Chapter 24
The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound

THIS CHAPTER RELATES the story of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, who has come to the saha world from an ideal world. Important points in the story will be explained as needed. Let us proceed then to the story.

THE RAY OF LIGHT FROM THE WHITE HAIR-CIRCLE. When Shakyamuni Buddha finished preaching the story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, he "emitted a ray of light from the protuberance on his cranium, (1) the sign of a great man, and emitted a ray of light from the white hair-circle sign between his eyebrows, everywhere illuminating eastward a hundred and eight myriad kotis of nayutas of buddha worlds, equal to the sands of the Ganges. Beyond those numbers of worlds is a world named Adorned with Pure Radiance. In that domain there is a buddha styled King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation Tathagata, Worshipful, All Wise, Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, Well Departed, Understander of the World, Peerless Leader, Controller, Teacher of Gods and Men, Buddha, World-honored One."

The ray of light emitted from the white hair-circle between the eyebrows of Shakyamuni Buddha shone throughout the domains of the buddhas. This means that although the Original Buddha exists everywhere, living beings can first know of his existence only through the teachings of Shakyamuni. The ray of light from the white hair-circle of Shakyamuni Buddha is the symbol of his Buddha wisdom, which has revealed the universal truth. This fact has been expressed continually since chapter 1 of the Lotus Sutra, but it is especially important for us to be reawakened to its significance in this chapter. That is why the story begins with the mention of the Buddha's emitting from the white hair-circle a ray of light that shines throughout the domains of the buddhas. Unless we realize the significance of this, we are liable to have only a shallow understanding of the story or, worse, to misunderstand it altogether.

THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE LAW FLOWER. The Buddha said: "At that time in the domain Adorned with All Pure Radiance there was a bodhisattva whose name was Wonder Sound, who for long had cultivated many roots of virtue, paid homage to and courted innumerable hundred thousand myriad kotis of buddhas, and perfectly acquired profound wisdom. He had attained the contemplation of the wonderful banner sign, the contemplation of the Law Flower, the contemplation of pure virtue, the contemplation of the Constellation King's sport, the contemplation of causelessness, the contemplation of the knowledge seal, the contemplation of interpreting the utterances of all beings, the contemplation of collection of all merits, the contemplation of purity, the contemplation of supernatural sport, the contemplation of wisdom torch, the contemplation of the king of adornment, the contemplation of pure luster, the contemplation of the pure treasury, the contemplation of the unique, and the contemplation of sun revolution; such hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of great contemplations as these had he acquired, equal to the sands of the Gauges."

Contemplation, samadhi in Sanskrit, means to concentrate one's mind on a single object, not distracted by anything. Here are mentioned sixteen kinds of contemplations, each of which has a particular meaning. The contemplation of the wonderful banner sign means to believe firmly and unshakably that the Lotus Sutra is the core of all the teachings of the Buddha. The contemplation of the Law Flower means to believe deeply in the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, practicing them oneself, and not to be distracted by anything. This contemplation is representative of all sixteen contemplations; the remaining fifteen can be said to be derived from the contemplation of the Law Flower. The contemplation of pure virtue means one's mental state of possessing pure virtue but not being conscious of it. A person who enters this contemplation is not arrogant or selfish, and his speech and conduct naturally influence those around him for the better. The contemplation of the Constellation King's sport means to keep one's mind upon desiring to be a buddha or a great bodhisattva who has been endowed with fine virtue from former lives and has the power to lead others freely by means of his virtue, and also to have a firm determination in one's own desire for buddhahood.

The contemplation of causelessness means to devote oneself to the spirit of saving not only those related to oneself but also those unrelated to one. The contemplation of the knowledge seal means to concentrate one's mind on abiding in such a mental state that one's deep knowledge will exert a strong favorable influence upon the minds of others close to one. The contemplation of interpreting the utterances of all beings means being in the mental state of discerning the desires of all living beings and of meditating on preaching teachings suitable to them. The contemplation of collection of all merits means to concentrate one's mind on the idea that the merits of all the teachings amount to only one merit, that both oneself and others will become buddhas. The contemplation of purity means to devote one's heart and mind to a single object, by which one removes all delusions from one's mind and keeps one's body pure. The contemplation of supernatural sport means to endeavor so wholeheartedly as to maintain the mental state of being free from all circumstances.

The contemplation of wisdom torch means to devote oneself to the desire to direct the light of one's wisdom into one's surroundings, just as a torch throws its light afar. The contemplation of the king of adornment means to keep one's mind upon desiring to be a person who has such virtue as to influence others. The contemplation of pure luster means to desire to purify one's surroundings by emitting a spotless luster from one's body. The contemplation of the pure treasury means to keep one's mind upon the desire to fill one's mind with purity. The contemplation of the unique means to have the firm ideal of attaining the same mental state as the Buddha and to practice the teachings toward that ideal. The contemplation of sun revolution means not to have a distracted mind but to desire to attain such a mental state as to cause all things to live, just as the life-giving sun shines incessantly on all things.

