Chapter XX: special attention is drawn to a certain long-suffering monk (1)

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

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.”

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.