Lotus Sutra
Skillful Means
At that time, the World-Honored One rose serenely from his samadhi and proclaimed to Shariputra:
"The Buddhas' wisdom is profound and incalculable. The gateways of their wisdom are hard to understand and hard to enter, so that no voice-hearer or pratyekabuddha can know them. Why is this? In former times the Buddha, personally approaching hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of innumerable Buddhas, performed exhaustively the dharmas of those Buddhas' incalculable paths. His fame for bold and earnest exertion having spread everywhere, he achieved profound dharmas that had never been before. What he preaches accords with what is appropriate, but the end point of its meaning is hard to understand.
"Shariputra, since achieving Buddhahood I have, by a variety of means and by resort to a variety of parables, broadly set forth the spoken doctrine, by countless devices leading the living beings and enabling them to abandon their encumbrances. Why is this? The Thus Come One's expedient devices, his knowledge and insight, and his paramitas have all been acquired to the fullest measure.
"Shariputra, the Thus Come One's knowledge and insight are broad and great, profound and recondite, without measure and without obstruction. His might, his fearlessness, his dhyana-concentration, his release-samadhi have deeply penetrated the limitless. He has perfected all the dharmas that have never been before. Shariputra, by making a variety of distinctions, the Thus Come One can skillfully preach the dharmas. His words are gentle, gladdening many hearts. Shariputra, to speak of the essential: as for the immeasurable, unlimited dharmas that have never been before, the Buddha has perfected them all. Cease, Shariputra, we need speak no more. Why is this? Concerning the prime, rare, hard-to-understand dharmas, which the Buddha has perfected, only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality, namely, the suchness of the dharmas, the suchness of their marks, the suchness of their nature, the suchness of their substance, the suchness of their powers, the suchness of their functions, the suchness of their causes, the suchness of their conditions, the suchness of their effects, the suchness of their retributions, and the absolute identity of their beginning and end."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this doctrine, proclaimed gathas, saying:
The Hero of the World is incalculable. Among gods, worldlings and all varieties of living beings, None can know the Buddha. As to the Buddha's strengths, His sorts of fearlessness, His deliverances, and his samadhis, As well as the other dharmas of a Buddha, None can fathom them. Formerly, following numberless Buddhas, He fully trod the various paths, Those dharmas profound and subtle, Hard to see and hard to understand. Throughout countless, millions of kalpas He trod these various paths; [then] On the platform of the Path he was able To achieve the Fruit: This I fully know. As to such great fruits and retributions as these, Such varied doctrines of nature and marks, I and the Buddhas of the ten directions Are the only ones who can know these things. These dharmas cannot be demonstrated; Words, which are only signs, are quiescent in them. Among the remaining kinds of living beings None can understand them, Except for the multitude of bodhisattvas, Whose power of faith is firm. The multitude of the Buddhas' disciples Formerly made offerings to the Buddhas. All their outflows now exhausted, They inhabit this last body. Men such as these, Their strength irresistible, Even if they filled the world, If all were like Shariputra, And if, exhausting their thoughts,
All calculated together, Could not fathom the Buddha's knowledge. Even if they filled the ten directions, All of them like Shariputra And the remaining disciples, If, further, filling the kshetras [Buddha-fields] of ten directions And exhausting their thoughts, They were to calculate together, They still could not know it. If pratyekabuddhas of keen intelligence, Inhabiting a final body without outflows, Were to fill even the spheres of the ten directions, In their number like bamboo groves, And if, putting their minds together For millions of incalculable kalpas, They wished to think on the real knowledge of the Buddha, None could know a slight portion thereof. If bodhisattvas
Who have recently launched their thoughts Who have made offerings to countless Buddhas, Who understand completely
The direction of the various doctrines, And who also can preach the Dharma well Were, in the manner
Of stalks of hemp, bambo, and rice, To fill the ksetras of the ten directions, And if, with one mind
And by resort to their subtle wisdom, For kalpas numerous as Ganges' sands They were all to think and calculate together, Still they could not understand
The Buddha's knowledge. If bodhisattvas who do not backslide, In number like to Ganges' sands, Were with one mind to think and seek together, They still could not know it. I further proclaim to you, Shariputra, That that which is without outflows, Beyond reckoning and discussion, The extremely profound and subtle Dharma, I have already gained completely. [In this age] only I know its marks, As do the Buddhas [of other ages] in the ten directions. Shariputra, let it be known That the Buddhas' words are without discrepancy, That toward the Dharma preached by the Buddha One should display the strength of great faith. After the World-Honored One's dharma
Has long been in effect, He must preach the truth. I proclaim to the multitude of voice-hearers And to those seeking
The vehicle of condition-perceivers That I am the One who shall cause them
To cast off the bonds of suffering
And attain nirvana. The Buddha, by the power of expedient devices, Demonstrates the teaching of the three vehicles. The living beings, attached to this object and that, He attracts and thus enables to extricate themselves.