No sooner had the ray from Shakyamuni Buddha shone upon the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound than he said to the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation: "World-honored One! I should go to visit the saha world to salute, approach, and pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as to see the Bodhisattva Manjusri, son of the Law king, the Bodhisattva Medicine King, the Bodhisattva Courageous Giver, the Bodhisattva Star Constellation King Flower, the Bodhisattva Mind for Higher Deeds, the Bodhisattva King of Adornment, and the Bodhisattva Medicine Lord."

Then the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation addressed the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound: "Do not look lightly on that domain or conceive a low opinion of it. Good son! That saha world with its high and low places is uneven, and full of earth, stones, hills, and filth; the body of the Buddha is short and small, and all the bodhisattvas are small of stature, whereas your body is forty-two thousand yojanas high and my body six million, eight hundred thousand yojanas. Your body is of the finest order, blessed with hundreds of thousands of myriads of felicities, and of a wonderful brightness. Therefore on resorting there do not look lightly on that domain, nor conceive a low opinion of the Buddha, nor of the bodhisattvas nor of their country."

The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound replied to the buddha: "World-honored One! That I now go to visit the saha world is all due to the Tathagata's power, the Tathagata's magic play, and the Tathagata's adornment of merit and wisdom."

THE GAP BETWEEN IDEAL AND ACTUALITY. What is meant by the statement that in comparison with the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation and the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, the body of Shakyamuni Buddha is short and small and all the bodhisattvas are small of stature, not emitting rays of light from their bodies? This figure of speech points out the gulf between ideal and actuality. The domain where the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation dwells is an ideal world situated in the heavens. For this reason the bodies of the buddha and the bodhisattvas in that domain are extraordinarily large and of a wonderful brightness.

On the other hand, what is the actuality? There is nothing impressive about it when compared with the ideal. The actuality appears to be far smaller, lower, and plainer than the ideal. A person who has perfected his character in such an actual world is far more sacred than an ideal form in the heavens, even if his body is small and has no apparent brightness. There is nothing more sacred than the attainment of the mental state of the Buddha in the actual world, where obstructions are often thrown up by evil-minded people. The Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation preached this earnestly to the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound.

Thereupon the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, without rising from his seat and without stirring his body, entered into contemplation. By the power of his contemplation, on Mount Grdhrakuta, not far distant from the Law seat, there appeared in transformation eighty-four thousand precious lotus flowers with stalks of jambunada gold, leaves of white silver, stamens of diamond, and cups of kimsuka gems.

Thereupon Manjusri, son of the Law king, seeing those lotus flowers, said to the Buddha: "World-honored One! For what reason does this auspicious sign first appear? There are some thousands and myriads of lotus flowers with stalks of jambunada gold, leaves of white silver, stamens of diamond, and cups of kimsuka gems." (2)

Then Shakyamuni Buddha informed Manjusri: "It is the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Wonder Sound who desires to come from the domain of the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation, with his company of eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas, to this saha world in order to pay homage to, draw near to, and salute me, and who also desires to pay homage to the Law Flower Sutra."

Manjusri said to the Buddha: "World-honored One! What roots of goodness has that bodhisattva planted, what merits has he cultivated, that he should be able to have such great transcendent power? What contemplation does he practice? Be pleased to tell us the name of this contemplation; we also desire diligently to practice it, for by practicing this contemplation, we may be able to see that bodhisattva--his color, form, and size, his dignity and behavior. Be pleased, World-honored One, by thy transcendent power, to let us see the coming of that bodhisattva."

Shakyamuni Buddha told Manjusri: "The Tathagata Abundant Treasures, so long extinct, shall display to you the sign." Instantly the Buddha Abundant Treasures addressed that bodhisattva: "Come, good son! Manjusri, son of the Law king, wishes to see you."

