At that time in front of the Buddha a stupa of the seven precious things, five hundred yojanas in height and two hundred and fifty yojanas in length and breadth, sprang up from the earth and abode in the sky.1 It was decorated with all kinds of precious things, splendidly adorned with five thousand parapets, thousands of myriads of recesses, and countless banners and flags; hung with jewel garlands, with myriads of kotis of gem bells suspended on it; on every side exhaling the fragrance of tamalapattra sandalwood, filling the whole world. All its streamers and canopies were composed of the precious seven, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, moonstone, agate, pearl, and carnelian, reaching up to the palaces of the four heavenly kings. The thirty-three gods, raining celestial mandarava flowers, paid homage to the Precious Stupa. Other gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mohoragas, human and nonhuman beings, all these thousand myriad kotis of beings, paid homage to the stupa with all kinds of flowers, perfumes, garlands, streamers, canopies, and music, revered, honored, and extolled it.
Then from the midst of the Precious Stupa there came a loud voice, praising and saying:2 "Excellent! Excellent! World-honored Shakyamuni! Thou art able to preach to the great assembly the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra of universal and great wisdom, by which bodhisattvas are instructed and which the buddhas guard and mind. So is it, so is it, World-honored Shakyamuni! All that thou sayest is true."
Then the four groups, beholding the great Precious Stupa abiding in the sky and hearing the sound which proceeded from the stupa, were all [filled with] delight in the Law and with wonder at these unheard-of happenings; they rose up from their seats and, reverently folding their hands, withdrew to one side. Meanwhile, a bodhisattva-mahasattva named Great Eloquence, perceiving uncertainty in the minds of all the world[s] of gods, men, asuras, and others, spoke to the Buddha, saying: "World-honored One! For what reason has this stupa sprung out of the earth and from its midst this voice proceeded?"
Then the Buddha told the Bodhisattva Great Eloquence: "In this stupa there is the whole body of the Tathagata. Of yore in the past, innumerable thousand myriad kotis of asamkhyeya worlds away in the east, there was a domain named Jewel Clear. In that [domain] there was a buddha entitled Abundant Treasures. When that buddha was treading the bodhisattva-way, he made a great vow, [saying]: 'After I become a buddha and am extinct, if in any country in the universe there be a place where the Law-Flower Sutra is preached, my stupa shall arise and appear there, in order that I may hearken to that sutra, bear testimony to it, and extol it, saying: "Excellent!"'
When that buddha had finished his course, he, his extinction approaching, in the midst of gods, men, and a great host, instructed [his] bhikshus: 'Those who, after my extinction, desire to worship my whole body should erect a great stupa.'
Wherever in the worlds of the universe the Law-Flower Sutra is preached, that buddha by the supernatural powers of his vow causes his stupa, containing his whole body, there to spring forth, and praises [the sutra], saying: 'Excellent! Excellent!' Great Eloquence! It is because just now the Tathagata Abundant Treasures heard the Law-Flower Sutra preached that his stupa sprang up from the earth and he extolled [the sutra], saying: 'Excellent! Excellent!'"Thereupon the Bodhisattva Great Eloquence, because of the divine power of the Tathagata, said to the Buddha: "World-honored One! We earnestly desire to see this buddha's body." The Buddha addressed the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Great Eloquence [thus]: "This Buddha Abundant Treasures has a profound and grave vow: 'When my stupa appears in the presence of [any of the] buddhas for the sake of hearing the Law-Flower Sutra, if [he] desires to show my body to the four groups, let the buddhas who have emanated from that buddha and who are preaching the Law in the worlds in all directions return all together and assemble in one place, and then shall my body appear.' [So,] Great Eloquence, I must now assemble the buddhas who have emanated from me and who are preaching the Law in the worlds in all directions."
Great Eloquence replied to the Buddha: "World-honored One! We would also see the buddhas emanated from the World-honored One and worship and pay homage to them."
Then the Buddha sent forth a ray from the [circle of] white hair between his eyebrows, whereupon eastward there became visible all the buddhas in five hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains [numerous] as the sands of the Ganges. All those domains had crystal for earth and jewel trees and precious cloth for adornment, were filled with countless thousand myriad kotis of bodhisattvas, had jeweled canopies stretched [above them], and were covered with networks of jewels.
All the buddhas in those domains were preaching the laws with ravishing voices. And innumerable thousand myriad kotis of bodhisattvas were also seen, filling those domains and preaching to the multitude. So, too, was it in the southern, western, and northern quarters, in the four intermediate directions, in the zenith and the nadir, wherever shone the ray-signal from the [circle of] white hair.
Then the buddhas in all directions each addressed the host of [his] bodhisattvas, saying: "Good sons! We must now go to Shakyamuni Buddha in the saha-world and pay homage to the Precious Stupa of the Tathagata Abundant Treasures."
Thereupon the saha-world instantly became pure, with lapis lazuli for earth, adorned with jewel trees, cords made of gold marking the boundaries of its eight divisions, having no hamlets, villages, towns, cities, great seas, great rivers, mountains, streams, forests, and thickets, smoking with most precious incense, its ground strewn with mandarava flowers, spread with precious nets and curtains, and hung with all kinds of precious bells.
There only remained the assembled congregation, all [other] gods and men having been removed to other lands. Then those buddhas, each bringing a great bodhisattva as his attendant, arrived at the saha-world, and each went to the foot of a jewel tree. Each of the jewel trees was five hundred yojanas high, adorned in turn with boughs, leaves, blossoms, and fruit; under all those jewel trees there were lion thrones five yojanas high, also decorated with magnificent jewels. Then each of those buddhas sat cross-legged on those thrones.Thus all around him the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world was filled [with buddhas], though as yet, from but one point of the compass, the bodies which had emanated from Shakyamuni Buddha had not finished [arriving]. Then Shakyamuni Buddha, desiring to make room for the buddhas who had emanated from himself, in each of the eight directions of space transformed two hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains, all of them pure, without hells, hungry spirits, animals, and asuras, and moreover removed their gods and men to other lands.
The domains thus transformed also had lapis lazuli for earth and were ornate with jewel trees five hundred yojanas high, adorned in turn with boughs, leaves, blossoms, and fruit; under every tree was a jeweled lion throne five yojanas high, decorated with all kinds of gems; and there were no great seas or great rivers, nor any Mount Mucilinda, Mount Maha-Mucilinda, Mount Iron Circle, Mount Great Iron Circle,3 Mount Sumeru, and so on, all these kings of mountains which always form one Buddha-land; their jeweled ground was even and smooth; everywhere jewel-decked awnings were spread and streamers and canopies hung, while most precious incense was burning, and precious celestial flowers everywhere covered the ground.
Shakyamuni Buddha, in order that the buddhas who were coming might be seated, in each of the eight directions transformed two hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains, making them all pure, without hells, hungry spirits, animals, and asuras, and removing [their] gods and men to other lands. The domains thus transformed also had lapis lazuli for earth and were ornate with jewel trees five hundred yojanas high, adorned in turn with boughs, leaves, blossoms, and fruit; under every tree was a jeweled lion throne five joyanas high, decorated with great jewels;
and there were no great seas or great rivers, nor any Mount Mucilinda, Mount Maha-Mucilinda, Mount Iron Circle, Mount Great Iron Circle, Mount Sumeru, and so on, these kings of mountains which always form one Buddha-land; their jeweled ground was even and smooth; everywhere jewel-decked awnings were spread, and streamers and canopies hung, while most precious incense was burning, and precious celestial flowers everywhere covered the ground.
