THE DHARMA FLOWER SUTRA SEEN THROUGH THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF NICHIREN DAISHŌNIN
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The Third Chapter on the Ten Meritorious Virtues

Then, at that time, the completely evolved Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishogon), who had refused his own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva), said to the Buddha once again:

The World Honoured One has explained this subtlety of utterness and extremely profound and unsurpassed Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō), which belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) and is reality itself and deeply felt beyond measure.

What is the reason for this?

It is because this assembly of all 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), along with all the monks, nuns, both male and female devotees, deva, dragons, disembodied psychic entities (kijin), sovereigns of kingdoms, ministers, and ordinary people, including all the sentient beings in existence, on hearing this extremely profound and unsurpassed Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) that belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) – all these persons gained access to the formulas of Sanskrit syllables (dhāranī) that support the religious life of the reciters, the three dharmas [1) the Buddha teaching, 2) its practice, and 3) its experiential proof], the four fruitions or the harvest of the mind of enlightenment. People should know that this Dharma is correct and upright in its wording, as well as its principle, and is so praiseworthy that one cannot go beyond it.

Furthermore, it is protected by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. Even the hordes of perverse psychic entities cannot gain access to it, and it cannot be impaired by the negative views of beings that exist within the dimensions of living and dying.

Why is it so?

It is because, on hearing this sutra only a single time, it is possible to acquire the whole of its teachings. If there are sentient beings who get to hear this sutra, they will obtain the all-embracing benefits.

Why should this be so?

If they were to carry out the practices of this sutra, then without a doubt they would be able to speedily realise the enlightenment that cannot be surpassed. But if there are sentient beings who do not get to hear this sutra, then you should know that they have missed this all-embracing advantage. Even after innumerable, boundless, and unthinkably inconceivable myriads of myriads of myriads of kalpas, they will never realise an enlightenment that cannot be surpassed.

Why is this so?

It is because they are unaware of the path that leads directly to enlightenment, so they take inaccessibly steep paths, or they are held back by numerous difficulties.

World Honoured One, this sutric text cannot be thought out, nor can it be investigated. However, our only wish is that the World Honoured One will feel sorry for this vast multitude and will make the extremely profound and marvellous (fushigi) reasoning of this sutra available to them.

World Honoured One, where does this sutric text come from and where does it lead to? Also, where does it abide, so that it is endowed with meritorious virtues without bounds and the unbelievable power to induce sentient beings to speedily realise the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment?

Thereupon, the World Honoured One 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, by saying: Excellent, excellent, convinced and believing bodhisattva. It is just as you say. It is just as you have described it.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as I have already stated, this sutric text is extremely profound, incredibly deeply felt, and is the intrinsicality of reality itself.

What is the reason for this?

It is because it is the means whereby sentient beings are able to realise an enlightenment that is unsurpassed. And if they listen to it only one time, they will be able to grasp all the Dharma teachings. It is an enormous benefit for sentient beings, since by practising on this straightforward path there are no hindrances.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as to where this sutra comes from, where it leads to, and also where it abides, it leads to the resolve to attain enlightenment amongst all sentient beings and exists in the sphere of practice of all bodhisattvas.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is where this sutra comes from. This is where this sutra leads to. And this is where this sutra abides.

This sutra is capable of bestowing boundless, meritorious virtues and possesses a strength that cannot be thought out or even deliberated upon, that induces members of the assembly to speedily attain the supreme enlightenment.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, would you like to listen to the powers of the ten meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or even deliberated upon?

The Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) replied: It is with pleasure that I would like to listen to them.

The Buddha then said: Convinced and believing bodhisattva, in the first place, this sutra is capable of inducing the resolve to realise the supreme enlightenment among those who have not yet made this resolution, to bring about a sense of loving-kindness to those who are deprived of any notion of compassion, to induce a mind of kindness to those who like killing, to stir up a consequential joy to those who are eaten up with jealousy, to give a sense of reward for those people who have a longing for persons or things or an attachment to them, or a sense of generosity to those people who are selfish, or to induce people who are arrogant and proud to evolve a mind to observe morality, to bring about a patience and forbearance to the minds of those who are full of anger and ill-natured, or to give rise to a spirit of enthusiasm to those people who are lazy and indolent.

