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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79267 ***
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber’s Notes
+
+  Misspelled words have been corrected. These are identified by a ♦
+  symbol in the text. The change description is shown immediately
+  below the paragraph or section in which the correction appears.
+
+  Details and other notes may be found at the end of this text.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE LOTUS OF THE WONDERFUL LAW
+
+
+  [Illustration: THE RETURN OF THE CHINESE ENVOYS SENT TO INDIA ABOUT
+ A.D. 63 who brought back to their emperor an image of the Buddha, and
+                       copies of the scriptures ]
+
+
+
+
+                     THE LOTUS OF THE WONDERFUL LAW
+
+                                   OR
+
+                            THE LOTUS GOSPEL
+
+                       SADDHARMA PUNDARĪKA SŪTRA
+                         MIAO-FA LIEN HUA CHING
+
+                                   BY
+
+                             W. E. SOOTHILL
+
+                 PROFESSOR OF CHINESE IN THE UNIVERSITY
+                               OF OXFORD
+
+                                 OXFORD
+                         AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
+                                  1930
+
+                        OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
+                           AMEN HOUSE, E.C. 4
+
+                        LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW
+                        LEIPZIG NEW YORK TORONTO
+                       MELBOURNE CAPETOWN BOMBAY
+                        CALCUTTA MADRAS SHANGHAI
+
+                            HUMPHREY MILFORD
+                            PUBLISHER TO THE
+                               UNIVERSITY
+
+                        Printed in Great Britain
+
+
+
+
+                                PREFACE
+
+
+The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful, or Mystic, Law is the most important
+religious book of the Far East. It has been described as “The Gospel
+of Half Asia”. Dr. Timothy Richard twenty years ago translated a
+brief summary of its teaching, as also the profounder Śastra which he
+termed “The Awakening of Faith”. These he published under the title of
+_The New Testament of Higher Buddhism_. He says: “though Buddhism
+has twelve different sects, yet I found the Lotus Scripture on the
+lecterns of every Buddhist temple I visited. It is also the chief
+Scripture in the Tiendai School of Buddhism in China, and is therefore
+the chief source of consolation to the many millions of Buddhists in
+the Far East.” Quite recently Dr. Kenneth J. Saunders in his _The
+Gospel for Asia_ has expressed the opinion that the three most
+influential religious books in the world are The Gospel of St. John,
+The Bhagavadgita, and The Lotus Sutra, and that what the Gospel of St.
+John is to the Christian and the Bhagavadgita to the Hindu, such is The
+Lotus to the Buddhist in the Far East. He goes farther and sees closer
+resemblances between the three books than others may see, at least in
+their ideals. When Dr. Richard published his synopsis of the Sutra
+under the title given above, the late Hon. Mrs. E. A. Gordon annotated
+it throughout with references to our New Testament with varying degrees
+of approximation.
+
+Whatever view may be held of the intrinsic value of the work by
+Western readers, there is no doubt of its appreciation in the Far
+East, and it is perfectly justifiable to consider it as one of the
+greatest and most formative books of the world. Its influence from
+Tibet to Japan, from Mongolia to Cochin China has been greater than
+that of any other single book. For the ordinary Western reader it is
+much too long, as all that is said in prose is repeated in verse. There
+is, in consequence, repetition wearisome to the reader of many books.
+Undoubtedly the method of the author and of his period was useful for
+driving home truth to the sluggish mind, or to the mind free from other
+attractive entanglements. It is a method beloved of the unlettered. In
+order, therefore, that the Western reader may not miss the essential
+meaning I have omitted the repetitions and much unnecessary detail,
+while making it my aim to portray the message of the book as nearly as
+possible in its own way.
+
+As a living book it is no longer read in Sanskrit, but only in the
+languages of the Far East. It is therefore their tone that I have
+sought to express in this abbreviated version.
+
+The advent of Christianity to Japan has had its usual influence in
+arousing a moribund religion from lethargy, a lethargy which is
+inherent in Buddhism. A somewhat similar revival with a similar cause
+is occurring in China. In consequence, a fresh interest has arisen in
+Buddhist literature and not least in The Lotus. For this reason in
+1921 I wrote to China for a copy of the Chinese text. Though the pages
+are less peppered with Sanskrit transliterations and Buddhist
+terms than other Buddhist classics, the work still presents serious
+difficulty to the Chinese reader and not less so to the Western
+student. It was therefore my purpose to translate the text for the use
+of the Western student.
+
+The books had scarcely arrived in Oxford when one of those curious
+coincidences occurred, which the devout ascribe to external
+intervention, be it by the Buddha, as my visitor thought, or by some
+other Spiritual Power. An unusual type of visitor called on me. His
+name was Bunno Kato. It transpired that he was a Japanese leader of
+the Nichiren School of Buddhism. Most modestly he preferred of me an
+earnest request, that I would help him in translating into English The
+Lotus scripture. It is the great text of his School as also of certain
+other Schools of Buddhism. He knew the lengthy text by heart, and was
+intimately acquainted with the voluminous commentaries written on the
+work. The Chinese text common to Japan and China is the Kumarajiva
+version made in A.D. 406. It was with pleasure that we began our work
+on it together. A more faithful, or intelligent devotee of the work
+could not have been found. After nearly four years of application
+the English translation was finished in 1925. My final revision was
+completed at Harbin in Manchuria, while waiting for the Trans-Siberian
+train to bring me home after a visit to China, where I had gone as a
+member of Lord Willingdon’s Commission. I was anxious to send the final
+corrections to Mr. Kato via China, for any papers carried through
+Russia were suspect and liable to confiscation, as I proved on my way
+through.
+
+The translation of the whole work is still in manuscript, along with
+Mr. Kato’s extensive introduction. It will form too large a book to
+appeal to any but students of the subject. I am therefore taking this
+method of making the work better known to the general reader of the
+Western world.
+
+Too long has this literary masterpiece been buried in translations,
+unavoidably cumbrous and inspirationally innocuous. Hence this
+endeavour to reveal the contour of the most powerful spiritual drama
+known in the Far East.
+
+                                                             W.E.S.
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+
+  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS                                        xi
+
+  INTRODUCTION
+
+    Historical                                                  1
+
+    Form and Content                                           10
+
+    Doctrine                                                   34
+
+  THE LOTUS SUTRA
+
+       I. The Assembly and the Illumination                    59
+
+      II. Tactful Revelation                                   65
+
+     III. Parable of the Burning House                         81
+
+      IV. Faith-discernment, the Prodigal Son                 106
+
+       V. Parable of the Rain                                 122
+
+      VI. Prediction of the Four Disciples                    129
+
+     VII. Parable of the Magic City                           131
+
+    VIII. Prediction of Five Hundred Disciples                142
+
+      IX. Prediction of Ananda, Rahula, and others            146
+
+       X. The Preacher                                        149
+
+      XI. The Precious Shrine                                 157
+
+     XII. Devadatta. The Dragon-King’s Daughter               169
+
+    XIII. Steadfastness. Prediction of Women and others       176
+
+     XIV. The Serene Life. The Four Spheres                   181
+
+      XV. Hosts of Disciples issue from the Earth             192
+
+     XVI. Eternity of The Buddha. The Physician               200
+
+    XVII. The Merit and Reward of Faith                       209
+
+   XVIII. The Merit and Reward of Accordance                  216
+
+     XIX. The Merit and Reward of the Preacher                219
+
+      XX. The Bodhisattva “Never Despise”                     226
+
+     XXI. Divine Power of a Buddha’s Tongue                   230
+
+    XXII. The Final Commission                                234
+
+   XXIII. The King of Healing. Bodhisattva Beautiful          236
+
+    XXIV. Wonder-sound                                        242
+
+     XXV. Kuan-yin, Regarder of the Cries of the World        247
+
+    XXVI. Spells                                              252
+
+   XXVII. King Resplendent and Buddha Thunder-Voice           255
+
+  XXVIII. Universal Virtue                                    260
+
+  GLOSSARY                                                    267
+
+  INDEX                                                       271
+
+
+
+
+                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  Introduction of Buddhism into China _Frontispiece_
+
+  1. Part of a scroll of the Sutra _Facing page_ 8
+
+  2. Modern Buddhist Monks 30
+
+  3. Conception of the Buddha 58
+
+  4. Buddha and the child’s offering 76
+
+  5. Buddha dividing the waters 122
+
+  6. Buddha telling of a former Buddha 136
+
+  7. The Precious Shrine 158
+
+  8. The Dragon King 172
+
+  9. Kuan-yin saving sailors 196
+
+  10. The laying of the purchase money in bricks of gold 216
+
+  11. Holding back the sun 230
+
+  12. Kuan-yin breaking the Sword 248
+
+  13. Spell-making                                            252
+
+Acknowledgement for permission to use the above illustrations is
+gratefully made to the British Museum and Dr. Lionel Giles for Nos. 1,
+9, and 12; to Lady Hosie for No. 2, and to the Bodleian Library for
+the other illustrations, which are taken from the eighteenth-century
+woodcuts of the 釋迦如來應化事蹟, _Shih-chia Ju-lai Ying-hua Shih-chi_, or
+_Scenes from the Life of the Buddha_.
+
+
+
+
+                              INTRODUCTION
+
+
+_Historical_
+
+By whom was this classic given? Devout Buddhists in the Far East
+say it contains the very words of Śakyamuni, the Buddha, his final
+teaching spoken towards the end of his days on the Vulture Peak in
+Nepal. Equally devout Buddhists in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam declare
+that it was entirely unknown in the ancient Canon, that it contradicts
+the essential teaching of the Buddha, and that it is the invention
+of a much later age. Thus we see Buddhism separated into its two
+great divisions, and it is over the works, of which The Lotus is the
+most representative type, that the division of Hinayana and Mahayana
+arises. These two terms were invented by the Mahayanists, who form
+the “Northern” School of Buddhism, that is the Far Eastern School now
+found in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet. The Hinayanists are
+the “Southern”, or Orthodox, School of Ceylon, Burma, Siam. Hinayana
+means Small wain, or vehicle; Mahayana, Large wain, or vehicle. By the
+Northern Buddhist, Hinayana is charged with conveying only the few to
+Nirvana, that is, those seeking salvation by the arduous way of works.
+Mahayana, on the other hand, professes to open the way for the many,
+indeed finally for all. Consequently Mahayanism is another term for
+Universalism, or Catholicism.
+
+In Mahayana, salvation is attained not by laborious effort, but
+simply by faith in the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The great Bodhisattvas
+in particular are objects of faith and invocation. They are not
+historical beings but idealizations. Accredited with a vow not to enter
+into the final bliss of Buddhahood until all creatures are saved, they
+instantly respond to all who call upon them. Their salvation is not
+to a Nirvana of individual extinction or annihilation, but to heavens
+of joy-and blessedness. Such happiness is infinite, to which all will
+finally attain. Those who claim it now by faith and invocation will
+escape the perils and pains of reincarnation. Those who delay their
+belief will continue to suffer until they cry for salvation, as they
+ultimately will cry.
+
+Here lies the contrast, the difference, between the one School and
+the other—a difference at least as fundamental as between Roman and
+Reformed Christianity. But Roman and Reformed virtually make appeal to
+the same Book, or collection of books, the Bible. Not so is it with
+Hinayana and Mahayana, for they appeal to two differing sets of textual
+authorities. Hinayanists claim, with a measure of justice, that their
+texts are the only ancient and valid canons, and that these alone
+contain the real teaching of their Founder. Mahayanists, it is true,
+claim all those texts equally with their rivals, but declare that they
+were only the Buddha’s preparatory teaching, suited to the immature
+degree of his disciples’ immediate development. They insist that their
+Mahayana texts were his developed doctrine, given towards the end of
+his ministry, when his disciples were mature enough to understand
+his spiritual interpretation of the universe and of universal truth.
+They say that his attitude, during the period of Hinayana texts, was
+similar to the attitude of the schoolmaster, who leads on his pupils
+according to their ability through the preparatory stages, but when
+they are sufficiently grounded reveals to them the higher learning.
+Consequently they claim that the Buddha only in the later stages of his
+life and before his departure, made the full revelation. This perfect
+revelation, they assert, is only to be found in the Mahayana texts; it
+is a revelation of the “All-Truth” which his disciples had been trained
+by easy stages finally to apprehend in its fullness.
+
+The detached mind will not easily be beguiled into acceptance of the
+Mahayanist’s special pleading. Mahayanists have not a shred of real
+evidence to show that the Buddha ever delivered any of the addresses
+attributed by them to him. All the weight of evidence is indeed against
+them. Whatever evidence there is rather supports the Hinayanists’ claim
+to Apostolic Succession. Though these may not possess documentary
+evidence of the Buddha’s actual sermons, at least the Sutras of
+Southern Buddhism may be considered as in the direct line of his
+teaching. As to the Mahayana Sutras, the unprejudiced cannot doubt
+that they are the invention of a later period, and that Mahayanism is
+a shoot grafted on to the original stock of the Buddhist Bodhi-tree.
+Whence, where and when this scion was grafted is still unknown. There
+are able scholars who assert that there is no need to look abroad
+for Mahayana ideas, because their embryo can be discovered in the
+orthodox scriptures. But there seems more justification for supposing
+the new scion to be of external origin, grafted on to Buddhism, perhaps
+in Northern India, perhaps still farther north in Central Asia.
+Whatever its origin this scion, grafted into the old tree, produced
+fruit of a different quality, more attractive to the eye and the taste;
+it was this off-shoot that struck in the north and east of Asia. The
+original stock grew older, died in its native soil, and was only saved
+by a branch which had been transplanted away from its native hills with
+their wintry snows to the southern sun, where it survives.
+
+We may say, then, that The Lotus never had any direct connexion with
+Śakyamuni. It was the brilliant concept of a later age. The author,
+whose name and place of origin are unknown, was one of the world’s
+greatest Apocalyptists. He was gifted with a rare imagination, and with
+remarkable dramatic powers which appeal to an imaginative and florid
+race. He was endowed with talents of detail and repetition that, while
+tedious and often puerile to our sated taste, were of prime value in
+capturing the attention of his readers and in impressing his story
+on a leisurely people. His brilliant drama of spiritual things has
+outshone his name, while unconsciously he has been one of the chief
+instruments in dividing Buddhism. The inspiration that was to weld a
+fracture already yawning split it permanently in two. The two segments
+remain apart. The Southern Buddhists of Burma, Ceylon, Siam guard
+the treasure of the earthly Buddha’s law, as they now guard the coffin
+supposed to contain his earthly remains so recently recovered. The
+Northern or Far Eastern Buddhists guard the treasure of an Eternal
+Buddha, of whom the earthly Buddha was but a temporal manifestation.
+Thus does Mahayana, or the universal chariot of salvation, compare
+itself with the Southern Hinayana, or the small chariot of laborious
+“works”, which saves the few. In reality Mahayanism is, as the Southern
+Buddhists believe, a betrayal of Śakyamuni Buddha, in the interests of
+doctrines he never taught and which are a reversal of his principles,
+as recorded by his disciples.
+
+As to the author, not only is his name unknown, but even the region
+of his origin is equally obscure. Presumably the writer composed the
+work in Sanskrit and in Northern India; it may, however, have been
+composed farther north in Central Asia. Though its date or period is
+not discovered, it seems to have been both a product, and perhaps a
+producer, of the reaction against the formalism which had fallen upon
+ascetic Buddhism.
+
+Was it the offspring of ideas which had already hailed the dawn of
+spiritual liberation across Western Asia? That is a question to which
+as yet there is no sufficient answer. Whatever the answer may be we now
+know that Buddhism, at the beginning of the Christian era, was a potent
+religious force across Central Asia, that its missionaries had already
+reached Western China and that, during the first century of our
+era, the religion, in a form clearly not of the Mahayana order, was
+welcomed at the Imperial Chinese Court. The Scythian ruler of Northern
+India, Kanishka, gave it his ardent support during that century, as the
+ruler Aśoka had done centuries earlier. That the Buddhism of Kanishka’s
+period differed from the original cult is probable, but we do not yet
+know in what respect.
+
+It must not be assumed that the new doctrines of salvation, which
+found their expression in the tractate “The Uprising (Awakening) of
+Faith” and in “The Lotus Sutra”, were necessarily created by these
+works. It is more likely that those doctrines only found their ultimate
+expression in these works. Nor can we assume that they were known
+before Christian influence was felt in the lands of the new Buddhism.
+Though by no means convinced, or concerned, that Christian influence
+had anything to do with the creation of the new cult, yet I cannot
+ignore the fact that the first assured appearance in China of The Lotus
+was towards the end of the third century A.D. The Christian Church in
+India, whose foundation is attributed to the Apostle Thomas, may or
+may not have existed. That is perhaps a matter of minor importance to
+our subject in comparison with an influence of recognized potency,
+namely, the interchange of ideas which spread east and west along the
+remarkable trading corridor that stretched from Northern China to the
+Mediterranean. Graeco-Bactrian art is an instance of such propagation.
+Whether this uprising of the human spirit was a natural protest against
+priestcraft and ritual, is a question more easily put than answered.
+Here I can only call attention to the undoubted interchange of such
+ideas as existing before and after the Christian era.
+
+We are on surer ground when we seek to trace the story of the
+translation of The Lotus into Chinese. The first partial version,
+of which no copy exists, was made by an unknown author in or about
+A.D. 255–6. Another lost version in twenty-eight chapters was made in
+A.D. 265, by the monk Dharmaraksha. He, or another of the same name,
+apparently made another version in A.D. 286 which still exists. A
+fourth version, now lost, was made by a translator of unknown origin
+in A.D. 335. The fifth version, which holds the field, is that from
+which the present excerpts are made. Its literary quality shows that it
+could only have been composed by very scholarly Chinese. But the actual
+translator to the Chinese pundits was Kumarajiva and he completed the
+work in A.D. 406. Kumarajiva is said to have come to China, or as
+some say was captured and brought there, from Kharashar in Turkestan.
+Others describe him as of “Takchas’ila” (Taxila) in the neighbourhood
+of Chitral. From A.D. 397 to 415 he lived in the Ch‘in capital of
+Ch‘ang-an in modern Shensi. At that time China was in a state of
+partition. Yao Hsing, the Ch‘in ruler, supported and encouraged
+Kumarajiva, providing him with a large staff of Chinese writers for his
+very numerous translations and works.
+
+A sixth version, still existing, was made in A.D. 601 by Jñanagupta and
+Dharmagupta, two monks reputed to be of Indian origin, and it agrees
+with the Sanskrit version in having twenty-seven chapters. The verses
+in Chapter XXV of Kumarajiva’s version were not made by him but by a
+Jñanagupta of the Northern Chou dynasty A.D. 557–89; whether it was the
+same monk is not clear.
+
+The three existing versions then are the Dharmaraksha version of
+A.D. 286, that of Kumarajiva which agrees with the Tibetan version,
+and that of Jñanagupta. Little is known of the sources whence these
+versions were made. Jñanagupta says that he has seen two originals,
+one on palm-leaves, the other on a silk-like fabric, which differed
+considerably from each other. Dharmaraksha’s version he says was from
+that on palm-leaves, Kumarajiva’s from the fabric. The palm-leaf
+version seems to have been in Sanskrit; the fabric version was in
+Kharashar characters, the writing used in Kuche (Kwei-tz), the supposed
+native place of Kumarajiva. The Kharashar text used by him is said to
+have been older than that on the palm-leaves.
+
+We possess, then, a version by Kumarajiva which is accepted in the Far
+East. The Chinese date for its translation, A.D. 406, may be accepted,
+for its extraordinary popularity over a thousand years ago is attested
+by the large number of portions brought from the Tun Huang monastery
+by Sir Aurel Stein and now in the British Museum. These copies, made
+between A.D. 533 and 972, as also an earlier commentary of A.D. 508,
+lay hidden in a walled-up chamber probably from the eleventh century
+until the present century. The discovery and the bringing of
+these copies to the light of the world is one of the romances of our
+generation. Sir Aurel, on his second intrepid journey of discovery from
+Kashmir to Kansu, followed the route taken by the famous Chinese monk
+Hsüan (or Yüan) Tsang, who in the seventh century made a pilgrimage
+from China to India. After crossing the dread Taklamakan desert, he
+reached Tun Huang in Kansu. In the cave-temple of The Thousand Buddhas
+the abbot in charge, while making repairs, had broken into a closed-up
+room, whose existence was till then unknown, where he found hidden a
+great collection of written scrolls. Sir Aurel, after much difficulty,
+secured a selection of the scrolls, and amongst them were the numerous
+portions of The Lotus Sutra already mentioned.
+
+[Illustration: 1. End of a roll of Chapter X of the Lotus Sutra in the
+Stein Collection at the British Museum
+
+It was written on paper on May 4th, A.D. 533, six centuries before
+paper was made in Europe, The roll was found, with many others, by
+Sir Aurel M. Stein, in the Cave of the Thousand Buddhas at Tun-huang.
+The photograph shows the last five lines of the text, the name of the
+Sutra, chapter, date, and name and description of the writer ]
+
+From the Sanskrit versions previously brought to the west during the
+nineteenth century two translations were made, one into French, the
+other into English. The French version, made from a manuscript provided
+by Mr. Brian Hodgson, was completed by Eugène Burnouf in 1852 under
+the title _Le Lotus de la bonne loi_. The English version was
+made by H. Kern of Leiden in 1909; it was published, under the title
+_Saddharma Pundarika_, as vol. xxi of the Sacred Books of the
+East. Both these translations were made for scholars.
+
+As yet no translation of the Chinese version has been published, yet
+it is the Chinese version which is most in use in the Far East. There
+indeed The Lotus Sutra has its home; to many of the sects of “Northern
+Buddhism” it is a fundamental work, and by all it is highly valued.
+To “Southern Buddhists” it is, as already stated, heterodox and
+contrary to the teaching of their founder Śakyamuni. The complete text
+has now been translated into English by Mr. Kato and myself and it is
+hoped will yet be available to the Western student of Buddhism. It will
+be of value to those who wish to read in its entirety one of the oldest
+and most popular works giving the fully developed Mahayana doctrine.
+Nor will it be less useful to many who desire a work replete with
+Buddhist terminology which, translated phrase by phrase, can easily be
+compared with the Chinese text.
+
+The Kumarajiva version, on which the present synopsis is based, is
+especially remarkable for the skill shown by the Chinese scholars in
+rendering his oral translations into their own written language. His
+version is probably more a paraphrase than a literal translation, but
+in the absence of the original text it is difficult to speak with
+assurance. However that may be, the Chinese scholars produced under
+him a work of great literary merit. The form of construction is strict
+and difficult, and the skill shown in the prose is as great as in the
+poetic part. A more gifted pen may yet reproduce the measure in English
+where my efforts have failed. Such failure has at least emphasized
+my opinion that Kumarajiva’s Chinese version is one of the world’s
+literary masterpieces.
+
+
+_Form and Content_
+
+In Kumarajiva’s version, as in Dharmaraksha’s previous translation,
+there are twenty-eight chapters. In the Sanskrit version and in
+Jñanagupta’s Chinese translation there are twenty-seven. The difference
+is brought about in Chapter XI of the Sanskrit, which is given in two
+parts by the two first-named translators, making Chapters XI and XII.
+
+From the first to the twenty-first chapters of Kumarajiva’s version
+almost everything is said first in prose then in verse. The same remark
+applies to the corresponding chapters in the Sanskrit. The remaining
+chapters in both are without the verse repetition, with the noticeable
+exception of the twenty-fifth chapter on ♦Avalokiteśvara, i.e. Kwan-yin
+or Kwannon which, both in the Chinese and the Sanskrit versions, has
+prose and verse.
+
+♦ “Avalokitesvara” replaced with “Avalokiteśvara”
+
+Each section, prose and verse, would, if separated, make a fairly
+complete whole. Whether the verse section, the gathas, preceded the
+prose is a question that Sanskrit scholars have not yet decided.
+Linguistic differences suggest that the drama was first composed in
+verse, and that the prose section was introduced later. The question
+can only be decided by those competent to judge. At present we must
+accept the version as it stands, The verse part in general follows the
+tenor of the prose discourse, but the differences are many. All the
+prose sections in Chinese are done into short sentences of similar
+length, which can be read rhythmically. All the verse parts differ in
+form from the Sanskrit, being in lines of sometimes four, sometimes
+five monosyllabic words to the line. In the translation here offered no
+attempt has been made to recast the order of the prose sentences
+or the verse lines; for with rare exceptions it has proved possible to
+translate them phrase by phrase, or line by line, thus providing the
+reader with a translation conveying the structure of the original in
+its presentation of ideas. No language not monosyllabic could possibly
+portray the form.
+
+The following quotation from Chapter II may be taken as an example of
+the verse rhythm, if read as a four-beat measure:
+
+    “List well to the Law
+    Obtained by the Buddhas,
+    Which by infinite tact
+    They expound to the living,
+    Whose inmost thoughts,
+    The ways they tread,
+    Their desires diverse,
+    Their former karmas,
+    The Buddha knows well.
+    Hence with reason and parable,
+    Terms and expedients,
+    He leads all to rejoice,
+    Telling them sutras,
+    Or poems, or stories,
+    Or marvels, or reasonings.
+
+    To some I preach Nirvana,
+    An expedient to lead them
+    To enter Buddha-wisdom,
+    But to these I’d not yet said
+    ‘You all shall become buddhas’,
+    For the time had not arrived.”
+
+From the first chapter we find The Lotus Sutra to be unique in the
+world of religious literature. A magnificent apocalyptic, it presents
+a spiritual drama of the highest order, with the universe as its
+stage, eternity as its period, and Buddhas, gods, men, devils, as the
+dramatis personae. From the most distant worlds and from past aeons,
+the eternal Buddhas throng the stage to hear the mighty Buddha proclaim
+his ancient and eternal Truth. Bodhisattvas flock to his feet; gods
+from the heavens, men from all quarters of the earth, the tortured from
+the deepest hells, the demons themselves crowd to hear the tones of the
+Glorious One.
+
+Though the divine Speaker is the Buddha, even the earthly Śakyamuni
+Buddha, no longer is he the human Buddha, but the Eternal One. On earth
+he had assumed the human form with all its limitations. Now he reveals
+himself, _sub specie aeternitatis_, as the Eternal, Omniscient,
+Omnipotent, Omnipresent Buddha, creator-destroyer, recreator of all
+worlds, every world a Lotus rising from the waters to flower, shed its
+fragrance and die, only that fresh flowers may eternally spring.
+
+The scene opens with the Buddha seated on Mount Gridhrakuta, or the
+Vulture Peak, in Nepal. Here the mount on which he had taught is
+spiritualized. Around him are gathered his 12,000 purified disciples,
+thousands more who had not yet completed their course, 80,000
+bodhisattvas, 60,000 devas or gods, Brahma and his following of 12,000,
+dragon-kings with their hundreds of thousands, and demon kings
+with hundreds of thousands of followers. There, to all these orders of
+living beings, the Buddha displays the meaning of the Infinite, while
+from heaven there rain down countless showers of superb flowers filling
+the air with their fragrance, and all the universe is shaken.
+
+From the centre of his forehead the Buddha sends forth a ray of light
+which lights up 18,000 worlds to the east, upwards to their highest
+heavens, downwards to their lowest hells. In like manner he shines upon
+and reveals the worlds in the other quarters, with all their living
+beings. In every world is revealed a Buddha teaching vast congregations
+of disciples.
+
+Thus does the Buddha reveal his infinite worlds in infinite time. It is
+a colossal conception, expressed with an art that appeals to all who
+can enter into the spirit of the drama and allow the mind to imagine so
+tremendous a scene.
+
+In the second act, Chapter II, the Buddha is presented coming forth
+from a trance-like meditation to explain why he had heretofore confined
+his teaching to the narrower way of works, while now he makes the
+greater revelation of faith. As a wise master he had been compelled to
+follow the tactical method of expediency, because his disciples could
+not receive the higher wisdom, the more brilliant light, except by
+previous preparation. Only a Buddha, an Enlightened One, can fathom
+the meaning of All Existence, and his disciples, in their lower stage
+of wisdom, would never have been able to believe it possible that they
+also were called to Buddhahood, to the fullest enlightenment of
+the Buddha himself. Hence he had to lead them on by measured steps.
+Even now his All-truth is so vast that he fears to express it lest
+“all the worlds of gods, men, and demons be startled and perplexed
+and the doubting amongst his disciples fall into the great pit”. So
+portentous is the air, and so filled with doubt and foreboding are the
+hearts of his hearers, that multitudes withdraw, unable to bear the
+announcement which is to shatter all their past hardly-acquired merits.
+Here we trace an indication of the breach between the Hinayanists who
+withdraw and the Mahayanists who remain. At last only the host of
+faithful bodhisattvas remain, and to them he declares that none but
+they have power to apprehend his mystery. He proceeds to tell them that
+though he has seemed to preach other vehicles or modes of salvation,
+essentially there is but One Vehicle. The other yana have been but
+temporary expedients. There is but the One Vehicle, that in which the
+Buddha himself abides, and with which he will save all creatures,
+bringing them to the true Nirvana, which is not extinction of existence
+but extinction of all ills and all ignorance. All who pay homage to
+the Buddha, if with but a simple flower, are thereby admitted to the
+fellowship of countless Buddhas. Not one will fail to become Buddha,
+for all Buddhas have vowed to save all beings to perfect enlightenment,
+that is to perfect Buddhahood.
+
+In the third chapter comes the joyous response of Śariputra, full of
+ecstasy at the assurance that he is now “really a son of Buddha,
+born from the mouth of Buddha”, freed from all his errors and doubts
+and already possessed of the real Nirvana, the extinction of all ills,
+filled with a sublime peace. The Buddha responds telling him that in
+his later development he will be called Flower-Light Buddha, that he
+will reign over a world called Undefiled, and that wherever the feet of
+his disciples tread jewel-flowers will spring. Soon follows the Parable
+of the Burning House which is given in this volume. Śariputra, wishing
+to share his joy with his 1,200 brethren, asks what is to be their lot.
+
+The answer is withheld for a time, or perhaps expressed in the form
+of parables; for instance, in Chapter IV occurs the Parable of the
+Prodigal Son, or the Seeking Father, the Buddha being the Father who
+seeks his wandering son and at last finds him and endows him with
+all his wealth. Again, in Chapter V, is the Parable of the Trees
+and Herbs, on which the Buddha, like a great cloud, pours his rain
+without discrimination or stint; fertilizing each according to its
+need and receptivity. After this interlude he proceeds to predict in
+Chapter VI the future of his disciples; for instance, he foretells
+that Maha-Kaśyapa will be the Buddha Radiance, his Buddha-world being
+known as Radiant Virtue and his Buddha-period named Great Magnificence;
+that Subhuti will be the Buddha Name-Form in a Realm of Jewels, in a
+Buddha-period Jewel-kalpa; another’s Buddha-name will be Golden-Light,
+and another’s Fragrance of Sandalwood. Then comes a further artistic
+interlude in the Parable of the Magic City on the weary way to
+the Land of Jewels, which forms the title and one of the subjects of
+Chapter VII. This parable follows on the marvellous story of a Buddha
+who, in his human existence, had sixteen sons, all of whom became
+Buddhas and preached in their generation the wonderful Lotus doctrine.
+In Chapter VIII the Buddha returns to the prediction of the future
+of his disciples, when five hundred of them learn their fate, as do
+others. The prediction is continued in Chapter IX when it is extended
+to other multitudes. There are parallels with the Revelation of St.
+John in that each receives a new name and dwells in a realm with a new
+name.
+
+Chapter X is called The Preacher and contains an address to the Lord
+of Healing, or King of Medicine, in which the exceeding value of the
+Lotus Sutra is declared. So valuable indeed is it that if any one
+hear a single verse, or a single word of it, and by a single thought
+delight in it, their perfect enlightenment is assured. Any one who
+recites one verse only of the Sutra, or offers incense to it, or merely
+bows before it, foretells thereby his early escape from the realm of
+men and his translation to buddhahood. On the other hand, though all
+other blasphemy, even of the Buddha, may be considered light, he who
+blasphemes the Sutra with a single word, or abuses one reciting it,
+is guilty of what the Christian would term the sin against the Holy
+Ghost. On the contrary, he who recites the Sutra is thereby clad in
+the Buddha’s mantle and adorns himself with the Buddha’s adornment;
+such a one is worthy of the highest reverence and of the richest
+gifts; for the Lotus is the secret and mystic doctrine of the Buddha.
+
+It is in Chapter XI that the drama reaches the supreme moment of its
+presentation. A great stupa or shrine, superbly decorated, appears in
+the sky, whose light and fragrance and music fill the whole earth. Gods
+and spirits rain flowers and perfumes upon it. From its midst comes a
+great voice: World-honoured Śakyamuni! Thou art able to preach to the
+great assembly the Wonderful Law-flower Sutra of universal and mighty
+Wisdom, which none but bodhisattvas can learn, and which the Buddhas
+keep under their own guardianship. What thou proclaimest is the Truth.
+
+The vast multitude of disciples pray eagerly that the Occupant of this
+heavenly shrine may be revealed to them. They are told that he who is
+within is The Ancient Buddha, or as we might perhaps say, The Ancient
+of Days, whose name means Many Precious things, or Abundant Treasures.
+Infinite ages ago he had vowed that whenever in any world the Lotus
+was first proclaimed, there would he be in the midst. Only, if he were
+to reveal himself, it must be in the presence of the countless host of
+Buddhas who were the offspring of the Buddha he came to hear. Thereupon
+Śakyamuni sends forth from between his eyebrows the sacred ray of
+light, which illuminates all his Buddha-worlds first to the east, then
+to the south, west, and north, the zenith and nadir. In each direction
+all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are revealed preaching to their
+countless hosts of disciples with ravishing voices, under jewelled
+canopies. The ray of light is recognized at once as the summons to
+attend upon the shrine of the Ancient Buddha, and hear that marvel of
+marvels the preaching of The Lotus. With all their vast trains they
+come joyfully from east and west, from north and south, from zenith and
+nadir, each taking up his station in the sky, seated on his lion-throne
+under his allotted jewel-tree. A gorgeous picture of a Celestial Durbar
+is thus displayed. Filled is the sky with a countless celestial host,
+when Śakyamuni Buddha approaches the shrine and with a sound as of
+thunder withdraws its bolt. The doors swing open to reveal on a lion
+throne the undissipated body of the Ancient Buddha, living and seated
+in deepest meditation. Lifting up his voice he announces that he has
+come, according to his age-long vow, to hear The Lotus proclaimed by
+Śakyamuni. To this end he beckons him to enter the shrine and share his
+lion-throne. Such is the Revelation of the Ancient Buddha, not as dead
+but as living.
+
+Beholding all this marvel while still on the earth, the disciples of
+Śakyamuni now implore that they too no longer be tied to earth, but be
+received up to join the celestial host. Thereupon Śakyamuni, by his
+transcendent power, raises the whole company of his disciples into
+the sky and with a great voice cries: “Who is able to proclaim the
+Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra in this Saha-world? Now indeed is the time.
+The Tathagata (Buddha) must himself speedily enter Nirvana, but wills
+to bequeath this wonderful Sutra so that it may ever live in the
+world.” Therefore he calls on all present to take the great Mahayana
+vow.
+
+With Chapter XII begins the difference between those versions with
+twenty-seven chapters and those with twenty-eight.
+
+In the Sanskrit version our Chapter XII is the latter half of Chapter
+XI. Though generally considered to be part of the original text, it
+bears the impress of an interpolation, for the next chapter, (our
+Chapter XIII) follows naturally on the call just made to take the
+Mahayana vow. It is said that Kumarajiva omitted this part from his
+Chinese version, or, if he included it, that for a time it was omitted
+from the copies made. The hermit referred to in the opening incident
+of our Chapter XII is named, in the verse section, Asita. Now it is
+recorded that after the birth of Gautama a certain saint Asita took the
+infant into his arms, as Simeon did the child Jesus in the Gospel, and
+foretold his destiny. The chapter is styled Devadatta. This was the
+name of the cousin and rival of Śakyamuni Buddha, whom he is accused
+of trying to kill, for which it is reported he was swallowed up in
+hell. Nevertheless there was a sect which worshipped him as a Buddha
+up to A.D. 400, but his story is unreliable. By some he is said to be
+a reincarnation of Asita, which naturally is beyond proof. Here the
+Buddha is made to announce that it was Devadatta who had taught him
+The Lotus Sutra. The devout consider this chapter to prove that even
+a wicked creature like Devadatta, though doomed to hell for trying to
+kill the Buddha, may still be converted and become Buddha.
+
+The chapter opens by Śakyamuni recounting that, in a former
+incarnation when he was a king, he devoted himself to a tireless search
+for the Supreme Wisdom. During long kalpas he gave alms of every kind
+with the utmost self-sacrifice. At last he, the king, offered to become
+the menial follower of any one who would reveal to him the Truth.
+Then it was that the hermit Devadatta called him to be his disciple,
+promising to teach him The Lotus Truth. He responded with joy and
+became his servant, for love of the wonderful truth revealed by the
+hermit. Śakyamuni now foretells the glorious future of Devadatta.
+
+Soon, one of the attendants on the Ancient Buddha from a lower region,
+evidently a-weary, invites his master to dismiss the durbar and return
+home. On this Śakyamuni intervenes, requesting the attendant to await
+the arrival of Manjuśri who will tell of the marvellous effect of
+The Lotus Sutra during his preaching of it. Manjuśri arrives on a
+thousand-petal lotus flower and, after paying his homage to the two
+Buddhas, tells the story of his adventures in the Dragon Palace of the
+sea, where, in the deep, he has converted infinite numbers. At his call
+myriads of bodhisattvas arise from the ocean and are assembled on the
+mountain side seated on jewelled lotuses, after which they ascend into
+the sky to join the great multitude. Later a greater marvel occurs,
+for the daughter of the Dragon-king attains to The Lotus wisdom and
+thereby is instantly changed into a young man. It amazes the assembly
+for “the body of a woman is filthy and not a vessel of the Law”,
+whereas here, by immediate conversion, a female can enter into all
+the privileges of the man, even to that of becoming a king, a Brahma,
+a Buddha. The moral is easy to draw, that The Lotus doctrine knows no
+distinction of male or female, but that even a woman may enter into the
+fullness of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, or Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+In Chapter XIII the Lord of Healing bids Śakyamuni Buddha, who is
+going to his Nirvana, not to have any anxiety, for he and his twenty
+thousand Bodhisattvas now take a vow to make The Lotus Sutra their
+charge. During the evil age to come they will faithfully preach it to
+all creatures, unsparing of body or life. Other countless followers of
+the Buddha take a like vow. Then the Buddha’s aunt, his foster-mother,
+leading her six thousand nuns, stands before him, looking sadly on
+his face. Realizing that they think they have been overlooked, he
+asks them why they have not understood? Has he not promised perfect
+enlightenment to _all_ his disciples, and does not this include
+them? Then he promises that they also will in turn become Buddhas.
+His foster-mother will become a Buddha called Loveliness, and all her
+disciples will become perfectly enlightened. His wife, the mother of
+his son Rahula, he foretells will become a Buddha entitled The Perfect
+One of the Myriad Rays. All the women thereupon vow to preach The Lotus
+Sutra in all lands. Following this, the countless number of spiritual
+bodhisattvas, as with a lion’s roar, vow to preach the Sutra in all
+worlds in every direction.
+
+The following Chapter XIV, called “A Serene Life”, is an
+instruction how the vow is to be kept. Rules of life for the disciple
+are laid down in considerable detail. His virtues are patience,
+gentleness, a mind unperturbed, seeing all things in their reality,
+or, as we might say fluid, or spiritual. There must be no intimacy
+with kings and rulers as such, nor with heretics, nor with authors of
+worldly literature or poetry, nor with players, boxers and jugglers,
+nor with butchers, hunters or fishermen, nor with women; he may preach
+to them, but have no intimacy with them of any kind. To all and in
+all circumstances he must show charity. Let him fear not staves nor
+swords, for he will be divinely protected on every hand. Then follows
+the parable of the king, who rewards his faithful soldiers with all his
+possessions, save only the lustrous jewel he wears on his brow. At last
+even this he cannot keep for himself but bestows it also. Thus is it
+with the Buddha and his priceless jewel The Lotus.
+
+“Springing up out of the Earth” is the title of the next, the fifteenth
+chapter. The host of Bodhisattvas from other realms offer to Śakyamuni
+to remain in his realm and preach the Sutra. No need, is his reply, and
+from the earth spring vast, countless numbers of bodhisattvas, each of
+them leading forth disciples many as the sands of Ganges, who all make
+obeisance to the two Buddhas, the Ancient One and Śakyamuni, and walk
+in procession round them. Fifty kalpas, or myriads of years pass while
+thus they march, though it seems but as half a day. Whence came they?
+ask the disciples. Then the Buddha calls forth Maitreya, who is the
+Buddha-to-come, and to him announces that these are the disciples he
+has taught through vast ages, who now dwell in a vast realm below the
+earth in the Space-region of the world. But, how is it possible that
+Śakyamuni in so short a lifetime can have taught such a vast multitude?
+ask the disciples astonished. Through Maitreya they express their doubt
+while depicting in detail the brief life and period of Śakyamuni.
+
+This leads in Chapter XVI to the climax of the drama, where he reveals
+that his life is hemmed in by no bounds of time and space, for he
+is eternal. The chapter is called The Revelation of the Buddha as
+Eternal. “Since I veritably was Buddha, infinite, boundless, hundreds,
+thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas of kalpas have passed.” With much
+illustration, as will be found in this volume, he tries to explain
+the incalculable meaning of eternity and claims that he has always
+been Buddha. He describes his eternal being, his omniscience and
+his omnipresence. He tells them he must leave them for their own
+good, because even a Buddha may only appear at rare intervals, for
+familiarity breeds contempt, even for a Buddha. All this he shows in
+the Parable of the Good Physician, whose sons drink poison and refuse
+his remedies till he temporarily departs and leaves them.
+
+In the next Chapter XVII, he tells Maitreya that, during the time that
+he has been proclaiming the Eternity of his Life, beings countless as
+the sands of Ganges have been saved, and numberless others attained
+enhanced powers. Flowers, incense, jewels rain down from heaven upon
+the two Buddhas in the heavenly shrine, while all the Bodhisattvas
+sing countless praises with heavenly voices. Vast and eternal are the
+rewards promised to the true believer, all expressed with a wealth of
+detail impossible to repeat here.
+
+In Chapter XVIII, called The Merits of Joyful Accordance, the
+Buddha recounts still further the reward that will follow the merit
+of believing in The Lotus Sutra. Other merits of untold value are
+discussed, but the merit of faith in The Lotus surpasses all these
+myriad-fold. On earth the believer will be free from every ailment,
+for instance, “his teeth will never be dirty, black or yellow, nor in
+gaps, nor fall out, nor be irregular, nor crooked, his lips will not
+be pendulous, nor twisted and shrunk, nor coarse and rough, nor have
+sores and pustules, nor be cracked and broken, nor awry and out of
+shape, neither thick nor big, neither sallow nor black, having nothing
+loathsome; his nose will not be flat, nor crooked and distorted,” and
+so on in further detail. Hereafter he will be born among gods or men,
+possessing elephants, horses and carriages, jewelled palanquins and
+litters, and every other luxury.
+
+Further rewards are promised in Chapter XIX—rewards for merits of
+eye, of ear, of nose, of tongue, of body and of mind, all which are
+separately described. With his ear he will hear the sounds of his
+entire universe, from its highest heaven to its lowest hell, the
+sounds of elephants, horses, oxen, carriages, wailing, lamentation,
+conches, drums, gongs, bells, laughter, speech, men, women, boys,
+girls, the lawful, the unlawful, pain, pleasure, and so on, the sounds
+of its Bodhisattvas and Buddhas being included. In like manner are the
+other organs presented in unstinted detail.
+
+This is followed by Chapter XX on the Bodhisattva “Never despise”.
+Wherever he met a person, good or bad, he always addressed him with
+reverence, as one whose final destiny was buddhahood. Ignorant of
+everything else, and always repeating “You are to become buddhas”, he
+stirred people to anger. They beat him severely, while he still saluted
+them and told them they were destined to buddhahood. As he drew near
+the end of his normal term of life, he acquired control over the six
+organs referred to in the last chapter and became possessed of the
+rewards attached thereto. So influential did he become that all those
+who had despised and beaten him, chief among whom were his fellow-monks
+and nuns, became his disciples. After his translation he entered the
+company of myriads of Buddhas in Light. Then the Buddha, after telling
+this story, says, I myself was that Buddha “Never Despise.” The
+persecuting monks are, of course, those of the Hinayana, the persecuted
+those of the Mahayana.
+
+In Chapter XXI the “Divine Power of the Buddha is revealed”. The method
+of the revelation of power is startling and far from attractive to the
+Western mind, but it indicates the value of lingual enlightenment.
+All living beings in all the universes now assemble together before
+the Celestial Shrine, and flowers, incense, garlands, canopies, jewels,
+and every precious thing fill the sky like gathering clouds, being
+transformed into a mighty jewel-canopy above the Buddhas. Śakyamuni
+again addresses the gathered host in praise of this Sutra, which he
+declares contains all the law of the Buddha, all his sovereign powers,
+all the mystery of his treasury.
