Fundamental Guideposts (5)

“Springing up out of the Earth”

The Buddha proclaims: once one awakens to his or her own buddha-nature, one becomes an eternal being like the Tathagata (the Buddha—“one who comes from the truth” and whose mission is to reveal it); one  who possesses supreme wisdom and  exercises infinite compassion.

For an enlightened person, this real world where we live is identical in essence with the Pure Land of Tranquil Light.

practice of the vow – to have a spirit of great compassion and to raise the mind of vowing to lead all people to the Lotus Sutra and to practice its spirit.

If a person realizes the wisdom of the Buddha, mental darkness will instantly disappear. We must realize fully that the wisdom of the Buddha is absolute.

To become pure to the depths of one’s mind, to become compassionate, always call on the name of the Buddha.

To truly understand and believe the sutra reveals one who is spiritually sensitive to the teaching and who is ripe to bear the fruit of the accumulated karma of one’s former lives—the unfinished business from past lives.

great bodhisattvas who spring up out of the earth – the Buddha entrusts the suffering world to the bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth (in ch. 15) – the world in which we live should be purified and made peaceful through our own efforts as dwellers in the world. Realize happiness in our lives through our own efforts. We are all responsible.

Bodhisattvas who spring out of the earth are people who have had much suffering during their lives; have accumulated virtues in such an unfavorable environment, and have attained enlightenment while leading ordinary lives—freed from illusions in their previous lives by means of the Buddha’s teachings.