For people who are scatterbrained or continuously distracted, there is the practice of concentrating the mind on a single object of thought, so as to dispel adverse things that hinder spiritual progress. Hence, for those who are dull-witted, this sutra can bring about wisdom and discernment.

Also, it brings about a mind that desires to cross over the seas of mortality to the shore of nirvana, for those who have not yet been able to do so, as well as thoughts directed towards the ten good deeds.

[They are 1) not to kill, 2) not to steal, 3) not to commit adultery, 4) not to tell lies, 5) not to use coarse language, 6) not to slander, 7) not to use ambiguities to conceal the truth, 8) not to greatly desire another person’s property, 9) not to give way to anger, 10) not to hold perverted views.]

For people who have a desire to perpetrate actions that will result in negative karma, this sutra brings about a desire not to do them. For the people who have a mind to abandon their practice, with various kinds of passions and their filth which impede the Buddha truth, this sutra is capable of giving rise to the opposite. And for those people who are assailed with various troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha), this sutra endows such persons with a mind of elimination and extinction into nirvana.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, the first meritorious virtue of this sutra is referred to as its being impossible to be pondered over or to be deliberated upon.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as for the second meritorious virtue of this sutra, it is beyond all consideration or deliberation. If there are sentient beings who get to listen to this or even just a single line, such sentient beings will have an insight into the hundreds of thousands of myriads of myriads of distant features of existence. Indeed, on bearing in mind a recitation of the whole of this sutra, or only one metric hymn or even a single phrase from it, such people will able to expound the Dharma to its fullest extent.

What is the reason for this?

It is because this is the Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō).

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this sutra is comparable to a single seed from which a hundred thousand myriads produce another tens of thousands of myriads of more of other plants that are produced. Again, each one of these hundred thousand myriads produce another tens of thousands of myriads of myriads of more plants, and in this way this process continues until there are plants without number.

It is also the same with this sutra. This single Dharma [Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō] produces hundreds of thousands of distinctive features of it, in the same way as the seeds of plants yield another hundred thousands of myriads of myriads of distinctive dharmas. The process continues until there are boundlessly incalculable, distinctive dharmas. This is what is referred to as being ‘without bounds’.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is why the second of the meritorious virtues of this sutra is referred to as its being impossible to ponder over or to deliberate upon.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, the third of the meritorious virtues of this sutra has a power that cannot be thought out, nor can it be discussed. If there is a sentient being who hears this sutra for a single recitation, or simply a metric hymn, or even just a single phrase, this person will gain an insight into a hundred thousand myriads of myriads of myriads of distinctive features of dharmas.

Yet, even if this person is beleaguered by troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha), it will be as if this person has none whatsoever. Also, with regard to the alternating cycles of lives and deaths, this person will have no frightful thoughts about them. This sentient being will attain a mind of compassion and pity for all living existence.

Again, this person will be endowed with a healthy and cheerful attitude towards all dharmas. In the same way as an athlete who is able to lift and hold up all weights, it is also the same with holding to this sutra. Such people will be able to bear the burden of the heavy treasure of unsurpassed enlightenment. They will be able to bear the burden of the responsibility of guiding sentient beings out of the cycles of living and dying. Even though such persons themselves have not yet crossed over from the shores of mortality to the shore of nirvana, they are, all the same, able to save people.

Yet, it is as though a captain of a ship, who had contracted a grave illness and was unable to control his own four limbs, remained inactive on the side of the shore. Nevertheless, this captain was in possession of a good and sturdy ship, and it was always furnished with all that was necessary for those who wished to travel to the other side. He let the travellers use his ship, and they set off for the other shore.

