- Chapter Twenty-one
- The Mystic Powers of the Tathagata
At that time the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas who had emerged from the
earth, numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, all in the presence of the
Buddha single-mindedly pressed their palms together, gazed up in reverence at the face of
the Honored One, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, after the Buddha has
entered extinction, in the lands where the emanations of the World-Honored One are
present, and in the place where the Buddha has passed into extinction, we will preach this
sutra far and wide. Why? Because we ourselves wish to gain this great Law, true and pure,
to accept, uphold, read, recite, explain, preach, transcribe and offer alms to it."
At that time the World-Honored One, in the presence of Manjushri and
the other immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of bodhisattvas and
mahasattvas who from of old had dwelled in the saha world, as well as the monks, nuns,
laymen, laywomen, heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas,
kimvaras, mahoragas, human and nonhuman beings-before all these he displayed his great
supernatural powers. He extended his long broad tongue upward till it reached the Brahma
heaven, and from all his pores he emitted immeasurable, countless beams of light that
illuminated all the worlds in the ten directions.
The other Buddhas, seated on lion thrones underneath the numerous
jeweled trees, did likewise, extending their long broad tongues and emitting immeasurable
beams of light. When Shakyamuni Buddha and other Buddhas beneath the jeweled trees thus
displayed their supernatural powers, they did so for fully a hundred thousand years. After
that they drew in their long tongues again, coughed in unison, and altogether snapped her
fingers. The sounds made by these two actions filled all the Buddha worlds in the ten
directions, and the earth in all of them quaked and trembled in six different ways.
The living beings in their midst, the heavenly beings, dragons,
yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, human and nonhuman beings,
thanks to the Buddha's supernatural powers, all saw in this saha world immeasurable,
boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of Buddhas seated on lion seats
under the numerous jeweled trees, and also saw Shakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Thus
Come One seated together on a lion seat in the treasure tower. Moreover, they saw
immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of bodhisattvas and
mahasattvas and the four kinds of believers who reverently surrounded Shakyamuni Buddha.
When they had seen these things, they were all filled with great joy,
having gained what they had never had before. At the time the heavenly beings in the midst
of the sky cried out with loud voices, saying: "Beyond these immeasurable, boundless
hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya worlds there is a land named
saha, and in it a Buddha named Shakyamuni. Now for the sake of the bodhisattvas and
mahasattvas he is preaching in his sutra of the Great Vehicle called the Lotus of the
Wonderful Law., a Law to instruct the bodhisattvas, one that is guarded and kept in mind
by the Buddhas. You must respond with joy from the depths of your heart, and also offer
obeisance and alms to Shakyamuni Buddha!"
When the various living beings heard the voices in the sky, they
pressed their palms together, faced the saha world, and spoke these words: "Hail,
Shakyamuni Buddha! Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha!"
Then they took different kinds of flowers, incense, necklaces, banners
and canopies, as well as the ornaments, rare jewels and other wonderful articles that
adorned their persons, and all together scattered them far off in the direction of the
saha world. The objects thus scattered poured in from the ten directions like clouds
gathering together. Then they changed into a jeweled curtain that completely covered the
area where the Buddhas were. At that time the worlds in the ten directions were opened up
so that there was unobstructed passage from one to the other and they were like a single
Buddha land.
At that time the Buddha spoke to Superior Practices and the others in
the great assembly of bodhisattvas, saying: "The supernatural powers of the Buddhas,
as you have seen, are immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable. If in the process of
entrusting this sutra to others I were to employ these supernatural powers for a
measurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas to
describe the benefits of the sutra, I could never finish doing so. To put it briefly, all
the doctrines possessed by the Thus Come One, the storehouse of all the secret essentials
of the Thus Come One - all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this
sutra.
For this reason, after the Thus Come One has entered extinction, you
must single-mindedly accept, uphold, read, recite, explain, preach and transcribe it, and
practice it as directed. In any of the various lands, wherever there are those who accept,
uphold, read, recite, explain, preach, transcribe, or practice it as directed, or wherever
the sutra rolls are preserved, whether in a garden, a forest, beneath a tree, in monks
quarters, in the lodgings of white-robed laymen, in palaces, or in mountain valleys or the
wide wilderness, in all these places one should erect towers and offer alms. Why? Because
you should understand that such spots are places of religious practice. In such places
have the Buddhas gained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, in such places have the Buddhas turn the
wheel of the Law, in such places have the Buddhas entered parinirvana."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying: