I know you've been sitting upright today. Have you been allowing the Buddhas to love you? Have you been loving the Buddhas? So you patiently waited to hear about the amazing things that happened in Chapter 21.

[01:11]

But I thought maybe it would be good for me to mention what happened again in Chapter 15, which is called, Emerging from the Earth. At that time, the Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas who had gathered from the lands in other directions, greater in number than the sands of eight Ganges rivers, stood up in the midst of the great assembly, pressed their palms together, and bowed in obeisance and said to the Buddha, World Honored One, if you will permit us in the age after the Buddha has entered into extinction, to diligently and earnestly protect, read, recite, and copy, offer alms to this sutra in the Saha world.

[02:25]

We will preach it widely throughout this land. At that time the Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas, Leave off, good men and women. There is no need for you to protect this sutra. For what reason? Because in this Saha world, of mine, there are bodhisattva mahasattvas who are as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges rivers. And each of these bodhisattvas has a retinue equal to the sands of 60,000 Ganges rivers. After I have entered extinction, these persons will be able to protect, read, recite, and wildly preach this sutra."

[03:32]

When the Buddha had spoken these words, the earth of the thousand million fold countries of the Saha world all trembled and split open and out of it emerged at the same instant immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, millions of bodhisattva mahasattvas. The body of these bodhisattvas were all golden in hue with the 32 features and with immeasurable brightness. Previously, they had all been dwelling in the world of empty space under the Saha world. But when these bodhisattvas heard the voice of Shakyamuni Buddha preaching, they came up from below. I just wanted to mention that under the surface of the earth is an incalculable amount of space.

[05:08]

But also above the surface of the earth there's an incalculable amount of space. But in this particular case we're emphasizing the bodhisattvas that live under the ground, in the earth. they're coming up, and each one of these bodhisattvas was a leader in his or her own great assembly, and each brought with him a retinue equal in number to the sands of 60,000 Ganges rivers. To say nothing of those who brought retinues equal to the sands of 50,000, 40,000, 30,000, 20,000 or 10,000 Ganges rivers, or a retinue equal to as little as the sands of one Ganges river, half a Ganges river, a fourth of a Ganges river, or as little as one part in a thousandth, ten thousandth, millionth of a nayuti of a Ganges river.

[06:18]

or to those whose retinue was only one thousand, ten thousand million nayutas, or only a million ten thousand, or only a thousand ten thousand, a hundred ten thousand, or just ten thousand, or only one thousand, or one hundred, or ten, or who brought with them only five, four, three, two, or one disciple. Not to mention them. We're not going to talk about them. This is one of the Zen rhetoric is to tell you what we're not going to talk about. We're not going to mention these people. Or those who came alone. preferring to carry out solitary practices. Such were they then, the innumerable, boundless, beyond anything that can be known through calculation, simile or parable.

[07:31]

After these bodhisattvas had emerged from the earth, they each one proceeded to The wonderful tower of seven treasures suspended in the sky where many treasures thus come one. The Buddha was sitting in a tower stupa in the sky with another Buddha named Prabhuta Ratna, which means many treasures. Prabhuta Ratna Tathagata. That's another Tathagata who had vowed to come and assist Shakyamuni if he ever preached the Lotus Sutra. So they went there. I just want to mention a little bit about chapter 15 because these bodhisattvas are the one at the beginning of chapter 21. And I also want to mention that part of what's here is that Shakyamuni Buddha's, you know, he's like 80 years old at this point, around 80 years old. And these bodhisattvas that are showing up are bodhisattvas that have been practicing for a very, very, very long time with Shakyamuni Buddha.

[08:47]

So part of what's the problem here is that how could these bodhisattvas who are much senior to Shakyamuni have been studying with him for a long time? Well, the reason is because this Shakyamuni Buddha we see is just a little sprout of the actual Shakyamuni Buddha. The real Shakyamuni Buddha has been practicing for a very long time. And I also want to mention that fungi are our friends. Fungi live basically under the ground, and they're bodhisattvas. they live for the welfare of all beings on this planet. And they also sometimes send up little shoots which we call mushrooms. But those are just little like specks of the huge fungi that's living under the ground trying to help all beings be at peace and to flourish in their lives.

