The Lotus Sūtra 2.3

2.3

爾時舍利弗踊躍歡喜，即起合掌，瞻仰尊顏而白佛言：「今從世尊聞此法音，心懷勇躍，得未曾有。所以者何？我昔從佛聞如是法，見諸菩薩授記作佛，而我等不豫斯事，甚自感傷，失於如來無量知見。世尊！我常獨處山林樹下，若坐若行，每作是念：『我等同入法性，云何如來以小乘法而見濟度？是我等咎，非世尊也。所以者何？若我等待說所因成就阿耨多羅三藐三菩提者，必以大乘而得度脫。然我等不解方便隨宜所說，初聞佛法，遇便信受、思惟、取證。』世尊！我從昔來，終日竟夜每自剋責，而今從佛聞所未聞未曾有法，斷諸疑悔，身意泰然，快得安隱。今日乃知真是佛子，從佛口生，從法化生，得佛法分。」

At that time Śāriputra leaped up with joy, immediately rose, joined his palms, gazed up at the Bhagavat's countenance, and said to the Buddha: "Now hearing this voice of the Dharma from the Bhagavat, my heart leaps, obtaining what it had never before experienced. Why is this? Formerly, hearing such Dharma from the Buddha and seeing the Bodhisattvas receive their vyākaraṇa to become Buddhas, yet not sharing in this matter, I felt deeply aggrieved that I had lost the Tathāgata's immeasurable knowledge and vision. Bhagavat, I was often dwelling alone under trees in mountain forests; whether sitting or walking, I constantly had this thought: 'Since we equally enter the reality of phenomena, why has the Tathāgata delivered us through the Hīnayāna Dharma?' This was our own fault, not the Bhagavat's. Why? If we had waited for the explanation of the causes for accomplishing anuttarā samyaksambodhi, we surely would have been delivered through the Mahāyāna. Yet we did not understand the upāya spoken according to what was fitting; when first hearing the Buddha's Dharma, we merely believed, accepted, reflected on, and realized it on the spot. Bhagavat, from the past until now, all day and through the night I constantly reproached myself. But now, hearing from the Buddha the Dharma never heard before, the unexcelled Dharma, I have severed all doubts and regrets; my body and mind are at ease, comfortably secure. Today at last I know that I am truly a son of the Buddha, born from the Buddha's mouth, born transformed from the Dharma, obtaining a share of the Buddha's Dharma."