Again, it is the same for those who hold to this sutra. With a body that is governed by all five destinations of reincarnation that has contracted a hundred and eight serious illnesses and is enveloped in unenlightenment, this person remains on this shore, where for its sentient beings there are always the insecurities of old age and the uncertainties about death. But, nevertheless, this person is forcibly bound to this Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō), which belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) and has the ability to ferry sentient beings to the shore of nirvana.

People who practise as this devotee of the Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) instructs will be able to cross over from the shores of life and death to that of enlightenment.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what is referred to as the third meritorious virtue and strength of this sutra which cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as for the fourth meritorious virtue and strength of this sutra that cannot be thought out or even discussed, if there are sentient beings who get to listen to this sutra, whether it be a single recitation or simply one metric hymn, or even a phrase from it, they will acquire an outlook that is sunny and courageous, even though this is not in their particular characters. They will be able to influence other people and will be in the entourage of all the Buddha Tathāgatas who will continuously explain the Dharma to them. Such persons on hearing it will be able to hold to every single point without ever not accepting them, as well as following the Buddha teaching completely. In turn, they will expound the Dharma far and wide to other individuals according to their respective dispositions.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, by way of illustration, such people are comparable to the newly born princeling of a sovereign and his queen. If he is one day old, or two months, or even seven months old, or just a year old, two years, or even seven years – yet, although he cannot handle the affairs of state, he is already looked up to by the ministers and the people and also is the companion of all the princes of the great kings. The sovereign and his queen show a singular affection for him and talk to him all the time.

Why should this be so?

It is because he is their little child.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is equally valid for those who hold to this sutra. All the Buddhas are the sovereign and this sutra is the queen, and from this union is born their bodhisattva son, who gets to hear this sutra, whether it be one phrase of it, or only one metric hymn, or a recitation of the whole of it, or even two recitations, or ten times over, or a hundred, a thousand, or a number that is as boundlessly incalculable as a myriad of myriads of myriads of times as many as there are grains of sand in the Ganges.

Moreover, even though he cannot become aware of how deep the extent of the real principle of this sutra is, he will still be able to make a billion terrains whereupon sentient beings depend for an existence shudder and will be able with his Brahmanic thunderous voice to set in motion the wheel of the all-embracing Dharma. He is already looked up to by the monks, nuns, and lay believers both male and female, as well as being venerated by the deva(ten), dragons (ryū, nāga), yasha (yaksha), kendabba (gandharva), shura (ashura), karura (garuda), kinnara (kimnara), and magoraka (mahorāga), as well as all the completely evolved bodhisattvas who have refused their own extinction into nirvana (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva), who will constitute his entourage.

Such a person will be able to penetrate deeply into the esoterically secret Dharma. And, when such a person makes it clear, it will be without any mistakes or omissions. Such a person will be borne in mind by all the Buddhas, especially with their cloak of loving-kindness, simply because he is a newcomer to the Buddha teaching.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as for the fifth inconceivable meritorious virtue of this sutra that is beyond all deliberation, whether there is a convinced and believing man or woman, whether there is a Buddha in the world or even after he has passed over to his extinction into nirvana, if such people can hold to, recite, read, or copy out this deeply unsurpassed Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) that belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) – even though such people are hampered and restrained by their troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) and are still incapable of pushing away the affairs of common mortals into the distance, they will be able to reveal and make manifest the all-embracing path of the bodhisattva.

Through elongating a single day so as to make it appear as though it were a hundred kalpas, or again to be able to squash down a hundred kalpas so that they become a single day, they will be able to make sentient beings to whom they are speaking believe in [the teaching of the Buddha] and to submit themselves to it with gladness.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, these convinced and believing men and women are comparable to the dragon child who was born only seven days previously and can immediately rise up to the clouds and make the rain fall.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what the power of the fifth meritorious virtue of this sutra that cannot be thought out or deliberated upon consists of.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as for the power of the sixth meritorious virtue of this sutra that can neither be pondered over nor discussed upon, if there are convinced and believing men and women who, during the times when a Buddha is in the world or after he has passed over to his extinction into nirvana, are able to accept, hold to, and read and recite it – even though such persons are plagued by their troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha), they will be able to explain the Dharma for the benefit of sentient beings in such a way that they are entirely rid of their respective troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) about living and dying and at the same time cut off their suffering altogether.

