THE DHARMA FLOWER SUTRA SEEN THROUGH THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF NICHIREN DAISHŌNIN
ω

The Second Chapter on the Exposition of the Dharma

Thereupon the completely evolved Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) who had refused his own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) and the eighty thousand bodhisattvas, having recited this metric hymn in praise of the Buddha, in one accord said to him:

World Honoured One, now we would like to ask some questions, with regard to the Dharma of the Tathāgata. But we are doubtful as to whether the World Honoured One would be so good as to listen to us or not.

The Buddha addressed the completely evolved Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) who had refused his own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) and the eighty thousand bodhisattvas, saying: Excellent, excellent, believing and convinced people. Now is the appropriate moment. You may ask as many questions as you desire. The Tathāgata will not before long enter into the extinction of nirvana. Thus, after my extinction into nirvana, there will be no recurring doubts.

Then the Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) and the eighty thousand bodhisattvas all said in unison to the Buddha: World Honoured One, if the completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) wish to hastily realise the unexcelled, universal enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi), what gateways to the Dharma should be practised in order that the completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) may quickly attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi)?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) along with the eighty thousand bodhisattvas: Believing and convinced people, there is only a single gateway to the Dharma whereby bodhisattvas will be able to quickly realise the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi). If there are bodhisattvas who wish to study this gateway to the Dharma, then they will be able to rapidly attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi).

World Honoured One, with regard to the gateway to the Dharma, what name does it go by, and what are its implications (Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō)? Also, how does a bodhisattva carry out its practice?

The Buddha said to them: Believing and convinced people, the single gateway to the Dharma is called “implications without bounds”. Those bodhisattvas who wish to make a study of this particular Dharma must be able to see all dharmas from their beginning until now.

Phenomena and noumena are both in reality the silence of relativity (kūjaku). Dharmas are neither big nor small; nor do they come into being, nor do they cease to exist. They are neither static, nor are they mobile; nor do they advance, nor do they step backwards. They are all just like empty space. And one should see them as being devoid of any dualities.

[What the Buddha is saying here is that the true form of all dharmas or their absolute reality (shinnyo, tathatā) is far beyond the multitude of spectres that we encounter in our everyday lives. Shinnyo or tathatā is regarded as being identical with the entity of the Dharma (hosshin, Dharmakāya) and cannot be expressed in words or contemplated by the ordinary person. It is understood as the fundamental reality of existence or relativity (kū, shūnyatā). For people who are familiar with the teaching of Nichiren, this latent reality is Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, which means to devote our lives to and found them on (Nam[u]) the Utterness of the Dharma (entirety of existence) (Myōhō) permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) in its whereabouts of the ten psychological realms of dharmas [which is every possible psychological wavelength] (Kyō).]

Nevertheless, all sentient beings are open to the vain and erroneous ways of understanding things. For instance, it is this, or it is that; or perhaps it is something in our favour, or it is something to our disadvantage. They stir up lowering thoughts that produce an ill-boding karma. They evolve in the perpetual repetition of births and deaths, within the six psychological realms of dharmas of 1) suffering, 2) craving and wanting, 3) animal instinctiveness, 4) the angry show-off of the shura (ashura), 5) human equanimity, and 6) the fleeting joys of the deva(ten), thus being subject to the bitter poison of so many lives. They will not be able to extricate themselves from these cycles of existences for boundless myriads of myriads of kalpas to come.

[What the Buddha is saying is that dharmas occur through our fundamental ignorance, working on the shinnyo or tathatā causing it to evolve into the entirety of existence as we experience it. This is the traditional teaching of the Awakening of Faith in the Universal Vehicle (Daijō kishin ron), a work by Memyō (Ashvaghosha), of the Second Century C.E. This work asserts that the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) is nothing but the inherent nature of mind, which is present in all beings. This inherent nature is discussed from two points of view – 1) the gateway of the mind of the fundamental suchness (shinnyo, tathatā) and 2) the gateway of the mind wherein dharmas come into being or cease to exist. This latter is the condition which arises from the inability of ordinary people to see the real nature of existence as Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, which is something they have never been awakened to.]

Completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) already pay their attention to seeing existence in this way. This makes them feel pity for sentient beings, as well as bringing about an all-embracing compassion and a desire to extract and save them from such a condition.