+
+“The Final Commission” is the title of Chapter XXII. Śakyamuni by
+supernatural power places his hand on the heads of the countless
+Bodhisattvas present, entrusting to them The Lotus law of Perfect
+Enlightenment. The Tathagata is described as the Great Lord of Giving
+and they in like manner must give this Sutra to all. Thereupon
+Śakyamuni dismisses all the Buddhas from all the other Buddha-realms:
+“Buddhas! Peace be unto you. Let the stupa of the Buddha, Abundant
+Treasures, be restored as before.” On this all depart rejoicing greatly
+that they have heard the preaching of Śakyamuni.
+
+It seems probable that the author here ended his drama, though it is
+noteworthy that this chapter is not done into verse and that, with the
+exception of Chapter XXV, no further verse portion is found. Nothing is
+said about the entry of Śakyamuni into his Nirvana, but that may be an
+artistic and intentional omission. Six more chapters follow, by which
+presumably some later writer or writers thought to improve the work.
+They serve no such purpose, and Buddhism would lose nothing by their
+omission That they formed part of the work as it reached China need
+not be doubted, but the dismissal of the Celestial Assembly seems the
+natural conclusion for a work revealing such dramatic skill and power.
+
+It may be added that this Chapter XXII is not, in the Sanskrit version,
+found here, but as the final chapter, and also in Jñanagupta’s Chinese
+translation. In Dharmaraksha’s version, Chapter XXV on Avalokiteśvara,
+or Kuan-yin, precedes it. This may be an indication of the position
+already gained in the third century A.D. by Kuan-yin, the Regarder
+of Cries. The remaining chapters are, however, clearly _hors
+d’œuvre_, and spoil the drama. Whether it was for this reason that
+Kumarajiva placed the Final Commission here, or whether such was
+its position in the text he used, can at present only be matter of
+conjecture. In the Sanskrit version our Chapters XXIII to XXVIII are
+interpolated, or so it would appear, the present chapter being put
+last. That Chapters XXIII to XXVIII have been considered as additions
+seems also evident from the different order in which they appear. Kern
+points out that the Sanskrit and Jñanagupta’s versions take as their
+order our Chapters XXVI, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXII;
+while Dharmaraksha’s order is our Chapters XXV, XXII, XXIII, XXIV,
+XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII.
+
+Assuming then, what is doubtful, that our Chapter XXII is the final
+chapter of the original apocalypse, and that the remaining six are
+by later writers, though as early as the third century A.D., we find
+in Chapter XXIII “The Story of the Bodhisattva King of Healing”.
+It may be noted that sickness and religious healing are closely
+associated in Buddhism. The King of the Constellation-flower asks
+Śakyamuni-Buddha why the King of Healing wanders through, and suffers
+in this universe, healing countless diseases. The Buddha in reply tells
+him that, in ages gone by, there was a Buddha called Brilliance of
+the Sun and Moon, who finally preached The Lotus Truth to one of his
+numberless Bodhisattvas called Beautiful. Beautiful thereupon entered
+into the samadhi known as the Revelation of all forms, or things. In
+thank-offering he resolved to offer up his body to Buddha Brilliance.
+Before doing so for full twelve hundred years, he partook of all the
+fragrant flowers, oils, resins, and incense, and also anointed himself
+with sweet unguents. Finally, he bathed in perfumed oil, wrapped
+himself in a celestial garment and, by his transcendent will, burnt his
+body as a sweet-smelling offering to the Buddha who had revealed to
+him The Lotus. Its brightness illumined worlds numerous as the sands
+of millions of Ganges rivers. It is in this chapter that we first meet
+with dharanis, or magic spells. When the Buddha Brilliance enters
+Nirvana, it is to his disciple Beautiful that he commits The Lotus Law,
+bidding him distribute his relics and erect over them thousands of
+stupas. After burning the Buddha’s body, the disciple collected 84,000
+relics and over each built an immense and beautiful stupa. Still not
+satisfied, he burnt off his arms in homage, but after a vast interval,
+during which he was honoured of gods, men, and demons, his arms
+were restored to him. Therefore, if any one “is able to burn a finger
+of his hand, or even a toe of his foot, in homage to a Buddha’s stupa,
+he will surpass him who pays homage with domains, cities, wives,
+children” and so on. It was this disciple Beautiful who became the King
+of Healing, and such is said to be the power of this his sutra, that
+“if a man be sick, on hearing it his sickness will instantly disappear,
+and he will neither grow old nor die”.
+
+The next Chapter XXIV tells the story of the Bodhisattva Wonder-Sound,
+in the realm of the Buddha, King Wisdom of the Pure-flower
+Constellation. He had attained to a great number of samadhis, or
+trance-like concentrations, the names of which are given. Seeing
+the ray of light from Śakyamuni Buddha’s brow, he seeks permission
+to visit this world. The Buddha-king warns him that this is a world
+of great ruggedness, “full of earth, stones, hills, and filth, the
+body of the Buddha is short and small, and all his Bodhisattvas are
+small of stature”. Then Wonder-Sound enters into a samadhi, and first
+projects 84,000 jewel lotus-flowers, with stalks of gold, on to Mount
+Gridhrakuta, a sign which Śakyamuni recognizes as portending a visit
+from Wonder-Sound with his 84,000 disciples. Manjuśri asks the reason,
+whereupon the Ancient Buddha, Infinite Treasures, (who departed in
+Chapter XXII) is reintroduced calling on Wonder-Sound to reveal
+himself. Then is told the story of his previous existences, how he had
+lived as a god or a demon, a king or a citizen, a monk or a woman.
+He is able to transform himself at will in order to save the living
+through The Lotus doctrine.
+
+[Illustration: 2. Monks returning from worship, Hangchow]
+
+The importance of Chapter XXV lies chiefly in its being the oldest
+reference we have to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, translated into
+Chinese as Kwan-yin, into Japanese as Kwannon, and commonly known among
+Occidentals as The Goddess of Mercy. Being asked by the Bodhisattva,
+Infinite Thought, why this Bodhisattva is known as Kwan-si-yin,
+“Regarder of the Cries of the World”, the Buddha replies, it is
+because whoever in pain and distress call upon Kwan-yin their cries
+will instantly be heard and answered. If they fall into fire it will
+not burn them, nor floods drown, nor gales destroy. The cry of one
+will save all the company. The menacing sword will be snapped, and the
+wicked demon be unable to see the suppliant; the prisoner, guilty or
+innocent, will be released; the jewel-trader in peril on the road will
+be protected; the sufferer from carnal passion, anger, infatuation or
+other moral difficulties will be freed from them; women desiring sons
+will bear them, happy, virtuous, and wise; or, if daughters, then good
+in looks and character, beloved by all. Whoever worships myriads of
+other Bodhisattvas has vast merit, but whoever only worships Kwan-yin
+equals the other in merit. Kwan-yin appears in infinite forms according
+to the need of those to be saved, and those forms are described without
+reserve.
+
+Dharanis, or Spells, are the subject of Chapter XXVI. They are
+described as spells for the protection of preachers of The Lotus.
+The first are put into the mouth of the King of Healing, and the Buddha
+extols them. Some are spoken of as spells used by Buddhas numerous as
+the sands of sixty-two kotis of Ganges. Other spells are offered, even
+the demons bringing their contribution to protect the Preacher of The
+Lotus.
+
+The story of King Resplendent is the burden of Chapter XXVII. He dwelt
+in the realm of the Buddha Thunder Voice. His wife named Pure Virtue
+had two sons, Pure Treasury and Pure Eyed. He himself at first was a
+heretic, though his wife and sons were devout Buddhists. The sons were
+earnestly desirous of going to hear The Lotus preached, but the mother
+urged them first to obtain their father’s permission. To convince
+him of their powers and fitness for the undertaking, they performed
+supernatural deeds, springing high into the sky, walking, sitting,
+lying there; the lower part of their bodies emitting fire, the upper
+water, or vice versa; vanishing, appearing, walking on water and so on.
+Convinced at last, the father decides to accompany them to hear the
+Buddha Thunder Voice, whereupon all the 84,000 ladies of the King’s
+court hail The Lotus truth. King Resplendent at once makes over his
+domain to his younger brother, while he, his queen, his two sons and
+all their retinue forsake home and follow the Way of the Buddha. The
+two sons who have done this Buddha-deed of converting their father are
+richly rewarded, one becomes the King of Healing, the other the Lord of
+Healing.
+
+The final Chapter XXVIII is devoted to Encouragement of the
+Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. He had come from the eastern quarter
+with all his vast train of countless gods, dragons, yakshas, and all
+the beings of his realm, to hear The Lotus preached. On his arrival
+he vows to guard all who believe this Sutra, so that wherever any
+such a one walks or stands, reading or reciting this Sutra, he will
+at once mount his royal six-tusked elephant and with a host of great
+Bodhisattvas go to that place and, revealing himself, will protect
+him and comfort his mind; moreover, if any one forgets a single word
+or verse he will put it again into his memory. He will also give him
+dharanis, or magic spells, to ward off all foes, and to these spells
+he now gives utterance. All such disciples of The Lotus will ever do
+the works of Universal Virtue and their heads will be caressed by the
+Tathagatas. If any recite or copy the Sutra they will avoid every evil
+destiny and go straight to Maitreya’s heaven. To him the Buddha replies
+in similar terms, adding that any one who recites or copies this Sutra,
+is in reality attending on the Buddha; moreover is as if hearing him
+speak it with his lips, and as if covered with his robe. Such a one
+will later sit on a lion throne amid a great assembly of gods and men.
+By the power of this Sutra such disciples will no longer be attached
+to clothes, bed-covers, drink, food, or other transient things. If any
+one contemn them he will be blind for generation on generation, if he
+tells their faults, true or false, he will be smitten with leprosy; if
+he ridicules them, his teeth for generations will be sparse and
+missing, his lips vile, his nose flat, his hands and feet contorted,
+his eyes asquint, his body stinking and filthy with evil scabs and
+bloody pus, he will be dropsical and short of breath and have every
+evil disease. But those that bless and reverence him who reads or
+recites the Sutra will receive abundant rewards here and now.
+
+
+_Doctrine_
+
+Reverence for the Bible in the West has its counterpart among Far
+Eastern Buddhists in the reverence shown to the Sutras, especially to
+The Lotus. There is, perhaps, less restraint there in the expression of
+devotion. Such reverence is a natural consequence of the belief that
+The Lotus is the Ultimate Truth preached by every Buddha, once only in
+every Buddha-world, past, present, and to come. To the Mahayanist it
+is therefore the Eternal Gospel of Buddhism in all worlds and through
+all time. The Sutra is declared to be the last will and testament
+of Śakyamuni before his departure; it is his final bequest to this
+world. All his previous teaching is postulated as interim doctrine,
+that is, during the time of the disciples’ ignorance and while their
+minds were still bound by earth-ties and myopic vision. This final
+revelation is said to have been reserved by him until the eve of his
+Nirvana. In it he at last makes known the All-Truth, which confers
+Perfect Enlightenment and Final Nirvana, or Liberation. This supreme
+liberation cannot be attained by self-discipline and works; it can
+only be attained by faith and invocation. Salvation by Faith is
+then the fundamental doctrine of the Mahayana School. According to The
+Lotus teaching no sacrifice is required, no expiation, no atonement, no
+remorse, no repentance in the sense of contrition, nothing but faith in
+the infinite mercy and infinite power of the Infinite Buddha who lives
+and reigns for ever.
+
+It is manifest, then, that the spiritual message of the book is
+revolutionary in its character. Not only are these doctrines of
+salvation given, but there is presented the panorama of unlimited
+universes, all of them ever-changing manifestations of the All-Buddha,
+of whom Śakyamuni is but one expression in one of infinite worlds; the
+assurance that the Eternal Buddha is both transcendent and immanent;
+the teaching that every world, every universe, is a flower of the
+Eternal Lotus; the call to faith as a greater force than disciplinary
+or ascetic works; the proclamation of the Eternal Buddha, and of his
+Salvation for all, even to the devils in hell; the assurance of the
+ultimate enlightenment of all; the universality of buddhahood for all,
+because all are potential buddhas, or enlightened ones—such is the
+inspiration of this masterpiece of literature.
+
+The author is clearly conscious that he is boldly putting into the
+Buddha’s lips doctrines to which he never gave utterance, and which
+are not found in the orthodox scriptures. So eager is he to explain,
+or explain away, this fundamental discrepancy, that he devotes several
+chapters and parables to elucidation of and excuse for the Buddha’s
+complete reversal of his earlier teaching. At times he openly fears
+that the Buddha will be accused of having deceived his disciples and
+even lied to them. Unbiased minds, as well as the biased minds of the
+orthodox, cannot fail to recognize that the orthodox doctrines and
+those of The Lotus are diametrically opposed. There is, therefore, good
+reason why the author, who so skillfully foists the new doctrine on to
+Śakyamuni, should endeavour to defend his position by pretending that
+all the Buddha’s life had been spent in teaching an interim doctrine,
+using the methods of a tactician or a casuist. The author is indeed in
+serious difficulty. He wishes to father on to Śakyamuni, the founder of
+Buddhism, doctrines he would have repudiated, and to use Śakyamuni’s
+name and authority to change entirely the character of his religion.
+If this view be correct, then the pious fraud has been remarkably
+successful, for it is this form of Buddhism that has tamed savage
+tribes such as the Mongols and Tibetans, inspired people like the
+Chinese and Japanese to a higher spiritual and artistic development,
+established a cult with many resemblances to Christianity, and is now
+reacting, chiefly through theosophical publications, on certain lines
+of thought in the West. Orthodox Buddhism has had no such influence. It
+is the heterodox school that has prevailed.
+
+Needless to say, the above explanation is not acceptable to the devout
+Mahayanist. Like the Fundamentalist in the West he refuses to have his
+faith shaken in the letter of the Law. The Lotus, in his estimate,
+was spoken by Śakyamuni on earth during his last years, all his
+previous teaching having been preparatory. Many disciples, who are
+represented as unable to receive his ultimate Truth, left him as is
+shown in Chapter II, where they turn away from the higher revelation.
+
+Bound to the letter of his scripture, the devout Mahayanist refuses to
+see in this dramatic work a brilliant apocalypse, in which the earthly
+Buddha and his disciples are used as figures to portray a new religion
+of Salvation for all. That in reality is the term which indicates the
+character of the new and revolutionary doctrine. It accounts also for
+the division between Mahayanist and Hinayanist, the broad and the
+narrow schools, the believer in universal salvation by faith and the
+believer in the salvation of the few by works. It is self-evident that
+these two terms are not the creation of the orthodox, for they would
+never dub themselves Hinayanists, men of the “small cart”. That term is
+a Mahayanist creation, and the influence of The Lotus Sutra in fixing
+the contrasted terms is undoubted.
+
+The author of The Lotus drama puts into the mouth of Śakyamuni the
+statement:
+
+    “In the Buddha-lands of the Universe
+    There is only the One-Vehicle Law, (Mahayana)
+    Neither a second, nor a third.”
+
+The other ways, or wains, he says are only “provisional terms”, meant
+
+    “To lead all living beings
+    Toward the true Buddha-wisdom”;
+
+because a Buddha
+
+    “Never by a small vehicle (Hinayana)
+    Really saves the living;”
+
+for, being in the Great Vehicle (Mahayana) himself, he says:
+
+    “If by a small vehicle
+    I converted but one human being,
+    I should thereby fall into selfishness,
+    A thing that cannot be.”
+
+Having vowed to lead all beings into perfect buddhahood along
+with himself, he must do so by the highest means, by the fullest
+enlightenment, by buddhahood; it was only as a temporary expedient that
+he had led his disciples by partial truths on the way to the All-Truth.
+This idea is especially brought out in the parables of The Burning
+House, Chapter III, and the Magic City, Chapter VII.
+
+Leaving then “this pious fraud”, as the Orthodox believe, to implicate
+itself by its own excuses, let us turn to certain other doctrines of
+the book, which differentiate it from the orthodox school.
+
+I. Buddhism, whose awakening is placed under the shelter of the bo or
+bodhi-tree (_ficus religiosa_), the Buddhist tree of knowledge,
+bases its existence on gnosis. Mental awakening, or awareness,
+intelligence, mind, knowledge, wisdom, are all implicit within the
+term. To what extent the Gnostics were indebted to Buddhism is not yet
+clearly elucidated. Mind to both was the supreme factor. But though
+mind was fundamental to his doctrine, Śakyamuni, according to the
+Orthodox school, recognized no Mind behind mind. Like Socrates he
+treated, and was justified in treating, the theistic conceptions of his
+day as of inferior value. He did not deny the existence of the gods,
+but placed them beneath the position attained by a Buddha, that is a
+truly enlightened man. This Mindless system is entirely changed in
+Mahayanism, in which the Eternal Buddha, who may be described as the
+Eternal Mind and Eternal Soul, becomes the very foundation of the new
+structure.
+
+In The Lotus, when the Ancient Buddha appears, who resembles “The
+Ancient of Days”, it is evident that He is a Person and the devout
+see in him the Mind behind the All. The Lotus itself, in its complete
+aspect, is considered as but a metaphor for the Universe, each flower a
+world; it is used also for the nidus of a soul, as from the spiritual
+Lotus-flower springs a soul or a life. That the Mahayanists believe
+in the Mind behind The Lotus, or the All, is clear from the emphasis
+they lay on the Eternal Buddha. He is in and through all things, which
+in a sense is the Buddhist form of Pantheism, although, in fact,
+transcendence rather than immanence is the doctrine of our Sutra. It
+is manifest, for instance, that the Ancient Buddha is transcendent;
+when he appears all beings are shown to be his rather than in him; all
+must assemble to hear Śakyamuni, his earthly counterpart, proclaim The
+Lotus, with its gospel of universal salvation. It may be argued that
+the Ancient Buddha here revealed was only one form of the Eternal
+Buddha, but, even so, the accepted interpretation is that he is the
+Eternal Buddha. At any rate Nirvana, as extinction of existence, is
+demonstrated by Mahayanists to be a false doctrine of the Hinayana
+School.
+
+Chapter XVI is considered to be the supreme declaration of the Buddha,
+in its Revelation of the eternity of his life. It is Śakyamuni, the
+earthly form of Buddha, who speaks. After telling of his earthly
+enlightenment, he goes on to say that though his hearers, who have
+been his disciples during his brief earthly career, may think such
+enlightenment a comparatively recent event, yet in reality since he
+veritably became Buddha, infinite, boundless, hundreds, thousands,
+myriads, kotis, nayutas, of kalpas, or aeons, had passed. In other
+words, he who on earth was Śakyamuni had already been Buddha, the
+Enlightened One, through infinite ages. The doctrine bears resemblance
+to the doctrine of Eternal Sonship in certain forms of Christian
+theology. This idea of the infinite is shown in meticulous terms, which
+to the Western mind may seem puerile. The word “infinite” might cover
+all our needs. But the story-teller knew his hearers. A single word
+would pass meaninglessly over their minds. To an unlettered audience
+his method of detailed illustration had greater value.
+
+The Buddha, then, is conceived of in terms of Omniscience and Eternity.
+His omnipotence also is shown, by his power to call all creatures to
+his assembly and to shake all creation. While transcendent, he is
+also in a sense omnipresent, in that he can send his searchlight
+ray into every world, and can appear anywhere at will. Little stress
+is laid in this Sutra on his creative and destroying power. This may
+be taken as assumed, for every Buddha-world springs as a flower,
+flourishes and perishes, only to be resurrected in some other form.
+In this sense the Eternal Buddha is creator, destroyer, and eternal
+re-creator of worlds.
+
+Perhaps the most interesting reference to the character of the
+Tathagata, or Buddha, in his power of spiritual omnipresence, is seen
+in the beautiful saying in Chapter X, “The Dwelling of the Tathagata
+is the great compassionate heart within all living beings; the Robe of
+the Tathagata is the gentle and forbearing heart; the Throne of the
+Tathagata is the spirituality of all existence”. Again: “Though I am
+in another domain, yet will I reveal myself from time to time to the
+preacher of The Lotus. If he forgets any detail of this Sutra I will
+return and tell him, so that he may perfectly possess it.”
+
+II. Not only is there an Eternal Mind behind the All, but Mahayanism
+goes further. It places this Eternal Mind, or Eternal Buddha, in the
+relationship of Father. The Lotus in Chapter II says that the Buddha
+is “the Father of all worlds, who forever brings to an end all fear,
+despondency, distress, ignorance, and enveloping gloom, and brings to
+perfection boundless knowledge, strength, and courage. He is born in
+the world to save all living creatures from the fires of birth, age,
+disease, death, grief, suffering, infatuation, darkness, and the three
+poisons, and teach them to obtain perfect enlightenment”.
+
+III. The Eternal Buddha limits his omnipotence by the freewill of his
+offspring. He may not, for instance, use force to save them. In the
+parable of the Burning House, in Chapter III, though the lord of the
+house is strong in body and limb he may not carry out his children.
+They must come out of their own will. This is shown again in Chapter
+IV, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, who leaves his father, and runs
+away. For long he wanders and the father seeks him in vain. After a
+vain search, the father settles in a certain city, builds a palatial
+home, amasses great wealth, and is surrounded by innumerable servants
+and every luxury; but still he is sore at heart, mourning his lost son.
+The son meanwhile wanders from town to village and village to town,
+all his money gone, clad in rags, and hiring out his services for a
+wretched meal. At last, one day, his travels lead him to his father’s
+mansion and grounds, where he sees his unrecognized father surrounded
+with honour and glory. Fearing lest he be seized as a slave he turns
+hastily away, but not before his father has seen and known him. Then
+comes the account of the son’s arrest, his terror, his liberation, his
+being persuaded to undertake work, the most menial work, his gradual
+rise to be major-domo, and the climax when he is declared as son and
+heir.
+
+One feature clearly evident in this parable is that the freewill of the
+son is recognized, persuasion being the only method the father might
+use.
+
+IV. In the above parable the relationship of sonship is clearly
+shown. To summarize the long and detailed reply of the disciples, the
+rich lord is the Buddha and we are all the Buddha’s sons. The Buddha
+has always declared us as his sons. We, too, have wandered away and
+gone through all the miseries of life, being attached to lower things,
+but now the Buddha-wisdom is revealed to us, and we know that we are
+Buddha-sons. No longer must we hanker after the smaller vehicles, the
+hinayana, for now we are in the Great Vehicle, the mahayana; no longer
+are we, so to speak, struggling children of earth, but sons of the
+Omniscient. The Great Treasure of the King of Truth unsought has come
+to us, and we have obtained all the inheritance of Buddha-sons.
+
+V. Again, the love of the Buddha to all creatures is equal and
+universal. This finds expression in various places, as, for instance,
+in the Parable of the Trees and Grasses in Chapter V. On these the
+Buddha-rain falls impartially, as does his saving truth on all
+creatures. His truth and his salvation are equally for all beings
+universally.
+
+VI. Karma and Anatman are fundamental doctrines of original Buddhism.
+To the Buddha there was no such entity as the atman, which may be
+expressed as the eternal, individual soul. Personality during life was
+recognized. It was, however, only a bundle of sensations; at death
+when these sensations ceased for lack of organs, the bundle or person
+ceased to exist as such. But there remained karma, or the deeds done,
+which may in a sense be described as character without a rigid
+personality; this remainder entered into a new bundle linked, even
+consciously, with the past.
+
+    “The Karma—all that total of a soul
+    Which in the things it did, the thought it had,
+    The self it wove—with woof of viewless time.”
+
+                              _The Light of Asia._
+
+Therefore, it might be said that the sinner suffered, while the saint
+rose to the condition of nirvana, or extinction, though whether
+annihilation of existence or merely cessation of reincarnation was
+meant is disputed. In Mahayanism, however, the atman or immortal soul
+is restored, and is no longer karma or character without continued
+personality, merely the progressive resultant of all previous deeds in
+infinite past existences. While cause and effect remain in the ethical
+realm, factors of saving power and even of something resembling works
+of supererogation are introduced. These are not opposed to the law of
+causation but fulfil it vicariously, or by a process of substitution.
+Moral good and evil remain essential to life, but they can be attained
+without struggle and effort by the process of faith. Faith can thus
+change the entire aspect and force of karma. Instantaneous conversion
+of the whole nature is assured by faith and invocation, through the
+medium of a new relationship. Old infrangible determinist bonds snap
+like tow under the liberating influence of a new personal relationship
+with a personal, all-loving Buddha-Father. The likeness to the
+doctrines of the Fatherhood of God and Salvation by faith of the Four
+Gospels and the Johannine Epistles is even more remarkable than is
+the Buddhist ritual to the Roman rite, that “invention of the devil
+to embarrass Mother Church”. The fundamental truth in the Mahayanist
+texts, as in Christian dogma, has been of course decked out with
+trappings ill suited to its original simplicity.
+
+VII. The Bodhisattvas, throughout The Lotus, are shown as Enlighteners
+and Saviours. That is their office and, in consequence, every true
+disciple becomes a bodhisattva, a being of enlightenment. A distinction
+is made between Great Bodhisattvas in the spirit world, and ordinary
+bodhisattvas in this and other similar worlds. The past transmigrations
+of certain of the more prominent Bodhisattva-disciples, as well as
+their future, are told; but, in the main body of the narrative,
+we are spared the more extravagant and even repulsive stories of
+self-sacrifice by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Something of it occurs in
+the apocryphal chapters about the imaginary Bodhisattvas, such as the
+Lord of Healing and Kwan-yin. The fact of their mention in Kumarajiva’s
+Chinese version is evidence of the existence of their cult early in our
+era. The Bodhisattvas are qualified to enter the bliss of the Buddhas,
+but delay for themselves this privilege by the vow they make to save
+every living being in the Buddha-realm in which they dwell. The one
+who is most famous in the Far East is Amitabha, of Eternal Light and
+Eternal Life, possibly a conception derived from Western Asia; his name
+does not appear in The Lotus. Maitreya, a name suggestive of a Mithraic
+origin, is foretold in The Lotus as the next earthly Buddha. It
+may be mentioned here that every earthly Buddha-period is of limited
+duration. It is said to last through three stages, that of the true
+law, that of semblance of the true law (or formalism, the form without
+the power), and that of final decadence and disappearance, after which
+a new Buddha with a new Buddha-period appears. Maitreya, or in Chinese
+Mi-le Fo, is the Bodhisattva who is to appear as the Buddha of the new
+period, and he is constantly invoked now as the Coming Buddha, the
+Messiah who will restore all things.
+
+VIII. Salvation by Faith or Invocation. According to the teaching of
+The Lotus, while the earthly Buddha did, until near his end, teach
+the law of salvation by works, it was only because his disciples
+were earth-bound and their spiritual eyes were not yet opened, nor
+as yet could be opened. The author knows well that he is introducing
+a revolution in Buddhism. He sees clearly that the new doctrine of
+salvation by Faith as the ultimate, indeed the only way, or vehicle,
+is a very different method from that which in India was accepted
+as the doctrine of Śakyamuni. The clearest evidence that can be
+offered of this fact, indubitable to all but the interested, lies
+in the repudiation of the new doctrine by the Orthodox school, as a
+contradiction of the essential teaching of the Founder. The “Northern”
+School may dub it Hinayana, if they wish; it prefers to stand by
+the documents, and to be fundamentalist with its Master, Śakyamuni,
+than universalist dependent on pious fiction. The author himself
+realizes that he is confronted with serious difficulty in defending
+his apocalyptic Buddha from the charge of deception and lying, terms
+he himself uses. He labours hard with statement and parable to show
+that the Buddha had not been guilty of falsehood, but had given
+his disciples such glimpses of truth as they were temporarily able
+to realize, until they could bear the full light. Consequently, he
+declares salvation by works to have been but a tactical and temporary
+teaching, in preparation for the revelation of the doctrine of
+universal salvation by faith, especially by faith in The Lotus Sutra.
+The Mahayanist admits all the Hinayana texts and honours them, though
+they are to him but an interim ethic; in addition he has his own vast
+treasury of sutras and other works. It is the teaching of these, of
+which this Sutra is to most the chief, that revelation is made of the
+All-truth which brings liberation, liberation not by works of the law,
+but by faith. Salvation by faith is then the foundation doctrine of the
+Mahayana School. This doctrine easily degenerated into Salvation by
+invocation through the teaching of the Sutra itself. Such teaching is
+seen in Chapter X. It produced a degeneration which reduced Buddhist
+prayer, or rather invocation, to machine-like repetition. It is often
+literally machine-made, as witness the prayer-wheels or rotatory
+prayer-drums, large and small, stationary or portable, of the Lamaistic
+sect. Indeed, invocation flags float in every breeze in the fields of
+China in protection of the crops. The rosary—is it parent or child
+of the Western rosary?—is carried by monks and nuns and by the
+devout, and Namo Amitabha is repeated millions of times daily. The
+Buddhist rosary is perhaps as useful a mode of emptying the mind and
+reaching the “void” as any other, if we may judge by results. Here is
+a quotation from Chapter X of The Lotus on the value of invocation and
+especially of the repetition of the Sutra:
+
+“The Buddha addressed the Lord of Healing saying: ... if there be
+any who hears but a single verse, or a single word of the Wonderful
+Law-flower Sutra, and by a single thought delights in it, I also
+predict for him complete and perfect enlightenment. And let there
+be any who receive and keep, read and recite, or expound and copy
+even a single verse in the Lotus Sutra, or devoutly look upon the
+Sutra with reverence as if it were the Buddha, or make offerings to
+it in various ways with flowers, perfumes, garlands, sandal-powder,
+perfumed unguents, incense for burning, silk-canopies, banners, flags,
+garments, music, or even revere it with folded hands; know, Lord of
+Healing, (this is evidence that) such people have already (in past
+transmigrations) paid homage to ten myriad kotis of Buddhas and under
+those Buddhas performed their vows. (Hence they are born among men and)
+these are the people who will certainly be first to become Buddhas in
+future worlds. These are the people to be honoured even now, for they
+have recognized the infinite value of The Lotus Sutra. If such people
+should be able even by stealth to preach to one person but one word of
+the Sutra, they reveal thereby that they are Tathagata messengers
+sent by the Tathagata to perform Tathagata deeds. Any one who sins
+other grievous sins, even blasphemy against the Buddha, is only a light
+sinner compared with him who with a single ill word defames the devotee
+of this Sutra (for that is the sin so to speak against the Holy Ghost).
+The preacher of the Lotus should be honoured above all men and gifts
+showered upon him, for the Lotus is the Treasury of the mystic secret
+of all Buddhas, guarded by all Buddhas and seldom divulged. Wherever
+it is preached, there a stupa of precious materials should be erected,
+which should be served with all kinds of flowers &c., &c., music and
+hymns.”
+
+The supreme value of The Lotus is shown in Chapter XIV, in the parable
+of the King who, to reward his brave soldiers, shares with them
+everything he possesses, only reserving to himself the superb jewel
+on his brow. At last, seeing the splendid deeds of his soldiers, he
+decides to give them also even this supreme gift. So is it with the
+Tathagata; seeing his followers fight so bravely against the hosts of
+Mara, he at length gives them the greatest reward of all—the entry into
+Salvation by faith and sonship in the priceless Jewel of his forehead,
+The Lotus Sutra, the Sutra which can only be preached once in a Buddha
+realm. The obtaining of this jewel will bring infinite enlightenment,
+ultimate wisdom, the full and complete Way of the Buddha.
+
+IX. It has already been shown that a permanent personal soul has
+taken the place of the Buddha’s anatman, or no-soul. The bundle
+of sensations is no longer a temporary organism dissolved at death,
+but an entity personal and lasting. To the school which postulates
+Nirvana as the final extinction of existence, the Mahayanist opposes
+the doctrine of eternal life. Transmigration and the hells remain, for,
+as seen in Chapters I and VII, the projection of the Buddha-ray reveals
+the hells of every world with their suffering creatures; nowhere are
+the appalling sufferings in hell portrayed more realistically than in
+Mahayanist temples. A universalist doctrine logically requires that the
+hells of every world shall come to an end in the ultimate salvation
+of all its creatures, especially when they hear and respond to the
+proclamation of The Lotus gospel. The hells and transmigrations through
+all grades of existence, whether gods, devils, men, or creatures of
+every species, are still necessary in every world, though all may
+escape on responding to the good news of The Lotus. Their escape is
+not to extinction, but to the glories of other Buddha-realms, which in
+this Sutra are shown to be infinite in variety, number, and splendour.
+While all will attain to perfect enlightenment and happiness it is
+given to some to progress to even higher offices. During infinite
+time in infinite worlds there are infinite Buddhas and Buddha-realms.
+The most exalted positions therefore are open to those who have the
+spiritual capacity for them. Take, for instance, the prediction in
+Chapter VI of the future of the disciple Maha-Kaśyapa. It is foretold
+that he will pay homage (as disciple) to three hundred myriad kotis
+of universally-honoured Buddhas, serving, revering, honouring,
+extolling them, and widely proclaiming the infinite Truth of those
+Buddhas. Presumably he is a disciple of each Buddha separately one
+after another, thus continuing through incalculable aeons. In his final
+transmigration it is prophesied that he also will become a Buddha
+in human form, whose name will be Radiance Tathagata, worshipful,
+all-wise, of perfectly enlightened conduct, well-departed, understander
+of the world, peerless leader, controller, teacher of gods and men,
+Buddha, world-honoured one, whose domain is named Radiant Virtue, and
+whose Buddha-kalpa, or epoch, is named Magnificence. His lifetime as
+Buddha will be for twelve kalpas. His law in its correctness will abide
+(after him) for twenty kalpas and the Semblance of his law, before it
+begins its final decay, will also abide for twenty kalpas. The period
+given to Maha-Kaśyapa, as happy disciple of incalculable numbers of
+Buddhas and himself as a Buddha, is certainly beyond human conception,
+but whether he then goes into the retirement of some final Nirvana,
+endlessly radiant and happy, is not foretold. This, however, seems to
+be the meaning of the author’s Buddha (Śakyamuni) when he speaks of his
+own immediate Nirvana, which evidently does not mean non-existence,
+but a state of super-existence, such as that of the Ancient Buddha
+of Chapter XI. At any rate, it may be said that the Buddha-domain of
+Kaśyapa, as of the other disciples, while described in all the glories
+of an oriental paradise, is never depicted in terms of sensuality.
+
+We may say, then, that the soul continues its personal life, if
+not endlessly, yet in duration beyond the calculation of mundane
+arithmetic, that the hells and suffering are impermanent; that bliss is
+ultimately universal in every Buddha-realm; that infinite possibilities
+in infinite realms and infinite time are open to all; and that for the
+highest, that is, those who attain to ultimate perfect enlightenment,
+there is a supreme Nirvana, ineffable, beyond human definition or
+conception.
+
+X. The clerical order has due encouragement in the Sutra. Monks and
+nuns of all types, good, bad, and indifferent, receive mention. The
+type commanding praise is the devoted preacher of The Lotus doctrine,
+and him the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will always defend, support, and
+inspire. In Chapter XIV the character of such a one is depicted and in
+Chapter XX special attention is drawn to a certain long-suffering monk
+called “Never-despise”, because he saw in every creature a prospective
+buddha and revered it accordingly, to the annoyance of his fellow
+monks, at whose hands he suffered much ill-treatment, until at length
+he himself became Buddha.
+
+In conclusion, it is just to say that, although The Lotus Sutra is
+undoubtedly a fundamental classic in Mahayanism, as well as the
+most popular, the number of its readers is small in relation to the
+population. This is especially the case in China, where it is known
+to relatively few; at least 95 per cent, of Chinese adults are quite
+unable to read it, as is probably also the fact among the monks
+themselves. The same remark would probably apply to Tibet and
+Mongolia. In Japan both people and monks are better educated, and
+therefore must be classed in a different category. In consequence,
+the number of monks and people in China possessed of any working
+acquaintance with the Sutra is very small. Moreover, simple though
+the language is, much of it is still beyond the apprehension of the
+ordinary reader, partly because of the numerous Sanskrit terms, partly
+because of the special meaning read into ordinary Chinese terms, and
+partly because the book needs an interpreter with insight. Apocalyptic
+literature is necessarily mystical, even paradoxical and occult. The
+literalist will either be repelled or attracted by the mystery. His
+vision is held by minor detail. He is devoid of capacity for seeing
+with the eyes of the apocalyptic author, the religious dramatist.
+For this reason the devotee of The Lotus Sutra in the East, like
+the literalist interpreter of The Bible in the West, rarely gets
+within sight of the stage and the play. The individual actor and his
+individual movements, even his individual words rivet the attention,
+and the drama is lost in its detail.
+
+Here, then, is one of the great religious dramas of the world. The
+composer knows that he is offering a new Buddhism in place of the
+religion of the Founder. He conceives that Founder as declaring a new
+Gospel, but places him on the stage of the Vulture Peak, where in India
+he had often addressed his disciples. There he discloses, by means of
+the all-revealing Buddha-ray, the concept of infinite worlds in
+infinite space and time, with vast numbers of Buddhas teaching their
+infinite numbers of disciples. Yet these Buddhas later are revealed
+as the offspring of the one eternal Buddha. The scene changes and,
+awakening from a trance, the Buddha of, or in, this world announces his
+intention to reveal a truth that will shake the universe and also turn
+from him many of his disciples. Then, hesitatingly and with reluctance,
+he makes the great revelation that Buddhahood, like to his own, is
+of immediate attainment and within the ready reach of all. We see a
+host of disciples, the Hinayanists, shocked by this _volte-face_,
+withdraw from the august assembly, because the Buddha has shattered
+all the doctrine he has taught them in the past, and is no longer to
+be trusted. Then we see the Buddha explaining, even excusing himself,
+to the faithful who remain. After this he predicts the future of his
+disciples, and prepares them for the great truths they are to retell,
+in the parables of the Burning House, the Seeking Father, or Prodigal
+Son, the Rain, the Magic City, and others. The supreme scene opens with
+the appearance of the great jewelled shrine in the sky, from which
+comes the voice of the Buddha of old. The stage is then filled by the
+arrival of Buddhas, with their train, from every part of the universe.
+And, at last, the Buddha of old is revealed to the assembled host in
+dramatic fashion, by the ascent into the sky of Śakyamuni Buddha.
+The great drama proceeds in the raising of the whole assembly of his
+disciples from the mountain peak into the air, to join the celestial
+durbar. Still others arrive from other universes, and the sky is
+thronged with a glorious company from all worlds and in all stages of
+existence. Marvels appear, miracles are performed, Bodhisattvas as the
+sands of innumerable Ganges come to make manifest the incalculable
+number of Śakyamuni’s disciples. The climax of the drama is reached
+when Śakyamuni makes the declaration that in reality he, too, is the
+Eternal Buddha. After a certain interlude, he dismisses the assembly
+who are seen withdrawing from the celestial stage, and finally the
+shrine of the Ancient of Days disappears from the sky.
+
+The doctrine taught, whatever its origin, is as revolutionary to
+Buddhism as was the doctrine of Our Lord to Judaism. In the Gospels
+we have a human figure treading the human stage of action, commanding
+the affection of the common people, disturbing the vested interests
+of ceremonialists and legists, ending in a cruel death, and a further
+revelation to certain disciples. In the Hinayana texts we have a
+human teacher who, having diagnosed the cause of the disease of
+transmigration, teaches his disciples an ethical remedy by mental
+control and discipline. In Mahayana, especially as portrayed in The
+Lotus Sutra, we have a dramatic presentation, reminding us of the
+Revelation of St. John at Patmos, with his vision of “One like unto the
+Son of Man” who was yet “Alpha and Omega”, “the first and the last”,
+together with the angels and the heavenly host, the sealed book, the
+vials, and so on. In this great Sutra we have a dramatic presentation
+of a glorified earthly Buddha, who is yet a Buddha from of old, an
+eternal Buddha, together with an incalculable host of Buddhas and of
+all intelligent beings in the universe, assembled at a vast meeting in
+the sky, when the revelation of the last and ultimate Lotus doctrine is
+made. The whole is the creation of a brilliant dramatist whose name is
+unknown, but who has left behind if not the greatest, then one of the
+greatest religious dramas in the world.
+
+
+
+
+                            THE LOTUS SUTRA
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: 3. Maya’s conception of her son, the Buddha, who
+arrives for reincarnation on a white elephant]
+
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+
+“Once the Buddha (Śakyamuni) was staying at the City of Royal Palaces
+(Rajagriha), and on the Vulture Peak (Gridhrakuta) assembled a great
+host of his greater monks, in all twelve thousand ... emancipated from
+every bond and free in mind.”
+
+  There follows a list of names of his well-known disciples, together
+  with the names of his foster-mother and the mother of his son, with
+  their train of disciples. Assembled also were eighty thousand Great
+  Bodhisattvas who had attained to perfect enlightenment. A number of
+  their names are given, including Manjuśri, Kwan-yin, the Lord of
+  Healing and Maitreya. There were present also twenty thousand of the
+  gods, including Brahma; also Dragon-kings, Kinnara-kings,
+  Gandharva-kings, Asura-kings, Garuda-kings, all kings of the lower
+  worlds and lower orders of being, each with hundreds of thousands of
+  followers. The disciples, and the others, who might almost be
+  described as angels, archangels, and all the hosts of the heavens
+  and the hells, fall down in worship at the Buddha’s feet.
+
+“At that time the World-honoured One, surrounded, worshipped, revered,
+honoured and extolled by the four groups of disciples, preached for all
+bodhisattvas, the Mahayana sutra called ‘The Meaning of Infinity’.”
+
+  Immediately afterwards he entered into the trance, or contemplation,
+  described as “The Station of the Meaning of Infinity”, the heavens
+  raining down on him divine flowers and the whole universe being
+  shaken.
+
+  While the vast assembly looked on the Buddha in amaze, he
+
+“sent forth from the curl of white hair between his eyebrows a ray
+of light, which illuminated eighteen thousand worlds in the eastern
+quarter, so that there was nowhere it did not reach, downwards to the
+lowest hell and upward to the highest heaven of each world. Here,
+in this our own world, were then made visible in those vast domains
+their living beings in the six states of existence; likewise were seen
+the Buddhas at present existing in those lands. The doctrines those
+Buddhas were preaching could be clearly heard; and in those worlds were
+revealed the monks, nuns and disciples of both sexes”,
+
+  also their Bodhisattvas, their Buddhas who had attained Nirvana, and
+  the Stupas for the relics of those Buddhas erected after their
+  respective departures.
+
+  Maitreya is now presented inquiring of Manjuśri the meaning of this
+  wonderful manifestation, while he describes to him, first in prose
+  then in verse, the marvels they are beholding:
+
+    “The ray from between his brows
+    Illumines the eastern quarter
+    Of the eighteen thousand worlds,
+    Colouring them all with gold.
+    From their Avici-hells
+    To the Summit of All-Existence,
+    The living in those worlds,
+    The destinies of unborn and dying,
+    I behold them all from here.
+    In those distant lands I see
+    Bodhisattvas like sands of Ganges,
+    Who in every varying degree
+    Seek the Buddha-Way.
+    Some there are who give alms,
+    Gold, silver and coral,
+    Pearls and felicitous gems,
+    Moonstones and cornelian,
+    Diamonds and precious things,
+    Male and female slaves,
+    Fine carriages and horses,
+    Jewelled palanquins and litters,
+    These alms they give with joy,
+    Turning to the Buddha-way,
+    Seeking to gain this Vehicle,
+    The supreme in the Triple World.
+    . . . . .
+    Also I see bodhisattvas
+    Give their flesh, hands and feet,
+    And their wives and children, as alms,
+    To find the Supreme Way.
+    Again I see bodhisattvas
+    Giving their heads, eyes, bodies,
+    Cheerfully as alms,
+    To find the Buddha-wisdom.”
+
+  He sees also kings leaving their palaces, shaving their heads, and
+  putting on the monk’s robe to seek the Buddha-way. He sees
+  bodhisattvas who
+
+    “Enter the depths of the mountains
+    To ponder the Buddha-way.”
+
+  And
+
+    “Dwellers in secluded wilds
+    In profoundest concentration
+    To obtain transcendent powers.”
+
+  Others
+
+    “Profoundly wise and resolute,
+    Are able to question the Buddhas
+    And apprehend all they hear.
+    . . . . .
+    I see, too, Buddha-sons
+    Expounding the Truth to the multitude,
+    Cheerfully preaching the Law,
+    Converting bodhisattvas
+    And, having defeated the army of Mara,
+    Beating the drum of the Law.”
+
+  He sees other bodhisattvas, who
+
+    “Dwelling in forests, emit radiance
+    That saves the sufferers in hell,
+    Leading them into the Buddha-way.”
+
+  He sees also Buddha-sons who,
+
+    “Abiding in the strength of long-suffering,
+    Though men of utmost arrogance
+    Hate, abuse and beat them,
+    Are able through all to endure,
+    To find the ♦Buddha-way.”
+
+♦ “Puddha-way” replaced with “Buddha-way”
+
+  Others are seen bestowing dainties, drink and food, medicines, and
+  robes of priceless value, precious buildings of sandal-wood,
+  flowers, fruits, and bathing-pools on the Buddhas while seeking the
+  Supreme Way. Buddha-sons are seen building numberless stupas,
+  adorned with precious jewels, bells, and streamers, in homage to the
+  Buddhas, the light from such stupas illuminating their lands.
