Introduction - Chapter One

It is difficult to see the Buddha appear in this world.¹
It is difficult to hear the Buddha teach in this world.
It is difficult to transmit and translate the teaching.
It is difficult to inspire and awaken it in oneself.
It is difficult to hear the lectures of a master, and
It is difficult to get it all down at once.

I listened to and appreciated these lectures at Chin-Ling when I was twenty-seven. I revised and organized my notes on them at Tan Ch’iu when I was sixty-nine.²

I now bequeath them to those that will be worthy of them in future ages so that they may share in the wisdom of the Buddha.

I will leave the explanation of the Sutra’s title as already taught.³

Introduction

The introductory lesson is arranged in an orderly sequence that is like a progression of steps. The question and answer of the guest and host⁴ organize the lesson perfectly.

The Sutra’s introduction is derived from three things: an opening sequence, a premise & a narrative.

“Like this I have heard” and the other things that crown the Sutra’s head⁵ are the opening sequence for the introduction.
The six signs⁶ such as issuing forth of the light that arise at the beginning are the premise for the introduction
The question and answer explain the doubts, and the main teaching is touched on and cited. This is the narrative of the introduction.

It is called The Introduction because it possesses these three things.

Chapter

The Middle-Length Agamas⁷ speak of the ‘Vargas’, which translates as ‘Chapters’. Elements of a similar theme are grouped together into a lesson and are therefore called a Chapter.

The Buddha declared some himself, such as in The Sutra on Brahma’s Net.⁸
Some were bound and placed together into separate works as in The Great Discourse.⁹
Some translators adjusted them as they deemed appropriate, as did Kumarajiva.¹⁰

Here in this Sutra the Buddha declares the story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King. This is the Sutra of Bodhisattvas Wonderful Sound and Observing the Sounds of the World.¹¹ Because the translators had not yet heard the first chapter, they called this Number One.

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Footnotes:

1. Here begins the personal introduction of Kuang-Ting, the student and disciple of Chih-I, who actually penned The Prose & Verse of the Lotus Sutra from the lectures of Chih-I.

2. Kuang-Ting lived from 561 to 632 CE. He therefore heard the lectures of Chih-I in c. 588 CE and completed this work in c. 630 CE. Chin-Ling was a provincial capitol and is the present site of Nanjing.

3. A reference to The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (C. Fa-Hua Hsuan-I), which is on the meaning of the title of the Sutra

4. The narrative of the first chapter is based upon a question by the Bodhisattva Maitreya and the answer from the Bodhisattva Manjusri.

5. The Sutra's traditionally open up with a sequence of six items that sets the stage for the telling. Briefly they are:

A	Like this	The Truth, or the Believable	The Dharma	The Teaching
B	I have heard	The Believer	The Person	The Rememberer
C	One time	The Time	The Time	The Time
D	The Buddha	The Host	The Buddha	The Teacher
E	Was at...	The Place	The Place	The Place
F	With an assembly...	The Audience	The Sangha	The Taught

6. The six signs: The auspicious signs from the Buddha that reach the audience and make them bear faith. Briefly:
A. The teaching of the Dharma - this is the teaching of The Sutra of Limitless Meanings.
B. Entering into Samadhi - the Buddha’s body and mind not stirring
C. The raining down of four kinds of flowers from heaven onto the Buddha and the audience of believers.
D. The shaking of the earth in six different ways
E. The rejoicing of the members of the audience who press their palms together & observe the Buddha with a single mind
F. The Buddha issues forth a ray of light from the middle of his brow that illuminates 18,000 worlds

7. The Agamas: (The Collections) The early teachings of the Buddha, known in the Theravada tradition as the Nikayas, that spell out the fundamental principles and teachings of Buddhism. Generally considered the earliest teachings of Buddhism.

8. The Sutra on Brahma's Net: (S. Brahmajala Sutra) Mahayana Sutra that spells out the precepts to be followed by the Bodhisattvas. This Sutra is said to conclude the cycle for The Flower Garland (Avatamsaka) Sutra, much in the same way that The Sutra on the Observation of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue concludes the cycle for The Lotus Sutra. The Buddha was said to have declared this Sutra's teaching of the forty-eight Bodhiattva precepts to be a chapter unto itself.

9. The Great Discourse: (S. Maha Prajna Paramitra Sastra, C. Ta Chih Tu-Lun, J. Dai Chi Do Ron). Major treatise written by Nagarjuna based on chapters of the Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra.

10. Kumarajiva: (334-413 CE) Definitive translator of The Lotus Sutra in 406 CE.

11. The Bodhisattva Medicine King: chapter twenty-three. The Bodhisattvas Wonderful Sound: chapter twenty-four. The Bodhisattva Observing the Sounds of the World: chapter twenty-five

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