We were all anxiously waiting, wondering why the Buddha Keira had summoned us. As we gazed at the Buddha, he underwent a unique transformation. Starting from the top of his head, a mass of hair suddenly appeared which moved down the entire length of his body. What we beheld looked more or less like a stack of hay, and we could no longer see the Buddha's body.
Then, starting at the Buddha's feet, this curtain of hair began to retreat revealing more and more of the Buddha's body which was completely naked. And female, complete with breasts and a vagina. She was also pregnant with a huge belly signifying imminent birth.
Without saying a word, the Buddha Keira arched her back, which made her huge belly even more prominent. And then we saw blood start to trickle from her vagina, from which also emerged trillions of what appeared to be grains of rice. Red grains of rice, which spewed forth, totally covering every square inch of the sky above us. I knew the Great Assembly was uneasy about this great red cloud, which they perhaps feared would start raining woman's detestable blood upon them.
The redness in the sky was so intense, the entire Great Assembly seemed to consist of countless bodhisattvas who were red in coloration down to their cores. We were so astonished at the appearance of all those seeds dominating the sky, we could not speak. And we further lost our power of speech when each of those seeds transformed into a red Buddha who was naked and female and also very pregnant.
How extraordinarily unprecedented! I'd never heard of a Buddha assuming female form. Though perhaps this was not an assumption, but was instead what this Buddha really looked like. But what does "really looked like" mean? The Buddha, like many of us in this Great Assembly, is a shapeshifter. So it would not make sense to ask what a shapeshifter "really" look like.
Most discomforting was the overwhelming silence of these seed buddhas, the Buddha Keira, and all the members of the Great Assembly. There weren't even any murmurs among my peers - we all seemed to have lost our power of speech. We had lost the power to ask questions or express our feelings. And none of those Buddhas spoke - they all seemed to be waiting.
I myself couldn't help but recall two seemingly contradictory teachings I'd heard from many buddhas in the past:
And the Nirvana Sutra also says, "If all the desires and delusions
of all the men throughout the major world system [one major
world system equals one billion worlds] were lumped together,
they would be no greater than the karmic impediment of one single
woman." [Footnote 2].
I look upon all things as being universally equal, I have no mind to
favor this or that, to love one or hate another....At all times, for all
things I preach the Law equally...[Footnote 3]
And then, breaking the silence by filling the whole universe with his words, was Bodhisattva Repentance [Footnote 4], standing next to me, who exclaimed:
I apologize to all the red Buddhas hovering in the sky above us.
I apologize to them and to all women everywhere for not having
protested against those words spoken by the the Buddha, concerning
the "karmic impediment of one single woman."
I apologize for not having realized the Buddha who had expressed
those words against women expected us Bodisattvas to rise up
and say, "Those words are a lie." There are times when buddhas
expect us to contradict them. [Footnote 5]
I also deny these words of the Lotus Sutra [Footnote 6]:
The girl said, "Employ your supernatural powers and watch me
attain buddhahood...."
At that time the members of the assembly all saw the [8 year old]
dragon girl in the space of an instant change into a man [Footnote 7]
and carry out all the practices of a bodhisattva...and attaining
impartial and correct enlightenment.
It is not necessary to "change into a man" in order to "carry out all the
practices of a bodhisattva." Women, as women maintaining their female
forms, can become buddhas. A buddha can manifest any form E pleases
in order to attract and convert people to the Law.
After Bodhisattva Repentance had spoken these words, all the vaginally-spewed buddhas in the sky and the Buddha Keira spoke in one voice saying to Bodhisattva Repentance:
Very good! Very good! It is just as you have said. And we are honored
to witness your immediate attainment of Buddhahood
And then I saw, still standing next to me, Bodhisattva Repentance become a Buddha. I felt all the eyes of all the members of the Great Assembly staring at this new Buddha standing in their presence. There was a period of deafening silence as they stared, beholding in wonder. And then all of us, in unison in one voice, cried out:
Hail to the Buddha Repentance! Hail to the female form this Buddha
is manifesting!
All of this I witnessed a million years ago - and I'm still struggling to process its import. Though when I do, I feel an immense gladness filling my whole being.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Footnotes:
Footnote 1:
NOTE: This quote is from a wikipedia article entitled "Kira (given name)," which gives "Keira" as a variant form:
QUOTE:
The girl's name Kira is pronounced [KEER-A].It might be a female form of the name Kiran,[which is] of Hindi and Sanskrit origin, meaning "beam of light". Besides Sanskrit, there might be other etymologies from Egyptian, where the word Ki-Ra means "like Ra" ... In Russian Kira (Ки́ра) is the feminine form of the male name Kir, meaning "mistress, ruler", but can translate to "leader of the people", "one the people look to" or "beloved".[5] ... There is also a Japanese name, romanized as Kira, which is common in Japan, as both given name and family name. Kira kira also means "glittery, shiny" in Japanese. [7]
:UNQUOTE.
Personal note: Of course I couldn't help thinking of Keira Knightley who starred in a Buddhist movie, "Begin Again."
Footnote 2:
Source: Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 3, p. 20.
Footnote 3:
SOURCE: Page 140 of The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, copyright 2009 by Soka Gakkai, translated by Burton Watson.
Footnote 4:
I find it interesting that the word "repentance" isn't expressed even once within the Lotus Sutra, even though Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (the subject of chapter 28 - the Lotus Sutra's final chapter) has much to say about repentance in the closing section of the three fold Lotus Sutra which is entitled:
Sutra on how to Practice Meditation on Bodhisattva Universal Worthy
Footnote 5:
As with all teachings of the Buddha, two determinations must be made:
ONE: Is the statement in question true?
TWO: If it is not true, then why did he say it? He might have said it as an "Expedient Means" - a teaching method which has been called the foremost device of the Buddhas. Or he might have said it, expecting his disciples to properly identify a lie - even one expressed by the Buddha as being truthful.
Footnote 6:
SOURCE: Page 227 of The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, copyright 2009 by Soka Gakkai, translated by Burton Watson.
Footnote 7:
See the section "So why did the Buddha say this?" in this link:
http://lotussutrachampions.blogspot.com/2013/11/buddha-beholds-womankind-and-she-is-good.html
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle, Just another member of
the Virtual Samgha of the Lotus Sutra and
former candidate for US President (2008 & 2012)
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment