas as numerous as the grains of sands in two hundred million Ganges Rivers.

9.�5

�Your buddha realm will be fully endowed with a ground made of beryl. That realm will be named An�avanāmita�vaijayantī. That eon will be named Manoj�a�śabdābhi�garjita.340 The lifespan of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a will be innumerable eons. One could not conclude measuring the lifespan of that bhagavān. It will be countless hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons.

�Ānanda, the Dharma of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a will remain after his nirvāṇa for twice as long as his lifespan. [F.81.b]

9.�6

�Ānanda, the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a will be praised in the ten directions by many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddhas as numerous as the grains of sand in ten million Ganges Rivers.�

9.�7

Then the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�I declare341 to you, the saṅgha of bhikṣus,

Good Ānanda, the holder of my teaching,

Will in the future become a jina

After making offerings to six hundred million sugatas. {1}

9.�8

�His name will be Sāgara�buddhi�dhārin

And he will be renowned as Abhij�aprāpta

In the beautiful, completely pure realm

An�avana�tā Dhvaja�vaijayantī. {2}

9.�9

�There he will ripen bodhisattvas

More numerous than the Ganges sands.

He will be a jina with great miraculous powers

And will be renowned in the worlds in the ten directions. {3}

9.�10

�At that time his lifespan will be immeasurable.

He will remain as beneficial and compassionate to the world.

After that protector has passed into nirvāṇa

His Dharma will remain for twice as long. {4}

9.�11

�Then its outer form will remain for twice as long as that,

And within the teachings of that jina

There will be beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Who will create the cause for the enlightenment of buddhahood.� {5}

9.�12

In that assembly at that time there were eight thousand342 bodhisattvas, who had newly entered the yāna, who thought, �We have never before heard such an extensive prophecy for bodhisattvas, let alone for the śrāvakas.343 What could be the cause, what could be the reason for this?�

9.�13

The Bhagavān, knowing the thoughts and contemplation in the minds of those bodhisattvas, said to those bodhisattvas, �Noble sons, Ānanda and I together, at the same moment, developed the aspiration to the highest, complete enlightenment in front of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Dharma�gaganābhyudgata�rāja. [F.82.a] This noble son has been continuously dedicated to receiving many teachings, while I was dedicated to diligent practice. That is why I have quickly attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, and it is why this good Ānanda will be the keeper of the Dharma treasures of the buddha bhagavāns. Noble sons, it is the prayer of this noble son that this will be the cause for bodhisattvas reaching perfection.�

9.�14

Brother Ānanda heard from the Bhagavān the prediction of his own attainment of the highest, complete enlightenment. He heard the description of the qualities of his own buddha realm, and he heard of his past prayer and conduct. Then he was contented, delighted, elated, and joyful, and he became glad and happy. At that time he remembered the Dharma of the many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of buddhas, and the prayer that he had made in the past.

9.�15

Then Ānanda recited these verses:

�The countless jinas are so wonderful.

They have caused me to remember the Dharma teachings.

I remember, as if it were today or yesterday,

The protectors, the jinas, who have passed into nirvāṇa. {6}

9.�16

�I am free of doubt, I am fixed upon enlightenment.

This is the nature of my skill in methods.

I am the attendant of the Sugata

And I hold the Dharma for the sake of enlightenment.� {7}

9.�17

Then the Bhagavān said to Brother Rāhula, �You, Rāhula, in a future time will honor, venerate, show respect for, and make offerings to tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas as numerous as the atoms in ten worlds. Then you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha, the one with perfect wisdom and conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the unsurpassable guide who tames beings, [F.82.b] the teacher of gods and humans, the buddha, the bhagavān named Sapta�ratna�padma�vikrānta�gāmin.

9.�18

�You will constantly be the eldest son of those buddha bhagavāns, as you are for me. Rāhula, the lifespan of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sapta�ratna�padma�vikrānta�gāmin will be the same as that of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a. The perfection of all his many qualities will be like his, and he will have the same display of the qualities of his buddha realm as Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a.

9.�19

�Rāhula, you will be the eldest son of the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened buddha Sāgara�vara�dhara�buddhi�vikrīḍitābhij�a, and after that you will attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.�

9.�20

Then the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�This Rāhula, my eldest son,

Was my own son when he was a child.

Even after enlightenment, he is my son,

A great rishi who holds the inheritance of Dharma. {8}

9.�21

�In the future, he will see many

Countless millions of buddhas;

Because he is seeking enlightenment

He will be the son of all those jinas. {9}

9.�22

�This activity of Rāhula is not known,

But I know the prayers he has made.

He lauds the friends of the world,

Saying, �I am the son of the Tathāgata!� {10}

9.�23

�Rāhula, who is my own son,

Has countless quintillions of qualities

That can never be measured.

Thus he remains for the sake of enlightenment.� {11}

9.�24

The Bhagavān looked upon two thousand śrāvakas, both those in training and those who had passed beyond training, who in the presence of the Bhagavān [F.83.a] were gazing upon the Bhagavān with tranquil minds, placid minds, and gentle minds.

Then the Bhagavān asked Brother Ānanda, �Ānanda, do you see these two thousand śrāvakas, both those in training and those who have passed beyond training?�

�I see them, Bhagavān,� he answered. �I see them, Sugata.�

9.�25

�Ānanda,� said the Bhagavān, �all those two thousand bhikṣus will together practice the conduct of a bodhisattva. They will honor, venerate, show respect for, and make offerings to buddha bhagavāns as numerous as the atoms in fifty worlds, and be holders of their Dharma. Then in their last lives, in the same instant, the same moment, the same second, they will attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, each in their own buddha realm among the worlds in the ten directions. They will be tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas named Ratnaketurāja.344 Their lifespans will be an entire eon. Their buddha realms will have the same display of qualities. Their gatherings of śrāvakas and gatherings of bodhisattvas will also be the same in number. They will all pass into nirvāṇa at the same time. Their Dharma also will remain for the same length of time.�

9.�26

Then the Bhagavān recited these verses:

�Ānanda, those who are assembled before me,

All of these two thousand śrāvakas.

Will in the future become tathāgatas.

Today I make this prophecy about these wise ones. {12}

9.�27

�As is taught in endless analogies,

They will make supreme offerings to the buddhas,

And then when they are within their last bodies

They will attain this supreme enlightenment. {13} [F.83.b]

9.�28

�In the ten directions, having the same name,

In the same instant, the same moment,

They will be seated at the foot of the supreme tree.

They will attain wisdom and become buddhas. {14}

9.�29

�They will all have the same name:

They will be renowned in the world as Ratnaketu.345

Their supreme realms will be the same,

Their śrāvaka and bodhisattva assemblies will be the same. {15}

9.�30

�With miraculous powers in these worlds,

And equally throughout the ten directions,

They will teach the Dharma and their nirvāṇa,

And the duration of their Dharma will be the same.� {16}

9.�31

Those śrāvakas, both those in training and those who had passed beyond training, upon hearing directly from the Bhagavān the prophecies for each of them, became contented, delighted, elated, and joyful, and became glad and happy.

9.�32

Thereupon they recited these verses to the Bhagavān:

�Lamp of the World, we have been made content

Through having heard this prophecy.

Tathāgata, we have become as happy

As if we were sprinkled with amrita. {17}

9.�33

�We do not have any doubt or uncertainty,

Thinking, �We will not become supreme humans.�

Today we have attained happiness

Through having heard this prophecy.� {18}

9.�34

This concludes �The Prophecies to Ānanda, Rāhula, and Two Thousand Bhikṣus,� the ninth chapter of the Dharma teaching of �The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.�

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma

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