Mr. Altig’s Overview of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra

The Lord looked once more at those two thousand disciples, some still on their journey and others fully realized, all gazing up at him with calm, gentle, and peaceful minds. Then he spoke to the venerable Ānanda: “Do you see, Ānanda, these two thousand monks, some still learning and some who have arrived?” “I do, Lord; I do, Well-Gone One,” Ānanda replied.

The Lord continued: “All these two thousand monks, Ānanda, shall embark on the Bodhisattva path together. After honoring and venerating Buddhas as numerous as the atoms of fifty worlds, and after embracing the true teachings, they shall, in their final lives, reach supreme and perfect enlightenment simultaneously. They will do so at the same moment, in various worlds, each in their own land of enlightenment. They shall be known as Tathāgatas, Arhats, by the name ‘The One with the Jewel-Bannered Passion’. Their lifetimes will span a complete eon. The characteristics and virtues of their Buddha-lands will be identical; so too will the numbers of their disciples and Bodhisattvas. Their complete transcendence will occur at the same time, and their true teachings will endure for an equal duration.”

On that profound occasion, the Lord expressed his insights in these verses:

Two thousand disciples here before me stand,
To them, wise sages, I now extend my hand,
A future of Tathāgatas they shall embrace,
Enlightened beings, each with grace.

With worship paid to Buddhas, profound and bright,
Through infinite wisdom’s illuminating light,
In their final existence, they shall find their way,
To my ultimate enlightenment, without delay.

Under one name, in every direction they’ll rise,
At the same moment, under the same skies,
Sitting at the foot of the exalted tree so grand,
Becoming Buddhas, with knowledge, they’ll understand.

All shall bear the name of “Ketus of the Ratna,”^⁠ so true,
Widely famed in this world, their virtues to accrue,
Equal shall be their fields, their followers without divide,
Equal the congregation of disciples, in them, they’ll confide.

Strong in magic’s embrace, they’ll reveal the law,
Simultaneously, in every space without flaw,
Extinct they’ll become, yet their true law shall persist,
Equally long-lasting, in a timeless mist.