+
+  Though the Buddha has emitted but one solitary ray, and only in one
+  of the six directions of space, yet all these worlds are revealed.
+  Why, asks Maitreya, has he shed so wondrous a light? Is it that he
+  is now about to reveal some mystic truth? The host of gods, men, and
+  spirits of the underworld yearn for an answer.
+
+  Manjuśri replies that he believes the Buddha is now about to make
+  his final revelation, “to preach the Great Law, to pour the rain of
+  the Great Law, to blow the conch of the Great Law, to beat the drum
+  of the Great Law, to expound the meaning of the Great Law”. He says
+  that whenever in the past such a Buddha-ray has been emitted it has
+  always preceded the declaration of the Wonderful Law to all
+  creatures. He says he has seen this before, under a Buddha named
+  Light-of-the-Sun-and-Moon, and under twenty thousand successive
+  Buddhas of the same name. The last of these, before leaving home to
+  become Buddha, had eight royal sons, whose names and story he gives;
+  they all became Buddhas. Before the Buddha Sun-moon-light withdrew
+  to Nirvana, he first entered into the trance-like meditation on the
+  meaning of Infinity, whereupon flowers fell from heaven and the
+  whole universe was shaken. On awaking from his trance he preached,
+  through his disciple Mystic-light, “The Lotus Flower of the
+  Wonderful Law, by which bodhisattvas are instructed”, and which is
+  under the special guardianship of the Buddhas themselves. Manjuśri
+  thereupon reveals to the assembly that it was he himself who was
+  Mystic-light in a previous incarnation. This is told, in both prose
+  and verse, with a wealth of detail and in splendour of language.
+
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+
+The World-honoured One, coming calmly and deliberately out of his
+trance, now addresses his disciple Śariputra, and through him the
+assembled company:
+
+“The wisdom of Buddhas is profound and infinite. Their school of wisdom
+is difficult to enter and to understand.” Ascetics and those who cleave
+to the law of works “cannot apprehend it”. But a Buddha has been in
+fellowship with countless numbers of Buddhas, and knows all things.
+“Only a Buddha with a Buddha can fathom the reality of All-Existence.”
+In verse he says:
+
+    “Of yore I followed countless Buddhas,
+    And perfectly trod the Ways
+    Of the profound and mystic Law,
+    Hard to perceive and perform.
+    During infinite kotis of kalpas,
+    Having followed all these Ways,
+    Attaining fruition on the Wisdom-throne
+    I could perfectly understand
+    The meaning of every nature and form.
+    I and the Buddhas of the universe
+    Alone can understand these things—
+    The Truth beyond demonstration,
+    The Truth beyond the realm of terms.”
+
+  The wisest of his disciples, he says, will not be able to understand
+  it, but they can apprehend it by faith. This ultimate, or absolute
+  Truth can only be understood by Buddhas. His disciples should at
+  once “beget great strength of faith, for at length, after his
+  preparatory teaching, he must now proclaim the perfect Truth”. His
+  previous teaching had only been tactical and expedient, during the
+  time of their ignorance, but now a higher Truth must be proclaimed.
+
+  Thereupon doubts arise among the strictest set of his disciples,
+  those who by arduous effort have made the greatest progress in his
+  previous teaching.
+
+“For what reason”, ask they one of another, “does the World honoured
+One now so earnestly extol this Way of expediency and utter these
+words: ‘The Truth which the Buddha has obtained is most profound and
+difficult to comprehend. The meaning of what he is about to proclaim
+is so hard to understand that it will be beyond the grasp even of his
+most disciplined followers.’ We have already attained to his principle
+of emancipation and have reached the stage of Nirvana. Now we know not
+whither his new principle will lead.”
+
+  Śariputra voices their discontent by asking the Buddha what is his
+  reason for extolling this method of expediency, which now is to end
+  in the declaration of a Truth, profound and mysterious, such as they
+  have never before heard the Buddha mention.
+
+    “O Wisdom-Sun! Great Holy Honoured One!
+    . . . . .
+    These fault-eliminated Arhats
+    And those who seek Nirvana
+    Have fallen into nets of doubt.”
+
+  These workers of the Law, these disciples, gods, dragon-kings,
+  spirits, and other beings “scan each the other in perplexity”. Is
+  all that they have learnt and done in vain?
+
+    “The Buddha’s mouth-born sons
+    With folded hands expectant wait.
+    Be pleased to send forth the mystic sound
+    And now proclaim the Truth in reality.
+    Gods, nagas, spirits and others,
+    Numerous as sands of Ganges,
+    Bodhisattvas aspiring to be Buddhas,
+    Fully eighty thousand in number,
+    Also, from myriads of kotis of lands,
+    Holy Wheel-rolling Kings are here,
+    With folded hands and reverent hearts
+    Desiring to hear the Perfect Way.”
+
+  The Buddha replies: “Enough! enough! say no more. Were I to explain
+  this matter, the worlds of gods and men would be startled and
+  perplexed.”
+
+  Śariputra pleads:
+
+    “King of the Law, Honoured One Most High?
+    Be pleased to explain without misgiving!
+    In this assembly are countless beings
+    Able respectfully to believe.”
+
+  Again the Buddha protests that at his preaching “all the worlds of
+  gods, men, and demons would be startled and perplexed and the
+  haughty among his disciples might fall into the great pit”.
+
+  Once more Śariputra appeals in pleading terms, whereupon the Buddha
+  responds to the thrice-repeated prayer. But, before he can open his
+  mouth to speak, five thousand of his (hinayana) disciples rise from
+  their seats, salute him, and withdraw. “The root of sin was deep in
+  them, and their haughty spirit was so enlarged that they imagined
+  they had already attained.” The Buddha remains silent and does not
+  stop them.
+
+  “Now, in this congregation,” he says at last, “I am free from twigs
+  and leaves, and have none but the true and real. It is good that
+  such extremely haughty ones as these are gone away.” Such is the
+  author’s dramatic way of exposing the pride of the Hinayana
+  Buddhists in rejecting the Mahayana doctrine of universal salvation
+  by faith, rather than by works.
+
+  Rare is the appearance of a Buddha. Like the udumbara, which is
+  seldom seen in flower, so is it with the Buddhas. But when one
+  appears, though he must use various expedients in his teaching, “no
+  word of his is false”. “The Buddhas seek to open (the eyes of) the
+  living to the true Buddha-knowledge, so that they may attain to the
+  pure (Way.”) Universal attainment of buddhahood is his meaning, and
+  he repeats, in a variety of forms, that a Buddha appears in the
+  world in order that all living beings may apprehend and enter into
+  “the Way of Buddha-knowledge”, in other words, the mind and life of
+  the Buddhas themselves. The Buddha can only teach his Way to
+  bodhisattvas, that is, to those capable of receiving the higher
+  Truth, so that they in turn may transmit it to all the living. He
+  teaches but one Way, one Vehicle; for a Hinayana, or Small Vehicle,
+  is not big enough for his Truth, only the Mahayana can hold it. Only
+  the Great Vehicle is capacious enough to hold all creatures. Such,
+  he declares, is the Buddha-law taught in “countless hundreds,
+  thousands, myriads, kotis of Buddha-lands in the universe”. “All
+  things are for the One Buddha-Vehicle, and living beings who hear
+  the Law from the Buddhas, all finally obtain Perfect Enlightenment.”
+
+  This is the fundamental revelation of the Sutra, repeated in a
+  plenitude of language.
+
+  “I am also like the other Buddhas,” he says. “Knowing that all the
+  living have many and various desires deep-rooted in their minds, I
+  have, according to their capacity, expounded the various laws (by
+  which these could be overcome) with various reasonings, parabolic
+  expressions, and expedients.” But this tactical method was only in
+  order to lead them onwards till they were capable of “attaining to
+  the Perfect Knowledge of the One Buddha-Vehicle”, for “in the whole
+  universe there are not even two Vehicles, how much less a third”.
+  That is to say there are no two ways of salvation, none but that of
+  the Mahayana.
+
+  He proceeds to say that a Buddha only appears in a period of decay,
+  when “all the living are vile, covetous and envious, bringing to
+  maturity every root of badness”. Then a Buddha appears and, while
+  still in the One Vehicle, expounds it as Three Vehicles. There is
+  dispute as to the exact meaning of the three, but they are
+  understood as sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, and these
+  may be described as disciples still under the law of works,
+  disciples who have accomplished their works, and Mahayana disciples
+  who receive the true spiritual revelation in faith. If disciples of
+  the first two types refuse to abandon their lower wisdom and the
+  merits which they treasure, and to become bodhisattvas in the higher
+  school, these can no longer be accounted faithful disciples.
+
+  This is repeated in many pages of verse, from which the following
+  excerpts are taken:
+
+    “Monks and nuns
+    Obsessed by utmost arrogance,
+    Men-disciples in self-conceit,
+    Women-disciples in unbelief,
+    Such four groups as these
+    Five thousand in number,
+    Perceiving not their errors
+    And faults in the moral law,
+    Caring only for their flaws,
+    These little-wits having gone,
+    These husks of the assembly who withdraw
+    Because of the Buddha’s majesty,
+    These men of minor virtues,
+    Unable to receive this Law—
+    (Now) has this assembly nor twigs nor leaves,
+    But only the true and real.”
+
+  He proceeds to show how, by reading the hearts and lives, past,
+  present, and future, of all men, he adapts his teaching to their
+  needs, telling them stories, or poems, or transmigrations, or
+  marvels, and in parables leading them on.
+
+    “The dull, who delight in petty rules,
+    Who are greedily attached to mortality,
+    Who have not, under countless Buddhas,
+    Walked the profound and mystic Way,
+    Who are harassed by all the sufferings—
+    To these I (at first) preach Nirvana.
+    Such is the expedient I employ
+    To lead them to Buddha-wisdom.
+    Not yet could I say to them,
+    ‘You all shall attain to Buddhahood’,
+    For the time had not yet arrived.
+    But now the very time has come
+    And I must preach the Great Vehicle.”
+
+  He declares that the nine divisions of the Law, which he had
+  previously preached, were but the approach to the Mahayana, and in
+  it he assures his bodhisattva-disciples of their ultimate buddhahood.
+
+    “The Buddha appears in the world
+    Only for this One Reality,
+    The other two not being real;
+    For never by a smaller Vehicle (Hinayana)
+    (Could a Buddha) save any creature.
+    The Buddha himself is in the Great-Vehicle (Mahayana)
+    And accordant with the Truth he has attained,
+    Enriched by meditation and wisdom,
+    By it he saves all creatures.
+    I, having proved the Supreme Way,
+    The universality of the Great Vehicle,
+    If, by a Small Vehicle, I converted
+    Were it but one human being,
+    I should fall into grudging selfishness,
+    A thing that cannot be.
+    If men turn in faith to the Buddha,
+    The Tathagata will not deceive them,
+    Having no selfish, envious desires,
+    Being free from all sins of the Law.
+    Hence, the Buddha, in the universe,
+    Is the One being perfectly fearless.”
+
+  In this passage we have clearly stated the distinctive character of
+  Mahayana—its two prominent features of Universality and of Faith.
+  The Buddha himself being universal, all beings must be included, for
+  the whole contains its parts. The Supreme Way is Universalism and
+  Faith in the sublime unselfishness of the Buddha.
+
+  It is quite apparent also that by the Buddha no merely human being
+  is meant. A distinction is necessary between the earth-born
+  Śakyamuni and the Buddha. As in the case of the divine-human nature
+  of the Christ, so in regard to the Buddha, Śakyamuni is considered
+  as a man who, when enlightened, became the human Buddha. His human
+  nature had been clothed upon by the Buddha-nature. When on earth,
+  though still human, the Buddha was more. He was even more than the
+  highest devas, in other words more than the beings commonly called
+  divine, for a Buddha, a truly enlightened one, was far greater than
+  the passion-torn gods of India. However powerful and happy they may
+  be as gods, they are still the subjects of mortality, and therefore
+  of reincarnation, but from this a Buddha is free. In sum, the Buddha
+  was in Śakyamuni reconciling all creatures unto himself, and thus
+  Śakyamuni was Buddha. The Buddha is universal; therefore all things
+  are in Buddha—and will be reconciled. But inferentially, as the
+  Buddha has freedom of will, so all creatures have freedom of choice,
+  and not till they choose to use their faculty of faith in the
+  Buddha, rather than to use their own feeble efforts at enlightenment
+  and moral control, will they reach the perfect enlightenment, in
+  unity of spirit with the Buddha.
+
+    “Know, O Śariputra!
+    Of yore I made a vow,
+    In desire to cause all creatures
+    To rank equally with me.
+    . . . . .
+    Whene’er I meet any of the living
+    I teach them the Buddha-Way;
+    The unwise remain confused
+    And, deluded, accept not my teaching.”
+
+  The Buddha-Way is the way to buddhahood, or perfect enlightenment;
+  the way is faith; the end is universal.
+
+  He proceeds to say:
+
+    “I know that all these creatures
+    Have failed in previous lives,
+    Are firmly attached to base desires
+    And, infatuated, are in trouble.
+    . . . . .
+    They suffer the utmost misery.
+    Received into the womb in embryo,
+    They pass from generation to generation,
+    Poor in virtue and of little happiness,
+    Oppressed by all the sorrows
+    And dwelling in the thickets of debate,
+    Such as, Existence? or Non-existence?
+    Relying on their propositions,
+    Sixty-two in number,
+    They become rooted in false philosophy,
+    Tenacious and unyielding,
+    Self-sufficient and self-inflated,
+    Suspicious, warped, without faith.
+    During thousands and milliards of kalpas
+    Such hear not the name of Buddha,
+    Nor ever learn of the Truth;
+    These men are hard to save.
+    For this reason, Śariputra,
+    I set up an expedient for them,
+    Proclaiming a Way to end suffering,
+    Revealing it as Nirvana.
+    Yet, though I proclaim Nirvana,
+    It is not real extinction;
+    All things from the beginning
+    Are ever of Nirvana nature.
+    When a Buddha-son fulfils (his) course,
+    In the world to come he becomes Buddha.
+    It is because of my adaptability
+    That I tell of a Three-Vehicle Law,
+    (But truly) the World-honoured Ones
+    Preach the One-Vehicle Way.”
+
+Thus the author declares that the ignorant, prejudiced, and
+warped condition of the human mind, with its logic-chopping and
+philosophizing, only leads men away from simple faith in the Buddha. It
+is difficult to make them believe this, and only by tactful, expedient
+teaching (i.e. Hinayana) can men be led on to the truth as it is in
+Mahayana. The other vehicles, or schools, are but temporary expedients.
+The author, quite clearly, finds himself teaching a doctrine
+fundamentally different from that which Śakyamuni had taught when on
+earth, yet as he wishes to put the new teaching into Śakyamuni’s mouth,
+he has to justify the change. In the meantime, he declares that, in
+all past time and in all worlds, wherever the Buddhas—before their
+final extinction from the lower realms, before their final Nirvana, or
+blessedness—have preached their Supreme Truth, the creatures in each of
+their domains have been able to attain to buddhahood:
+
+    “If there are any beings
+    Who have met the former Buddhas,
+    If, after hearing the Truth,
+    They have given kindly alms,
+    Or kept the commands, enduring,
+    Been zealous, meditative, wise,
+    Cultivating blessedness and virtue,
+    Such men and beings as these
+    Have all attained to buddhahood.
+    If, after the Nirvana of Buddhas,
+    Men have become gentle of heart,
+    All such creatures as these
+    Have all attained to buddhahood.
+    After the Nirvana of Buddhas,
+    Those who worshipped their relics,
+    And built myriads, kotis of stupas,
+    With gold, silver, and crystal,
+    With moonstone and with agate,
+    With jasper and lapis lazuli,
+    Purely and abundantly displayed,
+    Superbly shown on every stupa;
+    Or those who built shrines of stone,
+    Of sandal-wood or aloes,
+    Of eagle-wood or other woods,
+    Of brick and tiles, or clay;
+    Or those who, in the wilds,
+    Built Buddha-shrines of earth;
+    Even children who, in play,
+    Gathered sand for a Buddha’s stupa;
+    Such men and beings as these,
+    Have all attained to buddhahood.
+    If men, for the sake of Buddhas,
+    Have erected images of them,
+    Carved with the (sacred) signs,
+    They have all attained to buddhahood.”
+
+[Illustration: 4. Buddha accepts from a child a handful of dust with
+which it was playing, all it had to give ]
+
+  In like manner those who have used brass, lead, clay, lacquer to
+  make Buddha’s images, or painted them, or employed others to do so,
+  have also attained buddhahood.
+
+    “Even boys, in their play,
+    Who with reed, wood, or pen,
+    Or, even with finger-nail,
+    Have drawn Buddha’s images;
+    Such men and beings as these
+    Gradually accumulating merit,
+    And becoming pitiful in heart,
+    Have all attained to buddhahood,
+    And converted many bodhisattvas,
+    Saving countless creatures.”
+
+  Moreover:
+
+    “If men, to the stupas and shrines,
+    To a precious image or painting,
+    With flowers, incense, flags and umbrellas,
+    Have paid homage with respectful hearts;
+    Or employed others to perform music,
+    Beat drums, blow horns and conches,
+    Pan-pipes and flutes, play lutes and harps,
+    Gongs, guitars and cymbals,
+    Such mystic sounds as these,
+    Played by way of homage;
+    Or with joyful hearts have sung
+    Praise to the merits of Buddhas,
+    Though with but one small sound,
+    (These, too,) have attained to buddhahood.
+    Even one who, distracted of mind,
+    With but a single flower,
+    Has paid homage to a painted image,
+    Shall gradually see countless Buddhas.
+    Or, those who have offered worship,
+    Were it merely by folding the hands,
+    Or even by raising a hand,
+    Or by slightly bending the head,
+    By thus paying homage to the images,
+    Will gradually see countless Buddhas,
+    Attain the Supreme Way,
+    Widely save numberless creatures
+    And enter the perfect Nirvana.
+    . . . . .
+    (For) all Buddhas take the one vow:
+    ‘The Buddha-way which I walk,
+    I will universally cause all the living
+    To attain this same Way with me.’
+    Though Buddhas in future ages
+    Proclaim hundreds, thousands, kotis,
+    Countless ways into the doctrine,
+    In reality there is but the One-Vehicle.
+    . . . . .
+    In the perilous round of mortality,
+    In continuous, unending misery,
+    Firmly tied to the passions
+    As a yak is to its tail;
+    Smothered by greed and infatuation,
+    Blinded and seeing nothing;
+    Seeking not the Buddha, the Mighty,
+    And the Truth that ends suffering,
+    But deeply sunk in heresy,
+    By suffering seeking riddance of suffering;
+    For the sake of all these creatures
+    My heart is stirred with great pity.”
+
+  The author then makes him refer to his enlightenment under the
+  bodhi-tree, when the supreme truth of Mahayanism is declared by the
+  author to have been revealed to him. So impossible did it seem to
+  Śakyamuni that the world could understand him, that he thought
+  straightway to proclaim the Mahayana Law once only, and immediately
+  betake himself to the bliss of Nirvana. But Brahma and the gods and
+  the heavenly throng earnestly implored him not to leave the world,
+  but to “roll the Wheel of the Law”, that is, proclaim the Good News
+  as the disk of the sun rolls through the sky. Finally, he decides
+  that, as it is impossible for ignorant and sinful man immediately to
+  apprehend this wonderful Truth, it is needful for him to use such
+  tactful or Hinayana teaching as may be expedient. Instantly the
+  former Buddhas applaud his decision, assuring him that such had been
+  their own method. Thus the Author gives him the authority of the
+  Buddhas of all past worlds.
+
+    “Know, Śariputra!
+    The stupid and those of little wit,
+    Those tied to externals and the proud,
+    Cannot believe this Truth.
+    But now I gladly and with boldness
+    In the midst of (you) bodhisattvas,
+    Straightway put aside expediency
+    And only proclaim the Supreme Way.
+    . . . . .
+    In the same fashion that the Buddhas,
+    Past, present, and future, preach the Law,
+    So also will I now proclaim
+    The one and undivided Law.
+    . . . . .
+    Even in infinite, countless kalpas,
+    Rarely may this Law be heard,
+    And those able to hearken to it,
+    Such men as these are rare.
+    . . . . .
+    Who hears and joyfully extols it,
+    Though but by a single word,
+    Has thus paid homage to
+    All Buddhas in the three realms.
+    . . . . .
+    Know, all of you, Śariputra,
+    That this Wonderful Law
+    Is the secret of all the Buddhas.
+    . . . . .
+    Rejoice greatly in your hearts,
+    Knowing that you will become Buddhas.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+
+  Śariputra filled with a spirit of ecstasy, now addresses the Buddha,
+  reproaching himself that he has heretofore struggled in the straits
+  of the smaller vehicle, when, but for his own unbelief, he might
+  have known the liberation of the Mahayana; as also might his fellow
+  disciples.
+
+“This is our fault, not the World-honoured One’s. Wherefore? Because
+had we attended to his preaching in regard to Perfect Enlightenment, we
+should certainly have been delivered by the Great Vehicle.... To-day
+I indeed know that I am really a son of Buddha, born from the mouth
+of Buddha, evolved from The Law, and have obtained a place in the
+Buddha-Law.”
+
+  His address is again lengthily produced in verse:
+
+    “Now I hear the voice of Buddha
+    Opportunely preaching The Law,
+    Faultless and inscrutable,
+    By which all reach the Wisdom-throne.”
+    . . . . .
+
+  In the former days he thought he had already reached the stage that
+  brought Extinction (Nirvana);
+
+    “But now I have perceived
+    That was not real extinction.
+    When one becomes a Buddha,
+    Complete with all the signs,
+    And devas, men and yakshas,
+    Nagas and spirits revere him,
+    Then that may be called
+    Eternal, complete extinction,
+    Without any remainder.”
+
+  He means that he will attain to the eternal bliss of the Buddhas
+  without any remainder of reincarnation, or remainder of karma that
+  requires reincarnation. He expresses a fear lest the wonderful news
+  he now hears might be the invention of the devil; but he rejoices
+  that this cannot be the case, for—
+
+    “The World-honoured One preaches Truth,
+    Not so is it with the Evil One;
+    Henceforth I know for certain that
+    This is not Mara acting as Buddha.
+    ’Twas through falling into nets of doubt,
+    I conceived it as the doing of Mara.
+    Now hearing Buddha’s gentle voice,
+    Profound and most refined,
+    Expounding the pure Law,
+    My heart is filled with joy,
+    My doubts and regrets are ended
+    As I rest in real Wisdom,
+    Assured of becoming Buddha,
+    Revered by devas and men,
+    And, rolling the supreme Law-wheel,
+    Convert many bodhisattvas.”
+
+  The Buddha then proceeds to tell them that this is not the first
+  world in which he has taught them. They have forgotten their
+  previous incarnations; not so the Buddha. It is, indeed, because he
+  has, in former incarnations, trained them that they are now born
+  into his Law here. Then he foretells the future destiny of
+  Śariputra, telling him he will be reborn as a prince, and like
+  Śakyamuni leave his palace to become a monk.
+
+“O son of Śari! In a world to come, after infinite, boundless,
+inconceivable kalpas, when you shall have served some thousands,
+myriads, kotis of Buddhas, maintained the Right Law, and completed
+the Way which Bodhisattvas walk, you shall become a Buddha, whose
+title will be Flower-light Tathagata, Worshipful, All-wise, Perfectly
+enlightened in conduct, Well-departed, Understander of the world,
+Peerless Leader, Controller, Teacher of gods and men, Buddha,
+World-honoured One, whose domain shall be named Undefiled, whose land
+will be even and straight, pure and adorned, peaceful and prosperous,
+filled with celestial people; the ground of lapis lazuli, having
+eight intersecting roads with golden cords to set bounds to their
+sides, flanked with trees of the Seven Precious things, always full
+of flowers and fruits.... Its kalpa will be named Jewel-adorned ...
+for its bodhisattvas are its great jewels. These bodhisattvas will be
+infinite, boundless, inconceivable, beyond computation or compare, such
+as none can apprehend who has not a Buddha’s wisdom. Wherever they walk
+jewel-flowers will receive their feet.”
+
+.....
+
+“The Tathagata Flower-light, at the expiration of twelve
+minor kalpas, will predict the Bodhisattva ‘Resolute’ to Perfect
+Enlightenment and will declare to all the monks: ‘This Bodhisattva
+Resolute will become the next Buddha, whose title will be
+Flowery-footsteps’.”
+
+.....
+
+“Śariputra! After the extinction of Flower-Light Buddha, the Correct
+Law will abide in his world during thirty-two minor kalpas, and then
+the Semblance Law will also abide in his world during thirty-two
+kalpas”; in other words, the usual formalism will set in, leading to
+decay and disappearance.
+
+  Then the monks and nuns, male and female disciples, gods, nagas,
+  yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and
+  others, all the great assembly of beings, human and not human,
+  rejoice greatly, each doffing his robe and offering it in homage to
+  the Buddha. Brahma and the gods offer celestial robes and celestial
+  flowers, their robes remaining aloft, circling around, while
+  countless celestial instruments make music in the sky.
+
+    “Of old, at Varanasi, Thou didst roll
+    The Law-wheel of the Four Noble Truths,
+    And discerningly preach the Laws
+    Of the rise and the extinction
+    Of the Five human Aggregates.
+    Now again Thou dost roll the most wonderful,
+    Mighty, Supreme, Wheel of the Law,
+    The Law beyond measure profound.
+    . . . . .
+    The great, wise Śariputra
+    Now has heard his prediction;
+    We also in like manner know
+    We too will become Buddhas,
+    Who in all worlds are ever
+    Most honoured and peerless.”
+
+  Again the troublesome question is raised, why the Buddha should have
+  taught the Hinayana doctrines, only now to repudiate them and offer
+  Mahayana doctrines in their stead. Śariputra says that while he
+  himself has no doubt or regrets, yet here are twelve hundred
+  disciples, “who of yore abode in the four stages of (hinayana)
+  learning, and were always told by the Buddha—‘My Law is able to give
+  freedom from re-birth, decrepitude, disease and death and the final
+  attainment of Nirvana’.” How is it that he now discards all this as
+  valueless? What becomes of the merit these disciples have laid up
+  with so much zeal and struggle? Has the Buddha indeed been deceiving
+  them is the meaning of his inquiry.
+
+To this the Buddha replies:
+
+“Have I not before said that the Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, with
+a variety of reasonings, parables and terms, preach the Law as may
+be expedient, with the aim of final Perfect Enlightenment? All their
+teachings are for the purpose of transforming (their disciples
+into) bodhisattvas. But, Śariputra! Let me again in a parable make this
+meaning still more clear, for intelligent people, through a parable,
+reach understanding.”
+
+_Parable of the Burning House._
+
+“Śariputra! Suppose, in a (certain) kingdom, city, or town, there is
+a great elder, old and worn, of boundless wealth, and possessing many
+fields, houses, slaves, and servants. His house is spacious and large,
+but it has only one door, and many people dwell in it, one hundred, two
+hundred, or even five hundred in number. Its halls and chambers are
+decayed and old, its walls crumbling down, the bases of its pillars
+rotten, the beams and roof-trees toppling and dangerous. On every
+side, at the same moment, fire suddenly starts and the house is in
+conflagration. The boys of the elder, say ten, twenty, or even thirty,
+are in the dwelling. The elder, on seeing this conflagration spring
+up on every side, is greatly startled and reflects thus: ‘Though I am
+able to get safely out of the gate of this burning house, yet my boys
+in the burning house are pleasurably absorbed in amusements without
+apprehension, knowledge, surprise, or fear. Though the fire is pressing
+upon them and pain and suffering are instant, they do not mind or fear
+and have no impulse to escape.’
+
+“Śariputra! This elder ponders thus: ‘I am strong in my body and
+arms. Shall I get them out of the house by means of a flower-vessel,
+or a bench, or a table?’ Again he ponders: ‘This house has only one
+gate, which moreover is narrow and small. My children are young,
+knowing nothing as yet and attached to their place of play; perchance
+they will fall into the fire and be burnt. I must speak to them on this
+dreadful matter (warning them) that the house is burning, and that they
+must come out instantly lest they are burnt and injured by the fire.’
+Having reflected thus, according to his thoughts, he calls to his
+children: ‘Come out quickly, all of you!’
+
+“Though their father, in his pity, lures and admonishes with kind
+words, yet the children, joyfully absorbed in their play, are unwilling
+to believe him and have neither surprise nor fear, nor any mind to
+escape; moreover, they do not know what is the fire (he means), or
+what the house, and what he means by being lost, but only run hither
+and thither in play, no more than glancing at their father. Then the
+elder reflects thus: ‘This house is burning in a great conflagration.
+If I and my children do not get out at once, we shall certainly be
+burnt up by it. Let me now, by some expedient, cause my children to
+escape this disaster.’ Knowing that to which each of his children is
+predisposed, and all the various attractive playthings and curiosities
+to which their natures will joyfully respond, the father tells them
+saying: ‘(Here are) rare and precious things for your amusement—if you
+do not (come) and get them, you will be sorry for it afterwards. So
+many goat-carts, deer-carts, and bullock-carts are now outside the gate
+to play with. All of you come quickly out of this burning house, and I
+will give you whatever you want.’ Thereupon the children, hearing
+of the attractive playthings mentioned by their father, and because
+they suit their wishes, every one eagerly, each pushing the other, and
+racing one against another, comes rushing out of the burning house.
+
+“Then the elder, seeing his children have safely escaped and are all in
+the square, sits down in the open, no longer embarrassed, but with a
+mind at ease and ecstatic with joy. Then each of the children says to
+the father: ‘Father! Please now give us those playthings you promised
+us, goat-carts, deer-carts, and bullock-carts.’ Śariputra! Then the
+elder gives to his children equally each a great cart, lofty and
+spacious, adorned with all the precious things, surrounded with railed
+seats, hung with bells on its four sides, and covered with curtains,
+splendidly decorated also with various rare and precious things, draped
+with strings of precious stones, hung with garlands of flowers, thickly
+spread with beautiful mats, and supplied with rosy pillows. It is yoked
+with white bullocks of pure (white) skin, of handsome appearance, and
+of great muscular power, which walk with even steps, and with the speed
+of the wind, and also has many servants and followers to guard them.
+Wherefore? Because this great elder is of boundless wealth and all his
+various store-houses are full to overflowing. So he reflects thus: ‘My
+possessions being boundless, I must not give my children inferior small
+carts. All these children are my sons, whom I love without partiality.
+Having such great carts made of the seven precious things, infinite in
+number, I should with equal mind bestow them on each one without
+discrimination. Wherefore? Because, were I to give them to the whole
+nation, these things of mine would not run short—how much less so to
+my children! Meanwhile each of the children rides on his great cart,
+having received that which he had never before had and never expected
+to have.
+
+“Śariputra! What is your opinion? Has that elder, in (only) giving
+great carts of the precious substances to his children equally, been in
+any way guilty of falsehood?”
+
+“No, World-honoured One!” says Śariputra. “That elder only caused
+his children to escape the disaster of fire and preserved their
+bodies alive—he committed no falsity. Why? He thus preserved their
+bodies alive, and in addition gave them the playthings they obtained;
+moreover, it was by his expedient that he saved them from that burning
+house! World-honoured One! Even if that elder did not give them one
+of the smallest carts, still he is not false. Wherefore? Because that
+elder from the first formed this intention, ‘I will, by an expedient,
+cause my children to escape’. For this reason he is not false. How much
+less so seeing that, knowing his own boundless wealth and desiring to
+benefit his children, he gives them great carts equally!”
+
+“Good! Good!” replies the Buddha to Śariputra. “It is even as you say.
+Śariputra! The Tathagata is also like this, for he is the Father of
+all worlds, who has for ever entirely ended all fear, despondency,
+distress, ignorance, and enveloping darkness, and has perfected
+boundless knowledge, strength, and fearlessness. He is possessed of
+great supernatural power and wisdom-power, has completely attained
+the Paramitas of adaptability and wisdom, and is the greatly merciful
+and greatly compassionate, ever tireless, ever seeking the good, and
+benefiting all beings. He is born in this triple world, the old decayed
+burning house, to save all living creatures from the fires of birth,
+age, disease, death, grief, suffering, foolishness, darkness, and the
+Three Poisons, and teach them to obtain Perfect Enlightenment. He sees
+how all living creatures are scorched by the fires of birth, age,
+disease, death, grief, and sorrow, and suffer all kinds of distress by
+reason of the five desires and the greed of gain; and how, by reason
+of the attachments of desire and its pursuits, they now endure much
+suffering and hereafter will suffer in hell, or as animals or hungry
+spirits. Even if they are born in a heaven, or amongst men, there are
+all kinds of sufferings, such as the bitter straits of poverty, the
+bitterness of parting from loved ones, the bitterness of association
+with the detestable. Absorbed in these things, all living creatures
+rejoice and take their pleasure, while they neither apprehend, nor
+perceive, are neither alarmed, nor fear, and are without satiety, never
+seeking to escape, but, in the burning house of this triple world,
+running to and fro, and although they will meet with great suffering,
+count it not as cause for anxiety.
+
+“Śariputra! The Buddha, having seen this, reflects thus: ‘I am the
+Father of all creatures and must snatch them from suffering and
+give them the bliss of the infinite, boundless Buddha-wisdom for them
+to play with’.
+
+“Śariputra! The Tathagata again reflects thus: ‘If I only use
+supernatural power and wisdom, casting aside every tactful method, and
+extend to all living creatures the wisdom, power, and fearlessness of
+the Tathagata, the living creatures cannot by this method be saved.
+Wherefore? As long as all these creatures have not escaped birth,
+age, disease, death, grief, and suffering, but are being burnt in
+the burning house of the triple world, how can they understand the
+Buddha-wisdom?’
+
+“Śariputra! Even as that elder, though with strength in body and arms,
+yet does not use it, but only by diligent tact, resolutely saves his
+children from the calamity of the burning house, and then gives each
+of them great carts adorned with precious things, so is it with the
+Tathagata. Though he has power and fearlessness, he does not use
+them, but only by his wise tact does he remove and save all living
+creatures from the burning house of the triple world, preaching the
+Three-Vehicles, viz. the Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Buddha vehicles.
+And thus he speaks to them: ‘Ye all! Delight not to dwell in the
+burning house of the triple world. Do not hanker after its crude forms,
+sounds, odours, flavours, and contacts. For if, through hankering, ye
+beget a love of it, then ye will be burnt by it. Get ye out with haste
+from the triple world and take to the Three-Vehicles, viz. the Sravaka,
+Pratyekabuddha, and Buddha Vehicles. I now give you my pledge for
+this, and it will never prove false. Be only diligent and zealous!’
+By these expedients does the Tathagata lure all creatures forth, and
+again speaks thus: ‘Know ye! All these Three-Vehicles are praised by
+sages: in them you will be free and independent, without wanting to
+rely on aught else. Riding in these Three Vehicles, by means of perfect
+faculties, powers, perceptions, ways, concentrations, emancipations,
+and samadhis, ye will, as a matter of course, be happy and gain
+infinite peace and joy.’
+
+“Śariputra! If there are living beings who have a spirit of wisdom
+within and, following the Buddha, the World-honoured One, hear the Law,
+receive it in faith, and zealously make progress, desiring speedily to
+escape from the triple world and seeking Nirvana for themselves—this
+(type) is called the Sravaka-Vehicle, just as some of those children
+come out of the burning house for the sake of a goat-cart. If there
+are living beings who, following the Buddha, the World-honoured One,
+hear the Law, receive it in faith, and zealously make progress, seeking
+self-gained Wisdom, taking pleasure in becoming good and calm, and
+deeply versed in the causes and reasons of the laws—this type is called
+the Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, just as some of those children come out
+of the burning house for the sake of a deer-cart. If there are living
+beings who, following the Buddha, the World-honoured One, hear the
+Law, receive it in faith, diligently practise and zealously advance,
+seeking the Complete Wisdom, Buddha-Wisdom, the Natural Wisdom, the
+Masterless Wisdom, and Tathagata knowledge, powers, and fearlessness,
+who take pity on and comfort innumerable creatures, benefit devas and
+men, and save all beings—this type is called the Great-Vehicle. Because
+bodhisattvas seek this vehicle, they are named mahasattvas. They are
+like those children who come out of the burning house for the sake of a
+bullock-cart.
+
+“Śariputra! Just as that elder, seeing his children get out of the
+burning house safely to a place free from fear, and pondering on
+his immeasurable wealth, gives each of his children a great cart,
+so also is it with the Tathagata. Being the Father of all living
+creatures, if he sees infinite thousands of kotis of creatures, by
+the teaching of the Buddha, escape from the suffering of the triple
+world, from fearful and perilous paths, and gain the joys of Nirvana,
+the Tathagata then reflects thus: ‘I possess infinite, boundless
+wisdom, power, fearlessness, and other Law-treasuries of Buddhas. All
+these living creatures are my children to whom I will equally give the
+Great-Vehicle, so that none will gain an individual Nirvana, but all
+gain Nirvana by the same Nirvana as the Tathagata. All these living
+creatures who escape the triple world are given the playthings of
+Buddhas, viz. concentrations, emancipations, and so forth, all of the
+same pattern and of one kind, praised by sages and able to produce
+pure, supreme pleasure.
+
+“Śariputra! Even as that elder at first attracted his children by the
+three carts, and afterwards gave them only a great cart magnificently
+adorned with precious things and supremely comfortable, yet that
+elder is not guilty of falsehood, so also is it with the Tathagata;
+there is no falsehood in first preaching Three-Vehicles to attract all
+living creatures and afterwards in saving them by the Great Vehicle
+only. Wherefore? Because the Tathagata possesses infinite wisdom,
+power, fearlessness, and the treasury of the laws, and is able to give
+all living creatures the Great Vehicle Law; but not all are able to
+receive it. Śariputra! For this reason know that Buddhas, by their
+adaptability, in the One Buddha-Vehicle define and expound the Three.”
+
+  The embellishment in the verse section will be seen in the following
+  example:
+
+    “Suppose, there is an elder,
+    Who has a large house,
+    A house for long old,
+    And falling in decay;
+    Its lofty halls are tottering,
+    The pillar-bases rotting,
+    Beams and roof-trees toppling,
+    Foundations all collapsing,
+    Walls and partitions in ruins,
+    Their plaster crumbling away,
+    Thatch disordered and dropping,
+    Rafters awry and falling,
+    Fences bent and distorted,
+    Behind them a fullness of refuse;
+    Five hundred individuals
+    Are dwelling there within it.
+
+
+    Owls, hawks, and vultures,
+    Crows, magpies, pigeons, doves,
+    Black snakes, vipers, scorpions,
+    Centipedes and millipedes,
+    Geckos, galley-worms,
+    Weasels, ferrets, rats, and mice,
+    All sorts of evil creatures,
+    Run about in every direction;
+    Places stink with excrement,
+    Overflowing with uncleanness;
+    Dung-beetles and worms
+    Flock together in them.
+    Foxes, wolves, and jackals
+    Bite and trample each other
+    To gnaw human carcasses,
+    Scattering their bones and flesh.
+    Following these, troops of dogs
+    Come striving to snatch and grab,
+    And, gaunt with hunger, skulk about
+    Everywhere seeking food,
+    Quarrelling and scuffling,
+    Snarling and loud-barking.
+    Such is that house’s fearfulness
+    And its changed character.
+
+    Everywhere there are
+    Hobgoblins and ogres,
+    Yakshas and malign demons,
+    Who devour the flesh of men;
+    All sorts of venomous insects,
+    And evil birds and brutes
+    Hatch or suckle their broods,
+    Each hiding and guarding its own;
+    Yakshas come striving together,
+    To seize and eat them for food;
+    Having eaten their fill,
+    Their evil minds are inflamed,
+    And the sound of their wrangling
+    Stirs to utmost fear.
+    Kumbhanda-demons also
+    Crouch upon the mounds,
+    Springing from the ground
+    A foot or two feet high,
+    Wandering about to and fro,
+    Giving full rein to their tricks;
+    Seizing dogs by their feet,
+    Beating them to silence,
+    Throwing their legs over their necks,
+    Scaring them for amusement.
+
+    Also there are demons,
+    Of stature tall and large,
+    Naked, black, and lean,
+    Who always dwell therein,
+    Emitting horrible sounds,
+    Bellowing in search of food.
+    Again there are demons
+    With throats narrow as a needle.
+    And there are also demons,
+    With heads like a bullock’s;
+    Some which eat human flesh,
+    Others which devour dogs,
+    Their locks are dishevelled,
+    They are cruel and fiendish,
+    Oppressed by hunger and thirst,
+    They rush about crying and calling.
+    Yakshas and hungry ghosts,
+    Evil birds and beasts
+    Hungrily hurry in all directions,
+    Peeping through window and lattice.
+    Such are its plagues,
+    Fearful beyond measure.”
+
+  The author further defends the Buddha for his method of expediency
+  in the following lines:
+
+    “Though Buddhas, the World-honoured,
+    Convert by expedient methods,
+    Yet the living they convert
+    Are indeed all bodhisattvas.
+    To such as are of little wit,
+    Deeply attached to desire and passion,
+    The Buddha, for their sake,
+    Preaches the Truth about Suffering,
+    And all the living joyfully
+    Attain the unprecedented.
+
+    The Buddha’s Truth about Suffering,
+    Is real without distinction.
+    Those living beings who
+    Know not the root of suffering,
+    Cling to the cause of suffering,
+    Unable to leave it a moment.
+    Again, for the sake of these,
+    He preaches the Truth with tact (saying):
+    ‘The cause of all suffering
+    Is rooted in desire.’
+    If desire be extinguished,
+    Suffering has no foothold.
+    To annihilate suffering
+    Is called the Third Truth.
+    For the sake of the Truth of Extinction,
+    To cultivate oneself in the Way,
+    Forsaking all ties to suffering,
+    This is called Emancipation.
+    From what then have these people
+    Attained Emancipation?
+    Merely to depart from the false
+    They call Emancipation;
+    But in truth that is not yet
+    Complete Emancipation.
+
+    So Buddha declares: These people
+    Have not reached real extinction;
+    Because these people have not yet
+    Gained the Supreme Way,
+    I am unwilling to declare
+    That they have attained extinction.
+    I am the King of the Law,
+    Absolute in regard to the Law,
+    For comforting all creatures
+    I appear in the world.
+
+    Śariputra! This,
+    My final Seal of the Law,
+    Because of my desire to benefit
+    All the world, is now announced;
+    Wherever you may wander,
+    Do not carelessly proclaim it.
+    If there be hearers who joyfully
+    Receive it with deep obeisance.
+    You may know those people
+    Are Avinivartaniyah.
+    If there be any who receive
+    This Sutra-Law in faith,
+    These people must already
+    Have seen Buddhas of past times,
+    Revered and worshipped them
+    And listened to this Law.
+    If there be any who are able
+    To believe in your preaching,
+    They must formerly have seen me,
+    And also have seen you,
+    And these bhikshu-monks,
+    As well as these bodhisattvas.
+
+    This Law-Flower Sutra
+    Is addressed to the truly wise;
+    Men shallow of knowledge hearing it,
+    Go astray not understanding.
+    All the Sravakas,
+    And Pratyekabuddhas,
+    Cannot by their powers
+    Attain unto this Sutra.
+    Śariputra!
+    Even you, into this Sutra
+    Enter only by faith,
+    Much more must the other Sravakas.
+    The other Sravakas,
+    By believing the Buddha’s words,
+    Obediently follow this Sutra,
+    Not by wisdom they have of their own.”
+
+  The terrible consequences of contemning the Mahayana, as offered by
+  The Lotus Sutra, are shown thus:
+
+    “Again, Śariputra!
+    To the haughty and indifferent
+    And those with self-centred views,
+    Do not preach this Sutra.
+    To common shallow people,
+    Deeply attached to the five desires,
+    Who hear but cannot apprehend,
+    Do not preach it to them.
+    If such people do not believe in,
+    But vilify this Sutra,
+    They cut themselves off from all
+    The Buddha-Seed in the world;
+    Or if, sullenly frowning,
+    They are harbourers of doubts,
+    Listen to my declaration on the
+    Recompense of their sin:
+    ‘Whether during the Buddha’s lifetime,
+    Or after his extinction,
+    If there be any who slander
+    A Sutra such as this,
+    Who, seeing those who read, recite,
+    Write or hold this Sutra,
+    Despise, scorn, hate, or envy them
+    And cherish tenacious grudge;
+    To the ill reward of such,
+    Listen now again;
+    After their lifetime’s end,
+    They will enter the Avici-hell,
+    For a complete kalpa;
+    Reborn at each kalpa’s end,
+    They thus go on revolving
+    Unto innumerable kalpas;
+    When they come out of hell,
+    They will degrade into animals,
+    Such as dogs or jackals,
+    With lean-cheeked forms,
+    Blue-black with scabs and sores,
+    The sport of men;
+    Moreover by men
+    Hated and scorned,
+    Ever suffering hunger and thirst,
+    Bones and flesh withered up.
