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The Lotus Sutra
Chapter 1, Introduction, Page 17
The prose response of Manjusri to Maitreya’s question, continued:
Then there was another Buddha, also called Bright Lamp of the Sun and Moon, then then yet another and, like this, there were twenty thousand Buddhas, all with the same name, called Bright Lamp of the Sun and Moon. And they were all from the same clan called Bharadvaja. Maitreya you must know that from the first Buddha to the last, they all had the same name. They all perfectly possessed the Ten Titles and their teaching of the Dharma was good at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.
The very last of these Buddhas had eight royal sons before leaving home. Their names were:
Having mastered dignity and virtue, each ruled below the four heavens. All these royal sons heard that their father left home and attained the supreme universal enlightenment. Completely abandoning the royal rank they also followed left home and inspired the mind/intent/idea of the Great Vehicle. Ever cultivating the Brahma practice, they all were Masters of the Dharma, having already planted good spiritual roots before millions of Buddhas.
The eight sons represent the noble eightfold path. The Buddha’s surname (Bharadvaja) was the name of one of the eighteen original Brahmanic clans. It means ‘sharp rooted’ or ‘having keen spiritual capacity
At this time the Buddha Bright Lamp of the Sun and Moon taught the Great Vehicle Sutra called Limitless Meanings, teaching the Dharma of the Bodhisattvas that is protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas. Having taught the Sutra, he sat with legs locked in Lotus position among the great assembly and entered in a Samadhi called The Sphere of Limitless Meanings, his mind and body unmoving. The heavens then rained down mandarava blossoms, maha-mandarava blossoms, manjushaka blossoms and maha-manjushaka blossoms, scattering 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 Buddha worlds in the east. There was nowhere that the light did not penetrate, just like you have seen it illuminate the Buddha lands now.
Maitreya you must understand this. At this time there were twenty million Bodhisattvas in the assembly wishing to listen/enquire into the Dharma. All these Bodhisattvas saw this light illuiminating the Buddha lands everywhere, and experienced that never before had. They desired to understand the reason for this light.Manjusri’s answer shows that history is repeating itself. The most important point being made here is that the Buddha, when reaching the end of his career, teaches how the one Dharma includes all the different meanings that were taught before (the provisional teachings) and then He teaches the main purpose or intent of it all, which is the Lotus Sutra teaching. The final teaching is like a last will and testament, with a perspective that is able to look back on all that has come before.
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