At that time, in the midst of the great multitude there were voice-hearers,
their outflows exhausted, arhants, Ajnatakaundinya and others, twelve hundred
persons, as well as persons who had laucnhed their thoughts toward the rank
of pratyekabuddha and bhikshus, buksunis, upasakas, and upasikas, each of
whom thought: "Now, why has the World-Honored One made this speech earnestly
praising expedient devices? The Dharma which the Buddha has gained is very
hard to understand. He has something to say, whose meaning is hard to know,
and which no voice-hearer or pratyekabuddha can attain. The Buddha has preached
the doctrine of unique deliverance, which means that we, too, gaining this
Dharma, shall reach nirvana. Yet now we do not know where this doctrine
tends."
At that time, Shariputra, knowing of the doubts in the minds of the fourfold assembly, and himself not yet fully understanding, addressed the Buddha, saying "World-Honored One, for what cause and through what conditions have you earnestly praised the Buddhas' prime device, their extremely profound and subtle Dharma, so hard to understand? In all this long time I have never before heard from the Buddha such a preaching as this. Now the fourfold assembly all have doubts. I beg the World-Honored One to expound this matter. World-Honored One, why have you earnestly praised this very profound and subtle Dharma, so hard to understand?"
At that time, Shariputra, wishing to restate this idea, proclaimed gathas, saying:
The Sun of Wisdom, the Most Venerable of the Great Saints, After a long time indeed preaches this Dharma, Himself saying that he has gained such Strengths, fearlessness, samadhis, Dhyana-concentrations, releases, And other such inconceivable dharmas. On the dharmas attained on the Platform of the Path, No one is able to put questions. "My mind [says the Buddha] is difficult to fathom, Nor is anyone able to question it." Those who seek to be condition-perceivers, As well as bhikshus, bhiksunis, Gods, dragons, demons, spirits, and gandharvas, Look at one another and harbor uncertainties, Entreating the Most Venerable of Two-Legged Beings, "Why is this? We beg the Buddha to explain it to us." Of the multitude of voice-hearers The Buddha has said that I am the first. Now, with respect to my own knowledge, I Cannot resolve my doubts As to whether this is the ultimate Dharma Or whether it is [merely] a path to tread [toward that Dharma]. The sons born of the Buddha's mouth, Their palms joined and looking up in expectation, Beg you to emit a subtle sound And thus to make timely explanation in keeping with reality. The gods, dragons, and spirits, In number like to Ganges' sands, Bodhisattvas seeking to be Buddhas, Their great number being eighty thousands, And of several myriads or, millions of realms The wheel-turning sage-kings have arrived, With palms joined and with thoughts deferential, Wishing to hear of the Perfect Path.
At that time, the Buddha proclaimed to Shariputra: "Cease, cease! There is no need to speak further. If I speak of this matter, gods and men in all the worlds shall be alarmed."
