法華三昧懺儀 1.6

1.6

After the extinction of the Tathāgata, in the turbid and evil world during the final five hundred years, if bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās who chant Mahāyāna sūtras wish to cultivate Mahāyāna practice, wish to generate the Mahāyāna resolve, wish to see the physical body of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, wish to see Śākyamuni Buddha, the stupa of Prabhūtaratna Buddha, the replicated Buddhas, and the Buddhas of the ten directions; if they wish to obtain purification of the six sense faculties, enter the Buddha's realm, and penetrate without obstruction; if they wish in a single thought to be able to uphold, understand, not forget, interpret, and explain without hindrance all that the Buddhas of the ten directions have spoken; if they wish to become companions on an equal footing with great bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra; if they wish to universally manifest physical forms, and within a single thought, without rising from the concentration of cessation, go everywhere to all the Buddha lands of the ten directions to make offerings to all Buddhas; if they wish within a single thought to reach all the Buddha lands of the ten directions, manifest various physical forms, perform various spiritual transformations, emit great illumination, and expound the Dharma to deliver all sentient beings and cause them to enter the inconceivable One Vehicle; if they wish to break the four māras, purify all afflictions, extinguish all sins that obstruct the path, enter the bodhisattva's correct station in this present body, and be endowed with all the sovereign virtues of all Buddhas, they should first, in a quiet and secluded place, with single-minded energetic application for three periods of seven days, enter the Lotus Samādhi. If someone in their present body has committed the five cardinal sins or the four major prohibitions, losing the bhikṣu Dharma, and wishes to attain purity, fully regain the śramaṇa precepts and demeanor, and obtain the various supreme and wonderful virtues described above, they should also, for three periods of seven days, cultivate the Lotus Samādhi with single-minded energetic application. Why is this? This *Lotus Sūtra* is the secret treasury of the Tathāgatas; among all sūtras it is the most supreme, because practicing this great, direct path encounters no obstruction. It is like the bright pearl in the topknot of a cakravartin, which is not given away recklessly: if someone obtains it, all the various rare jewels they desire will be fully supplied. The Lotus Samādhi is also like this: it can grant the rare jewels of the Buddhadharma to all sentient beings. Therefore, bodhisattva practitioners should disregard life and limb and cultivate this sūtra to the end of the future, not to mention for three periods of seven days! Question: The Buddha path is long and distant; what benefit will there be in practicing for three periods of seven days? Answer: There are three kinds of benefits, which will be explained below.