Priestly Robes Chapter2
Because I am a priest of no precepts who holds perverse views, the heavenly gods hate me and I am poor in both food and clothing. Nevertheless, I recite the Lotus Sutra and from time to time preach it. It is exactly as if a huge snake were clasping a jewel in its mouth or sandalwood trees were growing amid the eranda groves. I throw away the eranda and offer the sandalwood, or cover the body of the snake and bestow the jewel.
The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai said, “The other sutras predict Buddhahood only for men, but not for women.”3 If it were not for the Lotus Sutra, women could never attain Buddhahood. The Thus Come One Endowed with a Thousand Ten Thousand Glowing Marks4 refers to the nun Yashodharā.
Considering these things, one realizes that certainly it is the Lotus Sutra that makes it possible for women to attain Buddhahood. The statement that he “now must reveal the truth”5 is the golden words of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. The statement that “all that you have expounded is the truth”6 is the testimony of Many Treasures Buddha. “Their tongues reach to the Brahma heaven”7 is the solemn pledge of all the various Buddhas.
Could the sun and moon ever fall to the earth? Could Mount Sumeru ever crumble? Could the tide ever cease its ebb and flow? Could the earth ever overturn?
The benefits arising from the offering of these robes are described in the Lotus Sutra. Simply consider this with your faith, for it is difficult to express in words.
Notes
3. The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.
4. The “Encouraging Devotion” chapter of the Lotus Sutra predicts that Yashodharā will become a Buddha named Endowed with a Thousand Ten Thousand Glowing Marks.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
6. Ibid., chap. 11.
7. Ibid., chap. 21. A long tongue attests to the veracity of a statement or teaching.