- Chapter Twenty-two
- Entrustment
At that time Shakyamuni Buddha rose from his Dharma seat and,
manifesting his great supernatural powers, with his right hand patted the heads of the
immeasurable bodhisattvas and mahasattvas and spoke these words: "For immeasurable
hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas I have practiced this
hard-to-attain Law of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Now I entrust it to you. You must
single-mindedly propagate this Law abroad, causing its benefits to spread far and
wide."
Three times he patted the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas on the head and
spoke these words: "For immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of
asamkhya kalpas I have practiced this hard-to-attain Law of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Now
I entrust it to you. You must accept, uphold, recite, and broadly propagate this Law,
causing all living beings everywhere to hear and understand it. Why? Because the Thus Come
One has great pity and compassion. He is in no way stingy or begrudging, nor has he any
fear. He is able to bestow on living beings the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the
Thus Come One, the wisdom that comes of itself. The Thus Come One is a great giver of
gifts to all living beings. You for your part should respond by studying this Law of the
Thus Come One. You must not be stingy or begrudging.
"In future ages if there are good man and good women who have
faith in the wisdom of the Thus Come One, you should preach and expound the Lotus Sutra
for them., so that others may hear and understand it. For in this way you can cause them
to gain the Buddha wisdom. If there are living beings who do not believe or accept it, you
should use some of the other profound doctrines of the Thus Come One to teach, benefit and
bring joy to them. If you do all this, then you will have repaid the debt of gratitude
that you owe to the Buddha."
When the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas heard the Buddhas speak these
words, they all experienced a great joy that filled their bodies. With even greater
reverence than before, they bent their bodies, bowed their heads, pressed their palms
together and, facing the Buddha, raised their voices in unison, saying: "We will
respectfully carry out all these things just as the World-Honored One has commanded. We
beg the World-Honored One to have no concern on this account!"
The multitude of bodhisattvas and mahasattvas repeated these words
three times, raising their voices in unison and saying: "We will respectfully carry
out all these things just as the World-Honored One has commanded. Therefore we beg the
World-Honored One to have no concern on this account!"
At that time Shakyamuni Buddha caused the Buddhas who were emanations
of his body and had come from the ten directions to return each one to his original land,
saying: "Each of these Buddhas may proceed at his own pleasure. The tower of Many
Treasures Buddha may also return to its former position."
When he spoke these words, the immeasurable emanation Buddhas from the
ten directions who were seated on lion seats under the jeweled trees, as well as Many
Treasures Buddha, Superior Practices, and the others of the greater multitude of boundless
asamkhya of bodhisattvas, Shariputra and the other voice-hearers and four kinds of
believers, and the heavenly and human beings, asuras and others in all the worlds, hearing
what the Buddha had said, were all filled with great joy.