The Path to a Million Successes
One of the most renowned Buddhist Sutras throughout the Orient, particularly in China and Japan, is the so-called Lotus Sutra.
In a subtle manner, it introduces fundamental elements of the Mahayana Buddhist School, or the Great Vehicle. This denomination is frequently utilized as a pejorative contrast toward the older Buddhist schools, the Hinayana, that is, the school of the Lesser Vehicle.
But how could anyone have pursued a superior degree if they had not been previously taught many basic and necessary things? This is often forgotten, and precisely this Lotus Sutra undertakes a twofold task.
On one hand, through an exalted, repetitive, and multicolored imagery, it speaks to us of the innumerable qualities of the Buddhas, and of the Bodhisattvas, who dispense their teachings—according to this Sutra—through millions and even billions of years, across infinite distances, in the four directions of space; teachings which are also attended by countless beings from the entire Universe.
And yet, through those verses, at times repetitive, of fabulous descriptions, in almost no part of this lengthy Sutra is what it teaches clearly specified. This Sutra does not possess a list of creeds, practices, or beliefs ordered to be memorized; rather, like a golden thread, it poetically allows the imagination to soar until it situates itself in worlds that have nothing to do with this overwhelming world of our problems.
And that is precisely the First Teaching.
One must depart from this world, not as an escape, but as a recognition of the material mirage that surrounds us, of the unreal preoccupations that haunt us, of the maladies of a life that ends and binds us with the ardent and constant desire for this existence.
Could it be any other way?
The Lotus Sutra also introduces a very important concept: the Buddha utilizes Skillful Means. Let us first clarify: the Buddha who speaks here is no longer Gautama Sakyamuni the Buddha, he who was born in the 6th century before the other Western messenger. It is, in reality, Eternal Wisdom who speaks through his mouth, the same which has been in the mouths of so many sages, as incommensurable in their number as the stars. And that Eternal Wisdom, that Illumination which gradually converts us all into Buddhas—that is, enlightened or "awakened" ones in this dream of death—takes each of us by the hand and guides us slowly. Some as children, others as adults, others as sages, some as rebels, and others as peaceful followers. Each sleeper receives the teaching that is suitable for them.
The Skillful Means of the Buddhas help to progressively change our mentality; they open our soul—as if it were a Lotus, hence perhaps the name of this Sutra—until we gradually understand the foundations of truth. We have been children, then adults; we have been Muslims, Christians, pagans, ritualists, and cabalists, simple believers, at other times mystics, poets, artists, and thousands of other things. Like the Lotus that opens little by little, until the Light penetrates its interior without obstacles.
This Sutra states that almost all beings take delight in an inferior doctrine because they fear Great Wisdom. And for that reason, the Buddhas, skillfully, show resting places on the path; they point out immediate objectives, be it Nirvana, Paradise, or simply Rest after an exhausting day.
We need to forget, to release the heavy burden of the consciousness that entangles itself little by little around our feet, preventing us from advancing amidst so much pain. Therefore, Nature, the Buddha of the Wisdom of the World, has arranged upon the path the place to alleviate the load and find refreshment.
The faults of the past form part of the path; they are the previous stages, they are the consciousness of the error committed. The experience remains, but one must erase from memory that from which nothing is gained.
And if even so we do not succeed, and if the past returns again and again, accusing us, then we must shake off that useless burden and remember how many times we have succeeded, the many times we have emerged victorious before our weakness. Yes, certainly we have fallen perhaps five hundred times, even thousands of times, perhaps millions of times if we consider the long path of lives traveled.
But here we are, after having crossed the gates of life innumerable times; after having succeeded billions of times, we have been born victorious as human beings, and that is a great privilege.
We feel pain when remembering the evil, or rather the error we committed, our infinite regret for the harm done to others; but one must know that the life of a human being is not judged by its last act; no one is condemned for being distrustful. It is also necessary to remember the many times we have been good, that we have been generous, that we have fought evil, that we have cared for others…
We will thus discover that we are neither wicked devils nor divine saints, but only human wayfarers, the tireless gladiators of this path of glory beyond pain and death. Yes, certainly you have erred, but millions of times more you have conquered, for if it were not so, you would not form part of this great human fraternity.
Thus the Lotus Sutra extends a gentle hand full of hope over all beings of this universe; it tells us that there is neither Hinayana nor Mahayana, there are no Catholics nor Protestants, no Believers nor Unbelievers; there are only Beings on the path, traced by the Skillful Means of Eternal Wisdom.
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