The Lotus Sutra

Chapter 1, Introduction, Page 10

At this time the World Honored One was surrounded by the four kinds of believers who offered service to him, revered him and honored him with praise.

• For the Bodhisattvas the Buddha taught the Great Vehicle Sutra called Limitless Meanings, instructing them in the spirituality of the Bodhisattvas, which is protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas.
• Having taught this Sutra, the Buddha sat with legs locked in lotus position and entered into the Samadhi that is The Sphere of Limitless Meanings, his body and mind unmoving.
• The heavens then rained down mandarava blossoms, maha-mandarava blossoms, manjushaka blossoms and maha-manjushaka blossoms, scattering them over the Buddha and the great assembly.
• Everywhere the world of the Buddha shook and trembled six ways.
• Then, having experienced that never before seen, the monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen, the gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas, those human and not human, the petty kings, the noble wheel turning king and all the others in the great assembly rejoiced and pressed their palms together, observing the Buddha with a single mind.
• A ray of light then issued forth from the white whorl of hair in the middle of the Buddha's brow, illuminating eighteen thousand worlds in the east. There was nowhere that the light did not penetrate, from the lowest Avici Hell up to the highest Akanistha Heaven.

2. The Specific Introduction

1. Having established the setting and the audience, the Sangha gathers and worships the Buddha in thought (revering him), word, (honoring him with praise) and deeds (offering service to him)
2. Next there is the appearance of the spiritual signs. These omens express the wonder, the mystery and the rarity of the event.

There will be two sets of six signs - first there are six in this world and later there are six in the world beyond.

1. First we will deal with the six signs in this world. They are:

1. The teaching of the Dharma - this is the teaching of The Sutra of Limitless Meanings.
2. Entering into Samadhi - the Buddha’s body and mind not stirring
3. The raining down of four kinds of flowers from heaven onto the Buddha and the audience of believers.
4. The shaking of the earth in six different ways
5. The rejoicing of the audience
6. The Buddha issues forth a ray of light from the middle of his brow that illuminates 18,000 worlds

One early interpretation explained them as follows:

1. The teaching of the Dharma is the stirring of the Buddha
2. The entering into Samadhi is the stillness of the Buddha
3. The raining of the flowers comes from heaven above
4. The shaking of the ground comes from the earth below
5. The rejoicing arises inside the audience
6. The light is emitted outside of the Buddha

Chih-I’s interpretation:

1. The teaching of the Dharma is the spiritual insight (S. Prajna) of the Buddha (from observation- Kuan)
2. Entering into Samadhi is the mental concentration (S. Samadhi) of the Buddha (from calm - Chih)
3. The raining of the four kinds of flowers symbolizes the 40 stages of the Bodhisattvas, which are the causes of enlightenment. They are the causes that enable living beings to open up, reveal, awaken, and enter into the knowledge and vision of enlightenment.
4. The six-fold shaking of the earth symbolizes the spiritual penetration and smashing of ignorance, the stirring up of that which is most difficult to stir. It is the purification of the six senses and the 42 stages of enlightenment as the effects of enlightenment.
5. The rejoicing and single-minded observation of the audience expresses the capacity of living beings to inspire the Great Vehicle
6. The issuing forth of the light expresses the response of the Buddha to enlighten living beings to the spiritual reality that is the Dharma.

Chih-I explains that these six signs express the ten wonders of the manifestation of the Buddha. In summary these ten wonders are:

1. The first five are on one's own practice:
1. The Wonderful Manifestation of The Object of Spiritual Reality
2. The Wonderful Manifestation of Spiritual Wisdom
3. The Wonderful Manifestation of The Practice
4. The Wonderful Manifestation of Ranks
5. The Wonderful Manifestation of The Threefold Dharma
2. The second five, which are on the influence of others.
6. The Wonderful Manifestation of Sympathetic Response.
7. The Wonderful Manifestation of Spiritual Penetration.
8. The Wonderful Manifestation of Teaching the Dharma.
9. The Wonderful Manifestation of Followers.
10. The Wonderful Manifestation of Benefits.

The following are some places where these ten appear in the Introductory Chapter of The Lotus Sutra.

1. "The ground is adorned and purified" - this refers to the Wonderful Object, the ground of the mind
2. "A ray of light issued from the middle of the brow" - this refers to the Wonderful Wisdom.
3. "Entered into Samadhi" - this refers to the Wonderful Practice.
4. "The four kinds of flowers rained down from heaven" - this refers to the (40) Wonderful Ranks.
5. "Breezes scented with sandal" - This refers to the Wonderful Threefold Dharma.
6. "The four groups of believers expressed questions" - This is the capacity of living beings.
   "They see the 18,000 lands" - This is the response.
   These two together refer to the Wonderful Sympathetic Response.
7. "The earth shook in six different ways" - This refers to the Wonderful Spiritual Penetration.
8. "Blowing the conch & beating the drum of the Dharma" - This refers to the Wonderful Teaching of the Dharma.
9. "The gods, the dragons, and all of the great assembly rejoiced" - This refers to the Wonderful Followers.
10. "I see the Buddha's children cultivating different kinds of practice" - This refers to the Wonderful Benefits.
    

The Prose & Verse of The Lotus Sutra (C. Fa-Hua Wen-Chu, J. Hokke Mongu) says:

1. The teaching of the Dharma expresses the Wonderful Teaching of the Dharma & the Wonderful Wisdom
2. Entering into Samadhi expresses the Wonderful Practice
3. The raining of the blossoms expresses the Wonderful Ranks
4. The shaking of the earth expresses the Wonderful Object (the ground) and the Wonderful Vehicle of the Threefold Dharma (the shaking).
5. The rejoicing of the audience expresses the Wonderful Followers (the audience) and the Wonderful Benefits (the rejoicing)
6. The issuing forth of the light expresses the Wonderful Sympathetic Response (the issuing forth) and the Wonderful Spiritual Penetration (the light)

The Four Kinds of Blossoms represent the 40 stages on the Bodhisattvas path as the causes of spiritual enlightenment. Blossoms represent the causes of enlightenment whereas fruits represent the effects or realizations of enlightenment. See the description of the symbolism of the Lotus Blossom for more on the cause and effect of spiritual awakening. The four kinds of blossoms:
 

Blossom	Blossoms	Represents
Mandarava	Small & White	Ten Abodes of Inspiration - Opening up the door to enlightenment
Maha-Mandarava	Large & White	Ten Practices of Virtue - Revealing it through one's own life
Manjushaka	Small & Red	The Ten Devotions, or Transfers of Merit - Awakening it in others
Maha-Manjushaka	Large & Red	The Ten Groundings - Entering the one enlightenment, beyond self & other

The Shaking of the Earth Six Different Ways:

• There are six physical kinds of shaking, three of movements and three of sounds:
1. The Three kinds of Movement:
1. Quaking: Tossing from side to side
2. Rolling: The wave effect
3. Surging: Sudden movement either up or down
2. The Three Sounds:
4. Banging: A sudden but short and loud report
5. Roaring: A sustained thunderous sound
6. Crackling: Like the sound of fire burning
• There are the six ways that ignorance are shaken in the ground of the mind. These are the 42 stages of the Path being seen as the effects of enlightenment:
1. The Ten Abodes of Inspiration
2. The Ten Practices of Virtue
3. The Ten Devotions, or Transfers of Spiritual Merit
4. The Ten Groundings of Enlightenment
5. The Univeral Enlightenment
6. The Wonderful Enlightenment

The 18,000 worlds: Chih-I explains these as being a manifestation threefold realm of mortality or Life & Death (Samsara) that we live in. This is the same as the six spiritual realms from heaven to hell. The Akanistha ('the highest peak of') Heaven is the highest heaven in the realm of form and the Avici ('the never-ending') hell is the lowest Hell. The Buddha first reveals these worlds in the east, which is where the light is first seen. In fact, these worlds are in all direcions. The 18,000 worlds are calculated by Chih-I as follows:

1. The 18 physical realms:
1. The six sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, thinking mind)
2. The six sense sensations (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, dharmas or aspects of reality)
3. The six kinds of consciousness that are a result of combining the faculties & the sensations
2. The 1000 spiritual realms (See Chih-I's The Great Calm-Observation Volume 5 for more on these 1,000 realms):
1. The ten spiritual realms from hell to enlightenment = 10
2. The ten spiritual realms are squared because of their mutual possession = 10 x 10 = 100
3. The ten aspects of spiritual reality 'as they are' = 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000
   
3. 18 physical realms (matter) x 1,000 spiritual realms (mind) = 18,000 realms

The white whorl of hair in the middle of the brow: On this, Chih-I says:

* That it is between the two brows expresses the permanence of the middle way.
* That it is soft in appearance expresses bliss.
* That the whorl can be curled or uncurled at will expresses the true self
* That it is white expresses purity.
In destroying darkness it expresses the middle way that produces the light of wisdom and insight.
That the light illuminates the other lands, which expresses one’s own enlightenment enlightening others.
 

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