The Lotus Sutra
Translated by Burton Watson
- Chapter Eighteen
- The Benefits of Joyful Acceptance
At that time the bodhisattva and mahasattva Maitreya said to the
Buddha: World-Honored One, if there are good men or good women who, hearing this Lotus
Sutra, respond with joy, what amount of blessings do they acquire?"
Then he spoke in verse, saying:
After the World-Honored One has passed into extinction,
if those who hear this sutra
are able to respond with joy,
what a mount of blessings will they acquire?
At that time the Buddha said to the bodhisattva Maitreya: "Ajita,
after the Thus Come One has entered extinction, suppose there are monks, nuns, laymen,
laywomen, or other persons of wisdom, whether old or young, who, hearing the sutra,
respond with joy and, leaving the Dharma assembly, go to some other place, perhaps a monks
quarters, a spot that is deserted and quiet, a city, a community, the settlement or a
village, and there in accordance with what they have heard they put forth effort and
preaching in expounding for the sake of their parents and relatives, their good friends
and acquaintances. These persons, after hearing, respond with joy and they too set about
spreading the teachings. One person, having heard, responds with joy and spreads the
teachings, and the teachings in this way continue to be handed along from one to another
until they reach a fiftieth person.
"Ajita, the benefits received by this fiftieth good man or good
woman who responds with joy I will now describe to you - he must listen carefully. Imagine
all the beings in the six paths of existence of four hundred ten thousand million asamkhya
worlds, all the four kinds of living beings, those born from the egg, those born from the
womb, those born from dampness, and those born by transformation, those with form, those
without form, those with thought, those without thought, those who are not with thought,
those who are not without thought, those without legs, those with two legs, four legs or
many legs. And imagine that, among all of this vast number of living beings, a person
should come who is seeking blessings and, responding to their various desires, dispenses
objects of amazement and playthings to all these living beings. Each one of these living
beings is given gold, silver, lapis lazuli, sheashell, agate, coral, amber, and other
wonderful and precious gems, as well as elephants, horses, carriages, and palaces and
towers made of the seven treasures, enough to fill a whole Jambudvipa. This great
dispenser of charity, having handed out gifts in this manner for a full eighty years, then
thinks to himself: I have already doled out objects of amusement and playthings to these
living beings, responding to various desires. But these living beings are now old and
decrepit, their years over eighty, their hair white, their faces wrinkled, before long
they will die. I now should employ the law of the Buddha to instruct and guide them.
"Immediately he gathers all the living beings together and
propagates the Law among them, teaching, benefiting and delighting them. In one moment all
are able to attain the way of the srota-apanna, the way of the sakridagamin, the way of
the anagamin, and the way of arhat, to exhaust all outflows and enter deeply into
meditation. All attain freedom and become endowed with eight emancipations. Now what is
your opinion? Are the benefits gained by this great dispenser of charity many are
not?"
Maitreya said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, this man's
benefits are very many indeed, immeasurable and boundless. Even if this dispenser of
charity had merely given all those playthings to living beings, his benefits would still
be immeasurable. And how much more so when he has enabled them to attain the fruits of
arhatship!"
The Buddhas said to Maitreya: "I will now state the matter clearly
for you. This man gave all these objects of amusement to living beings in the six paths of
existence of four hundred ten thousand million asamkhya worlds and also made it possible
for them to attain the fruits of arhatship. But the benefits that he gains do not match
the benefits of the fiftieth person who hears just one verse of the Lotus Sutra and
responds with joy. They are not equal to one hundredth, one thousandth, one part in a
hundred, thousand, ten thousand, a million. Indeed it is beyond the power of calculation,
simile or parable to express the comparison.
"Ajita, the benefits gained by even the fiftieth person who hears
the Lotus Sutra as it is handed along to him responds with joy. His blessings are greater
by an immeasurable, boundless asamkhya number, and are in fact incomparable.
"Moreover, Ajita, suppose a person for the sake of this sutra
visits a monks quarters and, sitting or standing, even for a moment listens to it and
accepts it. As a result of the benefits so obtained, when he is reborn in his next
existence he will enjoy the finest, most superior and wonderful elephants, horses and
carriages, and palanquins decked with rare treasures, and will mount up to the heavenly
palaces. Or suppose there is a person who is sitting in the place where the Law is
expounded, and when another person appears, the first person urges them to sit down and
listen, or offers to share his seat and so persuades him to sit down. The benefits gained
by this person will be such that when he is reborn he will be in a place where lord Shakra
is seated, where the heavenly king Brahma is seated, or were a wheel-turning sage king is
seated.
