At the commencement of the Lotus Sutra Shakyamuni is treated as though he was the most supreme being in the universe - a universe made up not only of the universe as we know it, but also of countless alternative realities called Buddha Lands.
The Lotus Sutra begins locating Shakyamuni at Ragagriha or Rajagriha, that is, Vulture’s Peak, the same setting used for the Contemplation Sutra (see last two blogs on Mahayana Conceptions of Shakyamuni). The setting purportedly places Shakyamuni in history and envisages an event that took place before his death. Yet the description of all those accompanying the Buddha makes it impossible for this to be an event immanent in this world. More than this, even prior to this death the Buddha is regarded in this sutra as if he was the greatest being in any realm of reality:
[Also there was] Sakra, the ruler of the celestials, with twenty thousand gods, his followers, such as the god Kandra (the Moon), the god Surya (the Sun), the god Samantagandha (the Wind), the god…..further, the four great rulers of the cardinal points with thirty thousand gods in their train…further, Brahma Sahampati and his twelve thousand followers….the eight Naga kings and many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Nagas in their train…further, the four Kinnara kings with many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of followers….besides, the four divine beings called Gandharvakayikas with many hundred thousand Gandharvas in their suite….further, the four chiefs of the demons followed by many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of demons….
Now at that time it was that the Lord surrounded, attended, honoured, revered, venerated, worshipped by the four classes of hearers, after expounding the Dharamaparyaya …serving to instruct Bodhisattvas and proper to all Buddhas, sat cross-legged on the seat of the law and entered upon the meditation termed ‘the station of the exposition of Infinity’, his body was motionless and his mind had reached perfect tranquility. And as soon as the Lord had entered upon his meditation, there fell a great rain of divine flowers…covering the Lord and the four classes of hearers, while the whole Buddha field shook six ways…
Then did those who were assembled and sitting together in that congregation, monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees, gods, Nagas, goblins, Gandharvas, demons, Garudas, Kinnaras, great serpents, men, and beings not human, as well as governors of a region, rulers of armies and rulers of four continents, all of them with their followers, gaze on the Lord in astonishment, in amazement, in ecstasy.
And at that moment there issued a ray from within the circle of hair between the eyebrows of the Lord. It extended over eighteen hundred thousand Buddha-fields in the eastern quarter, so that all those Buddha-fields appeared wholly illuminated by its radiance, down to the great hell Aviki and up to the limit of existence. And the beings in any of the six states of existence became visible, all without exception. Likewise the Lords Buddhas staying, living, and existing in those Buddha-fields became all visible, and the law preached by them could be entirely heard by all beings….Likewise the Lords Buddhas in those Buddha-fields who had reached final Nirvana became visible, all of them. And the Stupas made of jewels and containing the relics of the extinct Buddhas became all visible in those Buddha-fields.
Posted May 30, 2009
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