of Healing, or King of Medicine, in which the exceeding value of the
Lotus Sutra is declared. So valuable indeed is it that if any one
hear a single verse, or a single word of it, and by a single thought
delight in it, their perfect enlightenment is assured. Any one who
recites one verse only of the Sutra, or offers incense to it, or merely
bows before it, foretells thereby his early escape from the realm of
men and his translation to buddhahood. On the other hand, though all
other blasphemy, even of the Buddha, may be considered light, he who
blasphemes the Sutra with a single word, or abuses one reciting it,
is guilty of what the Christian would term the sin against the Holy
Ghost. On the contrary, he who recites the Sutra is thereby clad in
the Buddha’s mantle and adorns himself with the Buddha’s adornment;
such a one is worthy of the highest reverence and of the richest
gifts; for the Lotus is the secret and mystic doctrine of the Buddha.
It is in Chapter XI that the drama reaches the supreme moment of its
presentation. A great stupa or shrine, superbly decorated, appears in
the sky, whose light and fragrance and music fill the whole earth. Gods
and spirits rain flowers and perfumes upon it. From its midst comes a
great voice: World-honoured Śakyamuni! Thou art able to preach to the
great assembly the Wonderful Law-flower Sutra of universal and mighty
Wisdom, which none but bodhisattvas can learn, and which the Buddhas
keep under their own guardianship. What thou proclaimest is the Truth.
The vast multitude of disciples pray eagerly that the Occupant of this
heavenly shrine may be revealed to them. They are told that he who is
within is The Ancient Buddha, or as we might perhaps say, The Ancient
of Days, whose name means Many Precious things, or Abundant Treasures.
Infinite ages ago he had vowed that whenever in any world the Lotus
was first proclaimed, there would he be in the midst. Only, if he were
to reveal himself, it must be in the presence of the countless host of
Buddhas who were the offspring of the Buddha he came to hear. Thereupon
Śakyamuni sends forth from between his eyebrows the sacred ray of
light, which illuminates all his Buddha-worlds first to the east, then
to the south, west, and north, the zenith and nadir. In each direction
all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are revealed preaching to their
countless hosts of disciples with ravishing voices, under jewelled
canopies. The ray of light is recognized at once as the summons to
attend upon the shrine of the Ancient Buddha, and hear that marvel of
marvels the preaching of The Lotus. With all their vast trains they
come joyfully from east and west, from north and south, from zenith and
nadir, each taking up his station in the sky, seated on his lion-throne
under his allotted jewel-tree. A gorgeous picture of a Celestial Durbar
is thus displayed. Filled is the sky with a countless celestial host,
when Śakyamuni Buddha approaches the shrine and with a sound as of
thunder withdraws its bolt. The doors swing open to reveal on a lion
throne the undissipated body of the Ancient Buddha, living and seated
in deepest meditation. Lifting up his voice he announces that he has
come, according to his age-long vow, to hear The Lotus proclaimed by
Śakyamuni. To this end he beckons him to enter the shrine and share his
lion-throne. Such is the Revelation of the Ancient Buddha, not as dead
but as living.
Beholding all this marvel while still on the earth, the disciples of
Śakyamuni now implore that they too no longer be tied to earth, but be
received up to join the celestial host. Thereupon Śakyamuni, by his
transcendent power, raises the whole company of his disciples into
the sky and with a great voice cries: “Who is able to proclaim the
Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra in this Saha-world? Now indeed is the time.
The Tathagata (Buddha) must himself speedily enter Nirvana, but wills
to bequeath this wonderful Sutra so that it may ever live in the
world.” Therefore he calls on all present to take the great Mahayana
vow.
With Chapter XII begins the difference between those versions with
twenty-seven chapters and those with twenty-eight.
In the Sanskrit version our Chapter XII is the latter half of Chapter
XI. Though generally considered to be part of the original text, it
bears the impress of an interpolation, for the next chapter, (our