3. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
4. The eighteen miraculous powers are a variety of actions and appearances that Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in order to lead people to enlightenment. Explanations vary depending on the sutra.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15.
6. The Nirvana Sutra says, “Though the plantain grows with the rumbling of thunder, it has neither the ears to hear it nor the mind to feel it.” The sight of plantains refreshed after a thundershower may well have given rise to the belief that “the plantain grows with the rumbling of thunder.”
7. According to Pao-p’u Tzu, when put into the water, a rhinoceros horn made into the form of a fish keeps the water away by three feet.
8. The banyan tree, which is found in tropical and subtropical Asiatic regions, usually around thirty to forty feet tall. Its abundant foliage offers cool shade from the sun.
9. An imaginary bird. It is also said to be the name of a kind of worm. The source of this passage has not been traced.
10. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
11. Ibid, chap. 14.
12. A Buddha mentioned in the Larger Wisdom Sutra and The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom.
13. According to The Record of Wonders in the Book of Chou, Shakyamuni died on the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifty-second year of the reign of King Mu (949B.C.E.) of the Chou dynasty.
14. The eighty-volume Flower Garland Sutra, called the new translation, was translated by Shikshananda (652–710) in the T’ang dynasty, and the sixty-volume Flower Garland Sutra, called the old translation, was translated by Buddhabhadra (359–429) in the Eastern Chin dynasty.
15. The five characters of a, va, ra, ha, and kha indicate, respectively, the five universal elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The esoteric True Word school holds this to be one of the secret truths revealed by Mahavairochana Buddha. This one word was used as a mantra (secret word or syllable) and was said to express the Buddha’s quality, wisdom, appearance, and practice.
16. The seeds refer here to Sanskrit orthographic symbols used to represent various Buddhas and bodhisattvas in the esoteric teaching. The samayas are various
attributes of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, in particular, their vows to lead all people to supreme enlightenment. The term is often used in the esoteric teaching.
17. The seven Buddhas of the past are Shakyamuni and the six Buddhas who preceded him.
18. The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.”
19. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
20. Preface by Chang-an to The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
21. The Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.”
22. The mystic principle of the theoretical teaching is that the Buddha discards the provisional teachings and reveals the true teaching, the Lotus Sutra, which allows people of the two vehicles to attain Buddhahood. The mystic principle of the essential teaching is that the Buddha discards his transient status and reveals his true identity as the Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago.
23. Principles set forth by T’ien-t’ai in his Profound Meaning. The ten mystic principles of the theoretical teaching are based on the concepts of the true aspect of all phenomena and the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle of Buddhahood. The ten mystic principles of the essential teaching are set forth on the basis of the revelation of the Buddha’s original enlightenment numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, as expounded in the “Life Span” chapter.
24. Added to each of the two sets of ten mystic principles—the ten mystic principles of the theoretical teaching and the ten mystic principles of the essential teaching—are the ten mystic principles grasped from the relative standpoint and the ten mystic principles grasped from the absolute, or all-encompassing, standpoint.
25. Thirty mystic principles related to the life of sentient beings, the Buddhist Law, and the nature of one’s mind, or the Law within, plus ten in either the theoretical teaching or the essential teaching.
26. To perceive or awaken to the ultimate reality inherent in one’s life. This is particularly stressed in T’ien-t’ai’s practice, in which meditation is focused on the true nature of one’s mind rather than some exterior object.
27. The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight.”
