Chapter 27
King Wonderful-Adornment
SUMMARY
This chapter reveals the story of two sons who converted their father and mother to the Buddha Dharma and the Lotus Sutra. It is very difficult to convert our spouses and immediate family members because they know everything about us, inside and out. Therefore, words may not be effective for them but our actions would be. The two children showed their magic (something others cannot do) to draw their father's attention.
EXPLANATIONS
"Under that Buddha (Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom) lived a king called Wonderful-Adornment. His wife was called Pure-Virtue. They had two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes by name. The two sons had great supernatural powers, merits, virtues and wisdom." (P.330, L.9.):
Sakyamuni Buddha told the following story:
"Once upon a time, there was a king called Wonderful-Adornment and a queen, Pure-Virtue. They had two children, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes. They practiced Buddhism for many years. They practiced the Seven Paramitas (Giving, Keeping Precepts, Perseverance, Assiduity, Meditation, Wisdom and Expediency). The sons also had already attained the Four States of Mind (Compassion, Loving-kindness, Joy and Impartiality).
"The two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, came to their mother, joined their ten fingers and palms together, and said, ‘Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha! We also will go to attend on him, approach him, make offerings to him, and bow to him because he is expounding the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma (P.331, L.1.):
The two sons persuaded their mother to go listen to the Buddha who preached the Lotus Sutra. She said, "Yes, I will. But your father deeply believes in Brahmanism. Go tell him to join us." It is very hard to alter the belief of a family member if they believe in another faith.
Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) was a poet and wrote a lot of poems and fairy tales based on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. On his deathbed, when he was 36 years old, he left a will to his parents who were very devoted to the Pure Land faith. "I am very sorry to die before you, and I could not repay my gratitude to you, but I wish to repay your favor in my next life and my lives after that. Please call on me by chanting the Odaimoku, "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" after my death. Thus, he asked his parents to chant the Odaimoku to communicate with him in the spiritual realm. He also requested his parents to publish 100 copies of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese and give them to his relatives and friends to make a relationship, or "en" in Japanese, with the sutra.
"Thereupon the two sons went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala-tree, and displayed various wonders because they were thinking of their father. They walked, stood, sat, and reclined in the sky. Then they issued water from the upper parts of their bodies, and fire from the lower part." (P.331, L.18.):
They showed these wonders to their father because the mother said to do so, so that he may change his mind and allow them to go to the Buddha.
To attain this kind of magic is not an aim of Buddhism, although some yogi may be able to perform some. These wonders by the two children represent only a symbol that suggests that we do something different to capture the attention of others. For example, if you continue to recite a chapter of the sutra and chant the Odaimoku everyday without fail, your character naturally changes and you improve yourself in daily life. This change makes others wonder.
"Seeing these wonders displayed by the supernatural powers of his sons, the father had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He joined his hands together towards his sons staying in the sky, and said, ‘Who is your teacher? ‘" (P.331, L.31.):
The two sons practiced the Samadhi (concentration of the mind on a single matter) only for themselves, so this was their first time to practice samadhi for others. They influenced their father to be interested in a different faith, Buddha Dharma. So he said to them, "I also wish to see your teacher. I will go with you."
"Excellent, Father and Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, see him, and make offerings to him because to see a Buddha is as difficult as to see an udumbara-flower or as for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a floating piece of wood!" (P.332, L.25.):
Udumbara is the name of a legendary tree which is thought to blossom once in three thousand years. It often stands in Buddhist writings for what is exceptionally rare. It is also very rare for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a piece of wood floating on the ocean surface in a moving wave. Thus, it is very rare to meet a Buddha. The physical real Buddha existed almost 2,500 years ago on this earth. It is said that the next Buddha after Sakyamuni, Maitreya, will appear in this world five billion six hundred and seventy million years after the death of Sakyamuni. So we had better be born again that many years later to meet the Buddha physically.
"Thereupon King Wonderful-Adornment, Queen Pure-Virtue, and their two sons came to that Buddha. The king was accompanied by his ministers and attendants; the queen, by her ladies and attendants; and their two sons, by forty-two thousand men.'" (P.333, L.13.):
The king, queen and princes with their ministers and attendants all came to that Buddha. Then the Buddha expounded the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra to them and showed them the way, taught them, benefited them and caused them to rejoice. The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and gave the necklaces to the Buddha in appreciation.
"This king will become a bhikusu under me, strenuously studying and practicing the various ways to the enlightenment of the Buddha, and then become a Buddha called Sala-Tree-King in a world called Great-Light.." (P.333, L.34.):
Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to the congregation that King Wonderful-Adornment will become a Buddha after strenuous study and practice and will be called Sala-Tree-King Buddha.
We must know why the Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha gives assurances to the king that he will become a Buddha before his sons and wife who have practiced Buddhism much longer than the king. I think it is because when a leader becomes a Buddhist, his followers are influenced by the leader and easily become Buddhists. Therefore, Nichiren Shonin tried to convert authorities of the Kamakura Government in Kamakura, and his grand-disciple, Nichizo, tried to convert Royal families in Kyoto. It is very important for a leader of any group to practice righteousness; otherwise, others will copy their leader's wrong doing.
"World-Honored One! These two sons of mine did the work of the Buddha. They converted me from wrong views by displaying wonders. They caused me to dwell peacefully in your teachings. They caused me to see you. These two sons of mine are my teachers. They appeared in my family in order to benefit me. They inspired the roots of good which I had planted in my previous existence."(P.334, L11.):
This king is great because it is hard for adults to say their children are their teacher. We often tend to say, "I did it," when something good happens, while we tend to blame others when something wrong happens. However, this king realized that his sons caused him to dwell in Buddha Dharma and they were born in his family in order to lead him to Buddha's teachings. "These two sons of mine are my teachers." The original term for the teacher in this case uses "zenchishiki" in the Chinese version. Zenchishiki literally means good knowledge. It is a person who helps in conversion or religious progress. Nichiren Shonin used the term for those who gave him persecutions, especially the Shogunate of the Kamakura Government. Sakyamuni Buddha used the term for Devadatta who tried to kill the Buddha in this life; however, in their previous lives, Devadatta caused the Buddha to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality, so Devadatta was Buddha's zenchishiki.
"King Wonderful-Adornment was no one but Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva of today. Queen Pure-Virtue was no one but the Light-Adornment-Appearance Bodhisattva who is now before me. . . . The two sons were Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva of today." (P.335. L.16.):
The Lotus Sutra is the teachings of the past, present and future. In previous lives we might have had a relationship or "en" with the Lotus Sutra, and we are practicing it together now, and then we will attain Buddhahood in the future. All of us here today might have the "en" with the Lotus Sutra now and in our previous lives, and we may attain Buddhahood together in the future.
~ Namu Myohorengekyo ~
