demon. But before he had reached the ground, the demon quickly resumed his original form as Shakra, caught the boy, and gently placed him on a level spot. Bowing before him reverently, the god said, “In order to test you, I held back the Thus Come One’s sacred teaching for a time, causing anguish in the heart of a bodhisattva. I hope you will forgive my fault and save me without fail in my next life.”
Then all of the heavenly beings gathered around to praise the boy Snow Mountains, saying, “Excellent, excellent! He is truly a bodhisattva.” By casting away his body to listen to half a verse, the bodhisattva was able to eradicate offenses calling for twelve kalpas of the sufferings of birth and death [and attain enlightenment]. His story is referred to in the Nirvana Sutra.
In the past the boy Snow Mountains was willing to give his life to hear but half a verse. How much more thankful should we be to hear a chapter or even a volume of the Lotus Sutra! How can we ever repay such a blessing? Indeed, if you care about your next life, you should make this bodhisattva your example. Even though you may be too poor to offer anything of value, if the opportunity should arise to give up your life to acquire the Law of the Buddha, you should offer your life in order to pursue the Law.
This body of ours in the end will become nothing more than the soil of the hills and fields. Therefore, it is useless to begrudge your life, for though you may wish to, you cannot cling to it forever. Even people who live a long time rarely live beyond the age of one hundred. And all the events of a lifetime are like the dream one dreams in a brief nap. Though a person may have been fortunate enough to be born as a human being and may have even entered the priesthood, if he fails to study the Buddha’s teaching and to refute its slanderers but simply spends his time in
idleness and chatter, then he is no better than an animal dressed in priestly robes. He may call himself a priest and earn his livelihood as such, but in no way does he deserve to be regarded as a true priest. He is nothing but a thief who has stolen the title of priest. How shameful and frightening!
In the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra there is a passage that reads, “We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.”16 Another passage from the essential teaching reads, “Not hesitating even if it costs them their lives.”17 The Nirvana Sutra states, “One’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give one’s life in order to propagate the Law.”18 Thus both the theoretical and essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra, as well as the Nirvana Sutra, all indicate that one should give one’s life to spread the Law. It is a grave offense to go against these admonitions, and though invisible to the eye, the error piles up until it sends one plummeting to hell. It is like heat or cold, which has no shape or form that the eye can see. Yet in winter the cold comes to attack the trees and grasses, humans and beasts, and in summer the heat comes to torment people and animals.
As a lay believer, the important thing for you is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo single-mindedly and to provide support for the priests. And if we go by the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should also teach the sutra to the best of your ability. When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
