The Lotus Sutra

Chapter 1, Introduction, Page 7

• There were The Four Kinnara Kings;
• The Kinnara King Of the Dharma,
• The Kinnara King Of the Wonderful Dharma,
• The Kinnara King Of the Great Dharma, and
• The Kinnara King Embracing the Dharma, each with hundreds of thousands of followers.

• There were The Four Gandharva Kings;
• The Gandharva King Of Pleasure,
• The Gandharva King Of Music,
• The Gandharva King Of Beauty and
• The Gandharva King Of Beautiful Music, each with hundreds of thousands of followers.

• There were The Four Asura Kings;
• The Asura King Bali,
• The Asura King Kharaskandha,
• The Asura King Vemacitrin and
• The Asura King Rahu, each with hundreds of thousands of followers.

• There were four Garuda Kings;
• The Garuda King Greatness of Majestic Virtues,
• The Garuda King Greatness of Body,
• The Garuda King Greatness of Fulfillment and
• The Garuda King As One Wishes, each with hundreds of thousands of followers.

F. The Audience, continued...
      3. Those in the Six Spiritual Realms

B. The Demons in the Introduction of The Lotus Sutra - continued:

2. Kinnaras: The Kinnaras are the musicians of Vaisravana, also known as Kuvera (God of Wealth). The Kinnaras are first of all entertainers. Their song and dance is in praise of the Dharma. According to Chih-I:

A. The performance of The Kinnara King Dharma is about the four truths
B. That of The Kinnara King Wonderful Dharma is about the twelvefold wheel of causality
C. That of The Kinnara King Great Dharma is about the six paramitas
D. That of The Kinnara King Upholder of the Dharma is about all three

Chih-I explains that in The Lotus Sutra the Kinnaras fold their hands and praise the King of the Dharma with the inconceivable Samadhi that neither arises nor is extinguished. This is observing the three truths with a single mind with the sound of the voice praising the Buddha.

3. Gandharvas: Spirits of fragrance & music, the gandharvas are the celestial musicians of Sakra Devendra, with the King of Heaven Dhritarastra (Protector of the Nation - The Strong) as their lord. They are said to feed on and emit fragrance and cause ecstasy. The Gandharva Kings serve the Dharma.

A. The Gandharva King Of Pleasure produce joy
B. The Gandharva King Of Music produce contentment
C. The Gandharva King Of Beauty produce bliss
D. The Gandharva King Of Beautiful Music produce inspiration

The music and fragrance of the Gandharvas cause ecstasy and inspiration.

4. The Asuras: The furies, the fighting and competing spirits that are ever struggling for dominance and thriving on ambition, anger and jealousy. They represent our personal demons, our competitive & ego-driven tendencies and our will for success and victory in the ever turbulent and challenging realm of mortal existence. The Asura Kings fight for the Dharma. The Lotus Sutra speaks of the Four Asura Kings:

1. The Asura King Bali - ‘The Strong’ or 'The Robust', also called the one that ‘suffers the attachments’, that is the one strong enough to continually suffer the attachments to this threefold mortal realm of life & death.
2. The Asura King Kharaskandha - ‘Tough shoulders’, whose broad shoulders can bear the burdens of all the evils of this world
3. The Asura King Vemacitrin - ‘Sound of Breakers (falling ocean waves)’ - From his Gandharva wife he is said to have been the father of a beautiful daughter named Saci (said to represent the power of speech & action), who became the chief consort of Sakra Devendra (Lord of the Natural World & the Will of Heaven). Saci became jealous of Sakra Devendra’s other wives and returned to her father, who in turn declared war on Sakra Devendra. Only chanting the Sutra (on the Perfection of Wisdom - Prajna Paramita) was said to make Sakra Devendra prevail in this battle. Vemacitrin represents sound and fury.
4. The Asura King Rahu - ‘Holding’ or 'Grasping' - The Asura-King that, in fighting against Sakra Devendra, can hold up the sun and moon and so cause eclipses. Rahu represents the power to hold up and change or control the natural order.

5. Garudas:

The Lotus Sutra speaks of the Four Garuda Kings, which represent the highest qualities of the 'Wings of Speech' which are dedicated to the Dharma':

A. The Garuda King Greatness of Majestic Virtues representing all that which is temporary and provisional)
B. The Garuda King Greatness of Body representing emptiness
C. The Garuda King Greatness of Fulfillment representing the mean
D. The Garuda King As One Wishes, carrying the 'Wish-Fulfilling' (Cintamani) Gem around its throat, the magic gem that grants any wish to the one that possesses it. It represents the total blending of the three truths in a single thought.

Although two of the eight kinds of spiritual beings (the Yaksas and the Mahoragas) are not explicitly mentioned in this introductory passage, their presence is implied. In fact their presence is explicitly mentioned later in this chapter.

Next - Ajatasatru and the people in the assembly.

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