Lotus Sutra
The Marvelous Spiritual Powers
of the Tathagata
At that time all the Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas who had sprung up from the earth in numbers equal to the specks of dust in a great thousandfold world, wholeheartedly made gassho before the Buddha and, looking up with reverence at his venerable countenance, told Him, "World-honored One, after the Buddha's parinirvana, we will give voice to this Scripture far and wide in whatever lands your bodily transformations may exist as well as wherever they may have become extinct. Wherefore? Because we too wish to acquire for ourselves this genuine, pure, great Teaching so that we may accept and hold to it, study and recite it, understand and expound it, write it down and make copies of it as acts of respect for it."
The World-honored One then made manifest his great spiritual powers before the whole assembly, which included Manjusri and untold hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas who had long resided in the Saha world, along with both male and female monks and laity, devas and nagas, yakshas, gandharvas and asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas, humans and non-humans. He thrust forth his long, broad tongue until it reached up to the realm of Brahma while every pore of his skin emitted infinite rays of light in hues beyond count, all completely illuminating everywhere in the worlds in all the ten quarters.
All the various Buddhas seated upon lion thrones beneath all sorts of bejewelled trees also in similar fashion thrust forth their long, broad tongues and emitted infinite rays of light. A full hundred thousand years elapsed while Shakyamuni Buddha and the various Buddhas beneath their bejewelled trees were manifesting their spiritual powers. They then drew back their tongues and, simultaneously clearing their throats, snapped their fingers in unison. These two sounds reverberated through the worlds of the Buddhas in the ten quarters while the earth shook in six ways.
Within those worlds the sentient beings, the devas and nagas, the yakshas, gandharvas and asuras, the garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas, as well as other humans and non-humans, all saw, due to the spiritual powers of the Buddha, the untold hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of Buddhas on their lion thrones under the various sorts of bejewelled trees within this Saha world and likewise saw Shakyamuni along with the Tathagata of Many Treasures seated upon lion thrones within the jeweled stupa. They also saw untold hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas, as well as the four groups, monks and laity, male and female, who encircled Shakyamuni Buddha in reverence. When they had seen this, they were all filled with great delight, having found what they had not experienced before.
Then all the devas everywhere chanted with a great voice, "Beyond these untold and limitless hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of worlds there is a realm called Saha. Within this realm is a Buddha named Shakyamuni. Now, for the sake of all the various Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas, he is giving voice to a Mahayana Scripture we call The Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Teaching, a teaching which gives guidance to Bodhisattvas and which Buddhas guard well and keep in mind. You should joyfully follow it deep within your hearts as well as pay homage and make offerings to Shakyamuni."
When all those various sentient beings heard that voice coming from within space they made gassho and, turning toward the Saha world, spoke out in this manner, "Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha! Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha!" From afar they all strewed the Saha world with flowers, incense, jewels, garlands, canopies and banners as well as various personal ornaments, marvelous treasures and wondrous objects. The things so strewn from all the ten quarters were like a gathering of clouds. which transformed themselves into a jeweled canopy hovering above the place where the Buddhas were. From that moment intercourse among the worlds in the ten quarters was freed of all obstacles as if forming one single Buddha-land.
The Buddha then addressed Him of Superior Practice along with the others in the great assembly of Bodhisattvas. "The spiritual powers of all Buddhas are similarly immeasurable and boundless, beyond conception or imagining. Were I, for the sake of entrusting this scripture to others, to expound its merits and virtues for untold and limitless hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of eons by means of these-spiritual powers of mine, I would still not be able to exhaust its riches. In short, all the Teachings that I as a Tathagata possess, all the spiritual powers that I have at my disposal, all my unseen storehouses and all my extremely profound activities are expounded, revealed and explained in this scripture. For this reason, after my parinirvana, you should wholeheartedly accept and hold to it, study and recite it, understand and expound it, write it down and make copies of it and, just as you preach it, so practice in accordance with it.
"If there is anyone in any land or country who accepts, holds to, studies, recites, understands, expounds, writes down, copies or practices it as he preaches it, be it in a place where Scripture books reside, or in a garden, or in a grove of trees, or under a tree, or in a monk's quarters, or in the lodging of a white-clad layman, or within the halls of the nobility, or on a mountain, or in a valley, or in an open plain, therein will a stupa be raised and an offering be made. And for what reason? Know that such a place is indeed a seat for enlightenment: in such places Buddhas find Complete and Perfect Enlightenment, in such places Buddhas turn the Wheel of the Dharma, in such places Buddhas enter parinirvana."
Then the World-honored One, desiring to proclaim the meaning of this once again, spoke thus in verse:
"Inconceivable are the good works
that Buddhas do for the benefit of the world
as they reside within their great miraculous penetrating abilities,
displaying their immeasurable spiritual powers
in order to gladden the hearts of sentient beings;
their tongues reach to Brahma's heaven,
their bodies emit incalculable rays of light.
For the sake of those who seek the Buddha's Way
do they make manifest their extraordinary activities:
the sound of these Buddhas' clearing their throats
and the sound of their snapping their fingers
is heard everywhere throughout the lands in all the ten quarters,
and the earth trembles in six ways.
After the Buddha's parinirvana
this Scripture will be preserved well;
hence, the Buddhas all rejoice and display
Their untold spiritual powers.
Because this Scripture has been passed on in trust,
he who accepts and keeps to it
will be offering his praise and adoration,
for, even within immeasurable eons,
it will still remain inexhaustible.
The merits and virtues of such a person
are as limitless and endless as space
which knows no boundaries
in all the ten quarters.
He who can keep to this Scripture
is one who already beholds me
and beholds the Buddha of Many Treasures
as well as all my various bodily transformations;
he also sees the Bodhisattvas
whom I am instructing and converting this very day.
He who holds well to this Scripture
causes not only me but also my bodily transformations
and the Buddha of Many Treasures in nirvana,
all of Us, to be filled with delight;
the Buddhas now present in the ten quarters,
together with Those of past and future,
behold Us and make offerings to Us
as well as cause Us to be filled with delight.
The wondrous, unseen Teaching found by all Buddhas
as They sat in Their place of enlightenment
will surely also be found before long
by him who holds well to this Scripture.
He who holds well to this Scripture
shall, in all delight, endlessly expound
the meanings of its Teaching,
along with its terms and expressions;
in doing so, he will be like the wind in the sky
which is completely free of impediments.
After my parinirvana such a one
shall understand this Scripture
which the Buddha has expounded,
together with its karmic causes and conditions
as well as their sequential order,
and explain them, pursuing their meaning
in accord with the Truth:
just as the brightness of the light of sun and moon
can make all darkness and obscurity disappear,
so such a one shall go through this world
skillfully eradicating the darkness in sentient beings,
such a one will teach countless Bodhisattvas
finally to dwell in the One Vehicle.
Therefore, he who would be wise,
hearing of the benefits of these merits and virtues,
should, after my parinirvana,
accept and hold to this Scripture;
in doing so he will then be certain
about the Buddha's Way
and harbor doubts no more."
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