The Lotus Sutra
Translated by Burton Watson
- Chapter Six
- Bestowal of Prophecy
At that time the World-Honored One, having finished reciting these
verses, made an announcement to the great assembly, speaking in these words: "This
disciple of mine Mahakashyapa in future existences will be able to enter the presence of
three thousand billion Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, to offer alms, pay reverence, honor
and praise them, widely proclaiming the innumerable great doctrines of the Buddhas. And in
his final incarnation he will be able to become a Buddha named Light Bright Thus Come One,
worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well
gone, understanding the world, unexcelled worthy, trainer of people, teacher of heavenly
and human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One.
His land will be called Light Virtue and his kalpa will be called Great
Adornment. The life span of this Buddha will be twelve small kalpas. His Correct Law will
endure in the world for twenty small kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law for twenty small
kalpas.
"His realm will be majestically adorned, free of defilement or
evil, shards or rubble, thorns or briers, or the unclean refuse of latrines. The land will
be level and smooth, without high places or sags, pits or knolls. The ground will be of
lapis lazuli, with rows of jeweled trees and ropes of gold to mark the boundaries of the
roads. Jeweled flowers will be scattered around, and everywhere will be pure and clean.
The bodhisattvas of that realm will number countless thousands of millions, and the
multitude of voice-hearers will likewise be innumerable. There will be no workings of the
devil, and although the devil and the devil's people will be there, they will protect the
Law of the Buddha."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying:
I announce this to the monks:
when I employ the Buddha eye
to observe Kashyapa here,
I see that in a future existence,
after innumerable kalpas have passed,
he will be able to attain Buddhahood.
In future existences
he will offer alms and enter the presence
of three thousand billion
Buddhas, World-Honored Ones.
For the sake of the Buddha wisdom
he will carry out brahma practices meticulously
and will offer alms to the unexcelled ones,
the most honored of two-legged beings.
After he has done so. And has practiced
all the unsurpassed types of wisdom,
in his final incarnation
he will be able to become a Buddha.
His land will be pure and clean,
the ground of lapis lazuli.
Many jeweled trees
will line the roadsides,
with golden ropes to mark the roads,
and those who see it will rejoice.
It will constantly emit a pleasing fragrance,
with heaps of rare flowers scattered around
and many kinds of strange and wonderful things
for its adornment.
The land will be level and smooth,
without hills or depressions.
The multitude of bodhisattvas
will be beyond calculation,
their minds subdued and gentle,
having attained great transcendental powers,
and they will uphold and embrace
the Great Vehicle scriptures of the Buddhas.
The multitude of voice-hearers
will be free of outflows, in their last incarnation,
sons of the Dharma King,
and their number too will be beyond calculation-
even when one looks with the heavenly eye
one cannot determine their number.
This Buddha will have a life span
of twelve small kalpas,
and his Counterfeit Law
for twenty small kalpas.
Light Bright World-Honored One
will be of this description.
At that time the great Maudgaly~yana, Subhuti and Mahakatyayana, all of
them trembling with agitation, pressed their palms together with a single mind and gazed
up at the World-Honored One, their eyes never leaving him for an instant. Joining their
voices in a single sound, they spoke in verse form, saying:
Great hero and stalwart, World-Honored One,
Dharma King of the Shakyas,
because you have pity on us,
favor us with the Buddha voice!
If, because you understand our innermost minds,
it would be like sweet dew bathing us,
washing away fever and imparting coolness.
Suppose that someone coming from a land of famine
should suddenly encounter a great king's feast.
His heart still filled with doubt and fear,
he would not dare to eat the food at once,
but if he were instructed by the king to do so,
then he would venture to eat.
We now are like such a person,
for whenever we recall the errors of the Lesser Vehicle,
we do not know what we should do
to gain the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom.
Though we hear the Buddha's voice
telling us that we will attain Buddhahood,
in our hearts we still harbor anxiety and fear,
like that person who did not dare to eat.
But now if the Buddha's prophecy is bestowed upon us,
then joy and peace of mind will quickly be ours.
Great hero and stalwart, World-Honored One,
your constant desire to set the world at ease.
