The Lotus
Sutra
Translated by Burton Watson
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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.
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| Content
| | Chapter 23 |
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Update: 01-12-2001