[09:52]

So the fungi are an example of the bodhisattvas that live in the space under the earth. for the welfare of all beings. But the fungi are not able in the usual sense to come forth and teach the Lotus Sutra. So these Bodhisattvas are the ones who can come and recite the Lotus Sutra. The fungi are down there too though, but they just can't recite the Lotus Sutra in English. So then we have now at that time the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas who had emerged from the earth, innumerable as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, all in the presence of the Buddha, single-mindedly pressed their palms together, gazed up at the Buddha's face and said, World Honored One, after the Buddha has entered extinction, in the lands where the where the emanations of the World Honored One are present, and in the place where the Buddha has passed into extinction, we will preach this sutra far and wide.

[11:06]

How so? Because we ourselves wish to gain this great teaching, this great Dharma, true and pure, to accept, uphold, read, recite, explain, preach, transcribe and offer alms to it. Can you push that thing up please, Catherine, that little lever? Thank you. At that time the world honored one in the presence of Manjushri Bodhisattva and other immeasurable hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of millions of Bodhisattva Mahasattvas who from of old had dwelled in the Sahara world dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, gurudas, kimnaras, maharagas, humans and non-humans. Before all these, he displayed his great supernatural powers. He extended his long, broad tongue upward till it reached the Brahma heavens.

[12:18]

and from all the pores of his tongue emitted immeasurable countless beams of light that illumined all worlds in ten directions. That's the first thing the Buddha did. It's kind of a supernatural thing he did. His tongue, okay, went out. And Brahma world is, I don't know, it's not as far as the moon. but it's way up there. So this huge tongue came up and emitted light which went in all directions throughout space. The other Buddhas, seated on lion seats underneath numerous jeweled trees, did likewise extend their long, broad tongues and emitted immeasurable light. when Shakyamuni Buddha and the other Buddhas beneath the jeweled trees thus displayed their supernatural powers, they did so for fully a hundred thousand years.

[13:34]

After that, they drew their tongues in again and coughed in unison. Bring it in. It's rather large. This tongue is not as big as the whole universe. It just goes to this very great altitude and gives off this unlimited light. And then they bring their tongues back in, all of them at the same time, and cough in unison. Could we try that? Roberta, you're just wonderful. Only you have the merit to ask that question. Okay? But before we do that, can I go on a little further? Okay, really?

[14:40]

You all right? Yeah. All right. So they coughed in unison and then all together snapped their fingers. Okay? Okay, ready? Now stick your tongue out. for 100,000 years. Bring them back in. That wasn't very good. Okay, ready? Just do the cough again. Cough. That's better. The sounds made by these two actions, the coughing and the snapping, filled all the Buddha worlds in ten directions and the earth in all of them shaked and trembled in six ways, which is right and left, forward and backwards, and up and down simultaneously. The living beings in their midst The heavenly beings, the dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, gurudas, kimnaras, moharagas, humans and non-humans,

[15:49]

Thank the Buddha's supernatural powers. Thanks to the Buddha's supernatural powers, all saw the Saha world with the innumerable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of Buddhas seated on lion thrones under the numerous jewel trees and also saw Shakyamuni and Prabhuta Ratna Tathagata, seated together on a lion throne seat in the treasure tower. Moreover, they saw immeasurable, boundless, hundreds of thousands of millions, excuse me, hundreds of thousands, ten thousands of millions of bodhisattva, mahasattvas, and the four kinds of believers who reverently surrounded Shakyamuni Buddha. When they had all seen these things, they were all filled with great joy, having gained that which they had never had before.

[17:01]

At that time, the heavenly beings in the midst of the sky, out in the sky, cried out with loud voices, saying, beyond these immeasurable, boundless, hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of millions of asamkhya worlds, there is a land named Saha. And in it, the Buddha named Shakyamuni. Now, for the sake of the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas, he is preaching the sutra of the great vehicle called the Lotus of the Wonderful Law, a law to instruct the Bodhisattvas, one that is guarded and kept in mind by the Buddhas. you must respond with joy from the depths of your heart and also offer obeisance and alms to Shakyamuni Buddha.

[18:05]

When the various beings heard these voices from the sky, they pressed their palms together, faced the Saha world, and spoke these words, Hail Shakyamuni Buddha! Hail Shakyamuni Buddha! Nama Shakyamuni Buddha. Nama Shakyamuni Buddha. Then they took different kinds of flowers, incense, necklaces, banners, canopies, as well as ornaments, rare jewels, and other wonderful articles that adorned their persons, and all together scattered them far off in the direction of the Saha world. The objects thus scattered poured in from ten directions like clouds gathering in the sky. Then they changed into jewels, into a jewel curtain that completely covered the area where the Buddhas were. At that time the worlds in the ten directions were opened up so that there was unobstructed passage from one to another and they were like one single Buddha land.