Shariputra again addressed the Buddha, saying: "World-Honored One, I
beg you to preach it! What is the reason? In this assembly numberless hundreds
of thousands of myriads of millions of asamkyeyas of living beings, having
seen Buddhas, their faculties keen and their wisdom pellucid, if they hear
the Buddha's preaching shall be able to put reverent faith in it." At that
time Shariputra, wishing to restate this meaning, proclaimed a gatha,
saying:
O King of the Dharma, Venerable One among the Unexcelled, Do but preach! I beg you to have no second thoughts. In this assembly the incalculable multitude Includes those who can put reverent faith in you.
The Buddha again restrained Shariputra: "If I preach this matter, all the gods, men, and asuras in all the worlds shall be alarmed, and the arrogant bhikshus shall fall into a great trap." At that time the WorldHonored One proclaimed a gatha, saying:
Cease, cease! No need to speak. My dharma is subtle and hard to imagine. Those of overweening pride, If they hear it, shall surely
neither revere it nor believe in it.
At that time, Shariputra again addressed the Buddha, saying: "I beseech
you to preach, I beseech you to preach! In the present assembly, beings like
me, numbering a hundred thousand myriads of millions, in successive incarnations
have already been converted by Buddhas. Such men as these shall surely be
able to revere and believe. Throughout the long night of time they shall
be secure, deriving much advantage therefrom."
At that time Shariputra, wishing to restate this meaning, proclaimed
gathas, saying:
O You Supremely Venerable among Two-Legged Beings, I beg you to preach the Prime Dharma! I am the Buddha's eldest son: Do but deign to preach explicitly. Incalculable multitudes in this assembly Can revere and believe this Dharma. The Buddha has already, generation after generation, Taught and converted many like these. All of one mind, with palms joined, Wish to listen to the Buddha's Word. We twelve hundred And the others who seek to be BuddhasÊ Beg that, for the sake of this multitude, You will but deign to preach explicitly. If they hear this Dharma, Then they shall evince great joy.
At that time the World-Honored One declared to Shariputra: "Since you have now thrice earnestly besought me, how can I not preach? Now listen with understanding and with careful thought, for I will state it to you explicitly."
While he was speaking these words, in the assembly bhiksus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas to the number of five thousand straightway rose from their seats and, doing obeisance to the Buddha, withdrew. For what reason? This group had deep and grave roots of sin and overweening pride, imagining themselves to have attained and to have borne witness to what in fact they had not. Having such faults as these, therefore they did not stay. The World-Honored One, silent, did not restrain them.
At that time the Buddha declared to Shariputra: "My assembly has no more branches and leaves, it has only firm fruit. Shariputra, it is just as well that such arrogant ones as these have withdrawn. Now listen well, for I will preach to you."
Shariputra said: "Very well, World-Honored One, for I am eager to hear."
The Buddha declared to Shariputra: "A subtle Dharma such as this the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones, preach but occasionally, as the udumbara [cluster fig] blossom appears but once in a while. You should believe that in what the Buddha says the words are not vain. Shariputra, the Buddhas preach the Dharma appropriately; their purport is hard to understand. What is the reason? By resort to numberless devices and to various means, parables, and phrases do I proclaim the dharmas. This Dharma is not a thing that discursive or discriminatory reasoning can understand. Only Buddhas can know it. What is the reason? The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, for one great cause alone appear in the world. giriputra, what do I mean by 'The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, for one great cause alone appear in the world?' The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to hear of the Buddha's knowledge and insight and thus enable them to gain purity. They appear in the world because they wish to demonstrate the Buddha's knowledge and insight to the beings. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to understand. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to enter into the path of the Buddha's knowledge and insight. Shariputra, this is the one great cause for which the Buddhas appear in the world."
The Buddha declared to Shariputra: "The Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones, teach the bodhisattvas merely that whatever they do is for one purpose, namely, to demonstrate and make intelligible the Buddha's knowledge and insight to the beings. Shariputra, the Thus Come One by resort to the One Buddha Vehicle alone preaches the Dharma to the beings. There are no other vehicles, whether two or three. Shariputra, the dharmas of the Buddhas in all ten directions are also of this sort. Shariputra, the Buddhas of the past by resort to incalculable and numberless devices and to various means, parables, and phrases proclaimed the dharmas to the beings. These dharmas were all directed toward the One Buddha Vehicle. These beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, all attain thoroughly to knowledge of all modes.