We beg you to bestow such a prophecy on us,
as you would instruct a starving person to eat.
At that time the World-Honored One, understanding the thoughts in the
minds of his major disciples, made this announcement to the monks: "Subhuti here in
future existences will enter the presence of three hundred ten thousand million nayutas of
Buddhas, offering alms, paying reverence, honoring and praising them. He will constantly
carry out brahma practices and fulfill the bodhisattva way, and in his final incarnation
he will be able to attain Buddhahood. His title will be Rare Form Thus Come One, worthy of
offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone,
understanding the world, unexcelled worthy, trainer of people, teacher of heavenly and
human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One. His kalpa will be named Possessed of Jewels and
his realm will be named Jewel Born. The land will be level and smooth, the ground made of
crystal, it will be adorned with jeweled trees and be free of hills and pits, rubble and
thorns and the filth from latrines. Jeweled flowers will cover the ground and everywhere
will be pure and clean. The people of his realm will all dwell on jeweled terraces, in
rare and wonderful towers and pavilions. His voice-hearer disciples will be countless,
boundless, beyond the scope of calculation or simile. The multitude of bodhisattvas will
number countless thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas. The life span of this
Buddha will be twelve small kalpas, his Correct Law will endure in the world for twenty
small kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law for twenty small kalpas. This Buddha will constantly
dwell in midair, preaching the Law for the assembly and saving numberless multitudes of
bodhisattvas and voice-hearers."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying:
You multitude of monks,
I now announce this to you.
All of you with a single mind
should hear what I say,
My major disciple
Subhuti
is destined to become a Buddha
with the title Rare Form.
He will offer alms to countless
tens of thousands and millions of Buddhas.
By following the practices of the Buddhas
he will gradually fulfill the great way,
and in his final incarnation
will acquire the thirty-two features.
He will be imposing, exceptional, wonderful,
like a jeweled mountain.
His Buddha land
will be foremost in adornment and purity;
no living beings who sees it
will fail to love and delight in it.
There in the midst, that Buddha
will save unreckonable multitudes.
In that Buddha's Law
will be many bodhisattvas,
all of them with keen capacities,
turning the wheel of non-regression.
That land will constantly
be adorned with bodhisattvas.
The multitude of voice-hearers
will be beyond calculation,
all gaining the three understandings
and exercising the six transcendental powers.
They will dwell in the eight emancipations
and possess great authority and virtue.
The Law preached by that Buddha
will manifest immeasurable
transcendental powers and transformations
of a wondrous nature.
Heavenly and human beings
in numbers like the Ganges sands
will all press their palms together,
listen to and receive the Buddha's words.
That Buddha will have a life span
of twelve small kalpas,
his Correct Law will endure in the world
for twenty small kalpas
and his counterfeit Law
for twenty small kalpas.
At that time the World-Honored One once more spoke to the multitude of
monks: "Now I say this to you. Great Katyayana here in future existences will present
various articles as offerings and will serve eight thousand million Buddhas, paying honor
and reverence ta them. After these Buddhas have passed into extinction, he will raise a
memorial tower for each one measuring a thousand yojanas in height and exactly five
hundred yojanas in both width and depth. It will be made of gold, silver lapis lazuli,
seashell, agate, pearl and carnelian, with these seven precious substances joined
together. Numerous flowers, necklaces, paste incense, powdered incense, incense for
burning, silken canopies, streamers and banners will be presented as offerings to the
memorial towers. And after this has been done, he will once more make offerings to twenty
thousands of millions of Buddhas, and will repeat the entire process.
"When he has finished offering alms to all the Buddhas, he will
fulfill the way of the bodhisattva and will become a Buddha with the title Jambunada Gold
Light Thus Come One, worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge perfect clarity
and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, unexcelled worthy trainer of people,
teacher of heavenly and human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One.
"His land will be level and smooth, the ground made of crystal,
adorned with jeweled trees, with ropes of gold to mark the boundaries of the roads.