So, when these sentient beings have finished listening, they will do the necessary practices to arrive at the Dharma, attain its fruition, as well as its path [of reciting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō] and will be equal to the Buddha Tathāgata without any difference whatsoever.

This can be compared to a princeling who, although he is still only a child, when the sovereign is touring his kingdom or is ill, this princeling is entrusted with governing the affairs of state. The prince then, according to the orders of the great king and in conformity with the laws of the land, instructs and advises all the officials and the hundreds of functionaries who correctly comply and spread the royal instructions to the people of the kingdom. Each and every subject observes these decrees, just as if the great king were ruling himself.

This also applies to the convinced and believing men and women who hold to this sutra. Even though these convinced and believing men and women have not yet begun to exist in the unshakeable terrain [of enlightenment], they base their lives according to the way the Buddha has taught the Dharma in his discourses. Then they spread and explain it to others. Those people who have listened to it then single-mindedly do the necessary practices. They get rid of their troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha), realise what the Dharma is, and attain the fruition of arriving at the path [of reciting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō].

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what constitutes the sixth power of this sutra that is imponderable and beyond deliberation.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, the seventh power of the meritorious virtue of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon is that, if there are convinced and believing men and women who, whether the Buddha is in the world or has passed over to his extinction into nirvana, get to listen to this sutra and on hearing it, rejoice and are happy to believe it in such a way that they are ecstatic, they are able to hold to it, read it and recite it, copy it out, as well as explaining its meaning and also carrying out its practice as the Buddha expounded, along with resolving to attain some supreme enlightenment to develop good qualities and evolve the notion of the all-embracing compassion, as well as a desire to save sentient beings from their miseries and troubles. Even if such believers have not yet practised the six kinds of practice by which bodhisattvas are able to attain enlightenment [1) charity, donation, 2) keeping monastic precepts, 3) forbearance, 4) assiduous efforts, 5) concentration, 6) wisdom], these practices are already complete.

Such individuals will attain the bodhisattva stage in which they perceive the real nature of existence [the content of the Buddha’s enlightenment being a full understanding of the real nature of living and dying]. They will be free from the cycles of mortality, and all their troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) cease to exist. They will ascend to the seventh of the ten stages in the fifty-two sections of development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha [complete discrimination with regard to wrong views and thoughts which is the stage of an arhat].

This is comparable to a gallant knight who eliminates the enemies of the sovereign, who is full of joy at having got rid of them, and, in order to reward this gallant knight, the sovereign donates half his kingdom as a fiefdom which is also a complete gift. It is the same with the convinced and believing men and women who hold to this sutra. They are the most stalwart and courageous, for whom, without searching for the Dharma or even the six kinds of practice through which bodhisattvas are able to attain enlightenment [1) charity, donation, 2) keeping monastic precepts, 3) forbearance, 4) assiduous efforts, 5) concentration, 6) wisdom], as well as the Dharma itself, the results of such fidelity come to these practitioners on their own. Their enemies, which are the cycles of lives and deaths, are automatically scattered and destroyed. By having attained the bodhisattva stage, in which they are able to perceive how existence works and what it consists of, this is their joy and peace of mind of the reward of receiving half of the Buddha dimension as a fief.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what constitutes the seventh force of the meritorious virtues of this sutra which cannot be pondered over nor deliberated upon.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, as far as the eighth strength of the meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over nor deliberated upon is concerned, if there are convinced and believing men and women who, either at a time when the Buddha is in the world, or has passed over to his extinction in nirvana, can obtain this sutric text, venerate and hold faith in it, as well as reverently look upon it as being different from the person of the Buddha, along with loving and taking pleasure in it, accepting it, holding it, reading it and reciting it, as well as copying it out and holding it in esteem, then reverently doing the necessary practices according to the Dharma, holding to the monastic precepts with a patience that is strong and firm and to practise charity, along with a deep sense of compassion along with explaining this unsurpassed Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) that belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) far and wide, then if such persons have no longer held faith in the existence of neither faults nor merits for a long time and use this sutra to demonstrate this fact to their listeners, as well as compounding various expedient means in order to make them believe, then with the power of this sutra, they are able to induce a mind of faith and also a sudden reorientation of the way their listeners think.