+    Alive, beaten with thorns,
+    Dead, with shards and stones;
+    By cutting themselves off from the Buddha-seed,
+    They receive such recompense.
+
+    Perhaps they become camels,
+    Or are born amongst asses,
+    Always carrying burdens,
+    Beaten and driven with sticks,
+    Thinking only of water and grass,
+    Knowing nothing else;
+    For slandering this Sutra,
+    Such is their punishment.
+    Some who become jackals,
+    Enter into a village,
+    Their bodies scabbed with sores,
+    Without even one whole eye,
+    By all the village boys
+    They are beaten and stoned,
+    Suffering bitter pains,
+    At times even to death.
+    When they have thus died,
+    Each receives a snake’s body,
+    Of shape as long as
+    Five hundred yojanas;
+    Deaf and stupid, without feet,
+    They wriggle about on their bellies,
+    By many kinds of insects
+    Stung and devoured,
+    Day and night in misery
+    Without cessation;
+    Because of slandering this Sutra,
+    Such is their punishment.
+
+    Should they become human beings,
+    Their natural powers are dull;
+    Dwarfed, ugly, palsied, and lame,
+    Blind, deaf, and humpbacked;
+    Whatever they say,
+    No one believes;
+    Their breath is vile,
+    They are demon-possessed,
+    They are needy and menial,
+    Ordered about by others.
+    Often ill and emaciated,
+    Having none on whom to rely;
+    Even those on whom they depend
+    Take no notice of them;
+    If they should get anything,
+    It is speedily forgotten;
+    If they practise means of healing
+    And follow the usual treatment,
+    Other ailments will be added,
+    Or, their patients will die;
+    If they themselves are ill,
+    None will save and cure them;
+    Though they take the best medicine,
+    They only grow worse.
+    Though it is others who run riot,
+    Pillaging and plundering,
+    For such crimes as these
+    On them falls perverse retribution.
+
+    Such sinners as these
+    Never see the Buddha,
+    The King of Sages,
+    Preaching the Law and transforming;
+    Such sinners as these
+    Are always born in distress;
+    Mad, deaf, and confused in mind,
+    They never hear the Law;
+    During kalpas innumerable
+    As the sands of Ganges,
+    In life they are deaf and dumb,
+    With deficient natural powers;
+    They ever dwell in the hells
+    As their only pleasure gardens;
+    Or in other evil states,
+    As their dwelling-places;
+    Among asses, hogs, and dogs,
+    Are the places to which they go;
+    Because of slandering this Sutra,
+    Such is their punishment.
+    If they become human beings,
+    They are deaf, blind, and dumb,
+    Poor, needy, and feeble,
+    For their adornment
+    Dropsy and scurf,
+    Scab, sore, and abscess,
+    All such ills as these
+    Are their apparel.
+    Their bodies are foetid abodes,
+    Filthy and unclean;
+    Deeply absorbed in themselves,
+    They swell with anger,
+    Carnal passions inflame them,
+    No better are they than beasts;
+    Because of slandering this Sutra,
+    Such is their punishment.’
+
+    I say to you, Śariputra!
+    Those who slander this Sutra,
+    To tell the tale of their evils,
+    A whole kalpa would not suffice.
+    For this cause and reason
+    I especially say to you:
+    ‘Among unwise people,
+    Do not preach this Sutra’.”
+
+  Following this is a long account of those to whom The Lotus may be
+  preached; that is, to those who have understanding, are true seekers
+  of Buddhahood, unselfish, have left all, are reverent, upright,
+  patient, compassionate, and in general the sincere humble seeker,
+  who refuses all substitutes, such as other sutras, books, and
+  philosophies.
+
+    “I say to you, Śariputra,
+    Were I to detail all the kinds
+    Of seekers of the Buddhahood
+    I could not finish in a kalpa.
+    Such people as these are able
+    To believe and to discern.
+    Preach then to such as these
+    The Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+
+  From among the throng on the stage of the Spiritual Vulture Peak,
+  four of the oldest disciples of Śakyamuni are now seen to approach
+  the Master. They come to say that, having fulfilled all the course
+  previously laid down by him, they considered they had reached the
+  stage of Nirvana; old and worn out they had not realized the
+  possibility of a still higher bodhisattva state with its supernal
+  joys. Now, hearing it so wonderfully portrayed, despite their
+  advanced years they are filled with delight and longing.
+
+  At the prospect of Perfect Enlightenment they rejoice, and ask
+  permission to make their meaning clear in a parable. This may be
+  styled the Buddhist parable of the Prodigal Son, though it might
+  even more correctly be called the parable of the Seeking Father. In
+  it appears another defence of the Buddha’s tactical method of
+  teaching.
+
+
+_The Prodigal Son and the Seeking Father._
+
+“It is like a youth who, on attaining manhood, leaves his father and
+runs away. For long he dwells in some other country, ten, twenty, or
+fifty years. The older he grows, the more needy he becomes. Roaming
+about in all directions to seek clothing and food, he gradually wanders
+along till he unexpectedly approaches his native country. From the
+first the father searched for his son but in vain, and meanwhile
+has settled in a certain city. His home becomes very rich; his
+goods and treasures are incalculable; gold, silver, lapis lazuli,
+corals, amber, crystal, and other gems so increase that his treasuries
+overflow; many youths and slaves has he, retainers and attendants, and
+countless elephants, horses, carriages, animals to ride, and kine and
+sheep. His revenues and investments spread to other countries, and his
+traders and customers are many in the extreme.
+
+“At this time, the poor son, wandering through village after village,
+and passing through countries and cities, at last reaches the city
+where his father has settled. Always has the father been thinking of
+his son, yet, though he has been parted from him over fifty years,
+he has never spoken of the matter to any one, only pondering over it
+within himself and cherishing regret in his heart, as he reflects: ‘Old
+and worn, I own much wealth; gold, silver, and jewels, granaries and
+treasuries overflowing; but I have no son. Some day my end will come
+and my wealth be scattered and lost, for there is no one to whom I can
+leave it.’ Thus does he often think of his son, and earnestly repeats
+this reflection: ‘If I could only get back my son and commit my wealth
+to him, how contented and happy should I be, with never a further
+anxiety!’
+
+“World-honoured One! Meanwhile the poor son, hired for wages here and
+there, unexpectedly arrives at his father’s house. Standing by the
+gate, he sees from afar his father seated on a lion-couch, his feet
+on a jewelled footstool, revered and surrounded by brahmanas,
+kshatriyas, and citizens, and with strings of pearls, worth thousands
+and myriads, adorning his body; attendants and young slaves with white
+chowries wait upon him right and left; he is covered by a rich canopy
+from which hang streamers of flowers; perfume is sprinkled on the
+earth, all kinds of famous flowers are scattered around, and precious
+things are placed in rows for his acceptance or rejection. Such is his
+glory, and the honour of his dignity. The poor son, seeing his father
+possessed of such great power, is seized with fear, regretting that
+he has come to this place, and secretly reflects thus: ‘This must be
+a king, or some one of royal rank; it is no place for me to obtain
+anything for the hire of my labour. I had better go to some poor
+hamlet, where there is a place for letting out my labour, and food
+and clothing are easier to get. If I tarry here long, I may suffer
+oppression and forced service.’
+
+“Having reflected thus, he hastens away. Meanwhile, the rich elder on
+his lion-seat has recognized his son at first sight, and with great
+joy in his heart has also reflected: ‘Now I have some one to whom my
+treasuries of wealth are to be made over. Always have I been thinking
+of this my son, with no means of seeing him; but suddenly he himself
+has come and my longing is satisfied. Though worn with years, I yearn
+for him as of old.’
+
+“Instantly he dispatches his attendants to pursue him quickly and fetch
+him back. Thereupon the messengers hasten forth to seize him. The
+poor son, surprised and scared, loudly cries his complaint: ‘I
+have committed no offence against you; why should I be arrested?’ The
+messengers all the more hasten to lay hold of him and compel him to
+go back. Thereupon, the poor son, thinking within himself that though
+he is innocent yet he will be imprisoned, and that now he will surely
+die, is all the more terrified, faints away and falls prostrate on
+the ground. The father, seeing this from afar, sends word to the
+messengers: ‘I have no need for this man. Do not bring him by force.
+Sprinkle cold water on his face to restore him to consciousness and do
+not speak to him any further.’ Wherefore? The father, knowing that his
+son’s disposition is inferior, knowing that his own lordly position has
+caused distress to his son, yet convinced that he is his son, tactfully
+does not say to others: ‘This is my son.’
+
+A messenger says to the son: ‘I now set you free; go wherever you
+will.’ The poor son is delighted, thus obtaining the unexpected. He
+rises from the ground and goes to a poor hamlet in search of food
+and clothing. Then the elder, desiring to attract his son, sets up a
+device. Secretly he sends two men, doleful and shabby in appearance,
+saying—‘You go and visit that place and gently say to the poor
+man—“There is a place for you to work here; you will be given double
+wages.” If the poor man agrees, bring him back and give him work. If
+he asks what work you wish him to do, then you may say to him—“We will
+hire you for scavenging, and we both also will work along with you”.’
+Then the two messengers go in search of the poor son and, having found
+him, place before him the above proposal. Thereupon the poor son,
+having received his wages beforehand, joins with them in removing a
+dirt-heap.
+
+His father, beholding the son, is struck with compassion for, and
+wonder at, him. Another day he sees at a distance, through a window,
+his son’s figure, gaunt, lean, and doleful, filthy and unclean with
+dirt and dust; thereupon he takes off his strings of jewels, his soft
+attire, and ornaments, and puts on a coarse, torn, and dirty garment,
+smears his body with dust, takes a dust-hod in his right hand, and with
+an appearance fear-inspiring says to the labourers: ‘Get on with your
+work, don’t be lazy.’ By such a device he gets near to his son, to whom
+he afterwards says: ‘Ay, my man, you stay and work here, do not go
+again elsewhere; I will increase your wages; give whatever you need,
+bowls, utensils, rice, wheat-flour, salt, vinegar and so on; have no
+hesitation; besides there is an old and worn-out servant whom you shall
+be given if you need him. Be at ease in your mind; I am, as it were,
+your father; do not be worried again. Wherefore? I am old and advanced
+in years, but you are young and vigorous; all the time you have been
+working, you have never been deceitful, lazy, angry or grumbling; I
+have never seen you, like the other labourers, with such vices as
+these. From this time forth you shall be as my own begotten son.’
+
+“Thereupon the elder gives him a new name and calls him a son. The poor
+son, though he rejoices at this happening, still thinks of himself as a
+humble hireling. For this reason, during twenty years he continues
+to be employed in scavenging. After this period, there grows mutual
+confidence between them, and he goes in and out and is at his ease,
+though his abode is still the original place.
+
+“World-honoured One! Then the elder becomes ill and, knowing that he
+will die before long, says to the poor son: ‘Now I possess abundance
+of gold, silver, and precious things, and my granaries and treasuries
+are full to overflowing. The quantities of these things, and the
+amounts which should be received and given, I want you to understand in
+detail. Such is my mind, and you must agree to this my wish. Wherefore?
+Because, now, I and you are of the same mind. Be increasingly careful
+so that there be no waste.’
+
+“The poor son accepts his instruction and commands, and becomes
+acquainted with all the goods, gold, silver, and precious things, as
+well as all the granaries and treasuries, but has no idea of expecting
+to inherit so much as a meal, while his abode is still the original
+place and he is yet unable to abandon his sense of inferiority.
+
+“After a short time has again passed, the father, knowing that his
+son’s ideas have gradually been enlarged, his aspirations developed,
+and that he despises his previous state of mind, on seeing that his
+own end is approaching, commands his son to come, and gathers together
+his relatives, and the kings, ministers, kshatriyas, and citizens.
+When they are all assembled, he thereupon addresses them saying: ‘Now,
+gentlemen, this is my son, begotten by me. It is over fifty years
+since, from a certain city, he left me and ran away to endure
+loneliness and misery. His former name was so-and-so and my name was
+so-and-so. At that time in that city I sought him sorrowfully. Suddenly
+in this place I met and regained him. This is really my son and I am
+really his father. Now all the wealth which I possess entirely belongs
+to my son, and all my previous disbursements and receipts are known by
+this son.’
+
+“World-honoured One! When the poor son heard these words of his father,
+great was his joy at such unexpected news, and thus he thought:
+‘Without any mind for, or effort on my part, these treasures now come
+of themselves to me.’
+
+“World-honoured One! The very rich elder is the Tathagata, and we are
+all as the Buddha’s sons. The Tathagata has always declared that we are
+his sons. World-honoured One! Because of the three sufferings, in the
+midst of births-and-deaths we have borne all kinds of torments, being
+deluded and ignorant and enjoying our attachment to trifles. To-day
+the World-honoured One has caused us to ponder over and remove the
+dirt of all diverting discussions of inferior things. In these we have
+hitherto been diligent to make progress and have got, as it were, a
+day’s pay for our effort to reach Nirvana. Obtaining this, we greatly
+rejoiced and were contented, saying to ourselves: ‘For our diligence
+and progress in the Buddha-law what we have received is ample.’ But the
+World-honoured One, knowing beforehand that our minds were attached
+to low desires and took delight in inferior things, let us go our own
+way, and did not discriminate for us, saying: ‘You shall yet have
+possession of the treasury of Tathagata-knowledge.’ The World-honoured
+One, in his tactfulness, told of the Tathagata-wisdom; but we, though
+following the Buddha and receiving a day’s wage of Nirvana, deemed this
+a sufficient gain, never having a mind to seek after the Great-Vehicle.
+We, also, have declared and expounded the Tathagata-wisdom to
+bodhisattvas, but in regard to this Great-Vehicle we have never had a
+longing for it. Wherefore? The Buddha, knowing that our minds delighted
+in inferior things, by his tactfulness taught according to our
+capacity, but still we did not perceive that we were really Buddha-sons.
+
+“Now we have just realized that the World-honoured One does not
+grudge even the Buddha-wisdom. Wherefore? From of old we are really
+sons of Buddha, but have only taken pleasure in minor matters; if we
+had had a mind to take pleasure in the Great, the Buddha would have
+preached the Great Vehicle Law to us. At length, in this Sutra, he
+preaches only the One-Vehicle; and though formerly, in the presence of
+bodhisattvas, he spoke disparagingly of sravakas who were pleased with
+minor matters, yet the Buddha had in reality been instructing them in
+the Great-Vehicle. Therefore we say that though we had no mind to hope
+or expect it, yet now the Great Treasure of the King of the Law has of
+itself come to us, and such things as Buddha-sons should obtain, we
+have all obtained.”
+
+  The lengthy version in verse, while faithful to the ideas of the
+  prose section, is interesting for the further detail it gives. For
+  instance, the description of the father’s wealth:
+
+    “Very rich is his house,
+    Abundance of silver and gold,
+    Moonstones and agates,
+    Pearls and lapis lazuli,
+    Elephants, horses, oxen, and sheep,
+    Palanquins, litters, carriages,
+    Husbandmen, young slaves,
+    And a multitude of people;
+    His revenues and investments
+    Spread even to other countries;
+    His traders and his customers
+    Are everywhere to be found;
+    Thousands, myriads, kotis of people
+    Surround and honour him;
+    Constantly by the king
+    He is held in affection;
+    The ministers and noble families
+    Honour him most highly;
+    For all these reasons
+    His guests are many;
+    Such is the abundance of his wealth,
+    And the greatness of his power.
+
+    But his years are wearing away
+    And he mourns the more his son;
+    Morning and night he ponders:
+    ‘The time of my death is approaching;
+    My foolish son has left me
+    For over fifty years;
+    The things in my storehouses—
+    What shall I do with them?’
+
+    At that time the poor son
+    Was seeking food and clothing
+    From city on to city.
+    From country on to country,
+    Sometimes getting something,
+    Sometimes finding nothing;
+    Famished, weak and gaunt,
+    Covered with scab and itch,
+    Gradually he passes along
+    To the city where dwells his father.
+    Hired for wages he roams,
+    At last reaching his father’s house.
+    At that very hour the elder,
+    Within his gate, has set up
+    A great costly canopy,
+    And sits on a lion-seat,
+    Surrounded by his attendants,
+    Every one caring for him,
+    Some are counting up
+    Gold, silver, and precious things;
+    Incoming and outgoing goods,
+    Noting and recording bonds.
+
+    The poor son, seeing his father
+    So noble, honoured and splendid,
+    Thinks: ‘This must be a king
+    Or one of royal rank.’
+    Alarmed and wondering, he says:
+    ‘Why have I come here?’
+    Again he thinks to himself,
+    ‘If I tarry here long,
+    I may suffer oppression
+    And be driven to forced labour.’
+    Having pondered thus,
+    He hurries away in haste
+    To seek some poorer place,
+    That he may hire his labour.
+
+    At that very time the elder,
+    Seated on the lion-seat,
+    Seeing his son from afar,
+    Secretly recognizes him,
+    And instantly orders servants
+    To pursue and fetch him back.
+    The poor son cries in alarm,
+    Faints and falls on the ground:
+    ‘Ah! These men have caught me;
+    I shall certainly be killed;
+    Why did food and clothing,
+    Cause me to come here?’
+
+    The elder, knowing that his son.
+    Being foolish and inferior,
+    Will not believe in his word,
+    Nor believe he is his father,
+    With tactful method then
+    Again dispatches others,
+    One-eyed, squat, and common,
+    And unimposing, bidding them:
+    ‘Go and tell him saying,
+    ‘You be hired with us
+    To remove dirt and rubbish
+    And you shall have double wages.’
+    The poor son hearing this
+    Is glad, and comes with them,
+    For the purpose of moving dirt
+    And also cleansing outhouses.
+
+    The elder, through a lattice,
+    Constantly sees his son,
+    And thinks of him as simple
+    And pleased with humble things.
+    Thereupon the elder,
+    Donning a tattered garment,
+    Taking along a dirt-hod,
+    Goes to where his son is;
+    By this device he gets near him,
+    Bidding him be diligent:
+    ‘I have decided to raise your wages,
+    And give you oil for your feet,
+    And plenty of food and drink,
+    And also thick warm mats.’
+    With sharp words he thus chides:
+    ‘Get you on with the work.’
+    Again he speaks gently:
+    ‘You are as it were my son.’
+    The elder, being wise,
+    Gradually has him go in and out,
+    And after twenty years,
+    Employs him as his steward,
+    Showing him his gold and silver,
+    His pearls and his crystal,
+    And the income and outgo of things,
+    All these he makes him know.”
+
+  The scene opens, as already shown, with the approach to the Buddha
+  of the elders, who tell the parable given above and now close, in
+  the verse section, as follows:
+
+    “We all, during a long night-time,
+    Neither coveted nor were allied
+    To the true Buddha-wisdom,
+    Nor had aspiration to it.
+    For we, in regard to the Law
+    Thought we had reached finality.
+    We, for a long night-time,
+    Keeping the law of the Void,
+    Escaped from the triple world’s
+    Harassing distresses,
+    And dwelt in the last bodily stage
+    Of Nirvana, where form only remains.
+    Taught by the Buddha we thought
+    We had attained, without doubt, the Way,
+    And that we had thereby
+    Repaid the Buddha’s grace.
+    . . . . .
+    But in the law of bodhisattva
+    We never had wish nor pleasure.
+    Our Leader saw and let us be,
+    For he looked into our minds,
+    And at first stirred not our zeal
+    By telling of the true Gain.
+    Just as the rich elder,
+    Knowing his son’s lower bent,
+    By his own tactfulness,
+    Moulds and subdues his mind,
+    And, only after that, gives him
+    The whole of his riches.
+    So is it with the Buddha
+    In the display of his rarities;
+    Knowing those pleased with trifles,
+    Yet by his tactfulness
+    He subdues their minds,
+    And teaches them the greater wisdom.
+    To-day we have obtained
+    What we never had before;
+    What we previously never looked for
+    We have unforeseen obtained,
+    Just as that poor son
+    Obtained inestimable treasures.
+
+    World-honoured One! Now we
+    Have got the Way and the Fruit,
+    And, in the faultless Law,
+    Attained to clear vision.
+    For long time have we kept
+    The Buddha’s pure commands,
+    To-day for the first time
+    We obtain its fruit and reward.
+    In the Law of the Law-King,
+    Having long practised arya deeds,
+    Now we attain the faultless,
+    Peerless great Fruit.
+    Now at last we are
+    Really hearers of the Sound,
+    Who take the news of Buddhahood
+    And make all creatures hear.
+    Now at last we are
+    Really Arahats,
+    Who, in all the worlds of
+    Gods, men, maras, and brahmans,
+    Universally by them
+    Are worthy of worship.
+
+    The World-honoured One, in great grace,
+    With rare and precious things,
+    Compassionates, instructs
+    And confers benefits on us;
+    Through countless kotis of kalpas,
+    Who could ever repay him?
+    Service of hands and feet,
+    Homage all prostrate,
+    Every kind of offering,
+    Are all unable to repay.
+    If one bore him on one’s head,
+    Or carried him on one’s shoulders,
+    Through kalpas as the sands of Ganges,
+    Revering him with the whole mind;
+    Or with the best of food,
+    Countless costly garments,
+    And all kinds of bed-things;
+    Or every sort of medicament;
+    Or, with Ox-head sandal-wood
+    And all kinds of jewels,
+    Erect stupas and monasteries,
+    Or carpet the ground with costly robes;
+    With such things as these,
+    To pay him homage
+    Through kalpas as sands of Ganges,
+    One still could not repay.
+    Buddhas, with their rare,
+    Infinite and boundless,
+    Inconceivably great
+    Powers transcendent,
+    Faultless and effortless,
+    Kings of the Law,
+    Are able, for inferior minds,
+    In this matter to be patient,
+    And, for common folk attached to externals,
+    To preach as may befit them.
+    Buddhas, in the Law,
+    Attain to supreme power,
+    Know all living beings,
+    With their desires and pleasures,
+    And their aspirations,
+    So, according to their capacity,
+    By innumerable parables,
+    To them they preach the Law.
+    According as all the living
+    Have in past lives planted good roots,
+    The Buddhas, discerning the mature
+    From the immature,
+    And taking account of each,
+    Discriminating and understanding,
+    As may be most befitting
+    In the One Vehicle preach the Three.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+
+  The Buddha now praises the four elders for their discernment, but
+  adds that the Tathagata has numberless other qualities, which could
+  not be told if enumerated for infinite kotis of kalpas.
+
+“Know, Kaśyapa! The Tathagata is the King of the Laws (i.e. the King
+of all things). Whatever he says is entirely free from falsity. He
+explains all laws (or things) by wise tactfulness. The laws preached
+by him have Perfect Enlightenment as their aim. The Tathagata sees
+and knows what is the goal of all laws, and also knows what all
+living beings in their inmost hearts are doing, penetrating them
+without hindrance. Moreover, in regard to all laws, having the utmost
+understanding of them, he reveals to the living the wisdom of Perfect
+Enlightenment.
+
+“Kaśyapa! Suppose, in a Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-World (or
+chiliocosm), there are growing, on the mountains, along the rivers and
+streams, in the valleys and on the lands, plants, trees, thickets,
+forests, and medicinal herbs, of various and numerous kinds, with names
+and forms all different. A dense cloud spreads over and everywhere
+covers the whole Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-World, and pours
+down its rain equally at the same time. Its moisture universally
+fertilizes the plants, trees, thickets, forests and medicinal herbs,
+with their tiny roots, tiny stalks, tiny twigs, tiny leaves; their
+medium roots, medium stalks, medium twigs, medium leaves; their
+big roots, big stalks, big twigs, and big leaves; every tree, big or
+little, according to its superior, middle or lower capacity, receives
+its share. From the rain of the one cloud, each according to its
+species acquires its growth and the profusion of its flowers and fruit.
+Though produced in the same soil and moistened by the same rain, yet
+these plants and trees are all different.
+
+[Illustration: 5. Buddha divides the swollen torrent and walks over
+dryshod]
+
+“Know, Kaśyapa! The Tathagata is also like this; He appears in the
+world like the rising of a great cloud, with a great sound universally
+extending over the world of gods, men, and asuras, just as that great
+cloud everywhere covers the Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-Region.
+In the great assembly he chants forth these words: ‘I am the Tathagata,
+the Worshipful, the All Wise, of Perfectly Enlightened Conduct, the
+Well-Departed, the Understander of the World, the Peerless Leader, the
+Controller, the Teacher of gods and men, the Buddha, the World-honoured
+One. Those who have not yet been saved I cause to be saved; those who
+have not yet been set free to be set free; those who have not yet been
+comforted to be comforted; those who have not yet obtained nirvana to
+obtain nirvana. I know the present world and the world to come, as they
+really are. I am the All-knowing, the All-seeing, the Knower of the
+Way, the Opener of the Way, the Preacher of the Way. Come to me, all ye
+gods, men, and asuras, to hear the Law.’ Then, numberless thousands,
+myriads, kotis of classes of living beings come to the Buddha to hear
+the Law. Thereupon the Tathagata, observing the natural powers
+of these beings, keen or dull, zealous or indifferent, according to
+their capacity preaches to them the Law in varying and unstinted ways,
+causing them to rejoice and joyfully to obtain much profit. All those
+living beings, on hearing this Law, are comforted in the present life
+and afterwards will be born in happy states, made joyful by the Truth,
+and will also hear the Law. Having heard the Law, they are freed from
+hindrances and, according to their capacity in the laws, they gradually
+enter the Way.
+
+“Just as that great cloud, raining on all the plants, trees, thickets,
+forests, and medicinal herbs, and according to the nature of their
+seed perfectly fertilizes them, so that each grows and develops, in
+like manner the Law preached by the Tathagata is of one form and one
+flavour, that is to say, Deliverance, Abandonment, Extinction, and
+finally the attainment of Perfect Knowledge. If there be living beings
+who hear the Law of the Tathagata and keep, read, recite and practise
+it as preached, their achievements will not give them self-knowledge.
+Wherefore? Because there is only the Tathagata who knows the Seed,
+the Form, the Embodiment, and the Nature of all these living beings,
+what things they are reflecting upon, what things they are thinking,
+what things practising, how reflecting, how thinking, how practising,
+by what method reflecting, by what method thinking, by what method
+practising, and by what laws attaining to what laws. There is only
+the Tathagata who in reality sees, clearly and without hindrance,
+the varying stages in which all living beings are. It is like
+those plants, trees, thickets, forests, medicinal herbs, and others
+which do not know their own natures, superior, middle, or inferior.
+The Tathagata knows this unitary essential Law, that is to say,
+Deliverance, Abandonment, Extinction, final Nirvana of eternal rest,
+ending in return to the Void. The Buddha, knowing this and observing
+the disposition of all living beings, carefully leads them on. For this
+reason He does not immediately declare to them the complete and perfect
+wisdom. Kaśyapa! All of you! A most rare thing it is that you should be
+able to know the Law preached by the Tathagata as he sees fit, and be
+able to believe and to receive it. Wherefore? Because the Law preached
+by Buddhas, the World-honoured Ones, as they see fit, is difficult to
+discern and difficult to know.”
+
+  The following are selections from the section in verse:
+
+    “Know, Kaśyapa!
+    It is like unto a great cloud
+    Rising above the world,
+    Covering all things everywhere,
+    A gracious cloud full of moisture;
+    Lightning-flames flash and dazzle,
+    Voice of thunder vibrates afar,
+    Bringing joy and ease to all.
+    The sun’s rays are veiled,
+    And the earth is cooled;
+    The cloud lowers and spreads
+    As if it might be caught and gathered;
+    Its rain everywhere equally
+    Descends on all sides,
+    Streaming and pouring unstinted,
+    Permeating the land.
+    On mountains, by rivers, in valleys,
+    In hidden recesses, there grow
+    The plants, trees, and herbs;
+    Trees, both great and small,
+    The shoots of the ripening grain,
+    Grape vine and sugar-cane.
+    Fertilized are these by the rain
+    And abundantly enriched;
+    The dry ground is soaked,
+    Herbs and trees flourish together.
+    From the one water which
+    Issued from that cloud,
+    Plants, trees, thickets, forests,
+    According to need receive moisture.
+    All the various trees,
+    Lofty, medium, low,
+    Each according to its size,
+    Grows and develops
+    Roots, stalks, branches, leaves,
+    Blossoms and fruits in their brilliant colours;
+    Wherever the one rain reaches,
+    All become fresh and glossy.
+    According as their bodies, forms
+    And natures are great or small,
+    So the enriching (rain),
+    Though it is one and the same,
+    Yet makes each of them flourish.
+    In like manner also the Buddha
+    Appears here in the World,
+    Like unto a great cloud
+    Universally covering all things;
+    And having appeared in the world,
+    He, for the sake of the living,
+    Discriminates and proclaims
+    The truth in regard to all laws.
+    The Great Holy World-honoured One,
+    Among the gods and men
+    And among the other beings,
+    Proclaims abroad this word:
+    ‘I am the Tathagata,
+    The Most Honoured among men;
+    I appear in the world
+    Like unto this great cloud,
+    To pour enrichment on all
+    Parched living beings,
+    To free them from their misery
+    To attain the joy of peace,
+    Joy of the present world,
+    And joy of Nirvana.
+    Gods, men, and every one!
+    Hearken well with your mind,
+    Come you here to me,
+    Behold the Peerless Honoured One!
+    I am the World-honoured,
+    Who cannot be equalled.
+    To give rest to every creature,
+    I appear in the world,
+    And, to the hosts of the living,
+    Preach the pure Law, sweet as dew;
+    The one and only Law
+    Of deliverance and Nirvana.
+    With one transcendent voice
+    I proclaim this truth,
+    Ever taking the Great-Vehicle
+    As my subject.
+    Upon all I ever look
+    Everywhere impartially,
+    Without distinction of persons,
+    Or mind of love or hate.
+    I have no predilections
+    Nor any limitations;
+    Ever to all beings
+    I preach the Law equally;
+    As I preach to one person,
+    So I preach to all.
+    Ever I proclaim the Law,
+    Engaged in naught else;
+    Going, coming, sitting, standing,
+    Never am I weary of
+    Pouring it copious on the world,
+    Like the all-enriching rain.
+    On honoured and humble, high and low,
+    Law-keepers, and law-breakers,
+    Those of perfect character,
+    And those of imperfect,
+    Orthodox and heterodox,
+    Quick witted and dull witted,
+    Equally I rain the Law-rain
+    Unwearyingly’.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+
+  Turning to the great audience, the Buddha predicts for Maha-Kaśyapa
+  and the other three elders their future as Buddhas in worlds to
+  come, and extends his prediction to other disciples.
+
+  Maha-Kaśyapa will be the Buddha Radiance, whose realm will be
+  Radiant Virtue, and his kalpa Magnificent.
+
+  “His domain will be beautiful, free from dirt, shards, thorns and
+  uncleanness; its land will be level and straight with no uneven
+  places, neither hollows nor mounds; its ground will be lapis lazuli;
+  it will have rows of jewel-trees, golden cords to set bounds to the
+  ways, be strewn with precious flowers, and purity will reign
+  everywhere.” Its bodhisattvas will be innumerable. “No Mara-deeds
+  will be there, for, though Mara and Mara’s people dwell in that
+  land, they will care for its Buddha-law.”
+
+  The elder Subhuti will be the Buddha Name-and-Form, in the domain
+  Jewel-land, with crystal for its ground; his aeon will be
+  Jewel-kalpa.
+
+  The elder Maha-Katyayana will be the Buddha Golden Light, his domain
+  will have crystal for ground, but his kalpa and domains are
+  described without name.
+
+  The fourth elder Maha-Maudgalyayana will be the Buddha Sandalwood
+  Fragrance, in the domain Gladsome Mind, with crystal for ground, and
+  his kalpa will be Joyful.
+
+  Each section is, as usual, done into verse, but there is nothing of
+  outstanding interest or value. The chief feature worthy of note is,
+  that the author makes all four of the leading disciples of Śakyamuni
+  announce their rejection of the hinayana doctrines, in favour of
+  mahayana teaching. They proclaim their realization, which they
+  certainly never had in their lifetime, that the Buddha’s earlier
+  teaching was temporary, awaiting the greater revelation presented in
+  this Sutra.
+
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+
+  The Buddha now addresses the body of his disciples, telling them
+  that once upon a time there was a Buddha named
+  Universal-Surpassing-Wisdom. An immeasurable time has passed since
+  his Nirvana, and the Buddha tries to impress on his hearers the
+  meaning of timelessness in the following manner:
+
+“Suppose the earth element in a Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-World
+were by some one ground into ink, and he were to pass through a
+thousand realms in an eastern direction, and then let fall one drop
+as large as a grain of dust; again, passing through another thousand
+realms, once more he let fall one drop; suppose he thus proceeds until
+he has finished the ink made of the earth-element—what is your opinion?
+All these realms—is it possible for mathematicians, or their disciples,
+to find their end or confines so as to know their number?”
+
+“No, World-honoured One!”
+
+“Bhikshus! Suppose all those realms which that man has passed, where
+he has dropped a drop and where he has not, were ground to dust, and
+suppose one grain of the dust be a kalpa—the time since that Buddha
+became extinct till now still exceeds those numbers by innumerable,
+infinite, hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of asamkhyeya kalpas. By
+the power of my Buddha-wisdom, I observe that distant time as if it
+were only to-day.”
+
+  The whole story is too long for insertion here. In brief, the
+  Buddha, Universal-Surpassing-Wisdom, after routing the army of Mara,
+  common to Buddha-realms, sat cross-legged, motionless in mind and
+  body, for ten minor kalpas, but still did not attain to Perfect
+  Enlightenment.
+
+“Then the gods of Indra’s heavens spread for that Buddha a lion-throne,
+a yojana high, under a bodhi-tree, so that the Buddha might on this
+throne attain Perfect Enlightenment. No sooner was he seated on it,
+than the Brahma heavenly kings rained down celestial flowers over an
+area of a hundred yojanas. A fragrant wind from time to time arose,
+sweeping away the flowers as they withered and raining fresh ones.”
+
+  Other wonders are described until, at the end of ten minor kalpas,
+  the great Buddha-law of Perfect Enlightenment is revealed. His
+  sixteen sons, born while he was a prince before he left home to
+  become a monk, also his father, with his hundred ministers and
+  myriads of people, all drew near to the Throne of Enlightenment,
+  doing homage to its occupant. They besought him to roll the Wheel of
+  the Law and proclaim the Truth.
+
+  At the moment when this Buddha attained Perfect Enlightenment the
+  whole universe was shaken, a light shone in regions where light had
+  never shown before, and wherever light was known its shining was
+  doubled in intensity.
+
+  The Brahma-kings astonished cry:
+
+    “In all our palaces
+    Ne’er has been such shining:
+    What may be its cause?
+    Let us investigate.
+    Has a great good god been born,
+    Or a Buddha appeared in the world,
+    That this great brilliance
+    Illuminates the universe?”
+
+  Thereupon the Brahma-kings of the East in five hundred myriad kotis
+  of realms, with all their palace train, each follower bearing a
+  great bag, full of celestial flowers, set forth to investigate the
+  sign. They found the Buddha surrounded by vast expectant throngs,
+  and immediately joined them, strewing their flowers before his feet
+  till they rose high as Mount Sumeru, and each offering to him his
+  magnificent palace. In like manner there appeared, in turn, the
+  Brahma-kings of each of the other regions, making similar offerings.
+  This is told in plenitude of detail, covering many pages of prose
+  and verse. The four quarters, together with the zenith and nadir,
+  are each portrayed in similar style, with sufficient variation to
+  avoid mere verbal repetition.
+
+  The light that shone through all the worlds was the Light of Truth
+  dawning on the awakening Buddha. It was the Radiance of Perfect
+  Enlightenment, of which the Mahayana is the conveyer. The
+  Brahma-kings chant:
+
+    “Kalpas untold from of yore
+    Have passed empty without a Buddha;
+    A World-honoured One not appearing,
+    Darkness has everywhere reigned;
+    The three evil states were thriving,
+    Flourishing were the demons,
+    While the heavenly host dwindled
+    And perished in evil estate,
+    Not hearing the Law from a Buddha.
+    . . . . .
+    The Buddha, the eye of the world,
+    Now after long ages appears;
+    Through pity for the living
+    In the world he is revealed,
+    Surpassing in Perfect Enlightenment
+    . . . . .
+    All our palaces, made beauteous
+    With this supernal Light,
+    We offer to the World-Honoured.
+    . . . . .
+    World-Honoured! roll the Law-wheel!
+    Beat the drum of the dew-sweet Law,
+    Save the suffering living
+    Reveal the Nirvana-Way!”
+
+  Then the Buddha Universal-Surpassing-Wisdom is represented as
+  following the tactical method of Buddhas, that of preaching first
+  the four noble truths concerning Pain and its cure, i.e. the fact
+  and nature of suffering; the assembling (or, focussing) of
+  suffering; the possibility of the extinction of suffering; the way
+  of its extinction. This he followed with the Law of the Twelve
+  Causes of reincarnation and their annihilation. Such is, of course,
+  the preparatory or hinayana method; yet, as the result of it, the
+  sixteen princes and myriads of others “were freed from faults, all
+  obtaining the profound, mystic meditations, the Three Clear (Views)
+  and the Six Transcendent (Faculties) and thus accomplished the Eight
+  Emancipations”. Likewise, at a second, a third, and a fourth time of
+  preaching the Law, “beings as sands of the Ganges were freed from
+  faults.”
+
+  The sixteen royal sons became monks, served myriads of Buddhas, and
+  then besought the Buddha, their father, to preach the Law of Perfect
+  Enlightenment! The vast host added their appeal, and “after two
+  myriad kalpas had passed, in the midst of the four groups he
+  preached this Mahayana Sutra named ‘The Lotus Flower of the
+  Wonderful Law’.” “For eight thousand kalpas he continued preaching
+  this Sutra without cessation. When he had finished, he then entered
+  a quiet room and remained in meditation during eighty-four thousand
+  kalpas.” During this period his sixteen sons preached everywhere the
+  Sutra of the Wonderful Law-Flower, saving incalculable numbers of
+  beings.
+
+  After eighty-four thousand kalpas had passed, the Buddha, Great
+  Universal Master of Wisdom, arose from his trance-like meditation,
+  ascended the Law-throne, and addressed the vast assembly, calling on
+  them to pay homage to his sixteen sons because they had universally
+  preached the Lotus Sutra.
+
+  .....
+
+  Śakyamuni, having told this story of the former Buddha, now declared
+  that the sixteen sons, who became Buddhas, possessed their
+  Buddha-realms in the eight directions. Two of them were in the
+  eastern region, two in the south-eastern, and so on. Their titles
+  are given. The fifteenth and sixteenth were in the north-eastern
+  region, one of them being named “Destroyer of Fear in all the
+  world”, the other was Śakyamuni himself, who has now at last reached
+  the stage of Perfect Enlightenment in this world.
+
+  He tells the disciples, that they have all been his disciples in
+  former states of existence. “All those beings, innumerable as the
+  sands of Ganges, whom I converted at that time, are you yourselves,
+  and you will be my disciples in future worlds after my extinction.”
+  “In other realms I shall still be Buddha though under different
+  names.” The meaning seems to be that the One Buddha appears in
+  countless worlds, One yet infinite in number. Each personal
+  incarnation of the Buddhas, each embodiment, so to speak, has its
+  own characteristic, but there is only One Buddha in and through all
+  these various manifestations. It is, of course, not clear from this
+  chapter alone that the One Buddha is personal, and not an
+  abstraction like Wisdom, but the general interpretation favours one
+  personal Buddha, whom Dr. Timothy Richard has not hesitated to call
+  God.
+
+[Illustration: 6. Buddha tells his disciples the story of a former
+Buddha]
+
+“Monks!” says the Buddha, “If a Tathagata himself knows that the time
+of his Nirvana has arrived, and that his assembly is purified, is firm
+in faith and discernment, penetrated with the Law of the Void, and
+profound in meditation, then he gathers together his bodhisattvas to
+preach this Sutra to them. In the world there is no second vehicle for
+attaining to extinction; there is only the One Buddha-Vehicle for such
+attainment. Know, bhikshus! The tact of the Tathagata penetrates deeply
+into the natures of all living beings, and knows that they are bent on
+the enjoyment of trifling things and deeply attached to human desires.
+It is for the sake of these he preaches Nirvana.”
+
+
+_The Magic City_
+
+“Suppose, there is a fearful region, five hundred yojanas in extent,
+through which lies a perilous and difficult road, far from the abodes
+of men. Suppose there is a large company wishing to pass along that
+road to the Place of Jewels, and they have a guide, wise and astute,
+who knows well the perilous road, where it is open and where closed,
+and who leads the company that wish to cross this arduous region.
+Suppose on the way the company he leads become weary and lagging and
+say to the leader: ‘We are utterly exhausted, and moreover afraid,
+and cannot go any farther; the road before us stretches far; let us
+turn back.’ The leader, a man of much tact, reflects thus: ‘These
+people are to be pitied. How can they give up such great treasure and
+seek to turn back?’ Reflecting thus, by a device, in the midst of the
+perilous road, he magically raises a city over three hundred yojanas
+in extent, and says to the company: ‘Do not fear, and do not turn
+back. Here is this great city in which you may stay and follow your
+own desires. If you enter this city, you will speedily be at ease; and
+if you then are able to go forward to the Place of Jewels, you may
+proceed.’
+
+“Thereupon the exhausted company are greatly rejoiced in mind, and
+praise their unexampled fortune: ‘Now indeed we shall escape this evil
+way and speedily be at ease.’ Then the company proceed into the magic
+city, imagining they have arrived at their destination and are settled
+in comfort. When the leader perceives that the company are rested and
+are no longer fatigued, he makes the magic city disappear, and says to
+the company: ‘Come along, all of you, the Place of Jewels is at hand. I
+only created this past large city for you to rest a while.’
+
+“Bhikshus! So is it with the Tathagata. At present he is your great
+Leader, acquainted with the distresses, the evils, the perils and the
+long-continued processes of mortality, from which you must be rid and
+removed. If living beings only hear of One Buddha-Vehicle, they will
+not desire to see the Buddha, nor wish to draw nigh to him, but think
+thus—‘the Buddha-Way is long and far; only after undergoing long and
+bitter toil, can the end be reached’. The Buddha, knowing how feeble
+and low are their minds, by his tact, while they are on the way,
+preaches the two stages of Nirvana, in order to give them rest. If
+those beings remain in these secondary stages, then the Tathagata
+proceeds to tell them: ‘You have not yet accomplished your task. The
+place where you are dwelling is near to the Buddha-Wisdom. Take note
+and ponder that the Nirvana to which you have attained is not the real
+one!’ It is only the Tathagata’s device which distinguishes and speaks
+of the One Buddha-Vehicle as Three. He is just like that leader who,
+in order to give rest to his company, magically makes a great city and
+after they are rested informs them saying: ‘The Place of Jewels is near
+at hand; this city is not real, but only my magic production’.”
+
+  The verse section of the Magic City is as follows:
+
+    “It is like to a perilous way,
+    Cut off, full of venomous beasts,
+    Without either water or grass,
+    A region of terror to men.
+    A throng, countless thousands, myriads,
+    Wish to traverse this perilous way,
+    Far and long indeed is the road,
+    Through five hundred yojanas.
+    Then there appears a leader,
+    Strong of sense and wise,
+    Clear-headed, resolute,
+    Who in peril saves from danger.
+    Exhausted and worn, these people
+    Cry to the leader, saying:
+    ‘Weary and worn are we,
+    Let us turn back from here.’
+    The leader reflects within:
+    ‘To be pitied are these poor folk!
+    How can they wish to turn back
+    And miss so great a treasure?’
+    Instant a device occurs—
+    ‘Let me use supernatural power
+    And make a great magic city,
+    With houses splendid adorned,
+    Surrounded with gardens and groves
+    Streamlets and bathing pools,
+    Massive gates and towers,
+    Full both of men and women.’
+    Making this transformation,
+    He pacifies them, saying: ‘Fear not!
+    Enter all of you into this city,
+    Let each enjoy himself at will.’
+    When those people had entered the city,
+    Their hearts were full of joy,
+    They only thought of rest and ease,
+    And considered they had been saved.
+    When the leader knew they were rested,
+    He assembled and spoke to them saying:
+    ‘All of you now press forward!
+    This was but an illusory city.
+    Seeing you were worn out
+    And wishing to turn back midway,
+    I, therefore, by a device,
+    Temporarily made this city.
+    Do you diligently now advance
+    Together to the Place of Jewels.’
+    I, too, in equal manner,
+    Am the Leader of all the living.
+    Seeing the seekers of the Way,
+    Midway becoming wearied,
+    Unable to cross the perilous ways
+    Of mortality and delusion.
+    So I, by expedient methods,
+    For their ease preached Nirvana, saying:
+    ‘Your sufferings now are ended;
+    All your toil is finished!’
+    When I knew you had reached Nirvana
+    And all had become Arhats,
+    Then I gathered you together
+    And preached to you the real Law.
+    Buddhas in their tactfulness,
+    Separately preach the Three Vehicles;
+    Though there is but the One Buddha-Vehicle;
+    Only as resting-places are Two preached.
+    Now I preach to you the truth;
+    What you have reached is not the extinction.
+    To obtain perfect Buddha-knowledge,
+    Exert yourselves with utmost zeal!
+    Prove the Perfect Knowledge,
+    The Ten Powers of the Buddha-Laws,
+    Perfect the Thirty-two Signs—
+    Then that is the real extinction.
+    The Buddhas, the onward Leaders,
+    Call the resting-place Nirvana,
+    But, perceiving their people rested,
+    They lead on to Buddha-Wisdom.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+
+  Leaving his seat, the disciple Purna now prostrates himself before
+  the Buddha, then rises and gazes transfixed upon his honoured
+  countenance. Thereupon the Buddha praises Purna as the greatest of
+  his preachers, not only in this world, but in many previous
+  existences under many Buddhas. He foretells that when he has
+  accomplished his course he will become the Buddha
+  Radiance-of-the-Law, whose land will consist of “the seven precious
+  things”, “its ground level as the palm of the hand, free from hills
+  and valleys, runnels and ditches”. In its sky, “men and gods will
+  meet and behold each other. There will be no evil ways, and no
+  womankind, for all living beings will be born by transformation and
+  have no carnal passion. They will attain to great transcendent
+  powers; their bodies will emit rays of light; they will fly anywhere
+  at will”. Their food will be Joy-in-the-Law, and
+  Gladness-in-Meditation. His domain will be Excellent-Purity and his
+  kalpa Jewel-Radiance.
+
+  In the verse section occur the following lines:
+
+    “Bhikshus! Attentively listen to me!
+    The Way my Buddha-son has walked,
+    Through studying well expediency,
+    Surpasses all conception far.
+    Knowing all beings enjoy mere trifles
+    And are afraid of the greater wisdom,
+    The Bodhisattvas, therefore, become
+    Sravakas or Pratyekabuddhas.
+    By numberless expedient methods
+    All kinds of beings they then convert,
+    Saying: ‘We are only Sravakas,
+    Far removed from Buddhahood.’
+    Innumerable beings they thus release,
+    Each completing his varied course;
+    Even the lax and low-disposed
+    Become Buddhas by gradual stage.
+    Hiding their Bodhisattva-deeds,
+    Externally they are as Sravakas;
+    With few desires, disliking mortal life,
+    They truly purify their Buddha-land,
+    Appearing possessed of human passions
+    And seeming to hold heretical views.
+    Thus do my disciples
+    Tactfully save all beings.
+    If I fully explained
+    Their varied transformations,
+    Beings who heard of them
+    Would be perplexed and puzzled.
+    . . . . .
+    Their meat is joy in the Law
+    And pleasure in meditation,
+    With never a thought of other;
+    No womankind will be there,
+    Nor any evil ways.
+    My disciple Bhikshu Purna,
+    His merits all complete,
+    Shall gain this pure land
+    Where the wise and the sage abound.
+    Such are the measureless things
+    I have now but briefly hinted.”
+
+  After this the Buddha predicts the future of five hundred other
+  disciples, each of whom, when he has served sixty-two thousand kotis
+  of Buddhas, will themselves, one after another, become Buddhas, each
+  of whom will be called Universal-Light. These five hundred disciples,
+
+“ecstatic with joy, instantly rise from their seats, go before the
+Buddha, make obeisance at his feet, repent of their errors, and rebuke
+themselves, saying: ‘World-honoured One! We have constantly been
+thinking we had attained to final Nirvana. Now we know that we were
+just as the foolish ones. Wherefore? Because we ought to have obtained
+the Tathagata-wisdom, and yet were content with the inferior knowledge.
+
+“World-honoured One! It is as if some man goes to an intimate friend’s
+house, gets drunk, and falls asleep. Meanwhile his friend, having to go
+forth on official duty, ties a priceless jewel within the man’s garment
+as a present, and departs. The man being drunk and asleep knows nothing
+of this. On arising he travels onwards till he reaches some other
+country where, striving for food and clothing, he labours diligently,
+undergoes exceeding great hardship, and is content even if he can
+obtain but a little. Later, his friend happens to meet him and speaks
+thus—‘Tut! Sir! How is it you have come down to this, merely for
+the sake of food and clothing? Wishing you to be in comfort and able
+to satisfy your five senses, I formerly in such a year and month and
+on such a day, tied a priceless jewel within your garment. Now as of
+old it is present there, yet you in ignorance are slaving and worrying
+to keep yourself alive. How very stupid! Go you now and exchange that
+jewel for what you need, and for ever hereafter live as you will, free
+from poverty and shortage.’”
+
+    “Like this also were we.
+    For long has the One World-honoured
+    Always pitied and taught us
+    To cultivate supreme aspiration;
+    But, because of our ignorance,
+    We neither perceived nor knew it;
+    Gaining but a trifle of Nirvana,
+    Contented we sought no more.
+    Now the Buddha awakens us,
+    Saying this is not real Nirvana;
+    In attaining supreme Buddha-wisdom,
+    Does real Nirvana lie.
+    Now we, having heard from the Buddha
+    Our prediction and its glory,
+    And the command we receive in turn,
+    Full of joy are we, body and soul.’
+
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+
+  The beloved disciple of Śakyamuni was Ananda, sometimes spoken of as
+  the St. John of the Buddha. He it was whose memory guarded the
+  Treasury, or Doctrine of the Master’s Law. Rahula was Śakyamuni’s
+  son born while he was Prince Gautama. These two, Ananda and Rahula
+  now come forward to the feet of Buddha. Both prostrate themselves
+  and implore that they too may share in this Mahayana glory.
+
+“Ananda is always thy attendant, protecting and keeping the treasury
+of the Law, and Rahula is the Buddha’s son. If the Buddha sees fit to
+predict us to Perfect Enlightenment, our desires will be fulfilled and
+every hope be satisfied.”
+
+“Thereupon two thousand disciples, who had completed their hinayana
+training, all rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, went
+before the Buddha, with one mind folded their hands, and gazed upon
+the World-honoured One, wishing as Ananda and Rahula wished, and stood
+there in line.
+
+“Then the Buddha speaking to Ananda said: ‘In a future world you will
+become a Buddha with the title of Sovereign-Universal-King-of-Wisdom
+Mountain-high and Ocean-deep’.” His domain would be “Never-lowered
+Banner of Victory”, and his aeon “Full of Wonder-Sound.”
+
+  Then follows this arresting endeavour to depict infinity:
+
+“His lifetime will be such immeasurable thousands, myriads, kotis of
+numberless kalpas, that even if a man tried to count them through
+thousands, myriads, kotis, immeasurable, numberless kalpas it would be
+impossible to know it.”
+
+  A certain perplexity and seeming envy is bruited among eight
+  thousand bodhisattvas in the assembly, which the Buddha appeases by
+  explaining the favour done to Ananda in this prediction. He tells
+  them that he and Ananda first met in the realm of the Buddha
+  King-of-the-Firmament, and there they together attained the concept
+  of Perfect Enlightenment. Ananda was the more meditative; Śakyamuni
+  the more energetic. Consequently Śakyamuni first attained to
+  Buddhahood, while Ananda became the studious rememberer of his
+  teaching. Until Ananda becomes Buddha, therefore, he will continue
+  to be Guardian-of-the-Law of future Buddhas, and instruct and bring
+  to perfection the host of bodhisattvas. “Such was his original vow,
+  and consequently he receives this prediction.”
+
+  Instantly Ananda recalls to mind the Law-treasuries in the past of
+  unlimited myriads, kotis of Buddhas, and understands them without
+  difficulty as if he were now hearing them, recalling also his
+  original vow:
+
+    “The rare World-honoured One
+    Recalls to my mind the Law
+    Of countless Buddhas past,
+    As if I were hearing it to-day.
+    I now, having no more doubts,
+    Take up my abode in Buddhahood.
+    With skilfulness will I serve
+    And care for the Buddha’s Law.”
+
+  Of Rahula it is foretold that he will become a Buddha entitled
+  “Treader on Seven-jewelled Lotuses”. He will “pay homage to
+  Buddha-Tathagatas equal in number to the atoms of ten worlds, always
+  as the eldest son of those Buddhas, just as at present”. The Buddha
+  says:
+
+    “When I was prince-royal
+    Rahula was my eldest son.
+    Now that I have attained Buddhahood
+    He, as Law-heir, inherits the Law.
+    In ages of the future,
+    Seeing infinite kotis of Buddhas,
+    To all he will be eldest son,
+    Whole-hearted seeking Buddhahood.”
+
+  The two thousand who, with appealing looks stand expectant, are now
+  blessed in like manner. They will each attain to be Buddhas, at the
+  same time obtaining a realm in infinite space. The title of each
+  Buddha will be “Jewel Emblem” and their realms in every respect will
+  be equal.
+
+    “In the future they will every one be Buddhas.
+    . . . . .
+    And will reach Perfect Enlightenment.
+    In domains in all directions
+    Each will have the same title.
+    Simultaneously on wisdom-thrones
+    They will prove the Supreme Wisdom.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+
+  The Great Bodhisattva, mythical King of Healing, is now called forth
+  by the Buddha. Through him he addresses the “eighty thousand great
+  leaders”, saying:
+
+“King of Healing! Do you see in this assembly innumerable gods,
+dragon-kings, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras,
+mahoragas, human and non-human beings, as well as monks, nuns, male
+and female lay devotees, seekers after bodhisattvahood, sravakahood,
+seekers after pratyeka-buddhahood, and seekers after Buddhahood? Such
+beings as these, in the presence of the Buddha, if they hear but a
+single verse, or a single word of the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, and
+even by a single thought delight in it, I predict they will attain to
+Perfect Enlightenment.”
+
+“Again, let there be any who receive, keep, read, recite, expound
+or copy even a single verse of the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, and
+look upon this Sutra with reverence as if it were the Buddha, and
+make offerings to it in various ways with flowers, perfume, garlands,
+sandal-powder, perfumed unguents, incense for burning, silk-canopies,
+banners, flags, garments, and music, or even pay homage to it with
+folded hands; know, King of Healing, it is a sign that these people
+have already paid homage to ten myriad kotis of Buddhas, and under
+the Buddhas performed their great vows; therefore out of compassion
+for all living beings, they are born among men.
+
+“King of Healing! If there be any people who ask you what sort of
+living beings will become Buddhas in future worlds, you should show
+them that these are the people who will certainly become Buddhas in
+those worlds. Wherefore? If my good sons and good daughters receive
+and keep, read and recite, or expound, and copy even a single word in
+the Law-Flower Sutra, and make offerings to it in various ways with
+flowers, perfumes, garlands, sandal-powder, fragrant unguents, incense
+for burning, silk-canopies, banners, flags, garments, and music, and
+revere it with folded hands, these people should be looked up to by
+all the worlds; and just as you pay homage to Tathagatas, so should
+you pay homage to them. Know! These people are great Bodhisattvas
+who, having accomplished Perfect Enlightenment and out of compassion
+for all living beings, are willingly born into this world, widely to
+proclaim and expound the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra. How much more
+those who are perfectly able to receive, keep, and in every way pay
+homage to it! Know, King of Healing! These people will of themselves
+abandon the reward of their purified karma, and after my extinction,
+out of pity for all living beings, will be re-born in the evil world
+and widely proclaim this Sutra. If these good sons and daughters,
+after my extinction, should be able, even by stealth, to preach to
+one person but one word of the Law-Flower Sutra, know, these people
+are Tathagata-messengers sent by the Tathagata, to perform
+Tathagata-deeds. How much more so those who in great assemblies widely
+preach it to others!
+
+“King of Healing! Even if there be some wicked person who out of
+an evil mind, throughout a whole kalpa, in presence of the Buddha,
+unceasingly abuses the Buddha, his sin is still light. But if any one,
+even with a single ill word, defames lay devotees or monks who read
+and recite the Law-Flower Sutra, his sin is extremely heavy. King of
+Healing! Know that he who reads and recites the Law-Flower Sutra—that
+man has adorned himself with the adornment of Buddha, and so is
+carried by the Tathagata on his shoulder. Wherever he goes, he should
+be saluted with hands whole-heartedly folded, revered, worshipped,
+honoured, and extolled, and offerings made to him of flowers, perfumes,
+garlands, sandal-powder, perfumed unguents, incense for burning,
+silk-canopies, banners, flags, garments, edibles and dainties, and
+music—he should be served with the most excellent offerings found
+amongst men. Celestial jewels should be scattered before him and
+heaped offerings made of celestial jewels. Wherefore? Because this
+man delighting to preach the Law, they who hear it but for a moment
+thereupon attain to Perfect Enlightenment.”
+
+  Then the World-honoured One, desiring to proclaim this teaching over
+  again, spoke thus in verse:
+
+    “Should one wish to dwell in Buddhahood
+    And attain to intuitive Wisdom,
+    He must always earnestly honour
+    The keepers of the Flower of the Law.
+    Should one wish quickly to attain
+    To complete omniscience,
+    He must receive and keep this Sutra
+    And honour those who keep it.
+    Should one be able to receive and keep
+    The Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra,
+    Let him know he is the Buddha’s messenger,
+    Who compassionates all living beings.
+    He who is able to receive and keep
+    The Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra,
+    Casting aside his Paradise, and,
+    From pity for the living, being re-born,
+    Know, such a man as this,
+    Free to be born where he will,
+    Is able, in this evil world,
+    Widely to preach the Supreme Law.
+    You should, with celestial flowers and perfumes,
+    Robes of heavenly jewels, and heaps
+    Of wonderful celestial jewels,
+    Pay homage to such a preacher of the Law.
+    In evil ages after my extinction
+    Those who are able to keep this Sutra
+    Must be worshipped with folded hands,
+    As if paying homage to the World-honoured One.
+    With the best of dainties and sweets,
+    And every kind of garment,
+    This son of Buddha should be worshipped
+    In hope of hearing him if but for a moment.
+    In future ages, if one is able
+    To receive and keep this Sutra,
+    I will send him to be amongst men,
+    To perform the task of the Tathagata.”
+
+  Again he addresses the King of Healing:
+
+“Infinite thousands, myriads of kotis are the Sutras I preach, whether
+already preached, now being preached, or to be preached in the future.
+Among them all this Law-Flower Sutra is the most difficult to believe
+and the most difficult to apprehend. King of Healing! This Sutra is the
+very treasury of the secret of the Buddhas, and may not be recklessly
+offered to men. It is guarded by Buddhas, World-honoured Ones, and from
+of yore has never been divulged in the world. This Sutra, even while
+the Buddha is still here, has aroused much enmity and envy; how much
+more after his Nirvana?”
+
+  Thus does the author indicate that the doctrine of The Lotus is new
+  and subversive. The fact that he puts the new doctrine into the lips
+  of a spiritualized Buddha, in the form of a religious drama or
+  apocalypse, is far from patent to his Mahayana followers who, as
+  already stated, believe it to have been Śakyamuni’s final doctrine
+  while here on this earth.
+
+“Know, King of Healing! After the Tathagata enters Nirvana, those who
+are able to copy, keep, read, recite, worship or preach it to others,
+will be invested by the Tathagata with his robes, and will be protected
+and remembered by Buddhas now abiding in other regions.... Know, these
+people shall dwell with the Tathagata, and his hand shall be upon their
+heads.
+
+“King of Healing! In every place where this Sutra is preached,
+or read, or recited, or copied, or its volumes kept, one should
+erect a Stupa of the Precious Seven, making it very high, spacious
+and splendid. But there is no need to deposit any relics. Wherefore?
+Because in it there is the whole body of the Tathagata (i.e. this
+Sutra). This Sutra should be served, revered, honoured, and extolled
+with all kinds of flowers, perfumes, garlands, silk-canopies, banners,
+flags, music, and hymns. If any, seeing that Stupa, salute and worship
+it, know, that they all are near to Perfect Enlightenment. King of
+Healing! Many people there are, both laymen and monks, who walk in the
+Bodhisattva-Way, without, as it were, being able to see, hear, read,
+recite, copy, keep, and worship this Law-Flower Sutra. Know, that
+those people are not yet rightly walking in the Bodhisattva-Way. But
+if any hear this Sutra, then they shall be able to walk aright in the
+Bodhisattva-Way. If any living beings who seek after the Buddha-Way,
+either see or hear this Law-Flower Sutra, and after hearing it believe
+and discern, receive and keep it, you may know that they are near to
+Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+“This Sutra opens the way from the expedient, partial method to the
+full revelation of truth and reality. The treasury of this Law-Flower
+Sutra is so deep and secure, so hidden and remote that no human being
+can reach it. But now the Buddha has revealed it for instructing
+bodhisattvas and bringing them to perfection.”
+
+Should any good son or daughter resolve to preach this Sutra, let
+that good son or daughter “enter into the Dwelling of the Tathagata,
+be clad with the Robe of the Tathagata, and sit on the Seat of the
+Tathagata.... The Dwelling of the Tathagata is the great compassionate
+heart within all the living. The Robe of the Tathagata is the gentle
+and forbearing heart. The Seat of the Tathagata is the “Spirituality of
+all Existence”.
+
+“King of Healing! I, though dwelling in another realm, will send
+spirit-messengers to gather together hearers of the Law for that
+preacher, and also send spirit monks and nuns, male and female
+devotees, to hear such a one preach the Law. All these spirit-people,
+hearing this Law, will unresistingly receive it in faith and obey it.
+If the preacher of this Law should abide in a place remote from the
+world, I will abundantly send gods, dragons, spirits, and others to
+listen. Though I am in a different domain, I will from time to time
+cause the preachers of this Law to behold me. If such a one forgets any
+detail of this Sutra, I will return and tell him, that he may be in
+perfect possession of it.
+
+    “If, when he preaches this Sutra,
+    Some with ill mouth should abuse,
+    Lay on swords, sticks, shards or stones,
+    Let him think of the Buddha and be patient.
+    In thousands, myriads of lands
+    I will appear with unperishing body
+    And, in infinite kotis of kalpas,
+    Preach this Law for all the living.
+    . . . . .
+    Dwells he alone in secluded place,
+    In solitude with no voice of man,
+    . . . . .
+    Then I unto him will appear
+    With a pure and shining body.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+
+  On to the stage now comes perhaps the most dramatic scene in the
+  whole pageant. Suddenly there springs up from the earth, to the
+  midst of the sky, a Stupa or Shrine, of stupendous size and
+  magnificence. It is made of the seven precious things, that is,
+  gold, silver, and various precious stones. It is
+
+“splendidly adorned with five thousand parapets, thousands, myriads
+of recesses, and countless banners and flags; it is hung with jewel
+garlands; myriads and kotis of gem-bells are suspended on it. From it
+comes the exquisite fragrance of rare sandal-wood, filling the whole
+world. The thirty-three celestial gods rain celestial flowers upon
+it. The vast assembly of beings, gods, human and non-human beings pay
+homage to it.”
+
+  From the midst of the Shrine there comes a mighty voice saying:
+
+“Excellent! Excellent! World-honoured Śakyamuni! Thou art able to
+preach to the great assembly the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra of
+universal and mighty Wisdom, by which bodhisattvas are instructed and
+which the Buddhas themselves guard and teach. Thus it is, thus it is,
+World-honoured Śakyamuni! All is true that thou sayest.”
+
+  The Spirit-Bodhisattva “Great Eloquence” asks on behalf of the
+  assembly:
+
+“For what reason has this Stupa sprung out of the earth and from
+its midst this voice proceeded?”
+
+  Then Śakyamuni Buddha replies:
+
+“In this Stupa is the whole body of the Tathagata. Of yore, in the
+past, innumerable thousands, myriads, kotis of asamkhyeya worlds away
+in the east, there was a domain named ‘Jewel-clear’. In that domain
+there was a Buddha named ‘Abundant Treasures’. When that Buddha was
+treading the Bodhisattva-Way, he made a great vow, saying: ‘After I
+become a Buddha and am extinct, if in any country in the universe there
+be a place where the Law-Flower Sutra is preached, let my Stupa arise
+and appear there, in order that I may hearken to that Sutra, bear
+testimony to it and extol it, saying “Excellent”.’ When that Buddha had
+finished his course and his extinction was approaching, in the midst
+of gods, men, and a great host, he instructed his bhikshus: ‘After my
+extinction, those who desire to worship my whole body should erect a
+great Stupa.’ Wherever in the worlds of the universe, the Law-Flower
+Sutra is preached, that Buddha, by the supernatural powers of his
+vow, causes his Stupa containing his whole body to spring forth and
+praises the Sutra saying, ‘Excellent! Excellent!’ Great Eloquence!
+It is because just now the Tathagata ‘Abundant Treasures’ heard the
+Law-Flower Sutra being preached, that his Stupa sprang up from the
+earth and he extolled the Sutra saying ‘Excellent! Excellent!’”
+
+[Illustration: 7. The light from the Buddha’s brow announcing to all
+the worlds that he is about to preach the Lotus Sutra, and the sudden
+appearance of the Ancient Buddha in his shrine]
+
+“Thereupon the Bodhisattva Great-Eloquence, because of the divine power
+of the Tathagata, said to the Buddha: ‘World-honoured One! We
+earnestly desire to see this Buddha.’
+
+“The Buddha then addressed the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Great-Eloquence
+thus: ‘This Buddha, Abundant-Treasures, has a profound and grave vow:
+“When my Stupa appears in the presence of any Buddha that I may hear
+the Law-Flower Sutra, if he desires to show me to his four groups, let
+the Buddhas who have emanated from that Buddha, and who are preaching
+the Law in the worlds in all directions, together return and assemble
+in one place, and then will I appear in person”. So, Great-Eloquence,
+I must now assemble the Buddhas who have emanated from me and who are
+preaching the Law in the worlds in every direction.’
+
+“Great-Eloquence replied to the Buddha: ‘World-honoured One! We would
+also see the Buddhas emanated from the World-honoured One and worship
+and pay homage to them.’
+
+“Then the Buddha sent forth a ray from the white curl between his
+eyebrows, whereupon eastward there became visible the Buddhas in five
+hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains, as the sands of Ganges. All
+those domains had crystal for earth, jewel-trees and precious textures
+for adornment, were filled with countless thousands, myriads, kotis
+of Bodhisattvas, with jewelled canopies stretched above them, covered
+with network of jewels. All the Buddhas in those domains were preaching
+the laws with ravishing voices, and innumerable thousands, myriads,
+kotis of Bodhisattvas were also seen, filling those domains and
+preaching to the multitudes. So, too, was it in the southern, western,
+and northern quarters, in the four intermediate directions, in the
+zenith, and the nadir, wherever shone the ray-signal from the white
+curl.
+
+“Then the Buddhas in every direction each addressed the host of his
+Bodhisattvas saying: ‘Good sons! We must now go to Śakyamuni Buddha in
+the Saha-world, and pay homage to the Precious Stupa of the Tathagata
+‘Abundant-Treasures’.
+
+“Thereupon this Saha-world instantly became pure, with lapis lazuli
+for earth, adorned with jewel-trees, cords made of gold marking the
+boundaries of its eight divisions; having no hamlets, villages, towns,
+cities, great seas, great rivers, mountains, streams, forests, and
+thickets; smoking with most precious incense; its ground strewn with
+mandarva-flowers, spread with precious nets and curtains, and hung with
+all kinds of precious bells.
+
+“There remained only the assembled congregation, all other gods and men
+having been removed to other lands. Then those Buddhas, each bringing a
+great Bodhisattva as his attendant, arrived at the Saha-world and each
+went to the foot of a jewel-tree. Every jewel-tree was five hundred
+yojanas high, adorned in turn with boughs, leaves, blossoms, and fruit;
+under those jewel-trees there were lion-thrones, five yojanas high,
+also decorated with magnificent jewels. Then each of those Buddhas sat
+cross-legged on his throne.
+
+“Thus all around him the Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold World
+was filled with Buddhas; though as yet, from even one point of the
+compass, the Buddhas who had emanated from Śakyamuni Buddha had not
+finished arriving. Then Śakyamuni Buddha, desiring to make room for the
+Buddhas who had emanated from himself, in each of the eight directions
+of space transformed two hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains,
+all of them pure, without hells, hungry spirits, animals, and asuras,
+and also removed their gods and men to other lands. The domains
+thus transformed also had lapis lazuli for earth and were ornate
+with jewel-trees, five hundred yojanas high, adorned in turn with
+boughs, leaves, blossoms, and fruits; under every tree was a jewelled
+lion-throne, five yojanas high, decorated with every kind of gem; and
+there were no great seas, nor great rivers, nor any mountains.”
+
+  More and more vast worlds were transformed in like manner to receive
+  the approaching throng.
+
+“At that moment the Buddha-bodies which had emanated eastward from
+Śakyamuni, namely, the Buddhas who were each preaching the Law in
+hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of nayutas of eastern domains as
+the sands of Ganges, arrived and assembled. In like manner in turn
+the Buddhas from the ten directions all arrived and assembled and
+took their seats in the eight directions. Thereupon each direction
+was filled with Buddha-Tathagatas from its four hundred myriad kotis
+of nayutas of domains. Then the Buddhas, each under a jewel-tree,
+seated on a lion-throne, sent their attendants to make inquiries
+of Śakyamuni Buddha, each sending a double handful of jewel-flowers.
+
+“Then Śakyamuni Buddha, beholding the Buddhas who had emanated from
+him assembled together, each seated on his lion-throne, and hearing
+that those Buddhas unitedly desired the Precious Stupa to be opened,
+straightway rose up from his throne, and took his place in the Sky. The
+four groups stood up, folded their hands, and with all their mind gazed
+at the Buddha. Thereupon Śakyamuni Buddha with his right fingers opened
+the door of the Stupa of the Precious Seven, when there went forth
+a great sound, like the withdrawing of the bolt on opening a great
+city gate. Thereupon all the congregation saw the Tathagata ‘Abundant
+Treasures’ sitting on the lion-throne in the Precious Stupa, with his
+undissipated body whole and as if he were in meditation. And they heard
+him say: ‘Excellent! Excellent! Śakyamuni Buddha! Speedily preach the
+Law-Flower Sutra. I have come hither in order to hear this Sutra.’
+
+“Then the four groups, seeing the Buddha who had passed away and been
+extinct for immeasurable thousands, myriads, kotis of kalpas, speak
+such words as these, praised the unprecedented marvel, and strewed
+on the Buddha ‘Abundant Treasures’ and on Śakyamuni Buddha heaps of
+celestial jewel-flowers. Thereupon the Buddha ‘Abundant Treasures’
+within the Precious Stupa shared half his throne with Śakyamuni
+Buddha, speaking thus: ‘Śakyamuni Buddha! Take this seat!’
+Whereupon Śakyamuni Buddha entered into the Stupa and sitting down
+on that half throne folded his legs. Then the great assembly, seeing
+the two Tathagatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-throne in the
+Stupa of the Precious Seven, reflected thus: ‘The Buddhas are sitting
+aloft and far away. Would that the Tathagatas, by their transcendent
+power, might cause us together to take up our abode in the Sky!’
+Immediately Śakyamuni Buddha, by his transcendent power, received all
+the great assembly up into the Sky, and with a great voice, universally
+addressed the four groups saying: ‘Who is able to declare the Wonderful
+Law-Flower Sutra in this Saha-world? Now indeed is the time. The
+Tathagata not long hence must enter Nirvana. The Buddha desires to
+bequeath this Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, so that it may ever exist’.”
+
+  The dramatic and apocalyptic character of the work is no more
+  clearly evident than in this chapter. The splendid imagery of the
+  ancient Buddha appearing in his shrine, poised in the sky, the
+  unbolting of the door, the invitation to Śakyamuni to sit by him,
+  the still more striking conception of raising the whole congregation
+  into the heavens, even from a world already purified and expanded,
+  in which no longer was there any mountain, nor sea, nor river—all
+  this presentation of a gorgeous vision, such as no earthly eyes
+  could see, exhibits a Buddhism never preached by Śakyamuni while on
+  earth. Had the Mahayanists declared this Sutra to be a revelation
+  made by Śakyamuni after his withdrawal from earth, their position
+  would have been less vulnerable.
+
+  The verse section has passages such as the following, the speaker
+  being Śakyamuni:
+
+    “The Holy World-honoured Lord,
+    Albeit for long extinct,
+    And in his Precious Stupa,
+    Yet comes to hear the Law.
+    How then can any not be
+    Zealous in the Law?
+
+    This Buddha has been extinct
+    For countless numbers of kalpas.
+    Yet from place to place he goes,
+    To hear this rarely-preached Law.
+    This Buddha of old made a vow—
+    ‘After my final extinction,
+    I will wander anywhere
+    And ever to hear this Law.’
+
+    Innumerable Buddhas,
+    Who emanated from my person,
+    Many as sands of Ganges,
+    Have come to hear the Law,
+    And to behold the long extinct
+    Tathagata ‘Abundant Treasures’.
+    Each, leaving his wonderful land
+    And his multitude of disciples,
+    Gods, men, and nagas,
+    And all their offerings,
+    Has come here to this place
+    To ensure the Law will long abide.
+
+    In order to seat these Buddhas,
+    By my transcendent powers,
+    I have removed innumerable beings
+    And cleared my own domain.”
+
+  Again:
+
+    “Whoever is able to care
+    For the Law of this Sutra
+    Will be deemed to have worshipped
+    Me and ‘Abundant Treasures’,
+    This Buddha ‘Abundant Treasures’,
+    Who dwells in the Precious Stupa,
+    And wanders everywhere
+    For the sake of this Sutra.
+    He will moreover have worshipped
+    These my emanated Buddhas,
+    Who adorn and make resplendent
+    All worlds everywhere.
+    If he preaches this Sutra,
+    Then he is deemed to have seen me
+    And the Tathagata ‘Abundant Treasures’,
+    Also my emanated Buddhas.
+
+    All ye, my good sons!
+    Let each carefully ponder
+    That this is a difficult task,
+    Needing a great vow.
+    All the other sutras,
+    Numerous as sands of Ganges,
+    Though one expounded them all,
+    ’Twould still not be counted hard.
+    If one took up Sumeru
+    And hurled it to another region
+    Over numerous Buddha-lands,
+    Neither would that be hard.
+    If one were with his toes
+    To move a Great Chiliocosm
+    And hurl it afar to another land,
+    That also would not be hard.
+    If one stood on the summit of All things,
+    And expounded to all beings
+    The countless other sutras,
+    That also would not be hard.
+    But if, after the Buddha’s extinction,
+    In the midst of an evil world,
+    One is able to preach this Sutra,
+    This indeed is hard.
+
+    Though there should be a man
+    Who grasps the sky in his hand
+    And with it wanders about,
+    That is still not hard.
+    But if, after my extinction,
+    One himself should copy and keep,
+    Or cause another to copy this Sutra,
+    That indeed is hard.
+
+    If one took the great earth,
+    Put it on his toe-nail
+    And ascended to the Brahma-heaven,
+    That would still not be hard.
+    But, after the Buddha’s extinction,
+    In the midst of an evil world,
+    To read aloud this Sutra for a moment,
+    That indeed will be hard.
+
+    Though one, in the last conflagration,
+    Should carry a load of dry hay,
+    And pass through the fire unseared,
+    That would still not be hard.
+    But, after my extinction,
+    If any one keeps this Sutra
+    And proclaims it to one man only,
+    That indeed will be hard.
+
+    If one kept the Eighty-four Thousand
+    Sections of the Law
+    And the Twelve Divisions of Sutras,
+    Expounded them also to others,
+    And caused those who heard to gain
+    The Six Transcendent Towers—
+    Though he had such power as this,
+    That would still not be hard.
+    But if, after my extinction,
+    One hears and receives this Sutra
+    And searches into its meaning,
+    That indeed will be hard.”
+
+  Again:
+
+    “I, on account of Buddhahood,
+    In innumerable lands
+    From the beginning until now,
+    Have expounded many Sutras;
+    But, amongst them all,
+    This Sutra is the chief,
+    If any one is able to keep it,
+    Then he keeps the Buddha’s Body.
+
+    All you, my good sons!
+    Let him who, on my extinction,
+    Is able to receive and keep,
+    Read and recite this Sutra,
+    Now in presence of the Buddha,
+    Himself announce his vow!
+    This Sutra so hard to keep,
+    If one keeps it but a short time,
+    I shall still be pleased,
+    And so will all the Buddhas.
+
+    Such a one as this
+    Will be praised by all the Buddhas;
+    Such a one is brave;
+    Such a one is zealous;
+    Such a one is named Law-keeper
+    And Dhuta-observer;
+    Speedily shall he attain
+    To Supreme Buddhahood.
+    He who in the future
+    Can read and keep this Sutra,
+    Is truly a Buddha-son,
+    Dwelling in the stage of pure goodness.
+    After the Buddha’s extinction,
+    He who can expound its meaning,
+    Will be the eye of the world
+    For both gods and men.
+    He who, in the last age of fear,
+    Can preach it but for a moment,
+    By gods and men
+    Will be venerated.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+
+  That this chapter may be an interpolation is explained in the
+  Introduction. It proceeds to recount how Śakyamuni, ages ago,
+  “through innumerable aeons tirelessly sought the Law-Flower Sutra.”
+
+“During many kalpas I was long a king and vowed to seek the
+Supreme Wisdom, my mind never relenting.” “I bestowed alms
+unstintingly—elephants, horses, the seven precious things, countries,
+cities, wives, children, male and female slaves, servants and
+followers, head, eyes, marrow, brain, the flesh of my body, hands,
+and feet, unsparing of body and life. At that time people’s lifetime
+was beyond measure. For the sake of the Law, I gave up the throne
+of my domain, deputed my government to the prince-royal, and with
+beating drum and open proclamation, sought everywhere for the truth,
+promising—‘Whoever is able to tell me of a Great-Vehicle, him I will
+all my life provide for, and be his footman.’ At that time a certain
+hermit came to me, the king, and said: ‘I have a Great-Vehicle, named
+Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra. If you will not disobey me, I will explain
+it to you.’ I, the king, hearing what the hermit said, became ecstatic
+with joy and instantly followed, providing for his needs, gathering
+fruit, drawing water, collecting fuel, laying his food, even of my body
+making his seat and bed, yet never feeling fatigue of body or mind.
+While I thus served a ♦millennium passed, and for the sake of the
+Law, I zealously waited on him that he should lack nothing.’
+
+♦ “millenium” replaced with “millennium”
+
+“The aforetime king was myself and the sage at that juncture was the
+present Devadatta himself.”
+
+Then he foretells the future destiny of Devadatta, that he will become
+a Buddha named “Deva-king”, or “King of the gods”.
+
+“If there be, in a future world, any good son or good daughter who
+hears this Devadatta chapter of the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, with
+pure heart and believing reverence, and is free from doubt, such a one
+shall not fall into the hells or become a hungry spirit or animal,
+but shall be born into the presence of the Buddhas of the universe.
+Wherever he be born he will always hear this Sutra; and whether he
+be born amongst men or gods, he will enjoy marvellous delight. As
+to the Buddha into whose presence he is born, his birth shall be by
+transformation from a lotus-flower.”
+
+  Thereupon one of the attendants on the Buddha “Abundant Treasures”
+  within the Stupa, by name “Wisdom-Store”, says to his master: “Let
+  us return to our own land!” But Śakyamuni Buddha answers
+  Wisdom-Store: “Good son! Wait a while. Here is the Bodhisattva,
+  Manjuśri. First meet and discuss with him the Wonderful Law and then
+  return to your own land.”
+
+“Thereupon Manjuśri, sitting on a thousand-petal lotus-flower, large as
+a carriage-wheel, and the Bodhisattvas who accompany him, also sitting
+on jewelled lotus-flowers, unaided spring up from the great ocean,
+out of the palace of the Sagara Dragon-King. Taking up his place in
+the sky, he advances to the Divine Vulture Peak, alights from his
+lotus-flower, goes before the Buddha, and reverently makes obeisance
+at the feet of the two World-honoured Ones. When he has expressed his
+reverence he goes over to Wisdom-Store and, after they have asked
+of each other’s welfare, they withdraw and sit on one side. The
+Bodhisattva Wisdom-Store asks Manjuśri: ‘Virtuous Sir! Since you went
+to the Dragon palace, how many beings have you converted?’ Manjuśri
+answers: ‘Their numbers are immeasurable, they cannot be calculated,
+nor expressed in words, nor fathomed by the mind. Wait but a moment:
+let me give the proof.’ Before he has finished speaking numberless
+Bodhisattvas, sitting on jewelled lotus-flowers, spring up from the
+sea, advance to the Divine Vulture Peak, and take their places in the
+Sky. All these Bodhisattvas have been converted and saved by Manjuśri.”
+
+  Then the Bodhisattva Wisdom-Store extols him thus in verse:
+
+    “Most wise, brave and strong one!
+    Thou hast converted countless beings,
+    As now this great assembly
+    And I have all seen.
+    Expounding the principle of Reality
+    And revealing the One-Vehicle Law,
+    Widely hast thou led the living
+    To attain with speed to Bodhi.”
+
+Manjuśri replies: “That which in the midst of the ocean I always
+proclaimed, was no other than the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra.”
+
+Wisdom-Store asks Manjuśri: “This Sutra is very profound and subtle,
+the pearl of all the Sutras, a rarity in the world. Is there any
+being who, diligently and zealously practising this Sutra, can attain
+speedily to Buddhahood?”
+
+“There is the daughter of the Dragon-King Sagara,” Manjuśri replies,
+“just eight years old, wise and keen of faculties, well acquainted
+with the karma arising from the roots of action of all creatures, who
+has obtained dharani, has been able to receive and keep all the most
+profound and mystic treasuries revealed by Buddhas, and has deeply
+entered into meditations and penetrated into all laws. In a moment of
+time, she resolved on Bodhi and attained to non-relapse to mortality.
+She has unembarassed powers of argument, and has a compassionate
+mind for all the living as if they were her children; her merits are
+complete and the thoughts of her mind and discourses of her mouth are
+both subtle and great. Kind and compassionate, virtuous and modest,
+gentle and beautiful in her disposition, she has been able to attain to
+Bodhi.”
+
+The Bodhisattva Wisdom-Store doubtingly replies: “I have seen how
+Śakyamuni Tathagata, during innumerable kalpas, in doing arduous and
+painful deeds, accumulating merit and heaping up virtue, sought the
+Way of Bodhi ceaselessly and without rest. I have observed that in his
+Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-Worlds there is not even a spot
+as small as a mustard-seed where he has not laid down his body and life
+as a Bodhisattva, for the sake of the living; and only after that has
+he attained to Bodhi. It is incredible that this girl, in but a moment,
+should become perfectly enlightened.”
+
+[Illustration: 8. The Dragon King comes up from the ocean to receive
+the Buddha’s instruction]
+
+“Before he has ceased talking, the daughter of the Dragon-King suddenly
+appears before them and, after making reverent obeisance to the Buddha,
+withdraws to one side, extolling Him thus in verse:
+
+    “Profound seer of sin and goodness,
+    Illuminator of the universe;
+    Whose spiritual body, ethereal and pure,
+    Has the Thirty-two perfect Signs;
+    With the Eighty kinds of Excellence
+    Is his Spiritual Body adorned;
+    To whom gods and men look up,
+    Nagas and spirits pay reverence,
+    And all species of living beings
+    Pay their worship and honour;
+    Hearing the Truth, I attained to Bodhi;
+    To this only a Buddha may bear witness.
+    I will reveal the Great-Vehicle teaching
+    Which delivers creatures from suffering.”
+
+  Thereupon Śariputra says to the daughter of the Dragon-king:
+
+“You state that in no length of time you attained to the Supreme
+Way. This thing is hard to believe. Wherefore? Because the body of a
+woman is filthy and not a vessel of the Law. How can she attain to
+Supreme Bodhi? Buddhahood is so vast that only after passing
+through innumerable kalpas, enduring hardship, accumulating good works,
+and perfectly practising the Perfections, can it be accomplished.
+Moreover, a woman by her body still has five hindrances, viz., she
+cannot become, firstly, king of the Brahma-heaven: secondly, Sakra;
+thirdly, a Mara-king; fourthly, a Holy Wheel-rolling King; and fifthly,
+a Buddha. How then could a woman’s body so speedily become a Buddha?”
+
+“Now the Dragon’s daughter possesses a precious pearl, worth a
+Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-World, which she holds up and
+presents to the Buddha, and which the Buddha immediately accepts. The
+Dragon’s daughter then says to the Bodhisattva Wisdom-Store and the
+Honoured Śariputra:
+
+“‘I have offered my pearl, and the World-honoured One has accepted
+it—was this action speedy?’
+
+“‘Most speedy’ they answered.
+
+“‘By your supernatural powers behold me become a Buddha, even more
+rapidly than that!’ says the daughter.
+
+“At this moment the entire congregation sees the Dragon’s daughter
+suddenly transformed into a male, perfect in Bodhisattva-deeds, who
+instantly goes to the World ‘Spotless’ in the southern quarter, where
+she sits on a precious lotus-flower, attaining perfect enlightenment,
+with the Thirty-two Signs and the Eighty kinds of Excellence, and
+universally proclaiming the Wonderful Law to every living creature in
+the universe.”
+
+  Great is the rejoicing that follows among the disciples, as also
+  amongst gods and the spirits, high and low, and many are converted
+  or make progress in faith and powers.
+
+  The immediate conversion of the daughter of the dragon-king into a
+  Buddha is a remarkable tribute to the spirit of the Lotus doctrine,
+  revealing its freedom from every hindrance to the Universal
+  Salvation it preaches. It is distinctive in this respect among all
+  the Mahayana sutras, that even a female can become, and become
+  immediately, a Buddha. Whether the chapter is an interpolation or
+  not, it has had a profound effect on Mahayana doctrine and
+  propagation.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+
+  The King of Healing and another great Bodhisattva named Eloquent,
+  are now introduced. Whether they are creations from the author’s own
+  imagination, or of a preceding age is not known. The two seek to
+  allay the Buddha’s anxiety in regard to the future of the Lotus
+  Doctrine in this realm of Śakyamuni’s Buddhaship.
+
+“Be pleased, World-honoured One, to be without anxiety! After the
+extinction of the Buddha we will keep, read, recite, and preach this
+Sutra. In the evil age to come, living beings will decrease in good
+qualities and increase in utter arrogance, coveting gain and honours,
+developing their evil qualities and being far removed from deliverance.
+Though it may be difficult to teach and convert them, we, exerting our
+utmost patience, will read and recite this Sutra, keep, preach, and
+copy it, pay every kind of homage to it, and be unsparing of body and
+life.”
+
+  Companies of disciples also approach to take the same vow. They are
+  followed by the Buddha’s aunt, who was also his foster-mother.
+  Standing before him with her six thousand nuns, she gazes into his
+  face silently. In reply to her appealing look he says:
+
+“Why, with sad countenance, do you gaze at the Tathagata? Are you
+not thinking that I have not mentioned your name nor predicted you
+to Perfect Enlightenment? Gautami! I have already inclusively
+announced that the future of all my disciples is predicted. Now you,
+who desire to know your future destiny, shall in the worlds to come
+become a great Teacher in the law of sixty-eight thousand kotis of
+Buddhas. And these your six thousand bikshunis, still in training
+and already trained, will become teachers of the Law. Thus you will
+gradually become perfect in the Bodhisattva-Way, and will become a
+Buddha entitled ‘Loveliness’ Tathagata.”
+
+  To Rahula’s mother is promised similarly the title of “The Perfect
+  Myriad-rayed Tathagata”. These two and all their followers rejoice
+  with great joy, and take the vow to preach the Lotus Truth.
+
+After these the vast assembly of Great Bodhisattvas, who may be
+described as the angels and archangels of Buddhism, approach the Buddha
+and with folded hands, reflect thus:
+
+“If the World-honoured One commands us to keep and expound this Sutra,
+we will proclaim abroad this Law as the Buddha has taught it.” Again
+they reflect thus: “The Buddha now is silent; we are not commanded.
+What shall we do?”
+
+“Then these Bodhisattvas, respectfully obeying the Buddha’s will and
+themselves desiring to fulfil their original vow, before the Buddha
+raise a lion’s roar and utter a vow saying: ‘World-honoured One! After
+the extinction of the Tathagata we will compass and travel through the
+worlds in every direction, in order to lead all the living to copy this
+Sutra, receive and keep, read and recite it, expound its meaning,
+practise it as their law, and rightly keep it in mind; entirely by
+the Buddha’s might. Be pleased, World-honoured One, though in another
+quarter, to behold and guard us from afar!’”
+
+  The whole company now chant together a long poem from which the
+  following stanzas are taken. It will be observed that the author
+  shows he has already experienced the rejection of the new doctrine
+  at the hands of the orthodox. He reveals his resentment against the
+  Hinayanists in various ways, and especially against their calumny
+  that his Sutra has been invented for gain or fame and to delude the
+  people.
+
+    “Pray be without anxiety!
+    After the Buddha’s extinction,
+    In the last dread evil age,
+    We will proclaim this Sutra.
+    Though many ignorant men
+    Will with evil mouth abuse us,
+    And beat us with swords and staves,
+    We will endure it all.
+
+    Monks in that evil age,
+    Heretical, warped, suspicious,
+    Crying ‘attained’ when they have not,
+    Will have minds full of arrogance.