Wonderful flowers will cover the ground, everywhere will be pure and clean, and all who
see it will rejoice. The four evil paths of existence, hell and the realms of hungry
spirits, beasts and asuras, will not exist there. There will be many heavenly and human
beings, and multitudes of voice-hearers and bodhisattvas in innumerable tens of thousands
of millions will adorn the land. That Buddha's life span will be twelve small kalpas, his
Correct Law will endure in the world for twenty small kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law will
endure in the world for twenty small kalpas."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying:
You multitude of monks,
listen all of you with a single mind,
for in what I speak
there is nothing that departs from the truth.
Katyayana here
will give various kinds
of fine and wonderful articles
as offerings to the Buddhas,
and after the Buddhas have entered extinction
he will raise seven-jeweled towers
and present flowers and incense
as offerings to their relics.
And in his final incarnation
he will gain Buddha wisdom
and achieve impartial and correct enlightenment.
His land will be pure and clean
and he will save innumerable
ten thousands of millions of living beings,
and will receive offerings
from all the ten directions,
This Buddha's brilliance
no one will be able to equal.
His Buddha title will be
Jambu Gold Light.
Bodhisattvas and voice-hearers,
cutting off all forms of existence,
countless and immeasurable in number,
will adorn his land.
At that time the World-Honored One spoke to the great assembly:
"Now I say to you. Great Maudgalyayana here will present various kinds of articles as
offerings to eight thousand Buddhas, paying honor and reverence to them. After these
Buddhas have passed into extinction, for each of them he will raise a memorial tower
measuring a thousand yojanas in height and exactly five hundred yojanas in width and
depth. It will be made of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and
carnelian, with these seven precious substances joined together. Numerous flowers,
necklaces, paste incense, and powdered incense, incense for burning, silken canopies,
streamers and banners will be presented as offerings. After this has been done, he will
also make offerings to two hundred ten thousand million Buddhas, repeating the process.
"Then he will be able to become a Buddha with the title
Tamalapatra Sandalwood Fragrance Thus Come One, worthy of offerings, of right and
universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world,
unexcelled worthy, trainer of people, teacher of heavenly and human beings, Buddha,
World-Honored One. His kalpa will be named Joy Replete and his realm Mind Delight. The
land will be level and smooth, the ground made of crystal, jeweled trees will adorn it,
pearls and flowers will be scattered around, everywhere will be pure and clean, and all
who see it will rejoice. There will be many heavenly and human beings, and the
bodhisattvas and voice-hearers will be immeasurable in number. That Buddha's life span
will be twenty-four small kalpas, his Correct Law will endure in the world for forty small
kalpas, and his counterfeit Law for forty small kalpas."
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once
more, spoke in verse form, saying:
This disciple of mine,
the great Maudgalyayana,
when he has cast off his present body,
will be able to see eight thousand,
two hundred ten thousand million
Buddhas, World-Honored Ones,
and for the sake of the Buddha way
will offer alms, honor and reverence them.
Where these Buddhas are
he will constantly carry out brahma practices
and for immeasurable kalpas
will uphold and embrace the Buddha law,
When these Buddhas have passed into extinction
be will raise seven-jeweled towers,
with golden implements to mark the spot for all time
and flowers, incense and music
presented as offerings
in the memorial towers of the Buddhas.
Step by step he will fulfill
all the duties of the bodhisattva way
and in the land called Mind Delight
will be able to become a Buddha
named Tamalapatra
Sandalwood Fragrance.
This Buddha's life span
will be twenty-four kalpas.
Constantly for the sake of heavenly and human beings
he will expound the Buddha way.
Voice-hearers innumerable
as Ganges sands,
with the three understandings and six transcendental powers,
will display great authority and virtue.
Countless bodhisattvas
will be of firm will, diligent in effort,
and with regard to the Buddha wisdom
non will ever retrogress.
After this Buddha has passed into extinction,
his Correct Law will endure
for forty small kalpas,
and his Counterfeit law will be likewise.
My various disciples,
fully endowed with dignity and virtue,
number five hundred,
and every one will receive such a prophecy.
In a future existence
all will be able to attain Buddhahood.
Concerning the causes and conditions of past existences
as they pertain to me and you
I will now preach.
You must listen carefully.