Pink Lotus

considered the true Lotus of the Buddha

“Buddhahood in Three Dimensions” by Thich Nhat Hahn

(continued – 2)

last paragraph of preceding section – The vast numbers of shravakas [persons of learning] and bodhisattvas, the presence of gods and mythical beings [in Chapter 1], give us our first taste of the ultimate dimension and show us that the opportunity to hear the Lotus Sutra delivered by the Buddha is something very special, a great occurrence not to be missed.

  First, the Buddha delivered a Mahayana sutra called the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, then entered a state of meditative concentration (samadhi). While he was in this concentration, heavenly flowers rained from the sky and the earth quaked. Then the Buddha sent out a ray of light from his ushnisha [crown protrusion on a buddha’s head, symbolizing the cosmic openness of an enlightened being], illuminating various cosmic realms. The entire assembly was able to see these worlds appear very clearly, and everyone was most surprised and delighted at the wonderful event that was taking place around them. In all these worlds, buddhas could be seen giving dharma talks to great assemblies of bhikshus [male monks], bhikshunis [female monks], upasakas [male lay persons] and upasikas [female monks—all of these known in the sutra as the Four Groups]—exactly like the Buddha’s disciples in this world.

In the ultimate dimension, never for a moment
 has the Buddha ceased to deliver the Lotus Sutra.

  In order to understand the great importance of this teaching, the assembly that had gathered in this historical dimension had to be introduced to the ultimate dimension. In the past, in another cosmic realm, the Buddha Sun Moon Light had also given the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. So the miraculous events that were happening that day were only a repetition of something that had already occurred in another dimension of reality—the ultimate dimension, which is unbounded by our ordinary perceptions of time and space.

  As far as the historical dimension is concerned, Shakyamuni was the buddha who was giving the dharma talk that day. From this perspective, the Buddha gave teachings for forty years, and then only at the end of his life did he give the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. But in terms of the ultimate dimension, Buddha Shakyamuni and Buddha Sun Moon Light are one and the same. In the ultimate dimension, never for a moment has the Buddha ceased to deliver the Lotus Sutra.

. . . to be continued . . .opening two doors of perception, the ultimate and the historic.