Then, when their mind of faith is already established due to their assiduous practice and stalwartness, they will be able to attain the authoritative virtue and strength of this sutra, as well as arriving at the fruition of the Buddha path. This is the reason why, convinced and believing bodhisattva, these convinced and believing men and women through the meritorious virtue of their conversion, their persons will arrive at the stage in which they are able to perceive what existence is and how it works (mushōbōnin) and will arrive at the stage of being free from all hang-ups and rebirth.

Their entourage will all be bodhisattvas. They will be capable of speedily making sentient beings open up the awareness of their Buddha natures with their persons just as they are, as well as purifying their own space in the Buddha realm. In a short time, they will arrive at the unsurpassed enlightenment.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what the eighth power of the meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon consists of.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, with regard to what the ninth power of the meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon entails, if there are convinced and believing men and women who, either while the Buddha is in the world or either has passed over to his extinction into nirvana, on obtaining this sutra are exalted by such a joy that they have never experienced before, so as to be able to accept it, hold to it, read and recite it, copy it out, make offerings to it and make its meaning clear for sentient beings far and wide, the people who explain this sutra will at once annihilate entirely the karma embedded in their lives, as well as all the hindrances that come from their former wrongdoings.

From this point onwards, they will be cleansed of the inherent sum of their actions in previous states of existence. They will become capable of expressing themselves eloquently. They will be progressively beatified by their accomplishment of the six kinds of practice by which bodhisattvas are able to attain enlightenment, as well as the power of perfect concentration (samādhi) which enables a Buddha to overcome every obstacle, as well as passing through the gateway to protective formulas (dhāranī) which keep up the religious life of the reciter. They will practise with an energetic strength and will quickly be able to go beyond the higher stages of practice.

Such persons will be fully capable of the power to reproduce themselves and disperse their bodies throughout the ten directions [the four points of the compass, the four quarter directions, as well as above and below]. They will have the ability to rescue and to extract all sentient beings from the extremely painful twenty-five different states of existence [seven in the dimensions of materiality, four in the dimensions beyond materiality, and fourteen in dimensions where sentient beings have appetites and desires]. This is why this sutra has such power.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, this is what the ninth power of the meritorious virtues of this sutra which cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon entails.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, with regard to what the tenth power of the meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon entails, if there are convinced and believing men and women who either while the Buddha is in the world or either has passed over to his extinction into nirvana, if such people on obtaining this sutra are overwhelmed with a gladness along with being conscious of its rarity and are able to hold to it, read it, recite it, to copy it out, and make offerings to it and do its practice as they are taught, moreover, such persons will be capable of extensively inducing all these people who live ordinary lives [at home], as well as those who have chosen the ascetic way of life [away from home] to accept this sutra, hold to it, read it and recite it, copy it out, as well as making offerings to it, explain its meaning, along with practising as it is expounded.

Due to the power of the practice of this sutra by other people, they are able to arrive at the path of enlightenment, attain the fruition of it, so that all these convinced and believing men and women’s minds will be transformed by the power of this sutra into a loving-kindness for all sentient beings. These convinced and believing men and women will have the mastery of all the boundlessly incalculable dhāranī.

[These are usually a series of Sanskrit syllables in which a religious power is embodied and are supposed to keep up the Dharma practices of the reciter.]

This will allow such people here on the terrain of common mortals, for the first time, to pronounce myriads of myriads of myriads of all-embracing vows to save all sentient beings.