[19:27]

At that time the Buddha spoke to the Bodhisattva superior practices and the other Bodhisattvas in the Great Assembly saying, the supernatural powers of the Buddha as you have just seen are immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable. If, in the process of entrusting this sutra to others, I were to employ these supernatural powers for innumerable, boundless, hundreds of thousands of, ten thousands of, millions of, axam kheya eons, to describe the benefits of this sutra, I would never finish doing so. To put it briefly, all the doctrines possessed by the Thus Come One, all the freely exercised supernatural powers of the Thus Come One, the storehouse of all the secret essentials of the Thus Come One, all the most wonderful matters of the Thus Come One, all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this sutra.

[20:41]

And then we go into the part that Dogen had. For this reason, after the Thus Come One has entered extinction, you must single-mindedly accept, uphold, read, recite, preach, and translate it, and practice it as directed. If in any land of various, if in any of the various lands wherever there are those who accept, uphold, read, recite, explain, preach, transcribe, or practice it as directed, or wherever the scrolls are preserved, whether in a garden, a forest, beneath a tree, in monks' quarters, in nuns' quarters, in lodgings of white-robed laymen, in palaces, in mountains, in valleys, in wide wilderness, in all these places, one should erect towers, shrines, and offer alms to them.

[21:56]

What's the reason? Because you should understand that in such a spot, or such a spot, is a place for Buddhist practice. In such a place have the Buddhas gained unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. In such a place have Buddhas turned the wheel of the law. In such a place have the Buddhas entered parinirvana. This is the place. It's always this place. And then there's a beautiful verse, but I'll leave that to you to read. Recite, copy, transcribe, preach, and practice according to it. I really like the way when we have work period and all that, people are pretty much able to just play.

[23:10]

You just seem to go play, play work. And that's really nice that you just practice that way. I don't know if anything got done, but it seemed like it. We got the altar a little bit more ready to assemble, although there's more work to be And we're going to offer a work day on the 31st of May. No, it's not Memorial Day. Memorial Day is the week before. This is post-Memorial Day. And so we will be here. And if we haven't assembled the altar before that, we'll assemble the altar that day. And maybe, you know, I don't know what, I don't know if we'll do the empowerment of the altar that day or not. But so if you'd like to come on the 31st and take care of this place, we'll do that.

[24:26]

Is there anything you'd like to bring up? Yeah, how can you? Play and totally be amazed. Well, that's sort of what play is like. All the play is, if you're not amazed, you're not really into it yet. Yeah, I'm just amazed. Yeah, well, that's good. It's just so, so, so big. Yeah, being a play, the key, as I mentioned last weekend, we had a retreat at Mount Madonna, which was about relaxation, play, and discipline. And discipline, one definition of discipline or explanation of discipline is a systematic program of instruction to help people learn something. So we tried to relay discipline. So we had a systematic instruction about playing and relaxing. And the key point in play is when you're surprised, when you surprise yourself,

[25:36]

So when you're playing, you know, you keep getting surprised, you know, your hands are going, boom, hands, you know, offering incense. In a playful way, you offer incense and you're going, wow, look at that incense. That's one of the things about Satyagraha. I felt like when he offered incense, he was kind of like, he didn't make a jump exactly, but I sometimes felt when he offered incense that when he actually finished, he was kind of like surprised that it stood there, you know, or that it was actually burning or I don't know what it was. But anyways, kind of like put it in a little bit of like, wow, geez. Or like, I get to do this or, you know, something like that. I get to spend a life polluting the atmosphere. Yeah, so surprise or amazement, go with play. Could you say a little something? Just a little?

[26:40]

The first part that you read about the Bodhisattvas coming from inside the earth and the Something interpretive? Yeah. Let's see. One thing is that we have this sutra and these great bodhisattvas who are living above ground, who are willing to help carry on the teachings of the wonderful truth. But this chapter is also saying that actually already in the earth, you know, actually in the ground of this planet, there's already living beings who are actually going to teach the Lotus Sutra. In other words, the earth is available to expound the truth. So we, of course, should venerate the truth.

[27:44]

I mean, venerate the earth. So this chapter is an earth-affirming chapter, but it's also saying that the teaching is kind of like fungus. The truth is like under the ground all the time in this planet. And it emerges and then functions and blooms and goes away. and then it emerges again. So that's part of the thing is that the teaching will actually disappear at a certain point and go back into the space under the ground in a sense. And then it will re-emerge as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but it's always there. But it appears and disappears according to people's needs. Yes, Carolyn.

