Hello, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the podcast provided by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated of Australia.
Today, we’ll be discussing Chapter 17, “The Description of Merits,” from the Mahāyāna Lotus Sūtra. This chapter follows directly from the previous one, “The Lifespan of the Tathāgata,” and details the immeasurable merit gained from hearing the Buddha’s long lifespan and developing a deep understanding of it. It also compares this merit to that of other spiritual practices.
The Merit of Hearing the Buddha’s Lifespan
After the Buddha explained his immense lifespan in the previous chapter, the great assembly received a profound benefit from the Dharma.
The Buddha states that simply by hearing about his long lifespan and generating even a “single thought of willing acceptance,” the merit one receives is boundless and limitless. This merit even surpasses that of a person who diligently practices the five perfections (giving, good conduct, perseverance, effort, and meditation) for eighty myriads of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas.
Here, a “single thought” implies a continuous, moment-to-moment faith. According to a later passage, the Lotus Sūtra leads to the attainment of “all-knowing wisdom,” so this faith shouldn’t be limited to just the chapter on the Tathāgata’s lifespan, but should extend to the entire Sūtra itself.
The Supreme Merit of Upholding the Lotus Sūtra
The Buddha goes on to explain that after understanding the true meaning of his long lifespan, if one can further “extensively hear this sutra, move others to listen to it, preserve it, move others to preserve it, copy it, or move others to copy it,” and make various offerings to the sūtra scroll, their merit will be immeasurable and boundless, leading to the attainment of “all-knowing wisdom” (the complete wisdom of a Buddha).
The Buddha further emphasizes that the merit of upholding the Lotus Sūtra surpasses the merit of building stūpas, erecting monasteries, and making the four kinds of offerings to the Saṅgha.
- Upholding and reciting this sūtra is equivalent to building a magnificent stūpa with the seven jewels for the Buddha’s relics and making offerings to it continuously for immeasurable thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas.
- Copying or moving others to copy this sūtra is equivalent to building countless magnificent monasteries of red sandalwood for hundreds of thousands of monks and supplying them with food, clothing, medicine, gardens, bathing ponds, and all other necessities. This is tantamount to making offerings directly to the Buddha and his disciples.
The Buddha concludes that the merit of those who can uphold this sūtra while also practicing the six perfections (giving, good conduct, perseverance, effort, meditation, and wisdom) is as vast and limitless as space, and they will swiftly achieve “all-knowing wisdom.”
Honoring the Dharma Teacher
At the end of “The Description of Merits,” the Buddha instructs us on how to treat those who propagate the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha says that if a person can uphold and recite this sūtra and also possess various good merits, they are already close to supreme enlightenment, as if they are seated under the Bodhi tree, about to attain the Way.
Therefore, wherever such a Dharma teacher may be—sitting, standing, or walking—a stūpa should be built in that very spot, and it should be revered by all devas and humans just as they would a stūpa of the Buddha. The Buddha says that because this teacher is a “child of the Buddha,” wherever he resides, it is a place for the Buddha’s own use, and honoring him is the same as honoring the Buddha.
In conclusion, all of these teachings are meant to emphasize that the merit of the Dharma is limitless, and so too is the merit of the one who propagates it.
Thank you, everyone.
