The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment, White Lotus Sutra

In reply to these questions Śākyamuni now makes his grand revelation. The scene
is therefore the climax of the entire spiritual drama of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka,
up to which the preceding scenes have led, and the truths of which their teachings
have to some extent foreshadowed. Herein Śākyamuni reveals himself as being,
sub specie aeternitatis, the Eternal Buddha; or rather, the Eternal Buddha reveals
himself as Śākyamuni and all the other Buddhas, who are not independent entities
but the various guises under which he, the Supreme Reality, appears at different
places and in different ages.
All the worlds of Gods, men and asuras declare: ‗Now has Śākyamuni-Buddha,
coming forth from the palace of the Śākya-clan, and seated at the place of
enlightenment, not far from the city of Gaya, attained to Perfect Enlightenment,
But, good sons, since I veritably became Buddha, there have passed infinite,
boundless, hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas of kalpas. [That is to say,
he is eternally enlightened.] 6 From that time forward I have constantly been
preaching and teaching in this Sahā-world, and also leading and benefitting the
living in other places in hundreds, thousands, myriads, kotis, nayutas of
numberless domains.‘ 7
He it was who, according to the dispositions of beings, had created Dīpaṅkara and
other Buddhas, and made them, as an expedient, deliver discourses and attain
parinirvāṇa. Appearing as Śākyamuni, he tells beings of his birth in the world and
of how, retiring from the household life as a youth, he had attained sambodhi. Had
he announced that he had become a Buddha millions of years ago it would not
have produced a favourable effect on people‘s minds. Nevertheless he was not
guilty of falsehood, because a Tathāgata viewed the universe as devoid of
origination and cessation, without rebirth or parinirvāṇa, neither existent nor nonexistent,
neither real nor unreal, neither the same nor different. His viewpoint
being completely different from that of an ordinary person it does not constitute a
lie when, in order to teach the Dharma to beings of different conduct, aspirations
and ideas, he has recourse to various expedients. In reality the life of a Tathāgata
is unlimited; he never dies. ...‖
Read Chapters 14 and 15 of the Sūtra. Reflect on one, or more, of the questions below:
1. Who are these ‗emanations‘? How do you find the enormous vistas that the Sūtra
speaks of? How are we to relate to them?
2. Do you share Maitreya‘s doubts? Are you convinced by the Buddha‘s reply?
3. The opening verse of Blake‘s Augeries of Innocence reads:
6 Ibid. pp.200-201. Cf. Saddharma-Purldarlia or The Lotus of the True Law translated by H. Kern (Oxford 1984), 'The Sacred Books of the
East' Volume XXI, pp.288-289.
7 The Lotus of the Wonderful Law, p.289.
Triratna Dharma Training Course for Mitras
Year Four – Module 4: The Drama of Cosmic Enlightenment
Parables, Myths and Symbols of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka Sūtra
http://freebuddhistaudio.com/study
Page 40 of 150