[28:45]

A similar question. In space, that's the same thing as the earth. Yep. Usually in the sutras they talk about, we're on this planet, right? And then the Buddha does something like, in the beginning of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's sitting in meditation and this beam of light comes out from a tuft of hair between his eyebrows. This beam of light goes out And they particularly concentrated on going east. It goes east and it illuminates 18,000 Buddha lands in the east. And all these Buddhas like light up and all their disciples say, what's the light about? And so on. And they said, just as in the east, it also does it in all the other directions. but it's like from the earth outward throughout the universe, right? But this chapter, chapter 15, says like these bodhisattvas who have come from all over to hear the sutra from all over the universe, they've come to this planet or to this Saha world to hear the teachings.

[29:48]

And the Buddha says, well, you know, who's going to take care of it? And they say, we will, all these visitors. from all over the universe who are willing to help the teaching of the Dharma. But he says, you guys, you visitors, don't have to. Because right here on the earth we have it. Yes? I thought I wanted to ask you, when you were reciting the Great Assembly arising, what do you imagine in your mind when you're reading that? What do I imagine? How did you take all that in? How did I take it in? By giving it out. Didn't you see me? I took it in by reading it. That's the way I took it in. How did you take it in when I was reading it? You weren't reading it, were you? No, but I actually read that fairly recently. Oh, you did? So when you were reading it, that's how you took it in?

[30:49]

Well, I was relating to it as, you know, Yeah? That's just more conceivable for me. Rocks and dirt, fine. I was just curious how you were... And did we deceive on that? I actually see it more, not so much... I see it as the teaching comes from the space inside the rocks and the dirt. Not from the rocks and the dirt. Are they different? They're not different, no. But it's coming from the space. The rocks and the dirt seem to be different, but the space in the rocks and dirt is in a sense the same. They're both empty. both the rocks and dirt are empty, and from the emptiness of the rocks and dirt we have the teaching.

[31:55]

Are rocks and dirt conditioned? Are rocks and dirt conditioned? Yeah. There. But the space in them isn't. Would you speak louder? Yeah, would you speak louder? The space in the rocks and dirt isn't conditioned? Usually we don't say that emptiness is conditioned, although it does depend on something. But it's not composite. It's not compounded like rocks and dirt are compounded. But anyway, the emptiness and form, or emptiness and dirt, they're not separate. They're not different. And emptiness is the way the rocks and dirt really are. And from that emptiness comes the teaching of rocks. What does conditioned mean? What does that kind of conditioned mean? What you just said. Well, what does that kind of conditioned mean?

[32:56]

Empty of dharma. Conditioned means empty? No, unconditioned means empty of dharma. Unconditioned means empty of dharma? Is that correct? Unconditioned. What? Dharmas. Impermanent. They're permanent. Unconditioned. Oh, when you say empty of dharmas, did you say empty of dharmas? Unconditioned is empty of dharmas. She means phenomena. Yeah. Is that what she means? So, unconditioned things are empty of phenomena? Unconditioned things are empty of conditioned things. Conditioned what? Conditioned things.

[34:01]

Is that right? Sounds right. Does it? Sound right to you? I don't know. Good. Yes? Can you understand now? Heck no. Conditioned and unconditioned. What's your question? When you two were talking about conditioned, what does conditioned mean in that sense? Yeah, what does conditioned mean? I can answer that. Okay. That when this arises, that arises. That's conditioned. Well, take that back. What you mean by conditioned is that it's dependent, all phenomena are dependent, but some phenomena are called unconditioned.

[35:11]

For example, space. is unconditioned. But it depends on something. It depends on mental apprehension. But emptiness also depends on something. It depends on that of which it's the emptiness. So emptiness is dependent, but it's not conditioned, like space. So space and emptiness are not conditioned, and yet they're dependent. But some things are conditioned, like they depend on conditions, particular conditions, whereas emptiness depends on whatever it's the emptiness of, but the particular conditions don't matter to emptiness. charlie when i read that chapter autonomous region up to the atmosphere for a hundred thousand years my reaction is sort of like is that really necessary is what necessary it seems like that's that part of the sutra is this kind of extra stuff and when i when i read that i kind of

[36:37]

my way of reading is I kind of just cut that away and abstract the thing down to the point of what I think is probably trying to tell me, you know, like when you were talking about the Zen rhetoric, how it goes from a million to ten hundred thousand, ten thousand, one thousand. Yeah, yeah, right. Sometimes the context seems like, you know, sometimes the bathwater seems like bathwater. And really the baby is what's important, right? That's what the bathwater is for, is to wash the baby. But when the baby's in the bathwater, be careful. Because, you know, if you take away the bathwater, you might lose something of the baby. But really, the baby's the point, you might say. So, the part Dogen took that one part of the sutra, of the chapter, that was the part that he thought was most important. I guess of all the Lotus Sutra, he chose that part because that part emphasizes that where you're practicing, is the place where Buddha enters parinirvana.

[37:43]

And if you're about to die, you might want to be in the place where Buddha dies. And if you're practicing, you might want to be in the place Buddha practices and teaches and so on. So that's what he's saying. In any place is that way if you're practicing a certain way. So that's the part he liked. That was his favorite part in this chapter. The rest of it gives some... context for it. But, you know, in some sense the Zen style is to kind of like pick a pithy part of a huge sutra and just focus on one little part. Like, for example, the beginning of the sutra, the first word of the sutra, I believe, is thus. Probably. Let's see what it says. Yeah. Well, this translation says this. This is what I heard.

[38:44]

But most of them say, thus I heard. So the word thus, the first word in this is sort of one of the main words in Zen. Zen, basically, it's the practice of thus, which is the whole sutra. And so maybe, you know, just like to cut to the, just forget about the rest of the sutra, just go to thus. That's fine. That's fine. But then you should also, if you really understand thus, you can go stretch out a little bit and have some other stuff going on like altar building and have a place where people can come and practice thus right here. So this sutra also says It doesn't say this actually, but you could take a blade of grass and stick in the ground and say, thus. You can make a little pile of dirt in your backyard and say, thus.

[39:51]

Okay? Say that, thus. This is the Lotus Sutra. That's the way a child might do it. And it says children should make little mounds in the beach. Little girls making little piles of sand in the beach as, you know, this is a Buddha, they say. They make little piles and say, this is Buddha. And then the sutra says, these little girls will become Buddha because they made the little Buddha thing on the beach. This little guy said thus, You know? This little guy pushed his truck over that mound of dirt and stopped it at the top and said, Thus, this is Buddha's truck on top of this pile of dirt. This little guy will become Buddha. That's what the Lotus Sutra says. So you can simplify it down to something very... small and you can expand it to embrace the entire universe which just happens to have supernatural powers of Tathagatas as part of it.

[40:59]

Yes? When you think about what? When I think about building an altar, I think of, I view each person as well as an altar. And when I think of, this may not make sense, I'll just try to echo what was said. My theme of my life for the past month or two has been like this cough thing happening with you and the finger. And when you read that, I'm like, wow. So if you read this... Tongue going and weighing out there is a way of this emptiness that I don't get. It's unconditioned, and it's always available to me, kind of nurturing me to be able to speak the truth where maybe someone may not see it that same way.

[42:07]

So it's almost, to me, like this calm that we're that there's a high power, I could say, and that this emptiness is helpful. And I will need to be healthy and to help other people be healthy and make their needs better. So I could be free from that. And I'm really happy to be able to be here to listen to it. You couldn't hear it, could you? You could? Wow. Amazing. Could you hear a little bit? The acoustics amazed me that you could hear it. Could you hear it? I guess I'm going deaf. Because I have a pretty good seed and I had trouble. Well,

[43:16]

I want to thank you for coming and sitting here today. I hope you had as beautiful a day as you seem to have had. And is there any last comment you'd like to make? Yes? I want to thank you actually for reading this with the depth of joy. that I experienced coming from you when you're doing it. You're welcome. I have read it and went in and out of contracting and opening, contracting and opening as I read through. And hearing you read those passages today just deepens and makes clearer to me that the image I had was of or have, is of that famous painting of God reaching this finger length out, and Adam-Eve reaching back, and how vital both are, and the explosion that's right there.

[44:32]

So as the little mushrooms and the reading of it the way you did, and my mind meeting it, or this mind meeting, it's It's becoming sweet, so thank you. Gradually. You were here last time, right? Yeah. You heard about the difficulties I had with the Lotus Witch in the past? It was wonderful. Yeah. So, I had a hard time with the Lotus Witch when I first met it. But now I feel like this kind of all-pervasive friend has come into my life and is really helping me out. And I just want to share that with you and I hope that you let the Lotus Sutra help you too. Thank you very much.

[45:30]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_86.76