The Lotus Sūtra 1.21

1.21

爾時文殊師利語彌勒菩薩摩訶薩及諸大士：「善男子等！如我惟忖，今佛世尊欲說大法，雨大法雨，吹大法螺，擊大法鼓，演大法義。諸善男子！我於過去諸佛，曾見此瑞，放斯光已，即說大法。是故當知，今佛現光，亦復如是，欲令眾生，咸得聞知一切世間難信之法，故現斯瑞。

These worlds of marvelous and varied beauty. The wisdom and transcendent powers Of all the buddhas are extraordinary; By emitting a single ray of light He has illuminated innumerable lands. Seeing this, we attain

That which we have not met with before.

O Mañjuśrī, Heir of the Buddhas!

We entreat you to rid us of our confusion!

The fourfold assembly is joyfully

Looking up at you and me.

Why did the Bhagavat emit this ray of light?

O Heir of the Buddhas, now answer!

Resolve our confusion and gladden us!

Why is he emitting this ray of light?

Will the Buddha teach us the True Dharma

That he obtained while he sat

On the terrace of enlightenment (bodhimaṇḍa)?

Will he predict enlightenment to us?

It is not for a trifling reason

That all the buddha lands, ornamented

With various jewels,

And all the buddhas have been made visible.

O Mañjuśrī!

You should know that the fourfold assembly,

Nāgas, and devas,

Look forward to hearing

What you shall reveal.”

Thereupon Mañjuśrī spoke to Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Maitreya and the other worthy beings: “O sons of a virtuous family! I am very sure that the Buddha, the Bhagavat, will now teach the great Dharma, rain down the great Dharma, blow the conch of the great Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and reveal the meaning of the great Dharma.

“O sons of a virtuous family! I have seen buddhas in the past who have shown this marvel and have taught the great Dharma immediately after emitting a ray of light. Therefore, you should know that in the very same way the Buddha has now emitted this light and has shown this marvel in order to cause all sentient beings to hear and understand the Dharma which in all the worlds is difficult to understand.

“O sons of a virtuous family! In the past, more than innumerable, unthinkable, incalculable kalpas ago, there was a buddha called Candrasūryapradīpa,

a Tathāgata, Arhat, Completely Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Departed, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed, Tamer of Humans, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Bhagavat. He taught the True Dharma that was good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end. It was profound in meaning, elegant in speech, and endowed with the character of the pure path of discipline and integrity.

“To those seeking for the śrāvaka vehicle he taught the Dharma with respect to the Four Noble Truths, causing them to overcome birth, old age, illness, and death and to attain nirvana. He taught the Dharma with respect to dependent origination to the pratyekabuddhas; and to the bodhisattvas he taught the Dharma with respect to the six perfections (pāramitās), causing them to attain highest, complete enlightenment and perfect all-knowledge (sarvajñātā).

“Then there was another buddha named Candrasūryapradīpa, and after him another buddha also named Candrasūryapradīpa. And so in this way twenty thousand buddhas all had the same name Candrasūryapradīpa. They also had the same family name Bharadvāja.

“O Maitreya! You should know that these buddhas, beginning from the