"Ajita, suppose there is a person who speaks to another person,
saying, 'There is a sutra called the Lotus. Let us go together and listen to it.' And
suppose, having been urged, the other person goes and even for an instant listens to the
sutra. The benefits of the first person will be such that when he is reborn he will be
born in the same place as dharani bodhisattvas. He will have keen faculties and wisdom.
For a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand ages he will never be struck dumb. His mouth will
not emit a foul odor. His tongue will never been afflicted, nor will his mouth be
afflicted. His teeth will not be stained or black, nor will they be yellow or widely
spaced, nor will they be missing or fall out or be at an angle or crooked. His lips will
not droop down or curl back or be rough or chapped or afflicted with sores or misshapen or
twisted or too thick or too big or black or discolored or unsightly in any way. His nose
will not be too broad or flat or crooked or too highly arched. His face will not be
swarthy, nor will it be long and narrow, or sunken and distorted. He will not have a
single unsightly feature. His lips, tongue and teeth will all be handsomely proportioned.
His nose will be long and high, his face round and full, his eyebrows long and set high,
his forehead broad, smooth, and well shaped, and he will be endowed with all the features
proper to a human being. In each existence he is born into, he will see the Buddha, hear
his Law, and have faith in his teachings.
"Ajita, just observe! The benefits gained merely by encouraging
one person to go and listen to the Law are such as this! How much more, then, if one
single-mindedly hears, preaches, reads, and recites the sutra and before the great
assembly makes distinctions of the sake of people and practices it as the sutra
instructs!"
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying:
If someone in the Dharma assembly
is able to hear this sutra,
even just one verse,
and responding with joy, preaches it to others,
and in this way the teachings are handed along
till they a reach the fiftieth person,
the blessings gained by this last person
are such as I will now define.
Suppose there is a great dispenser of charity
who bestows goods on immeasurable multitudes,
doing this for a full eighty years,
responding to each person's desires.
Seeing the signs of decrepitude and old age,
the white hair and wrinkled face,
the missing teeth, the withered form,
he thinks, "Their death is not far off;
I must now teach them
so they can gain the fruits of the way!"
Immediately for their sake he employs an expedient means,
preaching the true Law of nirvana:
"Nothing in this world is lasting or firm
but all are like bubbles, foam, heat shimmer.
Therefore all of you must quickly
learn to hate it and be gone!"
When the people here this Law,
all are able to become arhats
endowed with the six transcendental powers,
the three understandings and eight emancipations.
But the fiftieth person
who hears one verse [of the Lotus sutra] and responds with joy
gains blessings that are far greater,
beyond description by simile or parable.
And if one who has had the teachings passed along to him
receives blessings that are immeasurable,
how much more so one who in the Dharma assembly
first hears the sutra and responds with joy.
Suppose someone encourages another person,
urging him to go and listen to the Lotus,
saying, "This sutra is profound and wonderful,
hard to encounter in a thousand, ten thousand kalpas!"
And suppose, as urged, the person goes to listen,
even though he listens for just a moment.
The blessings that the first person gets in reward
I will now describe in detail:
Age after age, no afflictions of the mouth,
no teeth missing, yellow or blackened,
lips that are not thick, curled or defective,
no fateful features,
a tongue not dry, black or too short;
nose high, long and straight,
forehead broad, smooth and well shaped,
face and eyes ball properly aligned and impressive,
the kind people delight to look at,
breath free of foul odor,
a fragrance of utpala flowers
constantly emitted by the mouth.
Suppose one goes to the monks quarters
expressly to listen the Lotus Sutra
and listens with joy for just a moment -
I will now describe his blessings.
In existences to come among heavenly and human beings
he will acquire wonderful elephants, horses, carriages,
palanquins adorned with rare jewels,
and will mount to the palaces of heaven.
If in the place where the law is expounded
one encourages someone to sit and hear the sutra,
the blessings he acquires will enable him
to gain the seat of Shakra, Brahma and the wheel-turner.
How much more so if one listens single-mindedly,
explains and expounds the meaning,
and practices the sutra as the sutra instructs -
that person's blessings know no bounds!