Furthermore, they are able to see dharmas for what they are [which is Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, which means to devote our lives to and found them on (Nam[u]) the Utterness of the Dharma (entirety of existence) (Myōhō) permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) in its whereabouts of the ten psychological realms of dharmas [which is every possible psychological wavelength] (Kyō)]. So, if a dharma has such an aspect, then 1) it came about in such a manner; 2) and, having such an aspect, it continues to exist in such a way; 3) but, if a dharma changes into something else, 4) then such a dharma, being what it is, can also cease to exist in the same way as dharmas do. But, if a dharma has the aspect that it has, it can also turn into a negative dharma. But dharmas, being the way they are, can also be turned into positive entities. This is because all dharmas can come into being, last as long as they should, as well as ceasing to exist altogether.

Moreover, bodhisattvas look upon dharmas, from their beginning to their end, in terms of these four aspects. [These are 1) coming into existence, 2) continuing to last as long as they should, 3) changing into something else, and 4) ceasing to exist completely.]

All bodhisattvas see dharmas in this manner. On realising this, they understand that all dharmas do not last as such. But, from one instant to the next, they are renewed in their perception of dharmas as immediately coming into existence, lasting as long as they should, turning into something else, and then ceasing to exist altogether.

[These dharmas do not really exist, but are a manifestation of our inherent unenlightenment.]

Having assimilated such an observation, bodhisattvas are able to see into all the faculties, inner nature, and the wants and needs of every sentient being. Because people’s natures, wants, and needs are unlimited, there are innumerable ways of explaining the Dharma. And, since the ways of explaining the Dharma are unlimited, each implication is without bounds. All these implications without bounds stem from a single Dharma [Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō].

This single Dharma is devoid of a characteristic aspect. And, since it is devoid of characteristics, it is devoid of any future. So this [Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō] is the just component of what dharmas really are.

Completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) firmly inhabit this view of the just component of all dharmas. This is from whence their loving-kindness arises, which they clearly perceive as something that is not without value. These bodhisattvas can release sentient beings from the suffering of where they may be.

Moreover, by their expounding of the Dharma, they bring happiness to all sentient beings. Convinced and believing men and women, if bodhisattvas are able to practise this gateway to the Dharma of the implications without bounds, then they will quickly attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi).

Convinced and believing men and women, such an unsurpassed and extremely profound Sutra on the Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) in its line of thought is dependable and so highly thought of that it is in a class by itself. It is safeguarded by all Buddhas of the past, present, and future. Even all the various arts of the hoards of demons cannot possibly gain access to it. Also, it cannot be damaged by any of the perverse views of the dimension of living and dying.

It is for this reason, convinced and believing men and women, that, if completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) are to wish for a rapid realisation of the unsurpassable enlightenment, then they must study the practice of the extremely profound and unsurpassed Sutra on the Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō).

Thereupon, the Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) again addressed the Buddha, saying: World Honoured One, the Dharma that has just been explained by the Tathāgata is imponderable and beyond any deliberation. Also, freedom from restrictions of suffering and illusion, in the three dimensions where 1) sentient beings have appetites and desires, 2) who are incarnated in a subjective materiality with physical surroundings, and are 3) also endowed with the immateriality of the realms of fantasies, thoughts and ideas, is beyond thought and words and beyond conception (fushigi, achintya).

Again, we have no doubts with regard to all the teachings expounded by the Buddha. But, because sentient beings have doubts and confusion in their minds, they misconstrue what the World Honoured One says, time and time again [so we keep on asking questions]. For forty or so years since the Tathāgata attained the path of enlightenment, he has always expounded for the benefit of sentient beings the four implications of dharmas [1) their coming into existence, 2) lasting as long as they should, 3) becoming something else than what they originally were, 4) and their ceasing to exist altogether].

Along with the various kinds of forces that give rise to them, dharmas imply suffering. Yet, in reality, they are only relativity (kū, shūnyatā). Dharmas are impermanent as well as being devoid of substance. Dharmas are devoid of either bigness or smallness. And dharmas neither suddenly appear, nor do they disappear. The singularity of dharmas is that they are devoid of any particular quality. The original state of dharmas is simply the way they appear to our unenlightened selves. Dharmas are, in the first place, the silence of relativity (kūjaku).

[In fact all dharmas are the subjectivity of devoting our lives to and founding them on the objectivity of the entirety of existence permeated by the white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy, and effect in the whereabouts of the ten psychological realms of dharmas.]