+    Others in the Aranya
+    Will wear the patched robe in seclusion,
+    Thinking they walk the true path,
+    And scorning dwellers among men.
+    Others greedy for gain,
+    Will preach the Law to laymen
+    And be revered by the world as Arhats
+    Of the Six Transcendent Powers;
+    These men cherishing evil minds,
+    Ever thinking of earthly things,
+    Assuming the name of Aranyas,
+    Will love to calumniate us,
+    Saying such words as these—
+    ‘All these bhikshu-fellows,
+    Because of love of gain,
+    Preach an heretical doctrine;
+    Themselves have composed this Sutra
+    To delude the people of the world;
+    For the sake of acquiring fame,
+    They specialize on this Sutra.’
+    Always in the assemblies,
+    In order that they may ruin us,
+    To kings and to their ministers,
+    To Brahmans and to citizens,
+    To the other groups of bhikshus,
+    Of us they will speak slanderously,
+    Saying: ‘These are men of false views,
+    Who proclaim heretical doctrines.’
+
+    But, from reverence for Buddha,
+    We will endure those evils.
+    Though contemptuously addressed as—
+    ‘All you Buddhas!’
+    Even such scorn and arrogance
+    We will patiently endure.
+    In the corrupt kalpa’s evil age.
+    Abounding in fear and dread,
+    Devils will take possession of them
+    To curse, abuse and insult us.
+    But we, reverently believing Buddha,
+    Will wear the armour of long-suffering;
+    For the sake of preaching this Sutra
+    Every hard thing we will endure.
+    We will not love body nor life,
+    But care only for the Supreme Way.”
+
+  And again:
+
+    “In the presence of the World-honoured One
+    And the Buddhas from every direction,
+    Thus we make our vows,
+    And the Buddha knows our hearts.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XIV
+
+
+  The great Bodhisattva Manjuśri now addresses the Buddha in praise of
+  this vast concourse, which has pledged itself wholly and solely to
+  The Lotus doctrine. He asks how they are to preach it in the evil
+  age to come. Thereupon the Buddha lays down certain rules, which are
+  styled the Four Methods.
+
+  The first is styled the Bodhisattva’s Sphere of Action and Intimacy;
+  the second, that of a Serene Mind; the third, that of Thought
+  towards Others; and the fourth, that of Charity and Compassion.
+
+  In the Sphere of Action and Intimacy, the bodhisattva “dwells in a
+  state of patience, is gentle and agreeable, is neither hasty nor
+  overbearing, and his mind is unperturbed; he has no active interest
+  in affairs, but sees all things in their reality, and neither takes
+  part in nor discusses them”. As to his intimates, he has no intimacy
+  with kings, princes, ministers, and rulers; nor with heretics and
+  naked fakirs; nor with authors of worldly books of prose or poetry;
+  nor with pugilists, sportsmen and jugglers; nor with hunters,
+  fishermen and butchers; nor with keepers of domestic animals for
+  food. He may preach the Law to them when they seek him, expecting
+  nothing in return. His ♦objection to Hinayana is so strong that he
+  will not consort with its disciples, nor speak to them, neither
+  within nor without. If they should come to him, he preaches the
+  Sutra to them.
+
+  ♦ “objecjection” replaced with “objection”
+
+  He is strict in conduct towards women and girls. He should not
+  “preach the Law to women, displaying an appearance capable of
+  arousing passionate thoughts, nor have pleasure in seeing them; if
+  he enters the homes of others, he does not converse with any girl,
+  virgin, widow, and so forth, nor again does he become on friendly
+  terms with any hermaphrodite; he does not enter the homes of others
+  alone; if for some reason he must enter there alone, then with
+  single mind he thinks on the Buddha; if he preaches the Law to
+  women, he does not show his teeth in smiles, nor let his breast be
+  seen; not even for the sake of the Law does he ever become intimate
+  with them, how much less for other reasons. He takes no pleasure in
+  keeping young pupils, sramaneras, and children; nor has he pleasure
+  in being with them as teachers; but ever preferring meditation and
+  seclusion, he cultivates and controls his mind. Manjuśri! This is
+  termed the first Intimate Sphere of a Bodhisattva”.
+
+  His proper sphere of Intimacy is with things in their reality. He
+  looks upon them as empty, void, unreal and thus sees them as they
+  really are, “just like space, of the nature of nothingness, cut off
+  from the course of all words and expressions, unborn, not coming
+  forth, not arising, nameless, formless, really without existence,
+  infinite, boundless, unimpeded, unrestrained, only existing in
+  causation and brought into being through perceptive perversion.”
+
+    “If any Bodhisattva
+    In the future evil age
+    With fearlessness of mind
+    Desires to preach this Sutra,
+    Let him occupy his Sphere of Action
+    And his proper Sphere of Intimacy;
+    Ever avoiding kings,
+    And the sons of kings,
+    Ministers and rulers,
+    Brutal and dangerous performers.
+    . . . . .
+    Let him also not consort
+    With men of arrogance
+    Devoted to the study of the
+    Tripitaka of Hinayana.
+    . . . . .
+    Nor with female disciples
+    Fond of banter and laughter.
+    . . . . .
+    But if such people as these,
+    In goodness of their mind,
+    Come to the Bodhisattva
+    To hear the Buddha-Way
+    Then the Bodhisattva,
+    With fearless of mind,
+    Cherishing no expectation,
+    Should preach to them the Law.
+    . . . . .
+    If there should be any monk
+    Who, after my extinction,
+    Enters this Sphere of Action
+    And this Sphere of Intimacy,
+    When he preaches this Sutra,
+    He will be freed from timid weakness.
+    When this Bodhisattva
+    Enters his quiet room,
+    And, in perfect meditation,
+    Sees things in their true meaning,
+    And, rising from his meditation,
+    Whether to kings or nations,
+    Or princes, ministers and people,
+    To Brahmans or to others,
+    Opens up, expounds,
+    And preaches to them this Sutra,
+    His mind shall be at ease
+    And free from timid weakness.
+    Manjuśri!
+    This is the Bodhisattva’s
+    First Law of Steadfastness,
+    By which he is able, in future ages,
+    To preach the Law-Flower Sutra.”
+
+  The second Sphere is that of Serenity. In preaching he has no
+  pleasure in exposing the errors of others, or of the Sutras; he
+  despises not other preachers, nor speaks of their good or evil,
+  their merits or demerits; nor does he single out disciples by name
+  and expose their sins, nor by name praise their virtues; nor does he
+  cherish dislike. By keeping well such a serene heart, those who hear
+  will not oppose him. “To those who ask difficult questions, he does
+  not give answer after the manner of the Hinayanists, but in Mahayana
+  fashion, explaining in such manner that they may obtain Perfect
+  Knowledge.”
+
+    “The wise man in ways such as these,
+    Rightly cultivates his mind,
+    And is able to abide serene.
+    The merit of such a man,
+    Thousands, myriads, kotis of kalpas
+    Spent in reckoning and comparison
+    Would not suffice for the telling.”
+
+  The Third Sphere is that of his attitude of mind towards others; but
+  it is not easy to distinguish this Sphere from the last. He “does
+  not cherish an envious, suspicious and deceitful mind; nor does he
+  slight and abase the learners of the Buddha-Way and seek out their
+  excesses and shortcomings”. He does not distress any seekers,
+  causing them doubts and regrets. He does not indulge in
+  disputations. He is reverent to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and
+  preaches the Law, neither more nor less. Nothing can perturb such a
+  monk and multitudes will flock to hear him.
+
+    “Let him who would preach the Sutra
+    Renounce an envious, angry, proud,
+    Deceitful or false mind,
+    And ever do upright deeds;
+    He should disparage none,
+    Never argue over the Law,
+    Nor cause others doubts or regret,
+    . . . . .
+    But ever be gentle, patient,
+    And compassionate to all.”
+
+  The Fourth Sphere of Action is that of Charity towards laymen and
+  friars, and Compassion for those not yet bodhisattvas. He should
+  remember that these people are great losers, for they have never
+  learnt the true Way. “Though they have not sought, nor believed, nor
+  understood this Sutra”, yet, says the Buddha, “when I have attained
+  to my Perfect Enlightenment, wherever I am, by my transcendent
+  powers and powers of wisdom, I will lead them to take up their abode
+  in this Law.”
+
+  The disciple who reaches and accomplishes the Fourth Sphere, when he
+  preaches will be free from error, and will ever be revered by all
+  disciples, kings and princes, ministers and people, brahmans and
+  citizens. The gods will protect him and will reveal to him the
+  answer to those who confront him with hard questions; because this
+  Sutra is that which all Buddhas, past, present, and to come, watch
+  over by their divine powers.
+
+  Then follows a parable to show that it is the very jewel of jewels,
+  the crown-jewel of the Buddhas.
+
+“It is like a powerful sacred Wheel-rolling King who desires by force
+to conquer other domains. When minor kings do not obey his command,
+the Wheel-rolling King calls up his various armies and goes to punish
+them. The King, seeing his soldiers distinguish themselves in the war,
+is greatly pleased and, according to their merit, bestows rewards,
+either giving fields, houses, villages or cities, or giving garments
+or personal ornaments, or giving all kinds of treasures, gold, silver,
+lapis lazuli, moon-stones, agates, coral, amber, elephants, horses,
+carriages, litters, male and female slaves, and people; only the
+crown-jewel on his head he gives to none. Wherefore? Because only on
+the head of a king may this sole jewel be worn, and, if he were to give
+it, his retinue would be amazed. Manjuśri! The Tathagata is also like
+this. By his powers of meditation and wisdom, he has taken possession
+of the domain of the Law and rules as King over the triple world. But
+the Mara-kings are unwilling to submit. The Tathagata’s wise and holy
+generals fight against them. With those who distinguish themselves he,
+too, is pleased, and in the midst of his four hosts preaches the Sutras
+to them, causing them to rejoice, bestowing on them the meditations,
+the emancipations, the faultless roots and powers, and all the wealth
+of the Law. In addition, he gives them the city of Nirvana, saying that
+they have attained to extinction, and attracts their minds so that
+they all rejoice; yet he does not yet preach to them this Law-Flower
+Sutra. Manjuśri! Just as the Wheel-rolling King, seeing his soldiers
+distinguish themselves, is so extremely pleased that now at last he
+gives them the incredible jewel so long worn on his head, which may not
+wantonly be given to any one, so also is it with the Tathagata.
+
+“As the Great Law-King of the triple world, teaching and converting the
+living by his Law, when he sees his wise and holy army fighting
+with the Mara of the five mental processes, the Mara of earthly ills,
+and the Mara of death, and doing so with great exploits and merits,
+exterminating the three poisons, escaping from the triple world, and
+breaking through the nets of the Maras, then the Tathagata also is
+greatly pleased. Now at last he preaches this Law-Flower Sutra which
+has never before been preached, and which is able to cause all the
+living to reach perfect knowledge, though the world greatly resents
+and has difficulty in believing it. Manjuśri! This Law-Flower Sutra
+is the supreme teaching of the Tathagatas and the most profound of
+all discourses. I give it to you last, just as that powerful king at
+last gives the brilliant jewel he has guarded for long. Manjuśri! This
+Law-Flower Sutra is the mysterious treasury of the Buddha-Tathagatas,
+which is supreme above all Sutras. For long has it been guarded and not
+prematurely declared; to-day for the first time I proclaim it to you.”
+
+    “It is like to a powerful
+    Wheel-rolling King
+    Who, to his war-distinguished soldiers,
+    Makes presents of many rewards,
+    Elephants, horses, carriages,
+    Litters, personal ornaments,
+    As well as fields and houses,
+    Villages and cities;
+    Or bestows garments,
+    Various kinds of jewels,
+    Slaves and other wealth,
+    Bestowing all with joy;
+    But only for one, heroic
+    And of rare exploits,
+    Does the king take from his head
+    The crown-jewel to give him.
+
+    Thus also is it with the Tathagata;
+    He is the king of the laws,
+    Possessing great powers of endurance
+    And the treasury of wisdom;
+    With great benevolence,
+    He transforms the world with his Law.
+    Seeing every human being
+    Suffering from pains and distresses,
+    Seeking for deliverance,
+    Fighting against the Maras,
+    To these living beings,
+    He has preached various laws
+    And, in great tactfulness,
+    Has preached these numerous Sutras;
+    Finally knowing the living
+    Have attained developed powers,
+    At the very last he to them
+    Preaches this Law-Flower,
+    As the king takes from his head
+    The jewel and bestows it.
+    So this Sutra is pre-eminent
+    Among all the Sutras.
+
+    I have always carefully guarded
+    And not prematurely revealed it.
+    Now, indeed, is the time
+    To preach it to you all.
+    After my extinction,
+    Whoever seeks Buddhahood
+    And desires in serenity
+    To proclaim this Sutra,
+    Should associate himself with
+    Such four rules as these.
+
+    He who reads this Sutra
+    Will ever be free from worry
+    And free from pain and disease;
+    His face will be fresh and white;
+    He will not be born poor,
+    In low estate, or ugly.
+    All creatures will delight to see him
+    As of a longed-for saint;
+    Heavenly cherubim
+    Will be his servitors.
+    Nor sword, nor staff, will be laid on him;
+    Poison cannot harm him;
+    If any one would curse him,
+    That man’s mouth will be closed.
+    Fearlessly he will roam
+    Like to a Lion-king.
+    The radiance of his wisdom
+    Will shine forth like the sun.
+    If he should be in dreams,
+    He will only behold the wonderful,
+    Seeing the Tathagatas
+    Seated on Lion-Thrones,
+    Preaching the Law to hosts
+    Of surrounding bhikshus.
+    . . . . .
+    He will also see the Buddhas,
+    With the sign of the golden body,
+    Emitting boundless light,
+    Illuminating all beings,
+    And with their Brahma-voices,
+    Discoursing on the laws.
+    While Buddha to the four groups
+    Is preaching the Supreme Law,
+    He will find himself in the midst
+    Praising Buddha with folded hands;
+    Hearing the Law with joy.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   XV
+
+
+  The Great Bodhisattvas, numerous as the sands of Ganges, who had
+  come from other Buddha-realms, now offer their services to Śakyamuni
+  Buddha in his realm. But to them he replies that he already has vast
+  numbers of Great Bodhisattvas of his own.
+
+“Enough! My good sons! There is no need for you to protect and keep
+this Sutra. Wherefore? Because in my Saha-world there are in fact
+Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas as the sands of sixty thousand Ganges; each
+one of these Bodhisattvas has a retinue as the sands of sixty thousand
+Ganges; these persons are able, after my extinction, to protect and
+keep, read and recite, and preach abroad this Sutra.”
+
+“When the Buddha has thus spoken, the earth of the
+Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold Land of the Saha-world trembles
+and quakes and from its midst there issue together innumerable
+thousands, myriads, kotis of Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas. All these
+Bodhisattvas with their golden-hued bodies, thirty-two Signs, and
+boundless radiance, have before been dwelling below this Saha-world,
+in the space supporting this world. These Bodhisattvas, hearing the
+voice of Śakyamuni Buddha preaching, spring forth from below. Each
+one of them is the commander of a great host, each leading a retinue
+as the sands of the sixty thousand Ganges; moreover, others lead
+their retinues as the sands of fifty thousand, forty thousand, thirty
+thousand, twenty thousand, ten thousand Ganges, down to the sands of
+one Ganges, the sands of half a Ganges, a quarter of it, down to
+a fraction of it, the decimal point of thousands, myriads, kotis of
+nayutas; moreover, a thousand myriad kotis of nayutas of followers, a
+myriad kotis of followers, a thousand myriad, a hundred, or even ten;
+moreover, those who lead five, four, three, two disciples, or even
+one disciple; moreover, one who is alone, happy in the practice of
+isolation. Such Bodhisattvas as these are immeasurable, illimitable,
+beyond the powers of comprehension by calculation or comparison.
+
+“When these Bodhisattvas have emerged from the earth, each goes up
+to the wonderful Stupa of the Precious Seven in the sky, where are
+the Tathagata Abundant-Treasures and Śakyamuni Buddha. On their
+arrival they make obeisance with faces to the ground towards both
+the World-honoured Ones and, going to the Buddhas seated on the
+lion-thrones under the jewel-trees, they also salute them, three times
+making procession round them on their right, with folded hands revering
+them, and extolling them with all kinds of Bodhisattva hymns. Then they
+stand on one side, with delight gazing upon both the World-honoured
+Ones.
+
+“From the time that these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas first issue from the
+earth and extol the Buddhas with all kinds of Bodhisattva hymns, in
+the interval there pass fifty minor kalpas. During this time Śakyamuni
+Buddha sits in silence; silent also are the four groups; but the fifty
+kalpas, through the divine power of the Buddha, seem to the great
+multitude as but half a day.”
+
+  The four leaders of this vast host then ask the Buddha:
+
+    “Is the World-honoured One at ease,
+    With few ailments and troubles?
+    In instructing the living beings,
+    Is he free from weariness?
+    And are all the living
+    Readily accepting his teaching?
+    Do they not cause the World-honoured
+    To become weary and tired?”
+
+“Yes! Yes! My good sons!” replies the Buddha, “The Tathagata is at
+ease, with few ailments and few troubles. These beings are easy to
+convert and transform and I am free from weariness.... All these beings
+from first seeing me and hearing my preaching, have received it in
+faith, and entered the Tathagata-wisdom, save those who had practised
+and learnt the Hinayana; but even such as these I have now caused to
+hear this Sutra and enter the Buddha-Wisdom.”
+
+  The Bodhisattvas reply:
+
+    “Good! Good!
+    Great Hero, World-honoured One!
+    All these living creatures
+    Are easily transformed by thee,
+    Are able to inquire into
+    The profound wisdom of Buddhas
+    And, hearing, to believe and discern.
+    We therefore felicitate thee.”
+
+  Maitreya and the disciples are amazed at this vast concourse, and at
+  Śakyamuni claiming them as his Bodhisattvas.
+
+    “These countless thousands, myriads,
+    This great host of Bodhisattvas,
+    We have never seen their like.
+    Be pleased to tell, honoured of men,
+    Whence came they and why
+    They are thus assembled
+    Mighty of frame, transcendent in power,
+    Of wisdom inscrutable,
+    Strong of will and memory,
+    Firm in endurance,
+    Whom all rejoice to see—
+    Whence came they?”
+
+  A long account follows descriptive of their countless numbers:
+
+    “If any one tried to keep tally
+    Through kalpas as Ganges’ sands
+    He still could not tell their number.
+    All these great, majestic,
+    Zealous Bodhisattva hosts—
+    Who has preached the Law to them,
+    Instructed and perfected them?
+    . . . . .
+    From every quarter of the riven earth
+    They all spring forth from its midst.
+    World-honoured One! From of old
+    We have never witnessed such beings.
+    . . . . .
+    We know not a single one
+    Among this countless host,
+    Who suddenly spring from the earth.
+    Be pleased to tell us the cause!
+    . . . . .
+    What is the course of their history?
+    World-honoured One of measureless Virtue
+    Wilt thou resolve our doubts?”
+
+  In like manner the disciples of the concourse of other Buddhas
+  present, each asks his own Buddha the same question: This vast
+  concourse of the glorified—whence came they?
+
+“Good, good! Ajita!” replies Śakyamuni to Maitreya, “Well have you
+asked the Buddha concerning so great a matter. Do you all, with one
+mind, don the armour of zeal and exhibit a firm will, for the Tathagata
+now intends to reveal and proclaim the wisdom of Buddhas, the sovereign
+and supernatural power of Buddhas, the lion-eagerness of Buddhas, and
+the awe-inspiring forceful power of Buddhas.”
+
+[Illustration: 9. Kuan-yin, the Regarder of the Cries of the world,
+saves the storm-tossed mariners who call for aid
+
+From an A.D. 1681 facsimile of an A.D. 1331 edition of the illustrated
+Kuan-yin chapter of this Sutra]
+
+  Then first in prose, afterwards in verse Maitreya is told:
+
+    “Ajita! Know thou!
+    These Great Bodhisattvas,
+    Who, from past numberless kalpas,
+    Have observed the Buddha wisdom,
+    All of these are my converts,
+    Whose minds I have set on the Great Way.
+    These Bodhisattvas are my sons
+    Who dwell in this Buddha-world.
+    Ever practising the Dhuta deeds,
+    Joyfully devoted to quiet places,
+    Shunning the clamour of crowds,
+    With no pleasure in many words.
+    All these sons of mine,
+    Learning and keeping the Law of my Way,
+    Are always zealous day and night,
+    For the sake of seeking Buddhahood;
+    They dwell below the Saha-world,
+    In the region of space beneath it.
+    Firm in their powers of will and memory,
+    Ever diligent in seeking wisdom,
+    They preach every kind of mystic law,
+    Their minds devoid of any fear.
+    I, near the city of Gaya,
+    Sitting beneath the Bodhi-tree,
+    Accomplished Perfect Enlightenment;
+    And rolling the supreme Law-wheel,
+    I then taught and converted them
+    And caused them to seek the One Way.
+    Now they all abide in the never-relapsing state,
+    And every one will become a Buddha.
+    What I now speak is the truth;
+    Believe it with single mind!
+    I from a long distant past
+    Have taught and trained all this host.”
+
+  Maitreya and the disciples again express their perplexity, wondering
+  how the Master can have instructed such a countless host in so short
+  a time. They remind him that but forty years have passed since his
+  own enlightenment under the bodhi-tree. How can he have accomplished
+  such mighty Buddha-deeds in so brief a period? If the host were
+  counted through all time, their numbers could not be told. These
+  Bodhisattvas are not beings of earth, but have lived through the far
+  past under countless numbers of Buddhas.
+
+“World-honoured One! Such a claim the world will find it hard to credit.
+
+“It is much as if there were a man, of fine complexion and black hair,
+twenty-five years old, who pointed to centenarians and said: ‘These
+are my sons’; and as if these centenarians also pointed to the youth
+and said: ‘This is our father who begot and reared us’. This matter
+is hard of belief. So also is it with the Buddha, whose attainment of
+the Way is truly not long since. Yet this great host of Bodhisattvas,
+for numberless, thousands, myriads, kotis of kalpas, for the sake of
+Buddahood, have devoted themselves with zeal; they have entered deep
+into, come out of and dwelt in infinite hundreds, thousands, myriads,
+kotis of samadhis; have attained the great transcendent faculties
+and for long lived noble lives; have been well able, step by step,
+to learn all kinds of good laws; they are skilful in question and
+answer, are treasures amongst men and of extreme rareness in all the
+world. Yet to-day the World-honoured One has just said that, when he
+attained to Buddhahood, he then caused them to set their minds on
+enlightenment, instructed and led, and caused them to proceed toward
+Perfect Enlightenment. It is not long since the World-honoured One
+became a Buddha, yet he has been able to do this great meritorious
+deed! Though we ourselves still believe that what the Buddha has
+opportunely preached, and the words the Buddha has uttered, have never
+been false, and also the Buddha’s knowledge is all perceived by us, yet
+if newly-converted bodhisattvas hear this statement after the Buddha’s
+extinction, they may not believe it, with resultant misdeeds, to the
+destruction of the Law. So, World-honoured One, be pleased to explain
+it, removing our doubts so that thy good sons in future generations, on
+hearing this matter, shall also not beget doubt.”
+
+    “We ourselves believe the Buddha
+    And have no doubts upon this matter;
+    But beg the Buddha, for future hearers,
+    To explain, that they may understand.
+    For if any in regard to this Sutra
+    Should beget unbelief and doubt,
+    He would fall into evil karma.
+    Be pleased to make explanation
+    How these numberless Bodhisattvas
+    In so short a space of time,
+    Have been instructed and developed,
+    And abide in this ever-advancing stage.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XVI
+
+
+  In reply to these questions Śakyamuni now makes his great
+  revelation. This chapter is the climax. It contains the author’s
+  declaration that the Buddha is Eternal, beyond all limits of time
+  and space. It is the Eternal Buddha who is in Śakyamuni. His is the
+  voice that speaks, His the vast host, His the Eternal Life which
+  gives its name to this chapter.
+
+  Then says the Buddha to the Bodhisattvas and the vast assembly:
+
+“Believe and discern, all you good sons, the Tathagata’s word of Truth.”
+
+  Thrice he repeats it.
+
+  Maitreya, with folded hands, implores the Buddha, and all the
+  disciples cry with him three times,
+
+“We beseech thee explain; we will believe the Buddha’s word.”
+
+“Then the World-honoured, perceiving that the bodhisattvas thrice
+without ceasing repeated their request, addressed them saying:
+
+“‘Listen then each of you attentively to the secret, mysterious and
+supernatural power of Tathagata. All the worlds of gods, men and asuras
+declare: “Now has Śakyamuni-Buddha, coming forth from the palace of the
+Sakya-clan, and seated at the place of enlightenment, not far from the
+city of Gaya, attained to Perfect Enlightenment.” But, good sons, since
+I veritably became Buddha, there have passed infinite, boundless,
+hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas of kalpas. For instance,
+suppose there were five hundred thousand myriad kotis, nayutas of
+numberless Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold-Worlds; let some one grind
+them to atoms, pass eastward through five hundred thousands, myriads,
+kotis, nayutas of numberless countries, and then drop one of those
+atoms; suppose he thus proceeded eastward till he had finished those
+atoms,—what do you think, good sons, is it possible to imagine and
+calculate all those worlds so as to know their number?’
+
+.....
+
+“‘Good sons! Now I must clearly announce and declare to you. Suppose
+you take as atomized all those worlds, everywhere that an atom has been
+deposited, and everywhere that it has not been deposited, and count an
+atom as a kalpa, the time since I became the Buddha still surpasses
+these by hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas of numberless
+kalpas. From that time forward I have constantly been preaching and
+teaching in this Saha-world, and also leading and benefitting the
+living in other places in hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas
+of numberless domains. Good sons! During this time, I have spoken of
+the Buddha “Burning Light” and other Buddhas, and also have told of
+their entering Nirvana. Thus have I tactfully described them all. Good
+sons! Whenever living beings came to me, I beheld with a Buddha’s
+eyes all the faculties, keen or dull, of their faith, and so forth;
+and I explained to them, in stage after stage, according to their
+capacity and degree of salvation, my different names and the length
+of my lives, and moreover plainly stated that I must enter Nirvana.
+I also, with various expedients, preached the Wonderful Law which is
+able to cause the living to beget a joyful heart. Good sons! Beholding
+the propensities of all the living towards lower things, so that they
+have little virtue and much vileness, to these the Tathagata declares:
+‘I, in my youth, left home and attained to Perfect Enlightenment.’ But
+since I veritably became Buddha, thus have I ever been, only by my
+expedient methods teaching and transforming all the living, so that
+they may enter into Buddhahood, and thus have I made declaration.
+
+“Good sons! All the sutras which the Tathagata preaches are for the
+deliverance of the living—whether they speak of himself or speak of
+others, whether they indicate himself or others, and whether they
+indicate his own affairs or those of others; whatever they say is all
+real, and not empty air. Wherefore? Because the Tathagata knows and
+sees the character of the triple world as it really is; to him there is
+neither birth nor death, neither going away nor coming forth; neither
+existence in the world nor cessation of existence; neither reality nor
+unreality; neither thus nor otherwise. Unlike the way the triple world
+beholds the triple world, the Tathagata sees clearly such things as
+these without mistake. Because all the living have various natures,
+various desires, various activities, various ideas and reasonings,
+so, desiring to cause them to produce the roots of goodness, the
+Tathagata by so many reasonings, parables, and discourses has preached
+his various Truths. The Buddha-deeds which he performs never fail for a
+moment. Thus it is, since I became Buddha in the far distant past, that
+my lifetime is of numberless kalpas, forever existing and immortal.
+
+“Good sons! The lifetime which I fulfil in following the
+Bodhisattva-Way is not even yet completed, but will be again twice the
+previous number of kalpas. But now in this unreal Nirvana, I announce
+that I must enter the real Nirvana. In this expedient way the Tathagata
+teaches all living. Wherefore? If the Buddha abides long in the world,
+men of little virtue—who do not cultivate the roots of goodness and
+are spiritually poor and mean, greedily attached to the five desires,
+and caught in the net of wrong reflection and false views—if they see
+the Tathagata constantly present and not extinct, will become puffed
+up and lazy, and unable to conceive the idea that it is difficult to
+meet a Buddha, and be unable to develop a mind of reverence for him.
+Therefore the Tathagata tactfully says: “Know, Bhikshus! The appearance
+of a Buddha in the world is a rare occurrence.” Wherefore? In the
+course of countless hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of kalpas, some
+men of little virtue may happen to see a Buddha, or none may see him.
+For this reason I say: “Bhikshus! A Tathagata may rarely be seen!” All
+these living beings, hearing such a statement, must indeed realize the
+thought of the difficulty of meeting a Buddha and cherish a longing and
+a thirst for him; thus will they cultivate the roots of goodness.
+Therefore the Tathagata, though he does not in reality become extinct,
+yet announces his extinction.’”
+
+
+_The Parable of the Physician._
+
+“Suppose, for instance, a good physician, who is wise and
+perspicacious, conversant with the medical art, and skilful in healing
+all sorts of diseases. He has many sons, say ten, twenty, even up to a
+hundred. Because of some matter he goes abroad to a distant country.
+After his departure his sons drink his poisonous medicines, which send
+them into a delirium and they lie rolling on the ground. At this moment
+their father comes back to his home. Of the sons who drank the poison,
+some have lost their senses, others are still sensible and, on seeing
+their father approaching in the distance, they are greatly delighted,
+and kneeling greet him:
+
+‘“How good it is that you are returned in safety! We, in our
+foolishness, have mistakenly dosed ourselves with poison. We beg that
+you will heal us and give us back our lives.’
+
+“The father, seeing his sons in such distress, in accordance with his
+prescriptions, seeks for good herbs, perfect in colour, scent and fine
+flavour, and then pounds, sifts, and mixes them and gives them to his
+sons to take, saying thus:
+
+“‘This excellent medicine with colour, scent and fine flavour all
+perfect, do you take, and it will at once rid you of your distress so
+that you will have no more suffering.’
+
+“Those amongst the sons who are sensible, seeing this excellent
+medicine with colour and scent both good, take it immediately and are
+wholly delivered from their illness. The others who have lost their
+senses, seeing their father come, though they are also delighted,
+salute him and ask him to heal their illness, yet when he offers them
+the medicine, they are unwilling to take it. Wherefore? Because the
+poison has entered deeply, they have lost their senses, and even in
+regard to this medicine of excellent colour and scent they say that it
+is not good. The father reflects thus:
+
+“‘Alas! for these sons, afflicted by this poison, and their minds all
+unbalanced! Though they are glad to see me and implore for healing, yet
+they are unwilling to take such excellent medicine as this. Now I must
+arrange an expedient plan so that they will take this medicine.’
+
+“Then he says to them: ‘Know, all of you, that I am now worn out with
+old age and that the time of my death has arrived. This excellent
+medicine I now leave here. You may take it and have no fear of not
+being better.’ After thus admonishing them, he departs again for
+another country and sends a messenger back to inform them: ‘Your father
+is dead.’ And now, when these sons hear that their father is dead,
+their minds are greatly distressed and they thus reflect: ‘If our
+father were alive, he would have pity on us, and we should be saved and
+preserved. But now he has left us and died in a distant country.’
+
+“Deeming themselves orphans with no one to rely on, continuous
+grief brings them to their senses; they recognize the colour, scent and
+excellent flavour of the medicine, and thereupon take it, when their
+poisoning is entirely relieved. Their father, hearing that the sons are
+recovered, seeks an opportunity and returns, showing himself to them
+all.
+
+“‘Good sons! What is your opinion? Are there any who could say that
+this good physician has committed the sin of falsehood?’”
+
+  The verse portion is much briefer than the prose, and contains only
+  a part of the teaching. The following is a selection from it.
+
+    “In order to save all creatures,
+    I expediently speak of Nirvana,
+    Yet truly I am not extinct,
+    But ever here preaching the Law.
+    I ever remain in this world,
+    In supernatural power,
+    So that all perverted creatures
+    Fail to see me, though near,
+    Looking on me as extinct,
+    Everywhere worshipping my relics,
+    Cherishing desire for goodness
+    And thirsting with aspiration.
+    When all creatures have submitted,
+    Are upright, and gentle in mind,
+    Whole-heartedly looking for Buddha,
+    Not caring for their own lives,
+    Then I with all the Samgha
+    On the Spirit Vulture-Peak appear,
+    And then I tell all creatures
+    That I exist here forever undying,
+    By means of expedients revealing
+    Myself as dead, yet not dead.
+    If in other regions there are beings,
+    Reverent and joying in faith,
+    Again I am in their midst
+    To preach the Supreme Law.
+    You, not hearing of this,
+    Only say I am extinct.
+    I, beholding all living creatures
+    Sunk in the sea of suffering,
+    At first do not show myself,
+    But set them expectant and thirsting,
+    Then, when their hearts are longing,
+    I appear to preach the Law.
+    In supernatural power,
+    Through kalpas numberless
+    On the Spirit Vulture-Peak am I,
+    And in other dwelling-places.
+    While the living see, at the kalpa’s end,
+    The conflagration in its burning,
+    Tranquil remains this realm of mine,
+    Ever full of gods and men,
+    Parks and many palaces
+    With every sort of gem adorned,
+    Blooming and fruitful jewel trees,
+    Where all creatures pleasure take;
+    The gods strike up their heavenly drums
+    And music make for evermore,
+    Showering down celestial flowers
+    On Buddha and His mighty host.
+    My Pure Land is not destroyed,
+    Though all view it as being burnt up,
+    And grief and horror and distress
+    Thus fill them to the full.
+    Those creatures, full of sin
+    By reason of their evil karma,
+    Through kalpas numberless hear not
+    The name of the most Precious Three.
+    But those who virtuous deeds shall do,
+    Are gentle and of upright nature,
+    These will ever me behold
+    Here expounding to all the Law.
+    At times unto this eager throng
+    I preach the Buddha’s eternal life.”
+
+  And, lastly:
+
+    “Like the physician who, with clever device
+    In order to cure his demented sons,
+    Though indeed alive, announces his death,
+    Yet none is able to charge him with falsehood.
+    I, too, being Father of this world,
+    Who heal all misery and affliction,
+    For the sake of the perverted people,
+    Though truly alive, say I am extinct;
+    Lest, because they always see me,
+    They should arrogant minds beget,
+    Be dissolute, set in their five desires,
+    And fall into karma-paths of ill.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XVII
+
+
+  During the length of time that the Buddha tells of the eternity of
+  his life, vast hosts, numerous as sands of Ganges, attain to the
+  assurance of no further re-incarnation; others attain powers of
+  hearing and keeping the Law; others powers of eloquence and
+  argument; others of insight into infinite motion; others of
+  preaching the Law; others, after various stages, of Perfect
+  Enlightenment. The numbers given for each group are as the atoms of
+  various kinds and numbers of worlds.
+
+  While the Buddha is telling of the eternity of his life, on the host
+  of Buddhas seated on their lion-thrones beneath the jewel-trees and
+  on their retinues, on the Bodhisattvas and their retinues, and on
+  the assembly, there rain down celestial flowers and fine incense. In
+  the heavens the celestial drums resound with deep reverberation.
+  Celestial robes, jewels, necklaces, censers burning priceless
+  incense, descend upon the congregation. Celestial canopies arise
+  high as the Brahma-heavens; and countless Bodhisattvas sing praises
+  to the Buddhas.
+
+  Maitreya then arises from his seat and repeats this, in lengthy
+  verse.
+
+    “The Buddha has preached the rare Law
+    Never heard by us before.
+    Great is the power of the World-honoured,
+    And His lifetime beyond estimation.
+    . . . . .
+    With thousands, myriads of stanzas
+    The Buddha’s praise is sung.
+    . . . . .
+    Learning the Buddha’s life is limitless
+    All creatures are filled with joy,
+    The Buddha’s fame sounds through the Universe,
+    Enriching all the roots
+    Of goodness of the living,
+    To bring them to the Supreme Truth.”
+
+  The Buddha then proceeds to say that those who have heard and
+  believed, however feebly, his truth of the Eternal Life of the
+  Buddha, have merit surpassing the merit of works.
+
+“Suppose,” he says, “there be any good son or daughter who, to obtain
+Perfect Enlightenment, during eight hundred thousand kotis of nayutas
+of kalpas, puts in practice the Five Paramitas ... these merits,
+compared with the above-mentioned merit, are not equal to even the
+hundredth part, the thousandth part, or indeed one part of a hundred
+thousand myriad kotis of it; indeed neither numbers nor comparison
+can make it known. If any good son or daughter possesses only such
+merit of faith, there is no such thing as failing to obtain Perfect
+Enlightenment.”
+
+  The verse part is still more elaborate in its comparison of the
+  respective values of faith and works. Though a man should live the
+  most devoted life and sacrifice everything—
+
+    “Yet, any good son or daughter
+    Who hears me declare my Eternity,
+    And believes with a single thought,
+    This one’s reward surpasses his.
+    . . . . .
+    Just as the present World-honoured One
+    Who, King of all the Sakyas,
+    On his Wisdom-Throne raised the Lion’s roar,
+    And fearlessly preached the Law,
+    So may we, in future ages,
+    Honoured and revered by all,
+    Sit on the Wisdom throne
+    And tell of long life in like manner.”
+
+  If any have faith in the Eternal Life of the Buddha, he will see the
+  Buddha always on the Spiritual Vulture Peak surrounded by the
+  celestial host ever preaching this Law. He will see, too, the realm
+  in which he lives resplendent with palaces and jewels. But he who
+  devotes himself to this Sutra will have joys even greater. Such a
+  one carries the Tathagata on his head, or as we may say, is crowned
+  with the Tathagata.
+
+“Such a good son or daughter need no more erect stupas, temples or
+monasteries for me, or make offerings to the monks.”
+
+  The implication is that such a one, himself or herself, is the
+  shrine or temple of the living Buddha. The narrative shows that
+  faith is works—
+
+“By reason of devotion to the Lotus Sutra, he or she has in
+effect already erected stupas, built monasteries, and made offerings
+to the monks; that is to say, has spiritually erected for the Buddha’s
+relics, stupas of the Precious Seven, high and broad, and tapering up
+to the Brahma-heaven, with flags and canopies and precious bells, and
+with flowers, perfumes, garlands, sandal-powder, unguents, incense,
+drums, instruments, pipes, flutes, harps, all kinds of dances and
+plays—singing and lauding with wondrous notes—he or she has already
+made these offerings for innumerable thousands, myriads, kotis of
+kalpas.
+
+“Ajita! If any one, after my extinction, hears this Sutra, and is
+able either to receive and keep, or himself copy, or cause others to
+copy it, he has already erected monasteries and built red sandal-wood
+temples of thirty-two shrines, tall as eight Tala-trees, lofty,
+spacious, splendid, in which abide hundreds, thousands of bhikshus;
+adorned also with gardens, groves, and bathing-pools, promenades and
+meditation-cells; with clothing, victuals, bedding, medicaments, and
+all aids to pleasure provided to the full therein. Such monasteries and
+such numbers of temples, hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, countless
+in their number, he has here in my presence, offered to me and to my
+bhikshu-monks. Therefore I say, if any one after the extinction of
+the Tathagata, receives and keeps, reads and recites it, preaches it
+to others, either himself copies it, or causes others to copy it, and
+pays homage to the Sutra, he need no longer erect stupas and temples,
+or build monasteries, and make offerings to the monks. How much less
+he who is able to keep this Sutra and thereto add alms-giving,
+morality, forbearance, zeal, concentration, and wisdom. His merit will
+be most excellent, infinite and boundless; even as the sky which east,
+west, south, and north, the four intermediate directions, the zenith
+and nadir, is infinite and boundless, so also the merit of this man
+will be infinite and boundless, and he will speedily reach Perfect
+Knowledge. If any one reads and recites, receives and keeps this Sutra,
+preaches it to other people, or himself copies it, or causes others
+to copy it; moreover, is able to erect stupas and build monasteries,
+and to serve and extol the Sravaka-monks, and also with hundreds,
+thousands, myriads, kotis of ways of extolling, extols the merits of
+the Bodhisattvas; also if he to other people, with various reasonings,
+according to its meaning, expounds this Law-Flower Sutra; again, if
+he is able to keep the commandments in purity, amicably to dwell with
+the gentle, to endure insult without anger, to be firm in will and
+thought, ever to value meditation, to attain to profound concentration,
+zealously and boldly to support the good, to be clever and wise in ably
+answering difficult questionings; Ajita! again, if after my extinction,
+there be good sons and daughters who receive and keep, read and recite
+this Sutra, and who possess such excellent merits as these, you may
+know that those people have proceeded towards the Wisdom-terrace,
+and are near to Perfect Enlightenment, sitting under the tree of
+enlightenment. Ajita! Wherever those good sons or good daughters either
+sit or stand or walk, in that place you should erect a stupa; all
+gods and men should pay homage to it as a stupa of Buddha.”
+
+    “If any one, after my extinction,
+    Is able to honour and keep this Sutra,
+    His happiness will be infinite.
+    . . . . .
+    By this act he has made
+    Every kind of offering
+    And erected relic-stupas
+    Adorned with the precious seven,
+    . . . . .
+    With thousands, myriads of gem-bells
+    Stirred by the wind to mystic music,
+    As if for numberless kalpas
+    He had paid homage to stupas
+    With flowers, incense, garlands.
+    . . . . .
+    He who is able to keep this Sutra
+    Will be as if Buddha were present,
+    And he, with finest sandal-wood,
+    Built Him monasteries in service,
+    Built them of thirty-two halls
+    Eight Tala-trees in height,
+    With the best of food and garments,
+    Complete with beds for sleeping,
+    With rooms for hundreds and thousands,
+    With gardens, groves and bathing-pools,
+    With walks and meditation-cells,
+    All beautifully adorned.
+    . . . . .
+    Whoever does homage to it
+    Will obtain infinite merit
+    Boundless as the realms of Space
+    Such will be his merit.
+    How much more he who humbly keeps it.”
+
+  The indwelling Buddha is especially emphasized in the closing
+  stanzas:
+
+    “If one meets with such a teacher,
+    Strew him with celestial flowers,
+    Clothe him in divine clothing,
+    Salute him at his feet
+    With a mind as if thinking of Buddha.
+    . . . . .
+    Wherever he dwells or stays,
+    Where he walks, or sits, or lies,
+    Or speaks but a phrase of the Sutra,
+    In that place erect a stupa,
+    Adorn it and make it beautiful,
+    And in every way pay it homage.
+    Where’er dwells a Buddha-son,
+    That place the Buddha uses
+    And constant within it abides,
+    And walks and sits and reclines.”
+
+
+
+
+                                 XVIII
+
+
+  Maitreya then asks the Buddha what will be the happiness of one who
+  receives with joy the Law-Flower message. The Buddha’s reply is that
+  the reward of him who hears, not direct, nor second-hand, but even
+  at fiftieth-hand will be incalculable.
+
+“It is like the number of all the living creatures in the six states
+of existence in four hundred myriad kotis of numberless worlds, born
+in the four ways, egg-born, womb-born, humidity-born, or born by
+metamorphosis, whether they are formed or formless, whether conscious
+or unconscious, or neither conscious nor unconscious; footless,
+two-footed, four-footed, or many-footed, it is as the sum of all these
+living creatures. Suppose some one, seeking their happiness, provides
+them with every article of pleasure they may desire, giving each
+creature the whole of a world with its gold, silver, lapis-lazuli,
+moon-stone, agate, coral, amber, and every sort of wonderful jewel,
+with elephants, horses, carriages, and palaces, towers built of the
+Precious Seven—and so forth. This great master of gifts thus bestows
+gifts for full eighty years and then reflects thus:
+
+“‘I have bestowed on all these beings articles of pleasure according to
+their desires, but now they have grown old and worn, and over eighty
+years of age, with hair grey and faces wrinkled, and death is not
+far off—I ought to instruct and guide them in the Buddha-Law.’
+
+[Illustration: 10. Sudatta spreads the ground of Jeta’s garden with
+bricks of gold, to form the Jetavanavihara as a retreat for the Buddha
+and his disciples]
+
+“Thereupon, gathering together those beings, he proclaims to them
+the Law’s instruction; and by his revealing, teaching, benefiting
+and rejoicing, they all in a moment become disciples ... free from
+imperfections, having acquired mastery of profound meditation, and
+completed the Eight Emancipations. What is your opinion? May the merits
+obtained by this great master of gifts be considered many or not?”
+
+“World-honoured One!” said Maitreya to the Buddha, “The merits of this
+man are very many, infinite and boundless. Even though this master of
+giving had only made gifts of all those articles of pleasure to those
+creatures, his merits would be infinite; how much more when he causes
+them to attain to sainthood?’
+
+“Then said the Buddha to Maitreya: ‘I will now speak clearly to you.