Due to their attainment of an all-embracing loving-kindness, they will be able to eradicate in depth and extensively the sufferings of humankind. Also, with accumulation of their excellent qualities, they will benefit all sentient beings. Furthermore, by diffusing the irrational qualities of the Dharma, these people will moisten all aridity.

Again, the medicinal makeup of the Dharma will be bestowed upon all living beings, so that they will find an inner peace and quiet. It will be seen that gradually these convinced and believing people will rise up to the tenth bodhisattva stage when the clouds of the Dharma drip their honey dew. (It is said that people who drink it will become immortal.)

There will not be a single being, nor thing, that will be outside the protection of the Dharma. It will take away the bitterness of sentient existence, as well as inducing all people to enter upon the path of enlightenment. This is why such convinced and believing people will before long attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, all of this constitutes the tenth power of the meritorious virtues of this sutra that cannot be pondered over or deliberated upon.

Convinced and believing bodhisattva, in this way this unsurpassable Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō) of the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) is eminently endowed with the power of an all-embracing majesty. It is so venerated that there can be nothing above it. It is capable of leading ordinary people to the stage of the fruition of being wise, good, upright, and correct in all their character. They will be eternally exempt from the cycles of living and dying and independently free from karmic actions [thoughts, deeds and speech].

This is why this text has the title Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō). It is capable of inducing all sentient beings who dwell in the terrain of common mortals to allow all the numerous seedlings of the bodhisattva path to grow and develop into luxuriantly bushy, protective, and spreading trees. This is the reason why this sutra is referred to as having meritoriously virtuous powers that cannot be pondered over, nor deliberated upon.

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, along with the other eighty 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), addressed the Buddha in unison:

World Honoured One, just as the Buddha has expounded, this extremely profound Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō), that belongs to the universal vehicle and is the subtlety of utterness and without anything above it, is correct in its text and principle, so that nothing can surpass it.

This sutra being protected by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future is inaccessible to all the devious paths of the negative force [and his followers who hinder sentient beings from adhering to Buddhist practice], along with defeating all the perverse views regarding the cycles of living and dying. This is why this particular sutra is endowed with ten meritorious virtues that cannot be pondered over nor deliberated upon.

It will greatly benefit and nourish all sentient beings, and all 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) will be able to become absorbed into their single object of meditation on the Sutra on Implications Without Bounds (Muryōgi-kyō). Or they will come into possession of hundreds of thousands of dhāranī as gateways to enlightenment. Or they will arrive at the tenth stage [in the fifty-two sections of bodhisattva practice to arrive at Buddhahood] along with all the fourteen levels of patience in adverse circumstances as a religious condition. Or they will become one of those people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), or even become a person who is free from all craving and rebirth (arakan, arhat), who is able to bear witness to the four fruitions of the path to enlightenment.

[These are 1) entering into the stream of those people who seek to become Buddhas (shudaon, srotapanna), 2) the attainment to the stage in which there is only one lifetime to live (ichi-rai ka, sakrdāgāmin), 3) a person who has reached the stage of never returning to this life (anagon, amāgāmin), and 4) finally becoming a person who is free from all craving and rebirth (arakan, arhat).]

The World Honoured One in his commiseration has fully expounded such a Dharma for us, in order that we may obtain enormous benefits from his teaching.

This is altogether extraordinary and is something that has never happened before. It is really difficult to repay the World Honoured One for his compassion and graciousness.

Then, just as the bodhisattva had finished speaking, one billion worlds (sanzen daisen sekai, trisāhasra mahāsāhasro lokadhātu) constituting the domain of the Buddha [a world consisting of a dimension of desire (yokkai, kāmadhātu) and the first heaven of the space where form and materiality exist (shikikai, rūpadhātu), one thousand times one thousand times one thousand making one billion] trembled with the six kinds of earthquake.

[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.]

Moreover, high up in the sky, it rained various kinds of heavenly flowers, such as blue lotuses [whose leaves are likened to the Buddha’s eyes], white lotuses, as well as other kinds of flower. Also, different kinds of celestial scent descended from the sky, along with garments of the deva (ten), necklaces of the deva (ten), as well as priceless jewels which floated from the upper heavens down towards the earth as offerings to the Buddha, bodhisattvas, the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), as well as the vast assembly.

The assembly, on seeing and sensing the odour of the overflowing dishes from the kitchens of the deva (ten), was spontaneously refreshed and satisfied. There were also banners, tubular flags, and canopies of the deva (ten), along with musical instruments. The deva (ten) were playing music and singing songs in praise of the Buddha.

Again, it rained celestial flowers and perfume of the deva (ten), garments of the deva (ten), as well as priceless jewels in the other three directions, as well as above and below, along with vessels overflowing with victuals of a hundred different flavours from the kitchens of the deva (ten), by which people in the assemblies, on seeing or perceiving their odour, were automatically resuscitated.

Furthermore, there were banners, tubular flags, and canopies of the deva (ten), along with musical instruments that were quietly put on the ground everywhere. There was music of the deva (ten) playing in praise of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha, and the rest of the assembly.

Then at that time, the Buddha addressed the completely evolved Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) who had refused his extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings, along with the eighty thousand completely evolved bodhisattvas who had also refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva), saying:

“With regard to this sutra, you must give rise to a profound sense of veneration, practise it as you have been taught, and, according to the Dharma, you must convert sentient beings far and wide, as well as propagating it diligently. Indeed, you must perseveringly and constantly protect it day and night, in order that each and every sentient being may receive the advantages of the Dharma. Above all, this is your all-embracing loving-kindness for them.

“By the power of the reaches of your minds and the vow you have made to protect this sutra, never allow doubts that may obstruct it. What you must do in the future is to spread this sutra far and wide throughout the world of humankind (enbudai, jamdudvīpa), so that all sentient beings may see it, hear it [at that time most people were illiterate] or read it, recite it, copy it out and make offerings to it. In this way, you will make them rapidly attain the unexcelled, correct, and all-embracing enlightenment.”

Thereupon, the completely evolved Bodhisattva Universal Adornment of the Spirit (Daishōgon, Mahāvyuha) who had refused his extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings, along with the eighty thousand completely evolved bodhisattvas who had also refused their own extinction into nirvana for the sake of the Buddha enlightenment of all sentient beings (bosatsu makasatsu, bodhisattva mahāsattva), all got up from where they were sitting and made their way towards the Buddha.

They bowed their heads towards the Buddha’s feet in reverence, as well as walking around him a hundred thousand times, and knelt before him with the right knee on the ground and the left knee up. Together in one voice, they addressed the Buddha, saying:

World Honoured One, fortunately we are overwhelmed by the Tathāgata’s compassion, because he expounded for us the unsurpassed sutra, which is the subtlety of utterness on implications without bounds that belongs to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna). We receive respectfully the instructions of the Buddha. After the Tathāgata’s extinction into nirvana, we must indeed propagate this sutric text far and wide, so that everybody will accept it, hold to it, read and recite it, copy it out, as well as making offerings to it.

All we ask is that the World Honoured One not be beset by worries concerning the future of this canon. By the power of our vows, we will induce all sentient beings everywhere to look upon and listen to this sutra, to read and recite it, to copy it out and make offerings to it, so that through this sutra, they may acquire an awe-inspiring happiness.

Thereupon, the World Honoured One pronounced these words of both praise and approval: “Excellent, excellent, all you convinced and believing people. From this moment onwards, you are all dedicated followers of the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna). Your compassion is enormous. You are able to take away suffering in depth, as well as rescuing people from misfortunes. You are expanses of meritorious virtues for all sentient beings, as well as being able to guide people into the right direction and the all-inclusive point upon which all sentient beings rely. You will constantly spread abroad the benefits of the Dharma.”

There and then, the whole assembly was filled with joy. They made obeisance to the Buddha and went on their way.