There are people who have heard about either the wisdom that brings troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) to not existing at all and produces the basis of goodness [i.e., the absence of hatred, the absence of greed, the absence of stupidity], or the summit of the Dharma which consists of the seven grades of virtue preceding the faultlessness of the first realisation of perfect wisdom (kendō), or the Supreme Dharma of the dimensions of existence, or the fruition of the entrance into the stream of the ascetic life, or the fruition of only having to return to this dimension of existence one more time, or the realisation of becoming free from all craving and rebirth (arakan, arhat), or the attainment of becoming partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence, or even the resolve to attain the supreme enlightenment.

Then, there is the first of the “ten stages” in the fifty-two sections of the development of a bodhisattva towards enlightenment, which is the soil uncultivated by the Buddha wisdom. The second stage is the seed of the nature of the Buddha wisdom. The third stage is that of the eight patient endurances and from there onwards, ascending all the way up to the tenth stage, which is the enlightenment of Buddhahood.

What then is the difference between the implications of all the dharmas expounded in the past and those which are explained now?

There is nevertheless the extremely profound, unsurpassed sutra of the universal vehicle on the Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō), which if bodhisattvas were to carry out its practices would soon lead them to attain the unparagoned wisdom which is acquired by the Buddhas.

How is this so?

All that we wish is that the World Honoured One in his compassionate concern for all sentient beings far and wide will make it clear, for all those who listen to the Dharma now and also for those who will listen to it in the future, so that there will be no further doubts that can form barriers [as an obstacle to their understanding].

Thereupon, the Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha): Excellent, excellent, convinced and believing bodhisattva, since you are able to question the Tathāgata on the subtlety of the utterness of this extremely profound and unsurpassed sutra of the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna), you should know that there are numerous advantages this sutra can bring to both humankind and the deva(ten) – peace and happiness, as well as extracting sentient beings from their suffering. This is a real, universal loving-kindness, as well as being a certainty that is not ineffectual. Through this cause and its karmic circumstances, you will promptly attain the unparagoned wisdom of the Buddha which will enable you to bring the sentient beings of this age, as well as those in future ages, to acquire the unparagoned wisdom of the Buddha.

Convinced and believing bodhisattvas, when at first I sat at the foot of the bodhi tree at the place of enlightenment and sitting upright for six years, I attained the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi). With the eyes of an enlightened Buddha, I was able to see into the workings of all dharmas. But, I did not proclaim it or explain it to anybody else.

Why was this so?

I realised that the natures and desires of sentient beings were all different. And because their natures and desires were dissimilar, I would have to explain the Dharma in different ways. In order to expound the Dharma in multifarious ways, I decided upon this course of using expedient means. So, for more than forty years, I did not reveal the absolute truth [with regard to the Dharma]. The reason was that there were differences as to how sentient beings would attain to the path of enlightenment or even promptly arrive at the unparagoned enlightenment itself (mu jō bodai).

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, the Dharma is comparable to water that can wash away filth and grime. Regardless as to whether it is in a well, or a pond, or whether it is running water, such as a river, a mountain stream, a canal, or the wide ocean, in each and every place where water is found, it can wash away all fifth and grime. It is just the same with the water of the Dharma. It is capable of washing away the filth of troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) of sentient beings.

Believing and convinced bodhisattva, the essential nature of water is all the same, whether it is in a river, a stream, a well, a pond, a rivulet, or a canal, or the open sea, even though each one of its locations is different. Again, the nature of the Dharma is exactly the same. It washes away the dust and wear and tear of our karma, without any discrimination, even though i. the four noble truths, ii. the four grades of realisation of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna), and iii. the two ways a) by realisation of the truth, b) the six kinds of practice by which bodhisattvas are able to attain enlightenment are three separate teachings.

[I) The four noble truths, which were the first doctrine of Shākyamuni Buddha, are as follows: 1) All existence entails suffering. 2) The cause of suffering is delusions and desires. 3) Nirvana is the only dimension free of suffering. 4) The attainment of nirvana is by doing the practices of the eightfold path, which consists of i. correct understanding of the four noble truths, ii. correct thinking, with regard to the four noble truths, iii. correct speech by making no false statements, iv. correct practice, v. correct livelihood, vi. correct endeavour to make progress towards enlightenment, vii. correct memory of things beneficial to enlightenment, viii. correct meditation.]

[The four grades of realisation of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) are 1) (shudaon, srotāpanna) entrance into the stream of the ascetic life, 2) (shidagon, sakrdãgāmin) a person who will only have to return to this dimension of existence one more time, 3) (anagon, anāgāmin) a person who will not return to this dimension of existence, 4) (arakan, arhat) a person who is free from all cravings and rebirth.]

[The Universal Teacher Dengyō (Dengyō Daishi) uses these four grades of realisation of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) to indicate the chain of the twelve causes and karmic circumstances that pervade the whole of sentient existence (jū ni innen) – 1) (mumyō) a fundamental unenlightenment which is caused by 2) (gyō) natural tendencies and inclinations that are inherited from former lives, 3) (shiki) the first consciousness that takes place in the womb after conception, 4) (myōshiki) the body and mind evolving in the womb, 5) (roku nyū) the evolution of the five organs of sense and the functioning of the mind, 6) (shoku) contact with the outside world, 7) (ju) receptivity or budding intelligence and discrimination from six to seven years onwards, 8) (ai) the desire for amorous love at the age of puberty, 9) (shu) the urge for a sensuous existence that forms 10) (yū) the substance of future karma, 11) (shō) the completed karma ready to be born again that is facing in the direction of 12) (rōshi) old age and death.]

[The Universal Teacher Dengyō (Dengyō Daishi) defines the two ways as 1) by a realisation of the truth, 2) through the six kinds of practice of the provisional universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna), which are 1) charity, giving, including imparting the Dharma to others; 2) keeping the moral precepts of the religious order; 3) patience and forbearance under insult; 4) diligent zeal and progress; 5) meditation or contemplation; 6) wisdom, the power to discern the reality of existence. It is this last observance (haramitsu, pāramitā) which carries the practitioners across the seas of incarnate life to the shore of nirvana.]

Believing and convinced bodhisattvas, even though water washes in each and every instance, a well is not a pond. A pond is not the flowing water of a river. Streams and canals are not the sea.

It is equally the same with the Dharma that is explained by the Tathāgata, who is the hero of his age and is independent and free from any resistance in the entirety of existence (Dharma). His instruction, at the beginning, in its intervening period, and at its end, is capable of washing away the troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) of sentient beings.

However, the beginning is not the intervening period, and the intervening period is not the end. At the beginning, during the intervening period, and at the end, even if the words used in the various expressions are the same, the intentions and the implications are different.

Believing and convinced bodhisattvas, [After my enlightenment] I got up from sitting under the sovereign of trees. I made my way to Benares (Varannsi) and came to Deer Park [present day Sarnath]. For the benefit of my former five ascetic companions, headed by Kaundinya (Anyokuria, Ājñāta-Kaundinya), I set the wheel of the Dharma in motion by teaching the four noble truths (shitai, chatrāry, āryasatanyāni), which consist of 1) all existence is suffering; 2) the cause of suffering is our delusions and desires; 3) nirvana is the dimension free from suffering; 4) the way to attain nirvana is through the practices of the eightfold noble path (hasshōdō, āryāshtangika-marga).

Also, I explained that all dharmas are the silence of relativity (kūjaku) and that dharmas are in a continual state of renovation without stopping. They can come into being or cease to exist at any instant whatsoever. During the middle period of my instruction either here or in various other places, I explained for the benefit of the monks, nuns, and bodhisattvas the chain of the twelve causes and karmic circumstance that run through the whole of sentient existence.

[They are 1) (mumyō) a fundamental unenlightenment, which is caused by 2) (gyō) natural tendencies and inclinations that are inherited from former lives, 3) (shiki) the first consciousness that takes place in the womb after conception, 4) (myōshiki) the body and mind evolving in the womb, 5) (roku nyū) the evolution of the five organs of sense and the functioning of the mind, 6) (shoku) contact with the outside world, 7) (ju) receptivity or budding intelligence and discrimination from six to seven years onwards, 8) (ai) the desire for amorous love at the age of puberty, 9) (shu) the urge for a sensuous existence that forms 10) (yū) the substance of future karma, 11) (shō) the completed karma ready to be born again, that is facing in the direction of 12) (rōshi) old age and death.]

During the middle period of my propagation of the Dharma, both here and in other places, I explained the extremely profound chain of the twelve causes and karmic circumstances that run through the whole of sentient existence, for the benefit of those who seek the path of the people who wish to become enlightened for themselves and others through a profound search into the meaning of life (hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha).

Nevertheless, boundless sentient beings decided on taking the path of supreme enlightenment, whereas others remained at the stage of those people who exerted themselves in order to arrive at the highest level of the individual vehicle through listening to the Buddha.

