Chapter 13. Encouragement to Uphold the Sutra
As we have studied the first twelve chapters of the Lotus Sutra, some students have come to me and asked, “We truly believe what the Buddha says—that we are all Tathagatas and are originally Buddhas —but what exactly is a ‘Buddha’? It seems like the Buddha is just a concept to us. He cannot be seen or touched, so what exactly is He?” It is not because the Buddha cannot be seen or touched that you do not know Him. Just as you can see and touch yourselves, yet you do not fundamentally understand yourselves; and though sentient beings can be seen and touched, you do not understand them either. Therefore, it is not because the Buddha is formless and signless that we do not understand Him, but because we are constantly in a state of distraction and delusional thinking. We cling to various appearances and distinctions, and our minds are pulled away by external environments. Thus, we do not understand the realm of the Tathagata. It has nothing to do with whether he can be seen or touched. If you can remain undistracted and stop clinging to appearances, you will understand the Tathagata, you will understand who and what you truly are, and you will understand all sentient beings. This is the principle that “Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are not three different things.” To understand the Buddha is to understand yourself and to understand all sentient beings.
As these great Bodhisattvas vowed to propagate the Dharma, five hundred Arhats who had recently received their predictions also said to Shakyamuni Buddha: “World-Honored One! We also each make a vow to widely preach this Lotus Sutra in other lands.” After these vows, Shakyamuni Buddha began to bestow predictions of Buddhahood upon the Bhikkhunis (nuns). Previously, he had mainly given predictions to the Bhikkhus who had attained the fruit of Arhatship. Why did he not give predictions to the Bhikkhunis at the beginning? It was because there were still some disagreements regarding a woman attaining Buddhahood. However, after seeing the Naga Girl attain Buddhahood in Chapter 12, all the disciples in the assembly no longer harbored doubts about women becoming Buddhas. Thus, in Chapter 13, he began to give predictions to the Bhikkhunis, saying: “You shall all ultimately attain Unsurpassed, Right, and Perfect Enlightenment.”
At the end of this chapter, many great Bodhisattvas in the assembly vowed: “World-Honored One! After the Tathagata’s passing, we shall travel throughout the worlds of the ten directions to inspire sentient beings to transcribe this sutra, to uphold, recite, and explain its principles, and then to practice according to its teachings. We only wish that the World-Honored One, from afar in other places, will protect us and all sentient beings.” This constitutes the entirety of Chapter 13, describing the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the assembly vowing to uphold and recite this sutra.