+The merits attained by such a man, if he bestowed those means of
+happiness on all beings in the Six States of existence of four hundred
+myriad kotis of numberless worlds, and caused them to attain to
+sainthood, would not compare with the merits of that fiftieth person
+who, hearing a single verse of the Law-Flower Sutra, receives it with
+joy; they are not equal to one hundredth, or one thousandth, or one
+fraction of a hundred thousand myriad kotis; the power of figures or
+comparisons cannot express it. Ajita! If the merits of such a fiftieth
+person who in turn hears the Law-Flower Sutra and accepts it with joy,
+are indeed so infinite, so boundless and numberless; how much more
+surpassingly infinite, boundless and beyond number or compare is the
+happiness of him who is amongst the first hearers in the assembly and
+receives it joyfully.”
+
+  If any one hears this preaching even momentarily, his merit is so
+  great that in his next reincarnation “he will acquire the most
+  excellent kind of elephants, horses and carriages, jewelled
+  palanquins and litters, and ride in celestial cars”. It is
+  reasonable to accept these as celestial or spiritual ideas,
+  conceived of through the medium of material forms.
+
+  Again, if any one invites another to sit down, or share his seat, in
+  order to hear this good news, or persuades another to go and hear
+  it; he will be reborn where wise Bodhisattvas dwell, and himself
+  have all his faculties glorified. His lips will be pure and
+  beautiful, only fragrance will come from them, and his presence will
+  be a joy.
+
+    “Age after age his mouth will not suffer,
+    His teeth not be gaping, yellow or black;
+    His lips not thick, awry or cracked,
+    With no disgusting appearance;
+    His tongue neither dried, black nor shrunk;
+    His nose high, long and straight;
+    His forehead broad and smooth;
+    His face refined and dignified,
+    A joy for men to behold;
+    No fetid breath from his mouth,
+    The scent of the Utpala-flower
+    Ever exhaling from his lips.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XIX
+
+
+  If the merits of a hearer are so vast, how much greater those of a
+  preacher of this Sutra! We are told that such a one—and it is
+  interesting to note, whether male or female—will obtain great
+  increase of natural powers, both now and hereafter.
+
+  The Buddha is shown as addressing the great Bodhisattva, Ever
+  Zealous. To him he says:
+
+“If any good son or good daughter receives and keeps this Law-Flower
+Sutra, or reads, or recites, or expounds, or copies it, that person
+will obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits
+of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits
+of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred
+merits of the mind; with these merits he will dignify his six organs,
+making them all serene. That good son or good daughter, with serene
+eyes of flesh, begotten by his parents, will see whatever exists within
+and without the Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold World, mountains,
+forests, rivers, and seas, down to the Avici hell and up to the summit
+of existence, and also see the living beings in it, as well as see
+and know in detail all their karma-causes and re-birth states of
+retribution.”
+
+  The twelve hundred merits of the ear are thus described in verse:
+
+    “His ears, those begotten by his parents,
+    Are serene, unsullied, untainted.
+    By these ordinary ears he hears
+    The sounds in the Three-Thousand World,
+    The sounds of elephants, horses, carts, and oxen,
+    The sounds of gongs, bells, conches, drums,
+    The sounds of lutes and harps,
+    The sounds of pipes and flutes,
+    The sounds of pure lovely song;
+    Listening without undue attachment,
+    He hears countless human sounds,
+    And can understand all he hears;
+    He hears also the sounds of gods,
+    And mystic voices of singing;
+    Hears sounds of men and women,
+    And sounds of youths and maidens.
+    In mountains, streams and gorges,
+    The sounds of Kalavinkas,
+    Ming-ming and other birds,
+    All these sounds he hears.
+    The pangs of the hosts in hell
+    And all the sounds of their tortures;
+    Hungry ghosts driven by hunger and thirst
+    And the sounds of their importunity;
+    The voices of asuras,
+    Inhabiting the ocean shores,
+    When they converse together,
+    And bellow forth their cries.
+    Such a preacher as this,
+    Calmly dwelling here
+    From afar hears these sounds
+    Without harm to his organ of hearing.
+    In the worlds in every direction,
+    Birds and beasts cry to each other,
+    And the Preacher here abiding
+    Hears them in every detail.
+    All the Brahma heavens above,
+    From Light-Sound and Universal-Purity
+    To the Heaven of the Summit of Existence,—
+    The sounds of their conversation,
+    The Preacher here abiding,
+    Hears them in every detail.
+    All the hosts of bhikshus
+    And of bhikshunis
+    Reading or reciting the Sutra,
+    Or preaching it to others,
+    The Preacher here abiding
+    Hears them in every detail.
+    Also the Bodhisattvas
+    Who intone this Sutra-Law,
+    Or preach it unto others,
+    Collating and expounding its meaning,—
+    All such sounds as these,
+    He hears in every detail.”
+
+  The eight hundred powers of his organ of smell are so enhanced that,
+  by means of his serene organ, the fragrance of the world is his. He
+  can also discern everything by their odour—elephants, cattle, men,
+  grasses, the gods in their heavens, even Brahma; “from afar he will
+  smell all these and know where they abide.” Nevertheless, “though he
+  smell these odours, yet his organ of smell will not be injured, nor
+  will he make any error; and if he wishes to define and tell them to
+  others, his meaning will not err.”
+
+.....
+
+    “The gods, whether walking or seated,
+    Their rambles and magic powers,
+    He who keeps this Law-Flower
+    By smell can know them all.
+    . . . . .
+    Lions, tigers, wolves, elephants,
+    Bisons, buffaloes and their kind,
+    He by smell knows their place.
+    If there be a woman with child,
+    Who discerns not yet its sex,
+    Male, female, organless, or inhuman,
+    He by smell can discern it.
+    By his power of smell
+    He knows if the newly pregnant
+    Will succeed or not in being
+    Joyfully delivered of happy children.
+    By his perceptive power of smell
+    He knows the thoughts of men and women,
+    Their lusts, foolishness or anger,
+    And also the maintainers of goodness.
+    All the hidden treasures,
+    Gold, silver, and jewels,
+    Stored in copper vessels,
+    By smell he can clearly distinguish,
+    Every kind of jewelled necklace,
+    Of price beyond all knowledge,
+    By smell he knows its value,
+    Its source and its location.”
+
+  The twelve hundred merits of his tongue are the merits of taste and
+  speech. “Whatever pleasant or unpleasant, sweet or not sweet, bitter
+  or astringent thing meets his tongue will become of the finest
+  flavour, like heavenly nectar; nothing will be unpleasant. If, in
+  the assembly, he uses his organ of the tongue to preach, sonorous
+  and beautiful sounds will enter the hearts of all, giving them
+  pleasure and enjoy.” Celestial beings, dragons, demons, monks and
+  nuns, disciples, kings, princes, and ministers, will flock to hear
+  him preach the Law. The Buddhas will delight to hear him and will
+  also preach toward him.
+
+    “If this Preacher desires
+    To make his lovely voice
+    Fill the whole universe,
+    He is able at will to achieve it.”
+
+  The eight hundred merits of the body not only give him a body clear
+  as crystal which all admire, but to him all other bodies are
+  displayed, for everything of every kind is reflected to him in the
+  crystal mirror of his own body.
+
+“Downward to the Avici-Hell, upward to the Summit of all Existence, all
+things and all living beings are displayed in his body.”
+
+    “As on a pure bright mirror
+    Every image is seen,
+    So, in his own pure body,
+    The Bodhisattva sees the whole world.
+    . . . . .
+    Though not yet possessed of the flawless,
+    Mystic, spiritual body,
+    Yet in his pure ordinary body
+    Everything is revealed.”
+
+  The twelve hundred merits of thought enable him, “on hearing a
+  single verse or sentence, to penetrate its infinite and boundless
+  meanings. Having discerned those meanings, he will be able to
+  discourse on that single sentence or verse for a month, four months,
+  even a year”—for one verse of this Sutra like “the flower in the
+  crannied wall” opens up vast questions.
+
+“Whatever he ponders, estimates, and speaks, will be the Buddha-Law,
+nothing but truth, and that which former Buddhas have taught.”
+
+    “Every living creature
+    Of this world, within and without,
+    Gods, dragons, humans,
+    Yakshas, demons, spirits, others,
+    These in the six destinations,
+    Whatever they may be thinking—
+    In reward for keeping the Law-Flower,
+    Instant he knows them all.
+    The countless Buddhas of the universe,
+    With their hundreds of felicitous signs,
+    Who preach to all the living,
+    He hears and retains it all.
+    He ponders on the infinite,
+    And preaches the Law without stint,
+    Never forgets or makes a mistake,
+    Because he keeps the Law-Flower.
+    Knowing the form of all laws,
+    Perceiving their ordered meaning,
+    Comprehending the terms and words,
+    He explains them according to knowledge.
+    Whatever this man preaches
+    Is the Law of former Buddhas;
+    And because he proclaims this Law,
+    He is fearless of the throng.
+    A keeper of the Law-Flower Sutra
+    Has an organ of thought such as this.
+    Though not yet possessed of faultlessness,
+    Such is the foretoken he possesses.”
+
+
+
+
+                                   XX
+
+
+  We are now introduced to a further interlude, in which the Buddha
+  addresses the great Bodhisattva, Might-Endowed. He tells him of a
+  former Buddha-realm, over which was a Buddha known as King of
+  Majestic Voice. On his entering into Nirvana, his successors
+  followed each other to the number of twenty thousand kotis, each
+  being of the same title. After the Nirvana of the first “Buddha of
+  the Majestic Voice”, and after the first period of the pure doctrine
+  had passed, monks of the utmost arrogance obtained the chief power,
+  who cruelly persecuted the hero of the parable that follows. It will
+  be observed that by these the Hinayana School is meant.
+
+  That hero is a monk called Never Despise, so styled because he
+  refused to contemn any one, being assured that every one was a
+  prospective buddha. It is a parable of the Mahayanist persecuted by
+  his fellow monks, the Hinayanists, because he preaches universal
+  buddhahood for all the living.
+
+“Might-endowed! For what reason was he named Never Despise? Because
+he paid respect to and commended everybody he saw, monks, nuns, men
+and women disciples; speaking thus: ‘I deeply revere you. Wherefore?
+Because you are walking in the bodhisattva way and are to become
+Buddhas.’ That monk did not devote himself to reading and reciting
+the Sutras, but only to paying respect, so that when he saw afar off
+a member of the four classes of disciples, he would specially go and
+pay respect to them, commending them, saying: ‘I dare not slight you,
+because you are all to become Buddhas.’ Amongst the four classes, there
+were those who, irritated and angry and low-minded, reviled and abused
+him saying: ‘Where does this ignorant bhikshu come from, who takes
+it on himself to say, “I do not slight you,” and who predicts us as
+destined to become Buddhas? We need no such false predictions.’ Thus,
+he passed many years, constantly reviled but never irritated or angry,
+always saying: ‘You are to become Buddhas.’ Whenever he spoke thus,
+they beat him with clubs, sticks, potsherds, or stones. But, while
+escaping to a distance, he still cried aloud: ‘I dare not slight you.
+You are all to become Buddhas.’ And because he always spoke thus, the
+haughty monks, nuns, and their disciples dubbed him: Never Despise.
+
+“When this monk was drawing near his end, from the sky he heard, and
+was perfectly able to receive and retain, twenty thousand myriad kotis
+of verses of the Law-Flower Sutra, which the Buddha, King of Majestic
+Voice, had formerly preached. Whereupon he obtained, as stated above,
+clearness and purity of eye-organ, as also of the organs of ear, nose,
+tongue, body, and thought. Having obtained the purity of these six
+organs, he further prolonged his life for two hundred myriad kotis of
+nayutas of years, and abundantly preached this Law-Flower Sutra to the
+people. Then the haughty four orders of monks, nuns, and male and
+female disciples, who had slighted and contemned this man, and given
+him the name Never-Despise, seeing him possessed of great transcendent
+powers, of power of eloquent discourse, and power of excellent
+meditation, and having heard his preaching, believed in and followed
+him. This Bodhisattva again converted thousands, myriads, kotis of
+beings to Perfect Enlightenment.”
+
+  Afterwards he preached the Sutra to countless Buddhas in different
+  realms through infinite aeons. And who was this Bodhisattva
+  Never-Despise? The Buddha says:
+
+“He was I myself. If I, in my former lives, had not received and kept,
+read and recited this Sutra, and preached it to others, I should not
+have been able so soon to attain to Perfect Enlightenment. Because,
+under former Buddhas, I received and kept, read and recited this Sutra,
+and preached it to others, I so soon attained to Perfect Enlightenment.”
+
+    “The Never-Despise of that time
+    Is really I myself.
+    The four groups of that time
+    Attached to external things
+    . . . . .
+    Are you of this assembly.
+    Age by age have I kept
+    This so wonderful a Sutra.
+    During kotis and kotis of kalpas
+    Of inconceivable extent,
+    Rare are the times that we heard
+    This Law-Flower Sutra preached.
+    During kotis and kotis of kalpas,
+    Inconceivable of extent,
+    Buddhas, World-honoured Ones,
+    But rarely preach this Sutra.
+    Therefore, let his followers,
+    After the Buddha’s extinction,
+    On hearing such Sutra as this,
+    Conceive no doubt or perplexity.
+    But let them with single mind
+    Publish abroad this Sutra
+    And, age by age meeting Buddhas,
+    To Buddhahood will they speedily attain.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XXI
+
+
+  The vast body of Bodhisattvas who sprang out of the earth, as
+  recorded in Chapter XV, now fold their hands before the Buddha and,
+  looking towards him, declare that they will preach this Sutra, in
+  whatsoever worlds the Buddha, in any of his transformations, may
+  exist and cease to exist.
+
+  By this declaration the World-honoured One is now moved to reveal
+  his majestic divine power. In a miraculous way, attractive only to
+  those who can see in it the symbolism intended, he showed the
+  illuminating and far-reaching power of his organ of speech. In the
+  presence of
+
+“Manjuśri and the countless hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis
+of Great Bodhisattvas, as well as of monks, nuns, male and female
+disciples, gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas,
+kinnaras, mahoragas, human and non-human beings, and so forth”—before
+all these beings, he “reveals his great divine power, by putting forth
+his broad and far-stretched tongue, till it reaches upward to the
+Brahma-world, every pore radiating the light of infinite, numberless
+colours, shining everywhere throughout each direction of the universe.
+Under the jewel-trees, the Buddhas, each seated on a Lion-throne, also
+in like manner put forth their broad far-stretched tongues, radiating
+infinite light. While Śakyamuni-Buddha, and the other Buddhas under
+the jewel-trees, are thus revealing their divine powers, fully
+hundreds of thousands of years pass. After this they draw back their
+tongues, cough simultaneously, and snap their fingers in unison. These
+two sounds reach through every region of the Buddha-worlds, those
+worlds being shaken in every direction.
+
+[Illustration: 11. ♦Yashas stretching out his arm to hold back the sun
+to enable King Aśoka to build 84,000 stupas in one day]
+
+♦ “Yashada” replaced with “Yashas”
+
+“In the midst of these worlds, all living beings ... through the divine
+power of the Buddha, while in their world, see infinite, boundless,
+hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of Buddhas, seated on Lion-thrones
+under the jewel-trees; and see Śakyamuni-Buddha, together with the
+Tathagata Abundant-Treasures, seated on Lion-thrones in the midst of
+the Stupas; and also see infinite, boundless, hundreds, thousands,
+myriads, kotis of Great Bodhisattvas, and the four groups of disciples
+who reverently surround ♦Śakyamuni-Buddha.”
+
+♦ “Sakyamuni-Buddha” replaced with “Śakyamuni-Buddha”
+
+  The gods, too, see and rejoice, crying “Namah! Śakyamuni-Buddha”.
+  Then from every quarter the gods from afar strew flowers, incense,
+  garlands, and jewels, which form themselves “like gathering clouds,
+  transforming into a jewelled canopy, covering the sky above the
+  Buddhas”.
+
+“And upon this the worlds of all the universes are united without
+barrier as one Buddha-land.”
+
+  Then the Buddha addresses Excellent-Conduct and the host of
+  Bodhisattvas:
+
+“The divine powers of Buddhas are so infinite and boundless that they
+are beyond thought and expression. Even if I, by these divine
+powers, through infinite, boundless, hundreds, thousands, myriads,
+kotis of numberless kalpas, for the sake of entailing them, were to
+declare the merits of this Sutra, I should still be unable to reach
+their end. Essentially speaking, all the laws belonging to Tathagata,
+all the sovereign, divine powers of Tathagata, all the mysterious,
+essential treasuries of Tathagata, and the most profound affairs of
+Tathagata, are proclaimed, displayed, revealed, and expounded in this
+Sutra. Therefore you should, after the extinction of the Tathagata,
+whole-heartedly receive and keep, read and recite, explain and copy,
+cultivate and practise it as taught. In whatever land, whether it be
+received and kept, read and recited, explained and copied, cultivated
+and practised as taught; whether in a place where a volume of the
+Sutra is kept, or in a temple, or in a grove, or under a tree, or in a
+monastery, or in a lay devotee’s house, in a palace, or on a mountain,
+in a valley, or in the wilderness, in these places you must erect a
+stupa and make offerings. Wherefore? You should know that these spots
+are thrones of enlightenment. On these spots the Buddhas attain to
+Perfect Enlightenment: on these spots the Buddhas roll the Wheel of the
+Law; on these spots the Buddhas enter Parinirvana.”
+
+    “He who is able to keep this Sutra
+    Is one who now and always beholds me,
+    And also Buddha Abundant Treasures
+    . . . . .
+    Just as the wind in the firmament
+    Never has impediment,
+    . . . . .
+    Just as the light of sun and moon
+    Is able to dispel the darkness,
+    So this man, walking in the world,
+    Can disperse the gloom of the living,
+    And cause numberless bodhisattvas
+    To abide in the One Great Vehicle.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XXII
+
+
+  On this Śakyamuni Buddha arises from the Lion-throne in the sky,
+  where he has been seated with the Buddha Abundant-Treasures, and by
+  his supernatural power lays his right hand on the heads of the
+  countless Great Bodhisattvas, saying:
+
+“I, for incalculable hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of numberless
+kalpas have practised this rare law of Perfect Enlightenment. Now I
+entrust it to you. Do you with all your mind promulgate this Law, and
+make it increase and prosper far and wide.”
+
+  Three times does he thus place his hand on their heads, and give
+  them his final commission, before his entry into Nirvana. For
+
+“the Tathagata is most benevolent and compassionate, not mean and
+grudging; he is able fearlessly to give the Buddha-Wisdom, the
+Tathagata-Wisdom, and the Self-Existent Wisdom to the living. The
+Tathagata is the great Lord of Giving to all living beings. Do you also
+follow and learn the Tathagata’s example, ungrudgingly. If good sons or
+good daughters, in ages to come, believe in the Tathagata-wisdom, do
+you proclaim this Law-Flower Sutra to them that they may hear and know
+it, in order that they may obtain the Buddha-wisdom. If there be living
+beings who do not believe it, do you direct, teach, profit, and rejoice
+them with the other profound laws of the Tathagata. If you are able
+thus to act, then you will have repaid the grace of the Buddhas.”
+
+  Thereupon they all, filled with joy, make obeisance, and cry three
+  times with united voice, “We will do as the World-honoured One has
+  commanded. Yes, World-honoured One! Have no anxiety.”
+
+“On this Śakyamuni Buddha causes the emanated Buddhas, who had come
+from all directions, each to return to his own land, saying: ‘Buddhas!
+Peace be upon you. Let the Stupa of the Buddha Abundant-Treasures be
+restored as before’.
+
+“As these words are spoken, the innumerable emanated Buddhas from every
+direction, who are seated on Lion-thrones under the jewel-trees, as
+well as the Buddha Abundant-Treasures, the host of infinite, numberless
+Bodhisattvas, Superior-Conduct and others, also the four groups of
+hearers, Śariputra and others, and the worlds, gods, men, asuras and so
+on, hearing the words of the Buddha, all rejoice greatly.”
+
+
+
+
+                                 XXIII
+
+
+  It is probable that with the preceding chapter the author ends his
+  religious drama, as already has been mentioned in the Introduction,
+  to which the reader is referred. The succeeding chapters add little
+  to the apocalyptic conception but, whether originally part of the
+  author’s work or not, they have a value of their own as showing
+  ideas current in Northern Buddhism early in our era.
+
+  In this chapter the starry sky seems to be represented by a
+  Bodhisattva who may be described as King of the Star-Cluster—perhaps
+  of Ursa Major. He asks the Buddha why the Bodhisattva Medicine-King,
+  or King of Healing, wanders for countless aeons in suffering through
+  the worlds. To him and the assembled host the Buddha replies that,
+  of yore, there was a Buddha named Brilliance of Sun and Moon.
+  Amongst the incalculable entities of his realm, “no women, no hells,
+  no hungry ghosts, no animals, no titans, no disasters” found a
+  place. While the gods discoursed celestial music this Buddha, who
+  seems to represent the Light, preached the Law-Flower Sutra to a
+  Bodhisattva called Beautiful. So full of rapture did Beautiful
+  become, that he resolved to express his gratitude by the immolation
+  of his beautiful body. Before so doing, he partook of all the
+  fragrance of all the flowers for twelve hundred years. Then he
+  anointed his body with costly unguents, wrapped himself in a
+  celestial robe, bathed in perfumed oil, and by his transcendent will
+  set fire to his body. The brightness illuminated all worlds, the
+  Buddhas in which acclaimed his deed as “true zeal”; “the True Law
+  Homage to the Tathagata”; “the supreme gift”. His body continued to
+  burn and illuminate the worlds for twelve hundred years, after which
+  it came to an end.
+
+  Bodhisattva Beautiful was reborn by transformation in the domain of
+  the same Buddha, into the home of King Virtue. He forthwith informed
+  the King, that he had obtained the spell which enabled him to
+  interpret the utterances of all the living; moreover that he had
+  heard the Law-Flower Sutra in countless verses. He must needs pay
+  his Buddha a visit of homage, and at once, seated on a lofty tower,
+  he rose into the sky.
+
+  The Buddha thereupon announced to him his own departure: “My good
+  son! The time of my Nirvana has come. The time of my extinction has
+  arrived. You may arrange my bed. To-night I shall enter
+  Parinirvana”. He committed his Law, his disciples, his realm, his
+  relics to Beautiful, and the same night passed away. Beautiful
+  mourned him, deeply moved and distressed; then on a costly
+  sandal-wood pyre burnt the body, collected the relics, made
+  eighty-four thousand precious urns and erected the same number of
+  Stupas with richest adornment.
+
+  Still unsatisfied with his devotion, he further set fire to his own
+  arms, which burnt for seventy-two thousand years, bringing vast
+  hosts of people to seek Perfect Enlightenment. All mourned and
+  lamented over his burnt-off arms and deformed body. To comfort them
+  and reveal his divine power, he restored his arms as before. The
+  Milky Way, its disappearance and return, is suggestive of the lost
+  arms and their reappearance.
+
+  Śakyamuni is now made to say, that Beautiful has become the present
+  Bodhisattva, the King of Healing. Such has been his example of
+  self-immolation that, “if any one with mind set on attaining Perfect
+  Enlightenment is able to burn a finger of his own hand, or even a
+  toe of his foot, in homage to a Buddha’s stupa, he surpasses any
+  other who pays homage with domain, cities, wives, and children.”
+
+  This Sutra is as vast as is the ocean to the streams and rivers; as
+  is Mount Sumeru, the great mountain of the world, to the other
+  hills; as are the sun and moon to the stars; and, in short, “just as
+  the Buddha is king of the laws (or of all things) so is it with this
+  Sutra: it is King among the Sutras.”
+
+“Just as a clear and cool pool is able to satisfy all those who are
+thirsty, and as is the condition of the cold who obtain a fire, the
+naked who find clothing, a caravan of merchants who find a leader,
+children who find a mother, one who at a ferry finds a boat, a sick man
+who finds a doctor, one in the darkness who obtains a lamp, a poor man
+who finds a jewel, a people who find a king, merchant-venturers who
+gain the sea, and a torch which dispels the darkness, so is it also in
+regard to this Law-Flower Sutra. It is able to deliver the living
+from all sufferings and diseases, and is able to unloose the bonds of
+mortal life.
+
+“If any one, hearing this Law-Flower Sutra, either himself copies, or
+causes others to copy it, the limits of the sum of merit to be obtained
+cannot be calculated even by Buddha-wisdom. If any one copies this
+Sutra and pays homage to it with flowers, scents, necklaces, incense,
+sandal-powder, unguents, flags, canopies, garments, and various kinds
+of lamps: ghee lamps, oil lamps, lamps of scented oil, lamps of Campaka
+oil, lamps of Samana oil, lamps of Patala oil, lamps of Varshika oil,
+and lamps of Navamalika oil, the merit to be obtained by him is equally
+inestimable.
+
+“King of the Star-Cluster! If there be any one who hears this chapter
+of the Former Act of the Bodhisattva King of Healing, he will also
+obtain infinite and boundless merits. If there be any woman who hears
+this chapter of the Former Deed of the Bodhisattva King of Healing,
+and is able to receive and keep it, she, after the end of her present
+woman’s body, will not again receive it. If, after the extinction of
+the Buddha, in the last five hundred years, there be any woman who
+hears this Sutra and acts according to its teaching; at the close of
+this life she will go to the Happy World where Amitayus Buddha dwells,
+encompassed by his host of great Bodhisattvas, and will there be born
+in the midst of a lotus-flower upon a jewelled throne. Never again will
+he (the transformed woman) be harassed by desire, nor be harassed by
+anger and foolishness, nor again be harassed by pride, envy, or
+uncleanness, but will attain to transcendent powers and the Assurance
+of No-rebirth; and having obtained this assurance, the organ of the
+eye will be serene, by which serene organ of the eye he will see seven
+million two thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-Tathagatas, equal to
+the sands of the Ganges river, when these Buddhas from afar will unite
+in lauding him, saying: ‘Excellent, excellent! Good son! You have
+been able to receive and keep, read and recite, and ponder on this
+Sutra of the Law of Śakyamuni Buddha and to expound it to others. The
+blessed merit you have obtained is infinite and boundless; fire cannot
+burn it, water cannot wash it away. Your merit is beyond the power
+of a thousand Buddhas to explain. You have now been able to destroy
+the Mara-marauders, to overthrow the hostile forces of mortality, and
+to crush out all other enemies. Good son! Hundreds of thousands of
+Buddhas, with their transcendent powers, together guard and protect
+you. Among the gods and men of all worlds none can equal you, except
+the Tathagata.”
+
+* * * * *
+
+  Any one who receives this chapter will “ever breathe out the
+  fragrance of the blue lotus flower, and out of the pores of his body
+  will come fragrance of sandal-wood”. Such is the symbolic way of
+  presenting the fragrant life. “If a man be sick, on hearing this
+  Sutra his sickness will instantly disappear, and he will neither
+  grow old nor die.” The implication may be that the man is spirit and
+  therefore cannot grow old and die.
+
+  Finally the Tathagata Abundant Treasures, from the Celestial Shrine,
+  praises the King of the Star-cluster for having been able to obtain
+  from Śakyamuni Buddha “such things as these, and thereby infinitely
+  benefit all the living”.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XXIV
+
+
+  A double ray issues from Buddha’s brow and illuminates eastwards a
+  hundred and eight myriad kotis of nayutas of Buddha worlds, as the
+  sands of Ganges in number. Beyond these is revealed a world named
+  Adorned-with-Pure-Radiance, whose king is King Wisdom of the
+  Pure-Flower Constellation. Among his vast host of Bodhisattvas is
+  one called Wonder-Sound. The symbolism is that of the thunder and
+  the lightning. He had served numberless Buddhas and attained to
+  innumerable samadhis, giving him insight into Causelessness,
+  Sun-revolution, Interpretation of all Sounds, and many others whose
+  names are given.
+
+  Wonder-Sound now begs permission to leave his far distant world and
+  visit Śakyamuni in this world. His Buddha-King gives him permission,
+  but warns him not to expect it to be like his own beautiful world.
+  The world he proposes to visit is a poor, rough place, full of hills
+  and valleys;
+
+“full of earth, stones, mounds, and filth; the body of the Buddha is
+short and small, and all the bodhisattvas are small of stature, whereas
+your body is forty-two thousand yojanas high and my body sixty-eight
+hundred thousand yojanas. Your body is of the finest order, blest
+with hundreds, thousands, myriads of felicities, and of a wonderful
+brightness. Therefore on resorting there, do not look lightly on that
+domain, nor conceive a low opinion of the Buddha, nor of the
+bodhisattvas, nor of their country.
+
+“The Bodhisattva Wonder-Sound replied to the Buddha: ‘World-honoured
+One! That I now go to visit the Saha-world is all due to the
+Tathagata’s power, the Tathagata’s magic power of travelling, and the
+Tathagata’s adornment of merit and wisdom.’
+
+“Thereupon the Bodhisattva Wonder-Sound, without rising from his
+seat and without stirring his body, entered into samadhi. By the
+power of his samadhi, on the Mount Gridhrakuta, not far distant from
+the Law-seat, there appeared in transformation eighty-four thousand
+precious lotus-flowers with stalks of gold, leaves of silver, and
+ruby-flowers with stamens of diamonds.”
+
+  Manjuśri questions Śakyamuni as to the meaning of this auspicious
+  sign, to which the reply is given that the great Bodhisattva
+  Wonder-Sound has sent it to announce his intention to come and hear
+  the Lotus Sutra, along with his train of disciples, eight-four
+  thousand in number. Manjuśri again questions the Buddha:
+  “World-honoured One! What roots of goodness has that Bodhisattva
+  planted, what merits has he cultivated, that he should be able to
+  have such transcendent power?” In answer, the Buddha Abundant
+  Treasures signs to Wonder-Sound to come in person with his train.
+  Thereupon Wonder-Sound sets out to pass over all the vast number of
+  intervening domains, each of which is shaken by his passage, while
+  lotus flowers rain everywhere, and celestial instruments send forth
+  without hands divine music. His eyes are like broad big leaves of
+  the blue lotus, his brow the glory of myriads of moons, his body is
+  radiant like pure gold. He is of glowing majesty.
+
+  Arriving he alights from his seven-jewelled tower and takes a
+  priceless necklace to offer to Śakyamuni Buddha, making obeisance at
+  his feet and saying,
+
+“World-honoured One! The Buddha ‘King Wisdom of the
+Pure-Flower-Constellation’ inquires after the World-honoured One thus:
+‘Hast thou few ailments and few harassments? Art thou at ease and in
+comfort? Are thy four component parts in harmony? Are thy worldly
+affairs tolerable? Are thy creatures easy to save—not over-covetous,
+angry, foolish, envious, arrogant; never unfilial to parents or
+irreverent to their teachers? Have they perverted views, or are they
+of good mind and restrained in their five passions? World-honoured
+One! Are thy creatures able to overcome the Mara-enemies? Does the
+Tathagata Abundant-Treasures, so long extinct, still abide in the Stupa
+of the Precious Seven, and come to listen to the Law?’ King Wisdom also
+inquires of the Tathagata Abundant-Treasures: ‘Art thou at ease and of
+few harassments? Wilt thou be content to remain long?’ World-honoured
+One! We now would see the bodily form of the Buddha Abundant-Treasures.
+Be pleased, World-honoured One, to show and let us see him.”
+
+“Then says Śakyamuni Buddha to the Buddha Abundant-Treasures: ‘This
+Bodhisattva Wonder-Sound desires an interview.’ Instantly the Buddha
+Abundant-Treasures addresses Wonder-Sound: ‘Excellent, excellent!
+That you have been able to come here to pay homage to Śakyamuni Buddha,
+to hear the Law-Flower Sutra, and to see Manjuśri and the others’.”
+
+  Śakyamuni here tells an inquiring disciple, that Wonder-Sound had
+  formerly paid homage to the King of Cloud-thundering, and obtained
+  great powers. He tells them that they see here but one of his
+  manifold bodies. To preach the Lotus Sutra he appears in many forms.
+
+“Sometimes he appears as Brahma, or appears as Sakra, or appears
+as Isvara, as Mahesvara, or as a deva-general, or as the deva-king
+Vaisravana, or as a Holy Wheel-rolling King, or as one of the ordinary
+kings, or as an elder, as a citizen, or a minister; or appears as a
+Brahman; or appears as a monk, a nun, a disciple male or female; or
+appears as the wife of an elder or a citizen, or as the wife of a
+minister, or of a Brahman, or as a youth or maiden; or appears as a
+god, dragon, yaksha, gandharva, asura, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga, man,
+or a non-human being, and so on: and preaches this Sutra. He is able
+to rescue whatever beings are in the hells, or hungry ghosts, animals
+and all in distress. Even in the inner courts of a king, transforming
+himself into a woman, he preaches this Sutra.”
+
+  His transformations accord with what may be expedient. To those he
+  must save in the form of a Hinayana teacher, he appears in that form
+  to preach the Law; to those he must save in the form of a
+  Bodhisattva, or a Buddha, he appears in that form; even to those he
+  must save by his extinction, he reveals himself as extinct. These
+  mighty powers he attained through the samadhi-meditation
+  “Revelation-of-all-powers”.
+
+  When Wonder-Sound has paid his homage to Śakyamuni and the Buddha
+  Abundant-Treasures, he returns to his own land accompanied by his
+  disciples, and attended with phenomena like those which announced
+  his progress hither.
+
+  And while the chapter on the going and coming of the Bodhisattva
+  Wonder-Sound was preached, forty-two thousand heavenly sons attained
+  to the Assurance of No-Rebirth, and the Bodhisattva Flower-Virtue
+  attained to the samadhi termed Law-Flower.
+
+
+
+
+                                  XXV
+
+
+  From his seat arises the Bodhisattva Infinite-Thought who, baring
+  his right shoulder and folding his hands, asks the Buddha why the
+  Bodhisattva Kwan-shi-yin is thus named, Regarder of the Cries of the
+  World. The Buddha replies:
+
+“If there be any who hold fast to the name of that Bodhisattva,
+Regarder-of-the-Cries-of-the-World, though they fall into a great
+fire, the fire will not be able to burn them, by virtue of the august
+supernatural power of that Bodhisattva. If any, carried away by a
+flood, call upon (his) name, they will immediately reach the shallows.
+If there be hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of beings, who in
+search of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, moon-stones, agate, coral, amber,
+pearls, and other treasures, go out on the ocean, and if a black gale
+blows their ships adrift upon the land of the Rakshasa-demons, and if
+amongst them there be even a single person who calls the name of the
+Bodhisattva Regarder-of-the-Cries-of-the-World, all those people will
+be delivered from the woes of the Rakshasas. It is for this cause that
+he is named Regarder-of-the-Cries-of-the-World.
+
+“Or if any one cries who is in deadly peril by the sword, the sword
+will be snapped asunder. If wicked demons attack, the one who cries
+will become invisible to them. Whether guilty or innocent, if he cry,
+though loaded with manacles, fetters, cangues or chains, all will
+be broken and he will be set free. A train of jewel-merchants,
+passing along a road infested with robbers, have but to cry with one
+voice and they will be protected. Those possessed by carnal passions,
+anger, or infatuation have but to remember and revere this Bodhisattva
+and they will be set free. If a woman desires a son, worships and pays
+homage, she will bear a son, virtuous and wise; or if a daughter, then
+of good demeanour and looks.
+
+“The merit attained by worship of other Bodhisattvas, in number as
+sands of sixty-two kotis of Ganges, just equals the merit of him who
+but for one moment worships the Regarder-of-the-Cries-of-the-World.”
+
+  This Bodhisattva appears to all according to their need. If needed
+  as a Hinayana teacher, he appears as such; if as Brahma, or Indra,
+  or Isvara, or a deva, a king, an elder, a citizen, an official, a
+  brahman, a monk, nun, or male or female disciple, then he appears as
+  such. If needed in the form of a wife of an elder, citizen, official
+  or brahman, he appears as such; or if as a youth or maiden, he
+  appears as such. If needed as a god, or a demon, he so appears. This
+  is given in lengthy detail.
+
+  Kwan-yin, or Kwan-non, is to-day represented as a female Bodhisattva
+  and by Europeans styled the Goddess of Mercy. She is addressed as
+  “Most Merciful, Most Pitiful”. In reality Kwan-yin is above sex, and
+  may be represented as male or female. Kwan-yin, this Sutra tells us,
+  is the great Bestower of Fearlessness, relieving the fear of those
+  who are in anxiety or distress.
+
+[Illustration: 12. Kuan-yin breaking the executioner’s sword
+
+From an A.D. 1681 facsimile of an A.D. 1331 edition of the illustrated
+Kuan-yin chapter of the Lotus Sutra]
+
+    “Listen to the deeds of the Cry-Regarder,
+    Who well responds to every quarter;
+    Vast is his vow as deep the sea,
+    Age-long, and inconceivable.
+    . . . . .
+    Who hears his name and looks to him,
+    Unremittingly remembering him,
+    Will end the sorrows of existence.
+    Even though men with ill intent
+    Cast him into a burning pit,
+    Let him think of the Cry-Regarder
+    The very fire-pit becomes a pool;
+    Or, driven along a mighty ocean
+    In peril dire of dragons and demons,
+    Let him think of the Cry-Regarder
+    And ne’er will waves him overwhelm;
+    Or if, from lofty peak of Sumeru,
+    They should hurl him headlong down,
+    Let him think of the Cry-Regarder
+    And firm as the sun he is held in the sky.
+    . . . . .
+    If by incantations or poison
+    Any one seeks to hurt his body,
+    And he thinks of the Cry-Regarder,
+    All these ills revert to their author.
+    . . . . .
+    If, encompassed by evil beasts,
+    Sharp of tusk or cruel of claw,
+    He should think of the Cry-Regarder,
+    They will flee in every direction;
+    Or there be boas, vipers and scorpions,
+    Breathing poison as fire-flame scorching,
+    If he thinks of the Cry-Regarder,
+    Instantly they each will vanish.
+    . . . . .
+    Every evil state of existence,
+    Hells and ghosts and animals,
+    Sorrows of birth, age, disease, death,
+    All will thus be ended for him.
+    True Regard, serene Regard,
+    Far-reaching, wise Regard,
+    Regard of pity, Regard compassionate,
+    Ever longed for, ever looked for
+    In radiance ever pure and serene!
+    Wisdom’s sun, destroying darkness,
+    Subduer of woes, of storm, of fire,
+    Illuminator of the world!
+    Law of pity, thunder quivering,
+    Compassion wondrous as a great cloud,
+    Pouring spiritual rain like nectar,
+    Quenching all the flames of distress!
+    . . . . .
+    Voice of the Regarder, wondrous Voice,
+    Voice of the rolling tide, Brahma-voice,
+    Voice all world-surpassing,
+    Ever to be cherished in mind
+    With never a doubting thought.
+    World’s Cry-Regarder, pure and holy,
+    In pain, distress, in death or woe,
+    Potent as a sure reliance,
+    Perfect in every virtuous merit,
+    All-beholding with eyes of pity,
+    Boundless ocean-store of blessings!
+    Prostrate, let us make obeisance.”
+
+.....
+
+“While the Buddha preached this chapter of the All-sided One, the
+eighty-four thousand living beings in the assembly set their minds on
+Perfect Enlightenment, with which nothing can compare.”
+
+
+
+
+                                  XXVI
+
+
+  The Bodhisattva, King of Healing, is now represented offering spells
+  to guard and protect the preachers of the Lotus Sutra. One such
+  spell begins:
+
+“Anye manye mane mamane citte carite same samitavi sante mukte
+muktanesame avishame sama same jaye khshaye akshaye akshine sante
+samite dharani alokabhashe-pratyavekshani nidhini abhyantaranivishte
+...” and so on.
+
+  This is a spell, he says, which has been used by Buddhas numerous as
+  the sands of sixty-two kotis of Ganges, and if any one does violence
+  to the teachers of the Lotus Sutra, they will be doing violence to
+  all these Buddhas. Śakyamuni ♦extols the King of Healing for his
+  wonderful spell.
+
+  ♦ “extolls” replaced with “extols”
+
+  Another Bodhisattva, Courageous-Giver, then offers another spell
+  against all demons, commencing, “Jvale mahajvale ukke tukku mukku
+  ude ...” &c.
+
+  A deva-king also offers a spell potent in his realm: “Atte tatte
+  natte vanatte anade nadi kumadi avaha ...” Another deva-king offers
+  yet another.
+
+  Rakshasas, that is non-human “furies” or witches, named Binder,
+  Unbinder, Crooked-teeth, Coloured-teeth, Black-teeth,
+  Dishevelled-locks, Insatiable, Skull- or Necklace-holder, Kunti and
+  Spirit-snatcher: these ten creatures, together with the
+  Mother-of-Demon-Sons, with her children and followers, now approach,
+  offering their spells.
+
+[Illustration: 13. The Mara-king offering his protective spells to the
+Buddha]
+
+“If any spy for the shortcomings of these teachers of the Law, we will
+prevent their obtaining their wish.” The spell they give is:
+
+“Iti me, iti me, iti me, iti me, iti me; ni me, ni me, ni me, ni me, ni
+me; ruhe, ruhe, ruhe, ruhe, ruhe; stuhe, stuhe, stuhe, stuhe, stuhe,
+svaha.
+
+“Let troubles come on our heads rather than on theirs.”
+
+  Neither yakshas nor hungry ghosts, nor the long list of malevolent
+  creatures, whose names are given, nor fevers of any kind shall cause
+  the preacher of the Lotus Sutra distress. They add:
+
+    “Whoever dares defy our spell
+    And harass any preacher,
+    May his head be split in seven,
+    Like unto an arjaka sprout.
+    His doom be that of a parricide,
+    Or of a swindling oil-presser,
+    Or of a cheat with measure and weight,
+    Or of Devadatta the first schismatic.
+    He who dares offend these Preachers,
+    Such shall be his certain doom.”
+
+  The Buddha replies to these witches, that great shall be their
+  reward if they protect those who only keep the name of this Sutra in
+  mind; how much greater those who pay homage to it
+
+“with flowers, incense, necklaces, sandal-powder, perfumes,
+incense, ♦flages, canopies, and music; burning various kinds of
+lamps—ghee lamps, oil lamps, lamps of scented oil, lamps of oil of
+Campaka-flowers, lamps of oil of Varshika-flowers, and lamps of oil of
+Udumbara-flowers; such hundreds thousands kinds of offerings as these.
+Kunti! You and your followers ought to protect such teachers of the
+Law.”
+
+♦ “flages” replaced with “flags”
+
+“While this chapter of Dharanis was preached, thirty-eight thousand
+people attained to the Assurance of No-Rebirth.”
+
+
+
+
+                                 XXVII
+
+
+  The Buddha now tells the story of King Resplendent. Of yore,
+  infinite aeons ago, there was a Buddha called Thunder-Voice, who was
+  the Star-King Wisdom. His realm was named Radiantly-Adorned, and his
+  epoch Joyful-Sight.
+
+  In his domain was a king called Resplendent, whose wife was Pure
+  Virtue, and his two sons, one Pure Treasury, the other Pure Eyes.
+  The two sons had attained to great supernatural powers, blessedness
+  and wisdom, by methods of self-cultivation and concentration, the
+  names of which are given; and by “benevolence, compassion, joy,
+  indifference and the thirty-seven kinds of aids to the Way”.
+
+  Then the Buddha Thunder-Voice decided to guide King Resplendent into
+  the higher truth, by preaching to him this Lotus Sutra. The two
+  sons, becoming aware of this intention, implored their mother to
+  lead them to hear the Sutra. The mother sighed that the father
+  believed in and was deeply attached to heretical doctrine, but sent
+  her two sons to urge him to accompany them. The two sons, putting
+  their religion first, protested that, “though born in this home of
+  heretical views”, they were really the sons of Buddha. Again the
+  mother urged them: “You should have sympathy with your father, and
+  reveal to him some of your supernatural powers so that, seeing them,
+  his mind may be enlightened, and he may perhaps grant that we all go
+  to the Buddha.”
+
+  On this the sons went to the king and, in order to convince him,
+  displayed their marvellous powers, rising into the sky, walking,
+  sitting, standing and lying there. They expanded themselves till
+  they filled the whole sky, or shrunk themselves to minute size; they
+  vanished from the sky and appeared upon earth; they entered the
+  earth as if it were water, and walked on water as on the earth. Thus
+  they convinced their father and brought him to faith and
+  discernment. Demanding to be told who was their teacher, he was
+  informed it was Thunder-Voice, Star-King of Wisdom.
+
+“I also would now like to see your Master,” said the King; “we will all
+go together.”
+
+  The sons reported to their mother and begged for permission to leave
+  home and become followers of the Buddha.
+
+“I grant you permission to leave home,” she graciously said; “for it is
+a rare event in the world to meet a Buddha.”
+
+  They besought both father and mother to go and pay homage to the
+  Buddha, for, said they, a Buddha is as rare an event as is the
+  flower of the tree that blossoms but once in its life-time; or as “a
+  one-eyed tortoise spying the sun through a hole in a floating log”.
+  “But we, richly blessed through a former lot, now may meet the
+  Buddha in this life.”
+
+  Then the eighty-four thousand court ladies of King Resplendent also
+  became capable of receiving the Lotus Sutra.
+
+“Thereupon King Resplendent, accompanied by his ministers and
+retinue, Queen Pure Virtue with her court ladies and retinue, and the
+two Princes, together with forty-two thousand of their people, set out
+to visit the Buddha.”