Afterwards, I expounded the twelve sutras that connect the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) to the universal vehicle (hōdo, vaipulya) and the Sutra on the All-embracing Wisdom (Makahannya haramitsu kyō, Mahā prajñā paramita), as well as the Sutra on the Flower Adorned Ocean of Relativity (Kegonhaiku kyō), along with my revelation on the bodhisattva practice for over a period of kalpas.

Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of monks, myriads of myriads of myriads of human beings and deva(ten) entered into the stream devoted to the source of enlightenment (shudaon, srotāpanna), or realised the state of the person who would be reborn only one more time (shidagon, sakrdāgāmin), or reached the stage of a person who will not return to being born again (anagon, anāgāmin) or even the fruition of someone who is free from all caring and rebirth (arakan, arhat). Or even some remained in the state of the dharma of causes and karmic circumstances of those who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of life for themselves (hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha).

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, it is on account of these implications that make you realise, even though the discourse runs parallel with the intended meaning. Because the way sentient beings understand these things and because their grasp of what the Dharma is differs from one person to another, it brings about different concepts of what enlightenment is, its fruition or its realisation, as well as the attainment to the path of Buddhahood. The reason for this, convinced and believing bodhisattva, is, since I first had realised the path of enlightenment and undertook to explain what the Dharma consists of, today I now explain the sutra of the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) on the Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō).

Never have I ever cultivated the notion that relativity (kū, shūnyatā), impermanence (mujō, anikya) or the absence of a permanent or unchanging self, soul, or ego (muga, anātman) involved any suffering; nor even the absence of what is real, nor what is false; nor what is great, nor what is small; nor whatever came about originally, nor even that which has already ceased to exist.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, it is due to the significance of what I have just said that all the Buddhas are devoid of any double-talk. But they can with one sound make it correspond to all sentient beings everywhere. Also, they are able with their single body to manifest themselves as many times as a hundred thousand myriads of myriads of myriads the number of grains of sand in the Ganges. Again, each one of these bodies can manifest itself in a variety of forms, as numerous as the grains of sand there are in a hundred thousand of myriads of myriads of myriads of Ganges Rivers.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, these are the inconceivable realms to which the powers of the Buddhas extend that cannot be known to the people who exert themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka) or even those people who have become partially enlightened due to their profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), along with these bodhisattvas who have reached the tenth stage in the fifty-two ranks of the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha [which implies seeing all existence as relativity]. Only a Buddha can with another Buddha penetrate completely into the depths of existence.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is why I explain this extremely profound and subtlety of utterness and unsurpassed Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) that belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) and is correct in both its words and principle.

This sutra is as esteemed as it is unequalled and is that which is protected by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. It is inaccessible to all the perverse, out-of-the-way dogmas and cannot be broken down by arguments that are based on the dimensions of living and dying. If there are people who wish to quickly realise the teaching of this extremely profound and unsurpassed sutra of the universal vehicle on implications without bounds, then they will be able to rapidly attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment (anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai, anuttara samyak sambodhi).

The Buddha having said these words, the earth shook in six kinds of ways throughout the one billion existential dimensions constituting the domain of a Buddha.

[An existential dimension consists of 1) a realm where sentient beings have appetites and desires, 2) which are incarnated in an illusionary, subjective materiality with surroundings that are all in the mind, 3) and at the same time are endowed with realms of fantasies, dreams, thoughts, and ideas. One thousand times one thousand times one thousand makes a billion.]

[The six kinds of earthquake are the following: i. the east rises and the west sinks; ii. the west rises and the east sinks; iii. the north rises and the borders sink; iv. the south rises and the north sinks; v. the middle rises and the borders sink; vi. the borders rise and the middle sinks.]

Spontaneously it rained down various kinds of heavenly flowers, blue lotus flowers [whose leaves are like the Buddha’s eyes], lotus flowers, edible lotus flowers (kumada), and white lotus flowers (pundarīka).

Also, it rained all sorts of incense of the deva (ten), garments of the deva (ten), necklaces of the deva (ten), along with other priceless objects of the deva (ten). All twirled around in the upper heavens and slowly descended to the ground, so as to become offerings to the Buddha, the bodhisattva, and the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), as well as all the other participants of the vast assembly.

Furthermore, vessels that contained food of the cuisine of the deva (ten) of a hundred different savours scattered downwards, as well as various kinds of banners of the deva (ten), musical instrument upon which they skilfully played celestial music and sang praises of the Buddha. In addition, there were six kinds of earthquake in the eastern direction of all the existential dimensions of all the Buddhas, which were as numerous as all the grains of sand in the Ganges.

There it also rained flowers of the deva (ten), the incense of the deva (ten), garments of the deva (ten), their necklaces, as well as various banners, flags and standards of the deva (ten). This included their playing heavenly music and singing praises of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), along with all the other participants of those vast assemblies. Also, the same events occurred in the east, in the west, in the north, in the south above and below, as well as in all the intermediary directions.

At this point, thirty-two thousand completely evolved bodhisattvas who had refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) entered into the perfect absorption (samādhi) of all the implications without bounds. Also thirty-four thousand completely evolved bodhisattvas who had refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva) obtained the syllables (dhāranī) that keep up the pious existence of all the reciters and were able to set the wheel of the Dharma in motion of all the Buddhas, without ever regressing throughout all their pasts, presents, and futures.

This was likewise for the fully ordained monks, nuns, and both male and female devotees, along with the deva (ten) [that were like the gods in Mediterranean mythology or in the Northern European tradition], the dragons that were demigods (ryū, nāga) [that are as depicted in Far Eastern art but are nevertheless similar to the elemental spirits that govern the seas, clouds, rain, and the weather in general], yasha (yaksha) [that are comparable to gnomes or dwarves], kendabba (gandharva) [that are the musicians of Indra that nourish themselves on fragrances], shura (ashura) [who are analogous to the titans in Mediterranean mythology or the giants and ogres of Northern European folklore], karura (garuda) [that are mythical birds from the Brahmanic pantheon, later adopted by the Buddha teaching as protectors of the Dharma], kinnara (kimnara) [that are celestial musicians at the court of Kuvera, the god of wealth, sometimes described as paradisiacal birds with human torsos], magoraka (mahorāga) [that are enormous snakes that crawl on their chests].

This was likewise for universal sage-like rulers whose chariot wheels roll everywhere without hindrance (tenrinnō, chakravartin).

[A sage-like ruler is one who rules the continents of Mount Sumeru by riding his chariot everywhere. The wheels of the chariots of these sage-like rulers are of four kinds – gold, silver, copper, and iron. The sage-like ruler whose chariot wheels are made of gold rules all the four continents that surround Mount Sumeru; the sage-like ruler whose chariot wheels are made of silver governs the eastern, western, and southern continents; the sage-like ruler whose chariot wheels are made of copper rules the eastern and southern continents; and the sage-like ruler whose chariot wheels are made of iron rules the southern continent. It might be worth mentioning that the southern continent is called Enbudai in Japanese or Jambudvīpa in Sanskrit and is the world in which we live.]

This was also likewise for the lesser sage-like rulers whose chariot wheels roll everywhere without hindrance (tenrinnō, chakravartin) over their respective continents, the sage-like rulers whose chariot wheels are made of silver, and the sage-like rulers whose chariot wheels are made of iron, along with the other sage-like rulers, the sovereigns of states, princes, ministers of state, the subjects of sovereign states, the ladies and gentlemen from various states, the more important elders of the communities from various countries, along with their retinues which were made up of a hundred thousand persons.

When the Buddha Tathāgata expounded this sutra, some of the people who were listening attained the fulfilment of the stage in which dialectic processes are left behind and the mind is fixed on faith. Or they had reached the summit of the Dharma. Or they realised that this sutra is the primordial Dharma for living and dying. Or they attained the fruition of dedicating their lives to the Dharma (shudaon), or the fruition of becoming a person who will only return to this existential realm one more time (shidagon), or the realisation of being a person who is free from all craving and rebirth (arakan).

Others obtained the insight of people who have become partially enlightened due to a profound search into the meaning of life (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), or even becoming a bodhisattva who had attained patience through the Dharma and an awareness of the indestructibility of life itself. Others obtained either one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten of the formulas that consist of a series of Sanskrit syllables (dhāranī) that could keep up the faith of the reciter. Or even some obtained a hundred thousand myriads of dhāranī. Yet others received boundless, innumerable myriads of myriads of myriads of times the number of grains of sand in the Ganges of Sanskrit syllables (dhāranī) that would uphold the faith of the reciters.

However, all the people who listened to the Buddha’s discourse were able to comply with setting the wheel of the Dharma in motion, without ever regressing to their former selves. Also, innumerable sentient beings made the resolve to become enlightened to the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment.