The Way Through

Shakyamuni Buddha

in the Lotus Sutra

I, by my power of wisdom,
knowing the natures and inclinations of creatures,
tactfully proclaim the laws
which cause all to obtain gladness.

Know, Shariputra!
I, observing with the Buddha’s eyes,
see the creatures in the six states of existence,
poor and without happiness and wisdom,
in the dangerous path of mortality,
in continuous unending misery,
firmly fettered by the five desires
like the yak caring for its tail,
smothered by greed and infatuation,
blinded and seeing nothing;
they seek not the Buddha, the mighty,
and the Law to end sufferings,
but deeply fall into heresies,
and seek by suffering to be rid of suffering.

For the sake of all these creatures,
my heart is stirred with great pity.

When I first sat on the wisdom throne,
looking at that tree and walking about it
during thrice seven days,
I pondered such matters as these;
The wisdom which I have obtained
is wonderful and supreme.
But all creatures are dull in their capacities,
pleasure-attached and blind with ignorance.
Such classes of beings as these, I saw
how can they be saved?

  How indeed? The power to be “saved” –  and with universal compassion, to help liberate others, rests within each of us. This power is not given by some god on high. It rests within. It is to begin now, this  moment. It is to follow the same path as the Buddha. It is the reason we were born as human beings in the first place.