"Shariputra, future Buddhas shall come into the world, and they, too, by resorting to incalculable and numberless devices and to various means, parables, and phrases, shall proclaim the dharmas to the beings. These dharmas shall all be directed toward the One Buddha Vehicle. These beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, shall all attain thoroughly the knowledge of all modes.
"Shariputra, the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, in the incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of Buddha-lands in the ten directions of present time have many beings whom they benefit and put at their ease. These Buddhas also, by resort to incalculable and numberless devices and to various means, parables, and phrases, proclaim the dharmas to the beings. These dharmas are all directed toward the One Buddha Vehicle. These beings, hearing the Dharma from the Buddhas, shall all attain thoroughly to knowledge of all modes. Shariputra, these Buddhas teach the bodhisattvas merely because they wish to demonstrate the Buddha's knowledge and insight to the beings, because they wish to enlighten the beings with the Buddha's knowledge and insight, because they wish to cause the beings to enter into the Buddha's knowledge and insight.
"Shariputra, I, too, am like this. Knowing that the beings have various desires and objects to which their thoughts are profoundly attached, following their basic natures, by resort to the expedient power of various means, parables, and phrases, I preach the Dharma to them. Shariputra, I do this only in order that they may gain the One Buddha Vehicle and knowledge of all modes. Shariputra, in the worlds of the ten directions there are not even two vehicles. How much the less can there be three!
"Shariputra, the Buddhas come into an evil world stained with five defilements, to wit, the defilement of the kalpa, the defilement of the agonies, the defilement of the beings, the defilement of views, and the defilement of the life-span. When the kalpa is in chaos, Shariputra, the stains of the beings run deep, and with greed and envy they complete unwholesome roots. Therefore, the Buddhas, with their expedient powers, make distinctions in the One Buddha Vehicle and speak of three.
"Shariputra, if a disciple of mine, thinking himself an arhant or a pratyekabuddha, neither has heard nor knows of these matters that the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones, teach to bodhisattvas alone, he is no disciple of the Buddha, neither arhant nor pratyekabuddha. If such bhikshus or bhiksunis say to themselves, 'I have already attained arhattva! This is my last body! I have perfected nirvana!' and if then they resolve no further to seek anuttarasamyaksambodhi, be it known that this lot are all persons of overweening pride. What is the reason? That a bhiksu who had truly attained arhattva should not believe this Dharma-that is impossible, except when, after a Buddha's passage into extinction, no Buddha is present. What is the reason? After the Buddha's passage into extinction, persons who receive, keep, read, recite, and understand scriptures like this one shall be hard to find. If they encounter other Buddhas, they shall then get decisive instruction concerning this Dharma.
"Shariputra, you must all single-mindedly believe, understand, receive, and keep the Buddha's Word; for in the Word of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones, there is nothing either vain or arbitrary. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, proclaimed gathas, saying:
Bhiksus and bhiksunis Harboring arrogance,
Upasakas with pride, And upasakas of no faith -- In the fourfold assembly,
The likes of these, Five thousand in number, Not seeing their own faults, Having flaws in their discipline, And jealously guarding their blemishes, These of slight wisdom have already left: The chaff of the multitude, Thanks to the Buddha's imposing majesty,
Is gone. These persons, ill-equipped with merit, Are not worthy to receive this Dharma. This multitude has neither branches nor leaves, But has only firm fruits. Shariputra, listen well: The dharma that the Buddhas have gained By resort to incalculable expedient powers They preach to the beings. The thoughts thought by the beings, The sundry ways trodden by them, The nature of their several desires, The good and evil deeds in their former births -- The Buddha knows them thoroughly. Knowing them, and Resorting to various means and parables And to their powers,
and to the powers of phrases and other expedients,