+
+  After prostrating themselves, they made procession around the Buddha
+  three times and stood on either side.
+
+“Then that Buddha preached to the king, showing, teaching, profiting,
+rejoicing him, so that the king was greatly delighted. King Resplendent
+and his Queen unloosed the necklaces of pearls worth hundreds and
+thousands, from their necks, and threw them upon the Buddha, and these
+in the sky were transformed into a four-column jewel-tower; on the
+tower was a large jewelled couch spread with hundreds, thousands,
+myriads of celestial coverings, on which sat the Buddha cross-legged,
+emitting a great ray of light. Whereupon King Resplendent reflected
+thus: ‘Rare, dignified, extraordinary is the Buddha’s body, perfect in
+its supreme refined colouring’.”
+
+“The king at once made over his domain to his younger brother; while
+he, together with his queen, two sons and their retinue, forsook his
+home, and followed the Way under the rule of that Buddha. Having
+forsaken his home, during eighty-four thousand years the king was
+ever diligent and zealous in observing the Wonderful Law-Flower
+Sutra, and after these years had passed, attained to the samadhi
+Adorned-with-all-pure-Merits.
+
+  Rising in the sky King Resplendent gave the praise for his
+  enlightenment to his two sons, who had turned his mind from heresy
+  to Buddha Truth. “These two sons are indeed my good friends, for
+  desiring to develop the good roots planted by me in my former lives,
+  they came and were born in my home.” In other words, the good seed
+  the King had sown in former lives attracted these two spirits to be
+  born in his home, to aid him in reaping the fruit. The implication
+  is that no man has sons of his own. He may beget their bodies, but
+  the real sons are souls re-born into his home.
+
+“So it is, so it is, the Buddha replied, “It is as you say. Any good
+son or good daughter, by planting roots of goodness, will in every
+generation obtain good friends, which good friends will be able to
+do Buddha-deeds, showing, teaching, profiting and rejoicing him, and
+causing him to enter into Perfect Enlightenment. Know, Great King! A
+good friend is the great cause whereby men are converted and led to see
+the Buddha and aroused to Perfect Enlightenment. Great King! Do you
+see these two sons? These two sons have already paid homage to Buddhas
+sixty-five times the hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis nayutas of
+the sands of a Ganges, waiting upon and revering them; and among those
+Buddhas have received and kept the Law-Flower Sutra, compassionating
+the living in their false views, and establishing them in right views.”
+
+“King Resplendent thereupon descended from the sky and said to the
+Buddha:
+
+‘World-honoured One! Rare indeed is the sight of the Tathagata; by
+his merits and wisdom the prominence on his head shines brilliantly;
+his eyes are wide-open and deep blue; the tuft between his eyebrows
+is white as the pearly moon; his teeth are wide, even, close and ever
+shining; his lips are red and beautiful as bimba-fruit.’
+
+“When King Resplendent had thus extolled the many merits of that
+Buddha—countless hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis of them—with all
+his mind he folded his hands before the Tathagata and again addressed
+that Buddha saying: ‘Unprecedented is the World-honoured One. The
+Tathagata’s teaching is perfect in its inconceivable and wonderful
+merits. The moral precepts which he promulgates are comforting and
+quickening. From this day onward I will not again follow my own mind,
+nor beget false views, nor a haughty, angry or any other sinful mind.’
+Having uttered these words, he did reverence to the Buddha and went
+forth.”
+
+  Śakyamuni now declares that King Resplendent and his queen are
+  re-incarnated in the persons of two Bodhisattvas present, and that
+  the two princes are now the Bodhisattvas King of Healing and Lord of
+  Healing.
+
+“While the Buddha preached this chapter, eighty-four thousand people
+departed from impurity, separated themselves from uncleanness, and
+acquired pure spiritual eyes in regard to spiritual things.”
+
+
+
+
+                                 XXVIII
+
+
+  Then from the East comes the Bodhisattva, Universal-Virtue, with his
+  unlimited, infinite, incalculable host. Countless realms are shaken
+  by his passage, while jewel-lotuses rain down upon them, and
+  numberless celestial instruments pour forth their exquisite music.
+  He, too, has heard that the Lotus Sutra is being preached and has
+  brought his host of Bodhisattvas to hear it.
+
+  The Buddha responds to him, announcing what may be considered as the
+  equivalent in Mahayana for the Four Noble Truths of the Hinayana.
+
+“If any good son or daughter acquires the four following requisites,
+such a one will possess this Law-Flower Sutra after the extinction of
+the Tathagata:
+
+“First, place himself under the care of Buddhas:
+
+Second, plant the roots of virtue:
+
+Third, enter into correct concentration (or meditation):
+
+Fourth, seek the salvation of all the living.
+
+Any good son or good daughter, who attains to these four requisites,
+will assuredly possess this Sutra after the extinction of the
+Tathagata.”
+
+  Thereupon the Bodhisattva Universal-Virtue, whose title may be taken
+  to indicate the moral basis and Catholicism of Mahayana, promises to
+  protect those who keep this Truth, and to give ease of mind and
+  freedom from the affliction of Mara, Mara-sons, Mara-daughters,
+  Mara-people, Mara-satellites, yakshas and so on.
+
+“Wherever such a one walks or stands, reading and reciting this Sutra,
+I will at once mount the royal six-tusked white elephant and, with a
+host of great Bodhisattvas, go to that place and, revealing myself,
+will serve and protect him, comforting his mind; also thereby serving
+the Law-Flower Sutra. Wherever such a one sits, pondering over this
+Sutra, I will at once again mount the royal white elephant and show
+myself to him. If such a one forgets, be it but a single word or verse
+of the Law-Flower Sutra, I will teach him it, read and recite it with
+him, and again cause him to master it. Thereupon he who receives and
+keeps, reads and recites the Law-Flower Sutra, on seeing me will
+greatly rejoice and renew his zeal. Through seeing me, he will at once
+attain to the samadhis and the dharanis.”
+
+  Wherever the followers of this Sutra meet together for three
+  sevenfold days, then Universal Truth declares:
+
+“I will mount my six-tusked white elephant, and accompanied by
+countless Bodhisattvas, appear before those people in the form the
+living delight to see, and preach to them, revealing, instructing,
+benefitting and rejoicing them. Moreover I will give them spells,
+so that no human or non-human beings can injure them, nor any woman
+beguile them.”
+
+  Such is the promise of the spiritual presence, power, and aid of
+  Universal Virtue.
+
+  Those who keep, read, remember, apprehend, and practise the Sutra as
+  preached are assured that they are “doing the works of
+  Universal-Virtue, have deeply planted roots of goodness under
+  numberless, countless Buddhas, and that their heads will be caressed
+  by the hands of the Tathagatas”. If they merely copy this Sutra,
+  they will be reborn in a heaven, where they will be welcomed with
+  music by eighty-four thousand nymphs, and they, wearing jewelled
+  crowns, will dwell among those nymphs, joyful and delighted. If such
+  be the reward of a mere copyist, how much greater will be the reward
+  of him who reads, remembers, and practises it. To him
+
+“the hands of a thousand Buddhas will be offered, that he may fear
+not, neither fall into any evil destiny, but go straight to Maitreya’s
+heaven, where are hosts of Great Bodhisattvas and hundreds, thousands,
+myriads, kotis of nymph-followers; amongst these will he be re-born.”
+
+“Therefore,” says Universal-Virtue, “the wise should with all their
+minds themselves copy it, or cause others to copy it, receive and
+keep, read and recite, rightly remember, and practise it as preached.
+World-honoured One! I now by my supernatural power will guard and
+protect this Sutra so that, after the extinction of the Tathagata, it
+may spread abroad without cease in the world.”
+
+“Then Śakyamuni Buddha ♦extols him, saying: ‘It is well, it
+is well, Universal Virtue, that you are able to protect and assist
+this Sutra, and bring happiness and weal to the living in so many
+places. You have already attained to inconceivable merits and profound
+benevolence and compassion. From a long distant past have you aspired
+to Perfect Enlightenment, and been able to make this supernatural vow
+to guard and protect this Sutra. And I, by supernatural power, will
+guard and protect those who are able to receive and keep the name of
+the Bodhisattva Universal-Virtue.
+
+♦ “extolls” replaced with “extols”
+
+“Universal-Virtue! If there be any who receive and keep, read and
+recite, rightly remember, practise and copy this Law-Flower Sutra, know
+that such are attending on Śakyamuni Buddha, as if they were hearing
+this Sutra direct from the Buddha’s mouth; know that such are paying
+homage to Śakyamuni Buddha; know that the Buddha is praising them,
+‘Well done!’ Know that the heads of such are being caressed by the
+hands of Śakyamuni Buddha. Know that such are covered by the robe of
+Śakyamuni Buddha. Such as these will not again be eager for worldly
+pleasure, nor be fond of heretical scriptures and writings; nor ever
+again take pleasure in intimacy with worldly men, or with evil persons,
+whether butchers, or herders of boars, sheep, fowls, and dogs, or
+hunters, and panderers. But such as these will be right-minded, have
+correct aims and be auspicious. Such will not be harassed by the Three
+Poisons, nor be harassed by envy, pride, haughtiness, and arrogance;
+such will be content with few desires, and able to do the works of
+Universal-Virtue.
+
+“Universal-Virtue! After the extinction of the Tathagata, in the
+latter five hundred years (of decadence), if any one sees one who
+receives and keeps, reads and recites the Law-Flower Sutra, he must
+reflect thus: ‘This man will ere long go to the wisdom-plot, destroy
+the host of Mara, attain to Perfect Enlightenment, and rolling onward
+the Law-wheel, beating the Law-drum, blowing the Law-conch, and pouring
+the rain of the Law, will sit on the lion-throne of the Law amid a
+great assembly of gods and men.’
+
+“Universal-Virtue! Whoever in future ages receive and keep, read and
+recite this Sutra, such persons will no longer be greedily attached
+to clothes, bedding, drink, food, and things for the support of life;
+whatever they wish will never be in vain, and in the present life they
+will obtain their blessed reward. Suppose any one slights and slanders
+them, saying: ‘You are only mad men, pursuing this course in vain, with
+never a thing to be gained’—the doom for such sin as this is blindness,
+generation after generation. If any one makes offerings to and praises
+them, he will obtain visible reward in the present world. Again, if any
+one sees those who receive and keep this Sutra, and proclaims their
+errors and sins, whether true or false, such a one in the present
+life will be smitten with leprosy. If he ridicules them, generation
+after generation his teeth will be sparse and missing, his lips vile,
+his nose flat, his hands and feet contorted, his eyes asquint, his
+body stinking and filthy with evil scabs and bloody pus, he will be
+dropsical and short of breath, and have every evil disease. Therefore,
+Universal-Virtue, if one sees those who receive and keep this
+Sutra, he should stand up and greet them from afar, just as if he were
+paying reverence to the Buddha.”
+
+“While the chapter of the Encouragement of the Bodhisattva
+Universal-Virtue was being preached, innumerable, incalculable
+Bodhisattvas, equal to the sands of Ganges, attained to the dharani of
+the Hundreds, Thousands, Myriads, Kotis of Progress, and Bodhisattvas
+equal to the atoms of a Three-Thousand-Great-Thousandfold World became
+perfect in the Way of Enlightenment.
+
+“When the Buddha preached this Sutra, Universal-Virtue and the other
+Bodhisattvas, Śariputra and the other sravakas, and the gods, dragons,
+human and non-human beings, and all others in the great assembly,
+greatly rejoiced together, and taking possession of the Buddha’s words,
+made salutation to him and withdrew.”
+
+
+                                GLOSSARY
+
+_Ajita_, _idem_ Maitreya, _q.v._
+
+_Amitābha_, _Amitāyus_, or _Amita_. Infinite light and infinite life,
+possibly a Persian concept adapted by Mahāyānists. It is in this Sutra
+that he first has mention. He is the most popular Buddha in the Far
+East, and to Sukhavatī, his Paradise, or Pure-land, where also Kuan-yin
+dwells, it is the prayer of most devotees to go.
+
+_Ānanda_, p. 146.
+
+_Anātman_. Without a permanent personality, or soul.
+
+_Anuttara-samyak-saṁbōdhi_. Unsurpassed perfect wisdom.
+
+_Araṇya_. Hermitage.
+
+_Arhat_, _Arhān_, in Chinese ‘Lo-han’. One who has attained to
+spiritual ārya or saintship; one who strives after it; a higher class
+of Buddhist disciple.
+
+_Arjaka_. Symplocos Racemosa; but it may be Marjaka which is said to
+split into seven pieces when cut down.
+
+_Asaṃkhyēya_. Beyond number, countless, numberless; by some explained
+as 1 followed by 17 ciphers, by others as by 97 ciphers, by others as a
+world period of 1,344,000,000 years.
+
+_Asita_, p. 20.
+
+_Aśōka_. The first great royal patron of Buddhism in the third century
+B.C.; _see_ p. 6.
+
+_Asuras_. Titans, powerful rivals of the gods; _see_ Nāga.
+
+_Avalōkiteśvara_. Regarder of cries, Kuan-yin. The original form is
+uncertain.
+
+_Avīci_. Unintermitted reincarnation in the last of the eight hot hells.
+
+_Avinivartanīyaḥ_. Never retrograding, or returning to mortality.
+
+
+_Bhikshu_, _Bhikshuṇī_. Mendicants, monks, nuns.
+
+_Bōdhi_. Enlightenment; awake, aware, enlightened.
+
+_Bōdhisattva_. A disciple who has become enlightened and freed from
+the miseries of mortality; also an angelic being ready for final
+buddhahood, who remains in a lower state to save others; _see_
+Mahasattva.
+
+_Bōdhisattva-Mahāsattva_. _See_ Mahāsattva.
+
+_Brahmā_. The first person in the Brahminical trinity. By Buddhists he
+is considered as subject to mortality, and therefore inferior to one
+who has attained to Bōdhi. In this Sūtra he is mentioned as the ‘Father
+of all the living’, perhaps as Dēva of the present world.
+
+_Brāhmaṇas_. Brahmins, i.e. those of the highest caste.
+
+_Buddha_. The enlightened; awake, aware.
+
+
+_Dēva_. The gods of Brahminism; gods in general; they are all subject
+to metempsychosis.
+
+_Dēvadatta_, p. 20.
+
+_Dhāraṇī_. Magic formula, spell, incantation.
+
+_Dharmagupta_, p. 7.
+
+_Dharmaraksha_, p. 7.
+
+_Dhuta_. Discipline.
+
+
+_Gandharva_. Beings superior to men, able to smell incense and make
+music; see Nāga.
+
+_Garuḍa_. Winged spirits resembling powerful birds able to fight Nāgas,
+_q.v._
+
+_Gayā_. An ancient city of Magadha, where Śākyamuni lived for seven
+years before attaining his enlightenment; pp. 197, 200.
+
+_Gṛidhrakūṭa_. The Vulture Peak, p. 13.
+
+
+_Hīnayāna_. Small conveyance, or vehicle; whereby the few are saved by
+works.
+
+_Indra_. One of the most ancient gods of Brahminism, now protector of
+Buddhism, though considered inferior to a Buddha. His symbol is the
+vajra.
+
+_Īśvara_. A sovereign (in his own right), see Maheśvara.
+
+_Jñanāgupta_, p. 7.
+
+_Kalaviṅka_. A fabulous bird of melodious song; p. 220.
+
+_Kalpa_. There are many kinds, but the general meaning is an aeon or
+age.
+
+_Kanishka_. _See_ p. 6.
+
+_Karma_. Deed, conduct, moral action; used also in the sense of
+character as the resultant of moral thought and action. _See_ p. 44.
+
+_Kāśyapa_. _See_ Mahā-Kāśyapa.
+
+_Kinnara_. Supernatural beings usually represented with horses’ heads;
+the musicians of Kuvera, or Pluto; _see_ Naga.
+
+_Kōṭī_. A figure varying from 100,000 to 10,000,000,000.
+
+_Kshatriyas_. The second caste, of kings and warriors, from which
+Buddhas come.
+
+_Kumārajīva_. _See_ p. 7.
+
+_Kumbhāṇḍa_. Monstrously deformed demons.
+
+_Kuntī_. Name of a demoness.
+
+
+_Mahā-Kāśyapa_. One of the principal disciples of the Buddha.
+
+_Mahāsattva_. Great being. Bōdhisattvas superior to all beings except
+Buddhas, and who are saviours of all creatures.
+
+_Mahāyanā_. Great vehicle; by which all are saved through faith.
+
+_Mahā-Kātyāyana_. One of the four oldest disciples; p. 129.
+
+_Mahā-Māudgalyāyana_. One of the four oldest disciples; p. 129.
+
+_Mahēśvara_. King of dēvas. Śiva.
+
+_Mahōraga_. Boa-demons; large bellied demons; see Nāga.
+
+_Māitrēya_. The next Buddha, the Messiah of the Buddhists. Also called
+Ajita.
+
+_Mañjuśrī_. An imaginary Bōdhisattva, the apotheosis of transcendental
+wisdom.
+
+_Māra_. The murderer or enemy of goodness; the devil.
+
+
+_Nāga_. Snake, boa, dragon, monster. The eight classes beyond the human
+stage are Dēvas, Nāgas, Rakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garuḍas, Kinnaras,
+Mahōragas.
+
+_Namo_, or _Namaḥ_. A formula of adoration like Ave.
+
+_Nayuta_. Some say a hundred thousand millions.
+
+_Nirvāṇa_. Extinction, but whether of existence, or of reincarnation,
+or of all impurity, is much debated.
+
+
+_Pāramitās_. The (six) virtues which ferry over the saṃsāra stream
+to nirvāṇa—renunciation, purity, endurance, advance, concentrated
+meditation, wisdom.
+
+_Pārinirvāṇa_. Final extinction, _see_ Nirvāṇa.
+
+_Pratyēkabuddha_. An individualist who saves himself but does not save
+others; an ascetic.
+
+_Puṇḍarīka_. The great, or white lotus.
+
+_Rāhula_. Son of the Buddha, born before the latter left home.
+
+_Rakshas_. Demons who devour men, the retinue of Vāiśravaṇa; _see_ Nāga.
+
+
+_Saddharma_. Good Law, True Law, somewhat similar to ‘Gospel’. In
+Chinese it is translated by Miao Fa, which means wonderful, beautiful,
+supernatural law.
+
+_Sāgara_. Dragon-King of the Ocean, whose palace is full of pearls, and
+who is the bestower of rain; p. 172.
+
+_Śakra_, _idem_ Indra.
+
+_Saha_. A mortal world.
+
+_Śākyamuni_. Saint of the Śākya clan, whose other names were Siddhārtha
+and Gautama.
+
+_Samādhi_. Mystical meditation, concentrated contemplation, ecstatic
+absorption.
+
+_Saṃgha_. The assembly of monks; the ‘Church’ of Buddhism, hence the
+third member of the trinity Buddha, Law, Church.
+
+_Śāriputra_. Son of Śāri, the most learned of the Buddha’s disciples.
+
+_Śramaṇa_. A monk, an ascetic.
+
+_Śrāmaṇēras_. Novices.
+
+_Śrāvaka_. A hearer, or disciple; an elementary stage of sainthood.
+
+_Stūpa_. A reliquary, or shrine, of cupola-shape to contain remains
+after cremation, especially of the Buddha.
+
+_Subhūti_. One of the four oldest disciples; p. 129.
+
+_Sumēru_. The central mountain of every world, whose height above the
+sea is 84,000 yōjanas, but whose total height from its invisible base
+to its summit is 168,000 yōjanas.
+
+_Sūtra_. A work supposed to give the discourses of the Buddha.
+
+
+_Tāla_. The fan palm; a length of about 70 feet.
+
+_Tathāgata_. One who comes, or goes, as he should, a term for a Buddha.
+
+
+_Udumbara_. A tree supposed to flower only once in 3,000 years.
+
+_Utpala_. The blue lotus.
+
+
+_Vajra_. The sceptre of Indra as god of lightning and thunder.
+
+_Vārāṇasī_. Benares.
+
+
+_Yaksha_. A class of demons.
+
+_Yōjana_. A measure of length, a league, variously estimated at from 4½
+to 9 miles.
+
+
+
+
+                                 INDEX
+
+  Abundant-Treasures, Buddha, 18, 155–68, 170, 193, 231–2, 234–5, 241,
+        244–6.
+
+  Abuse, _see_ Slander, Persecute.
+
+  Action, sphere of, 181–91.
+
+  Aggregates, Five, 84.
+
+  Ajita, _see_ Maitreya.
+
+  Alms, _see_ Giving.
+
+  Altruism, 181–91. _See_ Pity, Giving.
+
+  Amitabha, 45, 47.
+
+  Amitayus, 239.
+
+  Ananda, 146–7.
+
+  Anatman, 43–5, 50.
+
+  Ancient Buddha, 18, 19, 23, 39, 51, 54–5. _See_
+        Abundant-Treasures.
+
+  Apocalypse, 4, 13, 28, 37, 47, 53, 153, 163, 236.
+
+  Aranya, 178–9.
+
+  Arhats, 66, 141, 179.
+
+  Arjaka, 253.
+
+  Arms, 237.
+
+  Arya, 119.
+
+  Asamkhyeya, _see_ Numbers.
+
+  Ascetics, 65. _See_ Hinayana.
+
+  Asita, 20.
+
+  Aśoka, 6.
+
+  Assurance of No Re-birth, 240, 246, 254.
+
+  Asuras, 59, 84, 149, 220, 230, 235, 245.
+
+  Atom, 201, 209, 265. _See_ Dust, Ink.
+
+  Aunt, Buddha’s, 22, 59, 176–7.
+
+  Author, 4, 5, 36, 53, 56, 79.
+
+  Avalokiteśvara, 11, 28, 31. _See_ Kuan-yin.
+
+  Avinivartaniyah, 99.
+
+  Awakening of Faith, v, 6.
+
+
+  Beautiful, 29, 30, 236–41.
+
+  Bhagavadgita, v.
+
+  Bhikshu, _see_ Monks.
+
+  Bhikshuni, _see_ Nuns.
+
+  Birth and death (neither), _see_ Mortality and Reincarnation.
+
+  Blasphemy, 17, 49. _See_ Sutra, Slander of.
+
+  Blindness, _see_ Eye, 78, 102, 264.
+
+  Bodhi, 38, 79, 171–5. _See_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Bodhisattva, 45 and _passim._ Great Bodhisattvas, _see_
+        Mahasattvas.
+
+  Bodhi-tree, 79, 132, 197.
+
+  Body, the merits of, 223–5, 227.
+
+  Boundless, 131, 182. _See_ Infinite, Eternal.
+
+  Brahma, 13, 79, 132–3, 166, 174, 191, 212, 221, 245, 248, 250.
+
+  Brahmans, 108, 179, 184, 186, 245, 248.
+
+  Buddha, _passim._
+
+  Buddhahood, 2, 70, _passim._ _See_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Buddhas of the Buddha, 159–68.
+
+  Burma, 1, 5.
+
+  Burn, _see_ Cremate.
+
+  Burning Body, arms, &c., _see_ Giving.
+
+  Burning House (of the world), 16, 38, 42, 54, 86–97, 166, 207–8.
+
+  Burning Light, 201.
+
+  Burning pit, 249.
+
+  Burnouf, Eugène, 9.
+
+  Butchers, 23, 181, 263.
+
+
+  Calumniate, _see_ Slander, Sutra.
+
+  Caravan, 238.
+
+  Causation, 182, 242.
+
+  Central Asia, 4, 5.
+
+  Ceylon, 1, 5.
+
+  Children, 61, 76–7, 86–94.
+
+  Chiliocosm, 122–3, 131, 160–1, 166, 172, 174, 201, 219, 265.
+
+  China, v-viii, 1–11, 52, 53.
+
+  Christianity, v, vi, 2, 6, 36, 40, 44–5, 55, 72.
+
+  Clerical order, 52–3. _See_ Monks, Nuns, Samgha.
+
+  Cloud, _see_ Rain.
+
+  Compassion, _see_ Pity.
+
+  Concentration, _see_ Samadhi.
+
+  Conflagration, _see_ Burning House.
+
+  Constellation, King Wisdom of the Pure-Flower-, 242–6.
+
+  Conversion, immediate, 171–5.
+
+  Creator, 41.
+
+  Cremate, 29. _See_ Burning, Giving, Relics.
+
+  Crown-jewel, parable of, 186–91.
+
+
+  Date of Sutra, 4–6.
+
+  Decline, period of, _see_ Semblance Law, Burning House.
+
+  Deliverance, _see_ Emancipation.
+
+  Despise, 184–5. _See_ Never Despise.
+
+  Determinism, 42, 44.
+
+  Deva, 39, 63, 67, 73, 79, 82, 84, 127, 142, 149, 155, 164, 168, 170,
+        175, 186, 207, 214, 220, 222, 224, 230, 235, 240, 245, 248,
+        252, 265.
+
+  Devadatta, 20, 169–70, 253.
+
+  Devil, _see_ Mara.
+
+  Dharanis, 29, 31–2, 172, 237, 252–4, 261, 265.
+
+  Dharma, _passim._
+
+  Dharmagupta, 7.
+
+  Dharmaraksha, 7, 28.
+
+  Dhuta, 168, 197.
+
+  Doctrine, 34–56.
+
+  Dogs, 95–6, 101, 103.
+
+  Dragon, Dragon-kings, 59, 67, 82, 84, 149, 155, 223–4, 230, 245, 249,
+        265.
+
+  Dragon King, Daughter and Palace, 21, 171–5.
+
+  Drama, vi, 4, 13, 37, 53–6, 153, 157, 163, 236.
+
+  Drum, 62, 63, 77, 134, 207, 209, 220, 264.
+
+  Drunk, 144–5.
+
+  Dust, 131. _See_ Atoms, Ink.
+
+
+  Ear, 25, 219–21, 227.
+
+  Egg-born &c., 216.
+
+  Elephant, 114, 187–8, 218, 261.
+
+  Emanated Buddhas, _see_ Springing-up, Buddhas of the Buddha.
+
+  Emancipation, 66, 92–3, 98, 124–5, 128, 187, 217.
+
+  Enlightenment, _see_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Eternal, 13, 50, 52, 82, 131, 209, 211. _See_ Immortal, Infinite.
+
+  Eternal Buddha, 24, 35, 40–2, 55, 79, 192–9, 200–4, 206–8, 209–11.
+
+  Expediency, 14–15, 35–6, 47, 54, 66, 68–9, 74–5, 86–94, 97–9, 109–13,
+        118–19, 137–43, 202–8.
+
+  Extinction, 135 _et al._ _See_ Nirvana.
+
+  Eye, 25, 61, 219, 227, 240, 264.
+
+
+  Faith, 2, 14, 25, 34–5, 44–5, 46–9, 66, 70–3, 99, 153, 194, 210–11.
+
+  Fakirs, 181.
+
+  Father, 41–2, 44, 86–94, 106–17, 198, 204–6, 208. _See_ Son.
+
+  Fearless, 72, 89–94, 248.
+
+  Female, _see_ Woman.
+
+  Final Commission, 27, 234–5.
+
+  Final Revelation, 34.
+
+  Flower-light, 83–4.
+
+  Flowers, 63–4, 78, 83, 209, 214–15, 231, 236, 239, 242, 253.
+
+  Form and Content, 10–34.
+
+  Four Noble Truths, 84, 97–8, 134–5, 260.
+
+  Fragrance, 236–41. _See_ Incense, Nose.
+
+  Freewill, 42, 73, 86–7.
+
+  Friend, 258.
+
+
+  Gandharvas, 59, 84, 149, 230, 245.
+
+  Ganges sands, 23, 25, 29, 55, 61, 67, 103, 120, 135–6, 161, 164–5,
+        192–5, 209, 240, 242, 248, 252, 258, 265.
+
+  Garudas, 59, 84, 149, 230, 245.
+
+  Gaya, 197, 200.
+
+  Giving, 61, 75, 169, 173, 210, 213–14, 216–17, 234, 236–41.
+
+  Gnosis, 38.
+
+  God, 137.
+
+  Goddess of Mercy, 248. _See_ Kuan-yin.
+
+  Gods, _see_ Devas.
+
+  Gospel, v, 34, 50, 53, 55.
+
+  Graeco-Bactria, 6.
+
+  Gridhrakuta, 13, 30, 59, _et al._ _See_ Vulture Peak.
+
+
+  Hands, laying on of, 27, 153, 234, 262–3.
+
+  Hard (to preach, or keep), _see_ Sutra.
+
+  Hay, 167.
+
+  Healing, Lord of, 17, 22, 29, 32, 45, 48, 59, 149–56, 176, 236–41,
+        252, 255–9.
+
+  Heaven, heavens, 59, 60, 90, 221, 239. _See_ Paradise, Pure-land.
+
+  Hells, 35, 50, 59, 60–2, 100–3, 219, 220, 236, 245, 250.
+
+  Hinayana, 1–6, 15, 26, 37–8, 43, 46, 54–5, 62, 65, 68, 70–80, 81, 85,
+        130, 135, 142–3, 146, 178–80, 181–3, 185, 194, 226–8, 245, 248,
+        260.
+
+  Historical, 1–10.
+
+  Hodgson, Brian, 9.
+
+  Homage, _see_ Sutra, 238, 253 _et al._
+
+  Hsüan Tsang, 9.
+
+
+  Images, 76–8.
+
+  Immanence, 35, 39.
+
+  Immortality, 209, 211. _See_ Eternal.
+
+  Incense, 149–51, 209, 214, 231, 239, 253.
+
+  India, 4, 5, 53.
+
+  Indra, 132, 248.
+
+  Infinite, 14, 94, 182, 209, 231–2, 260. _See_ Eternal, Numbers.
+
+  Infinite-Thought, 247.
+
+  Infinity, meaning of, 59, 64, 131.
+
+  Ink, 131. _See_ Atoms, Dust.
+
+  Intimacy, sphere of, 181–91.
+
+  Invocation, _see_ Faith.
+
+  Isvara, 245, 248.
+
+
+  Jan Teng, _see_ Burning Light.
+
+  Japan, vi-vii, 1, 53.
+
+  Jewels, 23, 49, 83, 137–41, 144–5, 151–2, 160–1, 186–91, 209, 211,
+        231, 238, 248, 257.
+
+  Jñanagupta, 7, 28.
+
+
+  Kalavinkas, 220.
+
+  Kalpa, 74, 83–4, 101, 103, 105, 120, 131, 134, 135, 146–7, 164, 179,
+        185, 201, 203, 207–8, 214, 228, 232, 234. _See_ Numbers,
+        Infinite.
+
+  Kanishka, 6.
+
+  Karma, 43–5, 82, 150, 199, 208, 219.
+
+  Kato, Bunno, v, 10.
+
+  Kern, H., 9, 28.
+
+  King, 23, 67, 108, 111, 115, 122, 147, 174, 181, 183–4, 186, 238.
+
+  King who gives crown jewel, 23, 49, 186–91.
+
+  Kinnaras, 59, 84, 149, 230, 245.
+
+  Korea, 1.
+
+  Kotis, _see_ Numbers.
+
+  Kshatriyas, 108, 111.
+
+  Kuan-yin, Kwannon, 11, 28, 31, 45, 59, 247–51.
+
+  Kumarajiva, v, 7, 8, 10, 20, 28, 45.
+
+  Kumbhanda, 96.
+
+  Kunti, 252, 254.
+
+
+  Lamp, 238–9, 254.
+
+  Law, _passim._
+
+  Le Lotus de la bonne loi, 9.
+
+  Light, 236. _See_ Ray.
+
+  Light of Asia, 44.
+
+  Lion throne, roar, &c., _passim._
+
+  Lips, 218. _See_ Mouth, Teeth.
+
+  Lotus, passim, 243.
+
+  Lotus, blue, 218, 240, 244.
+
+  Love, 43. _See_ Pity.
+
+
+  Magic, 256.
+
+  Magic City, 38, 54, 137–41.
+
+  Maha-Kaśyapa, 16, 50–1, 129.
+
+  Maha-Katyayana, 129.
+
+  Maha-Maudgalyayana, 129.
+
+  Mahasattvas, 59, 67, 84, 143, 149, 192–9, 231, 234–5, 236, 239, 247,
+        252, 262.
+
+  Mahayana, 1–6, 15, 26, 34–7, 69, _et saepe_.
+
+  Mahesvara, 245.
+
+  Mahoragas, 84, 149, 230, 245.
+
+  Maitreya, 24, 45–6, 59, 60, 63, 195–9, 200, 209, 212, 216–17, 262.
+
+  Manjuśri, 21, 30, 59, 60, 63–4, 170–5, 181–91, 230, 243, 245.
+
+  Mara, 49, 62, 82, 129, 132, 174, 180, 187–9, 240, 244, 261, 264.
+
+  Medicine, 103, 204–8.
+
+  Medicine, King of, _see_ Healing, Lord of.
+
+  Meditation, _see_ Samadhi.
+
+  Merit, 25, 70, 85, 144, 210–15, 216–25, 232, 239–40, 243, 248, 251.
+
+  Messiah, _see_ Maitreya.
+
+  Metempsychosis, _see_ Reincarnation.
+
+  Milky Way, 238.
+
+  Mind, 25, 39, 41, 224–5, 227.
+
+  Mithra, 45.
+
+  Monastery, 211–15. _See_ Stupa.
+
+  Mongolia, vi, 1, 53.
+
+  Monks, 52–3, 60, 70, 84, 99, 137–8, 142, 149, 151, 155, 178–80, 183,
+        185, 203, 211–15, 226–8, 230, 245, 248.
+
+  Mortality, 71, 73, 78, 202, 239. _See_ Reincarnation.
+
+  Mouth, 218. _See_ Lips, Teeth.
+
+  Music, 77, 207, 212, 214, 220, 236, 244, 260. _See_ Drums.
+
+
+  Naga, 82, 84, 164, 173. _See_ Dragon.
+
+  Naked, 238.
+
+  Namah, 231.
+
+  Nayutas, _see_ Numbers.
+
+  Never Despise, 26, 52, 226–9.
+
+  Nirvana, 1, 2, 40, 50, 60, 66, 71, 74–6, 79, 81–2, 93, 98, 106,
+        112–13, 118, 123, 125, 127–8, 137, 139, 141, 144–5, 153,
+        156–68, 183, 190, 201–8, 229, 234, 237, 246, 248.
+
+  Nose, 25, 221–2, 227.
+
+  Numbers, 23, 29, 30, 32, 40, 48, 50–4, 114, 131, 144, 146–7,
+        149, 153, 161–4, 171, 192–9, 201, 209–10, 212, 216–24, 228,
+        230–4, 240, 242, 247. _See_ Ganges, Infinite, Eternal.
+
+  Nuns, 52–3, 60, 70, 84, 149, 177, 226–8, 230, 245, 248.
+
+
+  Omnipresence, 40–1, 155–6, 207.
+
+  Omniscience, 40, 65, 70, 92–4, 121–4, 131, 152, 201–2. _See_
+        Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Pain, _see_ Suffering.
+
+  Palaces, 134, 207, 211.
+
+  Pantheism, 39, 73.
+
+  Paradise, 51, 152. _See_ Pure-land.
+
+  Paramitas, 90, 210.
+
+  Parinirvana, 232, 237.
+
+  Passions, the, 78.
+
+  Pearl, 174, 257.
+
+  Perfect Enlightenment, 38, 50, 52, 59, 61, 65, 66–7, 69, 71–80, 81,
+        85, 90–4, 106, 118–22, 124, 132–6, 141, 144–56, 168–9, 172–7,
+        185–6, 197–8, 200–2, 209–10, 213, 228–9, 232, 234, 238, 251,
+        258, 263–5.
+
+  Peril, 138–9, 247–51.
+
+  Persecution, 62, 155, 178–80, 190, 226–8.
+
+  Personality, 43–5, 49, 52, 136.
+
+  Physician, Good, 24, 204–8.
+
+  Pit, 67, 249.
+
+  Pity, 77, 79, 87, 90, 93, 120, 134, 145, 149–50, 152, 172, 181–91,
+        205, 247–51, 258.
+
+  Players, 23.
+
+  Poetic sections, _see_ Verse.
+
+  Poison, 190, 204–8, 249–50.
+
+  Pratyeka, 70, 92, 99, 143, 149.
+
+  Prayer-wheels, 47.
+
+  Preach, Preacher, 17, 49, 52, 142, 150, 152, 155, 166, 176–80,
+        181–91, 202, 207–8, 218–25, 253, 257, 261.
+
+  Prediction, 15–17, 50, 83, 129–30, 142, 144–8, 170, 177, 226–8.
+
+  Prodigal Son, 16, 42, 54, 106–17. _See_ Son.
+
+  Protect, 252–4, 260–5. _See_ Sutra.
+
+  Punishment, 100, 264. _See_ Sutra, slander of.
+
+  Pure-land, 208. _See_ Heaven, Paradise.
+
+  Purity, Sexual, 182.
+
+  Puma, 142–3.
+
+
+  Rahula, 146–8, 177.
+
+  Rain, 16, 43, 54, 63, 122–8, 264.
+
+  Rakshas, 247, 252.
+
+  Rareness (of Buddha’s appearance, &c.), 68–9, 80, 125, 147, 164, 172,
+        203, 207, 209, 229, 256, 259.
+
+  Ray, Buddha-, 14, 18, 19, 41, 53, 60, 63, 132, 159, 242, 257, 259.
+
+  Reality, 65, 171, 202.
+
+  Reincarnation, 50–1, 82–3, 85, 91, 100–4, 135, 209, 219, 242, 246,
+        250, 254, 259.
+
+  Relics, 60, 76.
+
+  Resplendent, King, 255–9.
+
+  Rewards (_see_ Punishment), 100, 190, 210–15, 216–25.
+
+  Richard, Dr. Timothy, v, 137.
+
+  Rope, 84, 153, 155.
+
+  Rosary, 47.
+
+
+  Sacrifice, Self-, _see_ Giving.
+
+  Saddharma Pundarika, 9.
+
+  Sagara, 171–5.
+
+  Saha-world, 163, 192, 197, 201, 243.
+
+  Sailors, 247.
+
+  St. John, v, 55, 146.
+
+  Sakra, 174.
+
+  Sakya, 200, 211.
+
+  Śakyamuni, _passim._
+
+  Salvation, 35, 44, 47, 49, 77–8, 123–8, _et al._
+
+  Samadhi, 62, 64–5, 93, 198, 242–3, 246, 257, 261.
+
+  Samgha, 206.
+
+  Samskara, _see_ Mortality, Reincarnation.
+
+  Śariputra, 15, 65–7, 74, 79, 80, 81, 83–105, 235, 265.
+
+  Saunders, K. J., v.
+
+  Saviours, 45, 77–8.
+
+  Scavenger, 109–10.
+
+  Semblance Law, period of decline, 84, 176, 179, 264.
+
+  Serene Life, or Mind, 23, 181–91.
+
+  Shrine, _see_ Stupa.
+
+  Siam, 1, 5.
+
+  Sixteen sons, 17, 132–6.
+
+  Sky, 163, 166, 171, 227, 236, 242, 249, 258.
+
+  Slander, _see_ Sutra, slander of.
+
+  Smell, _see_ Nose.
+
+  Socrates, 39.
+
+  Son, Sonship, 16, 17, 42–3, 49, 54, 62–3, 67, 81, 86–94, 106–21,
+        132–6, 152, 168, 204–6, 208, 215, 246, 255–9.
+
+  Soul, 43–5, 49, 52.
+
+  Spells, _see_ Dharanis.
+
+  Spheres, Four, 181–91.
+
+  Spirit, 240.
+
+  Springing out of the earth, 23, 157, 192–9, 230, 235.
+
+  Sramaneras, 182.
+
+  Sravaka, 70, 92, 99, 113, 143, 149, 213, 265.
+
+  Star-cluster, King of, 236–41.
+
+  Star-King, 255.
+
+  Stein, Sir Aurel M., 8, 9.
+
+  Stupa, 18, 27, 29, 49, 54, 60, 63, 76–7, 120, 154, 157–68, 193,
+        211–15, 232, 235, 237–8, 241.
+
+  Subhuti, 16, 129.
+
+  Suffering, 74, 79, 97–8, 100–4, 112, 134–5, 236, 239, 247–51.
+
+  Sumeru, 133, 165, 238, 249.
+
+  Summary, 52–6.
+
+  Sun and Moon, 63, 236, 238.
+
+  Supreme Bodhi, _see_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Supreme Way, 63, 72, 78, 80. _See_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Sutra, difficulty of preaching, &c., this, 152, 165–9, 178–80.
+        _See_ Protect.
+
+  Sutra, homage to this, 149–56, 165, 169, 176, 211–15, 217–25, 263.
+
+  Sutra, slander of this, 100, 104, 151, 155, 178–80, 264.
+
+
+  Tactfulness, _see_ Expediency.
+
+  Tathagata, 27, 33, 41, 49, 51, 72, 83, 89, 91–4, 112–13, 122–5, 127,
+        137, 139, 148, 150–5, 155–68, 172, 176–7, 187–90, 193–6, 200–4,
+        211–12, 232, 234, 237, 240–1, 243–4, 259–60, 264.
+
+  Teeth, 25, 33, 218, 252, 259, 264.
+
+  Temple, _see_ Stupa.
+
+  Theosophy, 36.
+
+  Thirty-two signs, 141.
+
+  Thought, _see_ Mind.
+
+  Three-thousand-great-thousand-fold-World, _see_ Chiliocosm.
+
+  Thunder, 125, 242, 245. _See_ Drum.
+
+  Thunder-Voice, 32, 255–9.
+
+  Tibet, vi, 1, 53.
+
+  Toe, 166, 238.
+
+  Tongue, 25–7, 218–19, 222–3, 227, 230–1.
+
+  Trance, _see_ Samadhi.
+
+  Transcendence, 35, 39.
+
+  Transformations, 245.
+
+  Transmigration, _see_ Reincarnation.
+
+  Trees and Herbs, Parable of, 16, 43, 54, 122–8.
+
+  Triple world, 93, 202.
+
+  Truth, ultimate, 65–6. _See_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Tun Huang, 9.
+
+  Twelve Causes of reincarnation, 135.
+
+
+  Udumbara, 68.
+
+  Universalism, 1, 2, 35, 37, 39, 50, 54, 68, 72–80, 81, 123–8, 175,
+        226–9, 260.
+
+  Universal-Surpassing-Wisdom, 131–5.
+
+  Universal Virtue, 33, 260–5.
+
+  Universe, 65. _See_ Chiliocosm.
+
+  Utpala, _see_ Lotus.
+
+
+  Vaisravana, 245.
+
+  Varanasi, 84.
+
+  Vehicle, 15, 61, 69, 70–2, 75, 78, 81, 88–94, 113, 121, 128, 137–41,
+        169, 171–3, 233. _See_ Mahayana, Hinayana.
+
+
+  Verse, 11, 12.
+
+  Versions in Chinese, 7.
+
+  Void, 125, 137, 182.
+
+  Vow, 73, 78, 168, 176, 180, 181.
+
+  Vulture Peak, 1, 13, 30, 53, 59, 106, 171, 206–7, 211, 243.
+        _See_ Gridhrakuta.
+
+
+  Wife, Buddha’s, 22, 59.
+
+  Wind, 233.
+
+  Wisdom, _see_ Perfect Enlightenment.
+
+  Wisdom-store, 170–5.
+
+  Woman, 21–2, 61, 70, 143, 172–5, 176–7, 182–3, 219, 222, 226–8, 230,
+        236, 238–9, 245, 248, 255–9, 260–3. _See_ Nun.
+
+  Wonder-Sound, 30, 146, 242–6.
+
+  Works, 65. _See_ Faith.
+
+
+  Yak, 78.
+
+  Yaksha, 82, 84, 95–7, 149, 224, 230, 245, 253, 261.
+
+  Yojana, 132, 139, 161.
+
+    PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY JOHN
+                   JOHNSON, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
+
+
+
+
+                            Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+ 1. Italicised words are indicated by _underscores_.
+
+ 2. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the
+    book.
+
+ 3. Illustrations are indicated by “[Illustration: caption-text]” and
+    have been positioned at a relevant location in the text.
+
+ 4. Misspelled words have been corrected. Inconsistent words have been
+    modified to match the most common spelling (see below). Archaic
+    and alternative spellings as well as hyphenation differences have
+    been left unchanged.
+
+ 5. Index entries referring to non-existent pages iii–iv have been
+    corrected.
+
+ 6. “* * * * *” indicates a “thought break” represented in the printed
+    book as a larger gap between paragraphs.
+
+ 7. “Edit Distance” in Corrections table below refers to the
+     Levenshtein Distance.
+
+                            Corrections:
+
+       Page      Source                Correction       Edit distance
+
+         11      Avalokitesvara        Avalokiteśvara        1
+         62      Puddha-way            Buddha-way            1
+        170      millenium             millennium            1
+        181      objecjection          objection             3
+     fig 11      Yashada               Yashas                2
+        231      Sakyamuni-Buddha      Śakyamuni-Buddhas     1
+        254      flages                flags                 1
+   252, 262      extolls               extols                1
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79267 ***