At that moment the bodies which had emanated eastward from Shakyamuni, [namely] the buddhas who were each preaching the Law in a hundred thousand myriad kotis of nayutas of [eastern] domains [numerous] as the sands of the Ganges, arrived and assembled. In like manner in turn the buddhas from all the ten directions all arrived and assembled and took their seats in the eight directions. Thereupon each direction was filled with buddha-tathagatas from [its] four hundred myriad kotis of nayutas of domains. Then all the buddhas, each under a jewel tree, seated on a lion throne, sent their attendants to make inquiries of Shakyamuni Buddha, each sending a double handful of jewel flowers, and saying to them:
"Good sons! Do you go and visit Mount Gridhrakuta, the abode of Shakyamuni Buddha, and, according to our words, say: 'Art thou free from disease and distress? Art thou at ease in thy physical powers? And are all the groups of thy bodhisattvas and shravakas at peace?' Strew the Buddha in homage with these jewel flowers and say thus: 'Such and such a buddha joins in wishing that this Precious Stupa be opened.'" All the buddhas sent their messengers in like manner.
Then Shakyamuni Buddha, beholding the buddhas who had emanated from him assembled together, each seated on his lion throne, and hearing that those buddhas unitedly desired the Precious Stupa to be opened, straightway rose up from his throne and abode in the sky. All the four groups stood up, folded their hands, and with all their mind gazed at the Buddha. Thereupon Shakyamuni Buddha with the fingers of his right hand opened the door of the Stupa of the Precious Seven, when there went forth a great sound, like the withdrawing of the bolt on opening a great city gate. Thereupon all the congregation saw the Tathagata Abundant Treasures sitting on the lion throne in the Precious Stupa, with his undissipated body whole and as if he were in meditation. And they heard him saying: "Excellent! Excellent! Shakyamuni Buddha! Speedily preach this Law-Flower Sutra. I have come hither in order to hear this sutra."
Then the four groups, seeing the buddha who had passed away and been extinct for immeasurable thousand myriad kotis of kalpas speak such words as these, praised this unprecedented [marvel] and strewed on the Buddha Abundant Treasures and on Shakyamuni Buddha heaps of celestial jewel flowers. Thereupon the Buddha Abundant Treasures within the Precious Stupa shared half his throne with Shakyamuni Buddha, speaking thus: "Shakyamuni Buddha! Take this seat!" Whereon Shakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa and, sitting down on that half throne, folded his legs. Then the great assembly, seeing the two Tathagatas sitting cross-legged on the lion throne in the Stupa of the Precious Seven, each reflected thus: "The Buddhas are sitting aloft and far away. Would that the Tathagatas by their transcendent powers might cause us together to take up our abode in the sky." Immediately Shakyamuni Buddha, by his transcendent powers, received all the great assembly up into the sky, and with a great voice universally addressed the four groups, saying: "Who are able to publish abroad the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra in this saha-world? Now indeed is the time. The Tathagata not long hence must enter nirvana. The Buddha desires to bequeath this Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra so that it may ever exist."
At that time the World-honored One, desiring to proclaim this meaning over again, spoke thus in verse:
"The holy world-honored lord,
Albeit for long extinct
And in his Precious Stupa,
Yet comes [to hear] the Law.
How [then] should anyone not be
Zealous for the Law's sake?
This buddha has been extinct
For countless kalpas,
[Yet] in place after place he hears the Law
Because of its rareness.
That buddha made a vow:
'After my extinction,
I will go anywhere
Forever to hear this Law.'
And innumerable buddhas
Emanated from my body,
As the sands of the Ganges,
Have come to hear the Law
And to behold the extinct Tathagata
Abundant Treasures.
Each, leaving his wonderful land
And his host of disciples,
Gods, men, and dragons,
And all their offerings,
Has come here to this place
So that the Law may long abide.
In order to seat these buddhas,
By my transcendent powers
I have removed innumerable beings
And cleared [my] domain.
The buddhas, one by one,
Have arrived under the jewel trees,
As lotus flowers adorn
A clear and cool pool.
Under those jewel trees,
On the lion thrones,
The buddhas are seated,
Brilliant and resplendent,
As, in the darkness of night,
Great torches gleam.
From them proceeds a mystic fragrance
Spreading afar over all lands;
All beings perfumed thereby
Are beside themselves with joy;
It is just as when a great wind
Blows over the [fragrant] bushes.
By this expedient
I cause the Law long to abide.
To this great assembly I say:
'After my extinction,
Whoever is able to guard and keep,
Read and recite this sutra,
Let him before the Buddha
Himself declare his vow!
The Buddha Abundant Treasures,
Albeit extinct for long,
By [reason of] his great vow
[Will sound forth] the lion's roar.4
Let the Tathagata Abundant Treasures
And also me myself
And my assembly of emanated buddhas5
Know this resolve.
Of all my Buddha-sons,
Let him who is able to protect the Law
[Sound] forth a great vow
To make it long abide!
He who is able to protect
The Law of this sutra
Will be deemed to have worshiped
Me and Abundant Treasures,
This Buddha Abundant Treasures,
Who abides in the Precious Stupa
And ever wanders everywhere
For the sake of this sutra.
He will moreover have worshiped
All my emanated buddhas here,
Who adorn and make resplendent
All the worlds.
If he preaches this sutra,
Then he is deemed to have seen me
And the Tathagata Abundant Treasures,
Also my emanated buddhas.
All my good sons!
Let each carefully ponder that!
This is a difficult task,
Needing the taking of a great vow.
All the other sutras,
Numerous as the sands of the Ganges,
Though one expounded them,
It still could not be counted hard.
If one took up Sumeru
And hurled it to another region
Of numberless buddha-lands,
Neither would that be hard.
If one were with his toes
To move a great-thousandfold world
And hurl it afar to another land,
That also would not be hard.
If one, standing on the Summit of All Beings,6
Were to expound to all beings
The countless other sutras,
That also would not be hard.
But if one, after the Buddha's extinction,
In the midst of an evil world
Is able to preach this sutra,
This indeed is hard.
Though there be a man who
Grasps the sky in his hand
And wanders about with it,
That is still not hard.
But after my extinction,
Whether himself to copy and keep
Or cause another to copy it,
That indeed is hard.
If one took the great earth.
Put it on his toenail,
And ascended to the Brahma heaven,
That would still not be hard.
But after the Buddha's extinction,
In the midst of an evil world
To read aloud this sutra for but a moment,
That indeed will be hard.
Though one, in the final conflagration,7
Carried a load of dry hay,
And entered it unseared,
That would still not be hard.
But after my extinction,
If anyone keeps this sutra
And proclaims it but to one man,
That indeed will be hard.
If one could keep the eighty-four thousand
Sections of the Law8
And the twelve divisions of sutras,9
Expound them to others,
And cause those who heard
To gain the six transcendent [powers],
Though he had such power as this,
That would still not be hard.
But after my extinction, if anyone
Hears and receives this sutra
And inquires into its meaning,
That indeed will be hard.
If one could preach the Law
And cause thousands, myriads, kotis,
Countless, innumerable beings,
As [many as] the sands of the Ganges,
To become arhats
And perfect the six transcendent [powers],
Even to confer such a benefit as this
Would still not be hard.
But after my extinction,
If anyone is able to keep
Such a sutra as this,
That will indeed be hard.
I, on account of the Buddha-way,
In innumerable lands
From the beginning till now
Have widely preached many sutras;
But amongst them all
This sutra is the chief, and
If anyone is able to keep it,
Then he keeps the Buddha's body.
All my good sons!
Let him who, after my extinction,
Is able to receive and keep,
Read and recite this sutra,
Now in the presence of the Buddha
Announce his own vow!
This sutra [so] difficult to keep,
If anyone keeps it a short time,
I shall be pleased,
And so will all the buddhas.
Such a one as this
Will be praised by all the buddhas;
Such a one is brave;
Such a one is zealous;
Such a one is named Law-keeper
And dhuta-observer;
Speedily shall he attain
The supreme Buddha-way.
He who, in coming generations,
Can read and keep this sutra
Is truly a Buddha-son
Dwelling in the stage of pure goodness.
After the Buddha's extinction,
He who can expound its meaning
Will be the eye of the world
For gods and men.
He who, in the [final] age of fear,
Can preach it even for a moment
By all gods and men
Will be worshiped.