He causes all to rejoice. Now he preaches sermons, Gathas and former matters, Former lives and things that have never been before. Again, he preaches cause and condition, Parables and verses repeating the prose, And dialogue scriptures. Those of dull faculties,
Who desire lesser dharmas, Who out of sheer greed cling to birth and death, Who in the presence of incalculable Buddhas Still fail to tread the profound and subtle Path, And who are tormented by multitudinous woes -- For these I preach nirvana. Devising this expedient device, I enable them to enter into the Buddha's wisdom. I never told them, "You all Shall be able to achieve the Path of the Buddha." The reason I never told them Is that the time to tell it had not yet come. Now is precisely the time To preach the Great Vehicle definitively. This Dharma of mine, in nine divisions, I preach by matching it to the beings, Keeping the entry into the Great Vehicle as the basis: This is why I expound this teaching. There are sons of the Buddha
Whose thoughts are pure and supple,
And also whose faculties are keen, Who in the presence of incalculable Buddhas Have trodden the profound and subtle Path. For these sons of the Buddha I preach this sermon of the Great Vehicle. I prophesy to such persons as these That in a future age
They shall achieve the Buddha's Path, Because with profound thought
They are mindful of the Buddha And because they practice
And keep a pure discipline. When they hear that they
Shall attain Buddhahood,
These persons have a great joy
That permeates their bodies. The Buddha,
Knowing the course of their thoughts, Therefore preaches the Great Vehicle to them. A voice-hearer or a bodhisattva Who hears of the Dharma I preach So much as a single gatha Shall in every case achieve Buddhahood,
Of that there is no doubt. Within the Buddha-lands of the ten directions There is the Dharma of only One Vehicle. There are not two, nor are there yet three, Save where the Buddha,
Preaching by resort to expedients And by merely borrowing
Provisional names and words, Draws the beings to him. In order to preach Buddha-wisdom, The Buddhas come into the world. Only this one cause is true, For the other two are unreal. To the very end
He does not resort to the Lesser Vehicle To ferry the beings across. The Buddha himself dwells
In the Greater Vehicle; Whatever dharmas he acquires, Adorned with the strength
Of concentration and wisdom, Through them does he rescue the beings. He himself bears witness
To the Unexcelled Path, To the undifferentiating Dharma
Of the Great Vehicle. If by resort to the Lesser Vehicle
I were to convert So much as one person, I should have fallen victim to greed, And this sort of thing would never do. A man in faith takes refuge in the Buddha,
believing that the Thus Come One does not deceive, Also that, having no thought of greed or malice, He cuts off the evil in the dharmas; It is for this reason
That the Buddhas in the ten directions Alone are fearless. I, with marks adorning my body, Radiantly give light to the world. Being venerated by incalculable multitudes, For them I preach the seal of reality-marks. Shariputra, be it known That formerly I took a vow, Wishing to cause all multitudes To be just like me, no different. In keeping with my former vow, All is now fulfilled, For I have converted all living beings, Causing them all
To enter into the Buddha Path. If, upon every encounter with the beings, I had taught them all the Buddha Path, The ignorant, confused and gone astray, Would not have accepted my teaching. Because I knew that these beings Had never cultivated wholesome roots; That they were firmly
Attached to the five desires; That, through delusion and greed,
They were subject to agony; That, by reason of their desires, They fell into the three evil destinies; That they spun like wheels
In the six destinies, Receiving all manner of woe and harm; That, receiving the frail form of a foetus, For generation after generation
They would constantly grow; That men of slight virtue and little merit Were attacked by multitudinous woes; That, entering into
The luxuriant forest of wrong views, Whether of existence,
Or of nonexistence, or the like, And relying on these views, They fulfill sixty-two of them; That, profoundly attached
To vain and arbitrary dharmas, They firmly seize upon them
And cannot cast them aside; That their pride and arrogance are lofty, Their sycophantic, crooked hearts insincere; That for a thousand myriads of millions of kalpas They neither hear the Buddha's name Nor hear the right Dharma; That men the likes of these are hard to save; For these reasons, Shariputra, For their sakes I established