Thereupon the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound disappeared from that domain and started out along with eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas. The countries through which they passed were shaken in the six ways, lotus flowers of the precious seven rained everywhere, and hundreds of thousands of heavenly instruments resounded of themselves. That bodhisattva's eyes were like the broad leaves of the blue lotus. His august countenance surpassed the combined glory of hundreds of thousands of myriads of moons. His body was of pure gold color, adorned with infinite hundreds of thousands of meritorious signs; he was of glowing majesty, radiant and shining, marked with the perfect signs, and of a body strong as Narayana's. (3) Entering a seven-jeweled tower, he mounted the sky seven tala trees above the earth and, worshiped and surrounded by a host of bodhisattvas, came to Mount Grdhrakuta in this saha world. Arrived, he alighted from his seven-jeweled tower and, taking a necklace worth hundreds of thousands, went to Shakyamuni Buddha, at whose feet he made obeisance and to whom he presented the necklace, saying to the Buddha: "World-honored One! The Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation inquires after the World-honored One: 'Have you few ailments and few worries? Are you getting on at ease and in comfort? Are you four component parts (4) in harmony? Are you worldly affairs tolerable? Are you living beings easy to save? Are they not overcovetous, angry, foolish, envious, arrogant; not unfilial to parents or irreverent to sramanas; not having perverted views or being of bad mind, unrestrained in their five passions? World-honored One! Are you living beings able to overcome the Mara enemies? Does the Tathagata Abundant Treasures, so long extinct, still abide in the Stupa of the Precious Seven and come to listen to the Law?' The Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation also inquires of the Tathagata Abundant Treasures: 'Are you at ease and of few worries? Will you be content to remain long?' World-honored One! We now would see the body of the Buddha Abundant Treasures. Be pleased, World-honored One, to show and let us see him."

Then Shakyamuni Buddha said to the Buddha Abundant Treasures: "This Bodhisattva Wonder Sound desires to see you." Instantly the Buddha Abundant Treasures addressed Wonder Sound: "Excellent, excellent, that you have been able to come here to pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha, to hear the Law Flower Sutra, and to see Manjusri and the others."

The words spoken by the Buddha Abundant Treasures contain an important meaning. As a witness to the truth, the Buddha Abundant Treasures declared clearly in his praise of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound that the first requisite for everybody is always to do the following three things: to pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha, who preached the truth; to hear the teaching of the truth, namely, the Lotus Sutra; and to follow the pattern of the virtuous bodhisattvas who practice the teaching.

Then the Bodhisattva Flower Virtue said to the Buddha: "World-honored One! This Bodhisattva Wonder Sound--what roots of goodness has he planted, what merits has he cultivated, that he possesses such transcendent powers?" The Buddha answered Flower Virtue Bodhisattva: "In the past there was a buddha named King of Cloud Thundering Tathagata, Arhat, Samyaksambodhi, whose domain was named Display of All Worlds and whose kalpa named Joyful Sight. The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, for twelve thousand years, with a hundred thousand kinds of music, paid homage to the Buddha King of Cloud Thundering and offered up eighty-four thousand vessels of the precious seven. Being rewarded for this reason, he has now been born in the domain of the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation and possesses such transcendent powers. Flower Virtue! What is your opinion? The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound who at that time paid homage to the Buddha King of Cloud Thundering with music and offerings of precious vessels--was it some other person? It was indeed the present Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Wonder Sound. Flower Virtue! This Bodhisattva Wonder Sound had before paid homage to and been close to innumerable buddhas, for long had cultivated roots of virtue, and had met hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of buddhas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges."

To pay homage to the Buddha with music means to extol his virtue. This should be interpreted as praising the Buddha with words rather than as actually playing music.

THE POWER OF WORDS. Buddhism places great importance on words. Smiles and kind words are regarded as one way of leading people to emancipation. In esoteric Buddhism, secret and mystic words are believed to have the power of counteracting all evils and curses. In chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra, dharanis, formulas of mystic syllables that maintain the religious life of the reciter, are supposed to contain a mystic power.

The same thing can be found in Christianity. The Gospel of John opens with these words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Modern science points out that thoughts are born from words. When we think of something, we formulate it in words in our mind. We cannot think of anything without using words.

When we think deeply of why the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound was called by that name, we realize that the name of this bodhisattva must be derived from an expression meaning "the words of the truth." The Buddha is not delighted by people's merely paying homage to him with music, however beautiful it may be. His mind is truly satisfied by people's extolling him with words of truth.

Considering this, we can understand the phrase "paid homage to the Buddha King of Cloud Thundering and offered up eighty-four thousand vessels of the precious seven." Offering many beautiful vessels to the Buddha would not in itself please him. In Buddhism, the term eighty-four thousand" is used to indicate a limitless number of sutras. The phrase "offered up eighty-four thousand vessels of the precious seven" therefore means that the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound preached the Buddha's teachings to many people in return for having received the Buddha's grace.

The Buddha continued to preach to the following effect: "Flower Virtue! You merely see here one body of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound. But this bodhisattva appears in many kinds of bodies everywhere preaching this sutra to the living. Sometimes he appears as Brahma, or appears as Sakra, or appears as Isvara, or appears as Mahesvara, or appears as a divine general, or appears as the divine king Vaisravana, or appears as a holy wheel-rolling king, or appears as one of the ordinary kings, or appears as an elder, or appears as a citizen, or appears as a minister, or appears as a Brahman, or appears as bhiksu, bhiksuni, upasaka, or upasika, or appears as the wife of an elder or a citizen, or appears as the wife of a minister, or appears as the wife of a Brahman, or appears as a youth or maiden, or appears as a god, dragon, yaksha, gandharva, asura, garuda, kimnara, mahoraga, human or nonhuman being, and so on, and preaches this sutra."