An expedient device, Preaching ways that put an end to woe And showing them nirvana. Though I preach nirvana, This is no true extinction. The dharmas from their very origin Are themselves eternally characterized By the marks of quiet extinction. The Buddha's son, having trodden the Path, In an age to come shall be able to become a Buddha. I, having the power to devise expedients, Set forth the dharma of the three vehicles. All the World-Honored Ones, All of them, preach the Way of the One Vehicle. Now these great multitudes Are all to purge their doubts and uncertainties. The Buddhas say without differing That there is only One Vehicle, not two. For numberless kalpas in the past, Incalculable Buddhas, since passed into extinction, Of a hundred thousand myriads of millions of kinds, Their number not to be reckoned World-Honored Ones in this manner, By resort to various means and parables, To the power of these and numberless other devices, Expound the marks of the dharmas. These World-Honored Ones, All preaching the Dharma of the One Vehicle, Convert incalculable beings And cause them to enter into the Buddha Path. Also, the Chiefs of the Great Saints, Knowing all the worlds, All the varieties of their gods, their men, And their living creatures, The wishes in the deepest thoughts of all these beings, By resort to yet other devices Help to clarify the Prime Meaning. If there are varieties of living beings Who, having encountered Buddhas in the past, Have heard the Dharma or dispensed gifts, Or else kept the discipline or endured ignominy, Or advanced with vigor,
or cultivated dhyana or wisdom, Who, in short, have in various ways
cultivated merit and wisdom, Persons like these
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. When the Buddhas have passed into extinction, If a person is of good and gentle thought, Living beings like him Have all achieved the Buddha Path. When the Buddhas have passed into extinction, Persons who make offerings to their sharira Shall erect myriads of millions of kinds of stupas, Using gold and silver and crystal, Giant clam shell and agate, Gems of carnelian and vaidiirya, With which they brightly and extensively adorn and With dignity accouter the stupas. Or there are those who erect stone mausoleums Of sandalwood and aloeswood, Of hovenia and other timbers, Of brick, tile, clay, and the like. Or there are those who in open fields, Heaping up earth, make Buddha-shrines. There are even children who in play Gather sand and make it into Buddha-stupas. Persons like these
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. If any persons
For the Buddha's sake
Erect images, with carvings
Perfecting the multitudinous marks, they
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. Some fashion them completely with the seven jewels, Or with nickel, or copper, or bronze, Or with white tin, or with alloys of lead and tin, Or with iron, or wood, or, again, with clay. Some coat them with resin and lacquer, With art creating Buddha images. Persons like these
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. Those who with many-colored designs
create Buddha images, Adorning them
With the marks of hundredfold merit, Making them themselves
Or having them done by others, Have all achieved the Buddha Path. Even children in play, With grass, sticks, and brushes Or with their fingernails, Draw Buddha images. Persons like these, Gradually accumulating merit And perfecting thoughts of great compassion, Have all achieved the Buddha Path. Or, merely converting bodhisattvas, They may save incalculable multitudes. If any persons, in stupas and mausoleums, To jeweled images and painted images. With flowered and perfumed banners and canopies And with deferential thoughts make offerings, Or if they cause others to make music, Beating drums and blowing horns and conchs, Or sounding flutes, of many reeds or of only one, And lyres, mounted on stands or not, And lutes and cymbals, Producing many fine sounds like these And holding them all up as offerings; Or if with joyful thought They sing hymns of praise
To the excellences of the Buddha, Producing so much as one tiny sound, they
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. If anyone, even with distracted thought, And with so much as a single flower, Makes offering to a painted image, He shall at length see numberless Buddhas. There will be some
who prostrate themselves ceremoniously; Others, again, who merely join palms; Others yet who do no more than raise one hand, Others yet again who incline their heads but slightly All, in these several ways, honoring the images. They shall at length see incalculable Buddhas, Themselves achieve the Unexcelled Path, Broadly rescue numberless multitudes, And enter into nirvana without residue, As, when the kindling wood is exhausted,
the fire goes out. If any, even with distracted thought, Shall enter a stupa or mausoleum And recite Namo Buddhaya [Homage to the Buddha] but once, they
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. Under the tutelage of the Buddhas of the past, Whether while they were in the world Or after their extinction, If any heard this Dharma, they
Have all achieved the Buddha Path. The World-Honored Ones of the future Shall be of number incalculable. These Thus Come Ones By resort to expedient devices
Also shall preach the Dharma. All the Thus Come Ones, By resort to incalculable expedient devices, Save the living beings, That they may enter into the Buddha's knowledge free of outflows. Of any who hear the Dharma, None shall fail to achieve Buddhahood. Every Buddha's former vow [is as follows]: "Whatever Buddha Path I may have trodden, I wish universally to cause the beings All alike to attain this Path as well." The Buddhas of ages to come, Though they shall preach
Hundreds of thousands of millions Of numberless gateways to the Dharma, Shall, in fact, be doing it
For the sake of the One Vehicle. The Buddhas,
Fhe Most Venerable of Two-Legged Beings, Know that the dharmas are ever
Without a nature of their own. By virtue of conditions
Is the Buddha-seed realized: For this reason they preach the One Vehicle. The endurance of the dharmas, The secure position of the dharmas, In the world ever abiding -- Having come to know these
On the Platform of the Way, The Guide-Teacher preaches them
By resort to expedient devices. Recipients of offerings of gods and men, The Buddhas of the present in the ten directions, In number like to Ganges' sands, Having appeared in the world To put the beings at their ease, Also preach a Dharma such as this. They know the prime Quiet Extinction; By resort to expedient devices They may demonstrate various paths, but They do so, in fact,
For the sake of the Buddha Vehicle. I know the acts of the multitudinous beings, That which they are mindful of
In their deepest thoughts, The deeds they have done repeatedly in the past, The nature of their desires,
Their power of vigorous exertion, And the keenness or dullness of their faculties. By the use of a variety of causes and conditions, Parables, also words and phrases, And by resort to expedient devices, I preach in accord with what is appropriate. Now I, too, am like them: To put the beings at their ease, By resort to various Dharma-gateways, I proclaim the Buddha Path. With the power of wisdom, Knowing the natures and desires of the beings; By resort to expedient devices I preach the dharmas, Causing them all to gain joy. Shariputra, let these things be known -- I, with the eye of a Buddha, See the beings on the six courses Reduced to poverty's extreme, Having neither merit nor wisdom; Entered upon the steep highway of birth and death; Their woes, in constant succession, Knowing no interruption; Profoundly attached to the five desires, Like a long-tailed ox in love with its own tail; Covering themselves with lust and greed; Blind and seeing nothing; Seeking neither a Buddha of great might Nor ways of cutting off woe; Profoundly entered into wrong views; By the use of woe wishing to cast off woe: For the sake of these beings I evince thoughts of great compassion. When I first sat on the Platform of the Way, Whether beholding the Tree or walking about, Throughout three weeks I thought such thoughts as these: "The wisdom I have gained Is the first among subtle things. The beings, their faculties dull, Are attached to pleasure and blinded by delusion. Being of such sort as this, How can they be saved?" At that time the Brahma kings And the chiefs of the gods, the Shakras, The four god kings who protect the world And the great gods who are their own masters, As well as the other multitudes of gods and their retinues,
In the hundreds of thousands of myriads, Reverently joining palms and doing obeisance, Begged me to turn the Dharma-wheel. I then thought to myself: "If I merely praise the Buddha Vehicle, The beings, sunk in woe, Shall not be able to believe this Dharma. Reviling the Dharma and not believing it, They shall fall into the three evil courses. I had rather not preach the Dharma, But enter speedily into nirvana. When I think back on the Buddhas of the past, On the power of the expedient devices
Put into practice by them, I know that in the Way I have now gained I, too, must preach three vehicles." When I had had these thoughts, The Buddhas of the ten directions all appeared, Comforting and instructing me with Brahma chant: "Good, Shakyamuni! You, the First of Guide-Teachers, Having gained this unsurpassed Dharma, Follow all the Buddhas In using the power of expedient devices. All of us, too, having gained This most subtle prime Dharma, For the sake of the varieties of living beings Discriminated, preaching three vehicles. Those of slight wisdom, desiring lesser dharmas, Would not believe they could achieve Buddhahood. For this reason, by resort to expedient devices, We discriminated, preaching various fruits. But, even though we preached three vehicles, This was only for the purpose of teaching bodhisattvas." Shariputra, be it known That, when I heard the Saintly Lions' Deep, pure, and subtle voices, Joyfully I proclaimed "Namo Buddhebhyah!" [Homage to the Buddhas] And that then I had this thought: "Having come into a defiled and evil world, As the Buddhas preach, So must I, too, in obedience, act." When I had had these thoughts, Straightway I went to Varanasi. Since the quiet and extinct marks of the dharmas Were not to be proclaimed in words, By resort to the power of expedient devices I preached to five bhikshus. This is called "turning the Dharma-wheel. Then there was the sound "Nirvana," As well as "Arhant," "Dharma," and "Sangha"-- Several and distinct names such as these. Since remote kalpas I have set forth with praise the Dharma of Nirvana: 'The woes of birth and death
Are forever terminated!' It is thus that I ever preached. Shariputra, be it known: I see the Buddhas' sons, Those who aspire to the Buddha Path, In the incalculable thousands of myriads of millions, All with deferential thought, All coming before the Buddha, Having formerly heard from the Buddhas Dharmas preached by resort to expedient devices. Then I had this thought: "The reason a Buddha emerges Is to preach Buddha-wisdom. Now is the very time for it!" Shariputra, be it known that Men of dull faculties and slight wisdom, They who cling proudly to signs, Cannot believe in this Dharma. Now I, joyfully and fearlessly, In the midst of the bodhisattvas Frankly casting aside my expedient devices, Merely preach the Unexcelled Path. When the bodhisattvas hear this Dharma, The network of their doubts is all cleared away: [I have said] "A thousand two hundred arhants Shall also become Buddhas, every one of them. As has been, for the Buddhas of the three ages, The manner in which they preach the Dharma, So I, too, now preach a Dharma without distinctions. Buddhas emerge into the world At remote intervals,
And to encounter them is difficult. Even when they do emerge in the world, To preach this Dharma is also difficult. Throughout incalculable and countless kalpas, To hear this Dharma is no less difficult. And, as for one who can listen to this Dharma, Such a person, too, is rare. The udumbara flower, for example, Is loved and desired by all, Regarded as rare by both gods and men, Appearing only once at great intervals of time. One who, hearing the Dharma,
In joy and praise Utters so much as a single word Has already made offerings To all the Buddhas in the three ages. Such a person is very rare, Rarer even than the udumbara flower. Have no doubts: I, being King of the Dharma, Universally address the great multitudes, Having recourse only to the Path of the One Vehicle, Teaching and converting bodhisattvas, And having no voice-hearing disciples. All of you, Shariputra, Voice-hearers and bodhisattvas alike, Are to know that this subtle Dharma Is the secret essential to the Buddhas. Since the beings of the age of the five defilements Long for and cling to their desires alone; Since beings the likes of these Shall never seek the Buddha Path, And since wicked men in ages to come — Hearing the Buddha preach the One Vehicle But having gone astray
Neither believing nor accepting it — Shall malign the Dharma
And fall into evil destinies; Since there shall be those who disgrace
The pure aspirants to the Buddha Path; I must for the likes of these Broadly praise the Path of the One Vehicle. Shariputra, be it known that The Buddhas' Dharma is like this: By resort to myriads of millions
Of expedient devices, and in accord
With what is appropriate for the situation, They preach the Dharma; But they who have not practiced it Cannot understand this. All of you —
Knowing now that the Buddhas,
The Teachers of the Ages, In accord with what is peculiarly appropriate, Have recourse to expedient devices — Need have no more doubts or uncertainties. Your hearts shall give rise to great joy, Since you know that you yourselves
Shall become Buddhas.
Adapted from the English translation of Leon Hurvitz in: Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, New York: 1976.
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