Here the Buddha mentions thirty-four kinds of bodies in which the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound appears. This means that the bodhisattva transforms himself and appears in various ways according to time and circumstance, not limited to these thirty-four kinds of bodies. In the saha world and in all realms, he leads all living beings by his various tactful means according to various beings' character and capacity.

Then the Bodhisattva Flower Virtue said to the Buddha: "World-honored One! This Bodhisattva Wonder Sound has indeed deeply planted his roots of goodness. World-honored One! In what contemplation does this bodhisattva abide, that he is able thus to transform and manifest himself according to circumstances, to save the living?" The Buddha answered Flower Virtue Bodhisattva: "Good son! That contemplation is named revelation of all forms. The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, abiding in this contemplation, is able thus to benefit countless beings."

While this chapter of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound was preached the eighty-four thousand who had come with the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound all attained the contemplation of revelation of all forms, and countless bodhisattvas in this saha world also attained this contemplation and dharani.

Then the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Wonder Sound, having paid homage to Shakyamuni Buddha and to the stupa of the Buddha Abundant Treasures, returned to his own land. The countries through which he passed were agitated in the six different ways, raining precious lotus flowers and performing hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of kinds of music. Having arrived at his own domain, he, with the eighty-four thousand bodbisattvas around him, went to the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation and said to him: "World-honored One! I have been to the saha world, done good to its living beings, seen Shakyamuni Buddha, also seen the stupa of the Buddha Abundant Treasures, and worshiped and paid homage to them; I have also seen the Bodhisattva Manjusri, son of the Law king, as well as the Bodhisattva Medicine King, the Bodhisattva Attainer of Earnestness and Zeal, the Bodhisattva Courageous Giver, and others, and caused those eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas to attain the contemplation of revelation of all forms."

The chapter concludes: "While this chapter on the going and coming of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound was preached, the forty-two thousand heavenly sons attained the assurance of no rebirth, and the Bodhisattva Flower Virtue attained the contemplation termed Law Flower."

When we read the closing portion of this chapter we may wonder if the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound is identical with the Eternal Original Buddha. It is mentioned that the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound can transform himself and appear in various forms anywhere. It is even written, "To those whom he must save in the form of a buddha, he then appears in the form of a buddha and preaches the Law."

However, the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound is not identical with the Eternal Original Buddha but is a bodhisattva who acts as his messenger. This bodhisattva is far inferior to the Tathagata Shakyamuni as the appearing Buddha in his power of enlightening all living beings.

As mentioned earlier, the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound is the symbol of an ideal; he is a bodhisattva who in various ways teaches people an ideal state of mind. He teaches the supreme virtue at which each person must aim--the ideal state of mind for statesmen, for businessmen, for scholars, and for housewives. The teaching of an ideal state of mind is holy indeed, but it does not show its worth so long as it lies idle in one's mind. The true worth of the ideal teaching is appreciated only when and where people realize it little by little in their daily lives.

This is clearly displayed through the actions of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound: this Bodhisattva (or ideal), with a bright golden body of infinite size, went to Shakyamuni Buddha, who had perfected the thirty-two signs and the eighty distinctive bodily marks of a buddha but had assumed the form of an ordinary man, and the bodhisattva made obeisance at the Buddha's feet and presented a precious necklace to him. The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, as the symbol of an ideal, praised Shakyamuni Buddha, who appeared in this world as a perfected man, saying, "You are the one indeed who has realized our ideal." The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound came to the actual world from an ideal realm for the purpose of praising and proving how great and holy a thing it is for people to endeavor to establish the Righteous Law and to build an ideal society in this saha world, filled as it is with defilements and evils.

The true spirit of chapter 24 is that an ideal is not truly holy until it is actually realized by people little by little. Although the buddhas dwelling in ideal worlds, such as the Tathagata Mahavairocana and the Tathagata Amitabha, are surely very holy, the Eternal Original Buddha, whom people can revere through the Tathagata Shakyamuni as the personified ideal thereof, should be the object of worship for those living in this world.

(1) A protuberance on a buddha's cranium forming a hairtuft; the first of the thirty-two sings of a buddha.

(2) The kimsuka is a tree with red flowers, called the "red gem" or "macaw gem" because its flowers are as red as a macaw's back.

(3) Narayana, "firm and solid"; Vishnu a great Hindu divinity.

(4) The four elements, earth, water, fire, and wind, of which every body is composed.