The Teacher of the Dharma
法師品第十
This chapter turns from named disciples receiving individual predictions to anyone at all — present in this assembly or born long after it disperses — who so much as rejoices for a single moment at a single verse of this sūtra. It names what should mark the place where the sūtra is kept, offers a parable for the gradual, unglamorous work of approaching a truth this vast, and gives, in four short phrases, the whole discipline required of anyone who would teach it after the Buddha is gone.
- This part covers
- The prediction extended to anyone, present or future, who hears even a single verse of this sūtra and rejoices for a single moment; the far graver offense of speaking ill of someone who reads and recites it, compared to reviling the Buddha himself; the stūpa that should be raised wherever the sūtra is kept, since the Tathāgata's entire body is already present there; the parable of digging for water on a high plateau, growing certain of what lies ahead as the ground grows gradually more moist; and the formula for teaching this sūtra after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa — entering his room of great compassion, wearing his robe of gentleness and patience, and sitting in his seat of the emptiness of all things.
- Why it matters
- Every chapter before this one has addressed named individuals within the assembly gathered at Vulture Peak. This chapter is the sūtra's first sustained address to anyone else — a reader, at any point in the future, who has done nothing more than encounter these words and feel a moment's gladness at them.
1. The Merit of Even a Moment's Joy
爾時世尊因藥王菩薩，告八萬大士：「藥王！汝見是大眾中，無量諸天、龍王、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿修羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、人與非人，及比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷，求聲聞者、求辟支佛者、求佛道者，如是等類，咸於佛前，聞妙法華經一偈一句，乃至一念隨喜者，我皆與授記，當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 佛告藥王：「又如來滅度之後，若有人聞妙法華經，乃至一偈一句，一念隨喜者，我亦與授阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記。若復有人受持、讀誦、解說、書寫妙法華經，乃至一偈，於此經卷敬視如佛，種種供養——華、香、瓔珞、末香、塗香、燒香，繒蓋、幢幡、衣服、伎樂，乃至合掌恭敬。藥王！當知是諸人等已曾供養十萬億佛，於諸佛所成就大願，愍眾生故，生此人間。 「藥王！若有人問：『何等眾生於未來世當得作佛？』應示：『是諸人等於未來世必得作佛。』何以故？若善男子、善女人，於法華經，乃至一句，受持、讀誦、解說、書寫，種種供養經卷——華、香、瓔珞、末香、塗香、燒香、繒蓋、幢幡、衣服、伎樂，合掌恭敬；是人，一切世間所應瞻奉，應以如來供養而供養之。當知此人是大菩薩，成就阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，哀愍眾生，願生此間，廣演分別妙法華經。何況盡能受持、種種供養者？ 「藥王！當知是人自捨清淨業報，於我滅度後，愍眾生故，生於惡世，廣演此經。若是善男子、善女人，我滅度後，能竊為一人說法華經，乃至一句；當知是人則如來使，如來所遣，行如來事。何況於大眾中廣為人說？ 「藥王！若有惡人，以不善心，於一劫中現於佛前，常毀罵佛，其罪尚輕；若人以一惡言，毀呰在家、出家讀誦法華經者，其罪甚重。 「藥王！其有讀誦法華經者，當知是人以佛莊嚴而自莊嚴，則為如來肩所荷擔。其所至方，應隨向禮，一心合掌，恭敬供養，尊重讚歎，華、香、瓔珞，末香、塗香、燒香，繒蓋、幢幡，衣服、餚饌，作諸伎樂，人中上供，而供養之，應持天寶而以散之，天上寶聚應以奉獻。所以者何？是人歡喜說法，須臾聞之，即得究竟阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故。」
At that time the World-Honored One, addressing Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva, said to the eighty thousand great beings: "Bhaiṣajyarāja! Do you see, within this great assembly, the immeasurable gods, dragon kings, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans and non-humans, and the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, those who seek to be śrāvakas, those who seek to be pratyekabuddhas, and those who seek the buddha-path — every one of them, having heard, before the Buddha, even a single verse or a single phrase of the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra, and rejoicing in it for even a single thought — to all of them I bestow a prediction: they shall attain unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening." The Buddha said to Bhaiṣajyarāja: "And after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, if there is a person who hears the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra, even a single verse or a single phrase, and rejoices in it for even a single thought, I likewise bestow on him a prediction of unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. And if there is a person who upholds, reads, recites, explains, or copies the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra, even a single verse, and regards this sūtra-scroll with the same reverence as he would the Buddha himself, making every kind of offering to it — flowers, incense, garlands, powdered incense, perfumed ointments, burning incense, silken canopies, banners, robes, and music — even simply joining his palms in reverence, Bhaiṣajyarāja, you should know that all such people have already, in the past, made offerings to a hundred thousand koṭis of buddhas, and, in the presence of those buddhas, fulfilled a great vow, and, out of compassion for beings, have been born in this human realm. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! If someone should ask: 'Which beings will attain buddhahood in a future age?' you should show them: 'These people here will surely attain buddhahood in a future age.' Why is this so? Because if a good son or good daughter upholds, reads, recites, explains, or copies even a single phrase of the Lotus Sūtra, and makes every kind of offering to the sūtra-scroll — flowers, incense, garlands, powdered incense, perfumed ointments, burning incense, silken canopies, banners, robes, and music — or simply joins his palms in reverence, this person should be looked up to and revered by the whole world, and should be made offerings to with the very offerings one would make to a tathāgata. You should know that this person is a great bodhisattva, who has already accomplished unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening, and who, out of pity for beings, has vowed to be born here, to broadly expound and distinguish the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra. How much more so, then, one who is able to uphold it in full, and to make every kind of offering to it? "Bhaiṣajyarāja! You should know that such a person has himself set aside the pure recompense of his own karma, and, after my parinirvāṇa, out of pity for beings, has been born into this evil age, to broadly expound this sūtra. If a good son or good daughter, after my parinirvāṇa, is able even privately to teach the Lotus Sūtra to a single person, even a single phrase of it, you should know that this person is an emissary of the Tathāgata, sent by the Tathāgata himself, doing the Tathāgata's own work. How much more so, then, one who broadly teaches it to others in the midst of a great assembly? "Bhaiṣajyarāja! If there were an evil person who, with an unwholesome mind, stood before the Buddha for a whole kalpa, constantly reviling and cursing him, his offense would still be a light one; but if a person, with even a single evil word, disparages a layperson or a monastic who reads and recites the Lotus Sūtra, his offense is far graver. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! Whoever reads and recites the Lotus Sūtra, you should know that this person adorns himself with the Buddha's own adornments, and is borne upon the Tathāgata's own shoulder. Wherever he goes, people should bow in that direction, joining their palms with one mind, honoring him with offerings, revering and praising him, offering flowers, incense, garlands, powdered incense, perfumed ointments, burning incense, silken canopies, banners, robes, delicacies, and every kind of music, the finest offerings among humankind; they should scatter heavenly treasures over him, and offer up heaps of heavenly jewels to him. Why is this so? Because this person, joyfully teaching the Dharma, if one hears him even for a moment, at once attains the ultimate, unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening."
This chapter marks a shift worth noticing in who the sūtra is now addressing. Every prediction from Śāriputra's onward has named a specific person present in this assembly. Here the criterion changes entirely: not who someone is, but what they have done — heard "even a single verse or a single phrase," and "rejoiced in it for even a single thought." Nothing about status, learning, or length of practice is named as a condition. The claim is repeated for "after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa" as well, extending it explicitly past this assembly to anyone who will ever encounter these words at all — which includes, in the plainest sense, whoever is reading this page now.
The comparison the chapter draws between reviling the Buddha and disparaging someone who reads this sūtra is stated without qualification: a whole kalpa of open hostility to the Buddha's own person is called the lighter offense. Read alongside Part 5's warning against teaching this sūtra carelessly to those unready for it, the two passages together outline a consistent, if severe, logic: this sūtra's own text repeatedly treats how a person relates to it — reverence or contempt, careful transmission or careless exposure — as carrying weight equal to or beyond how that person relates to the Buddha directly.
2. Verse: Rewards Beyond Measure
爾時世尊欲重宣此義，而說偈言： 「若欲住佛道， 成就自然智， 常當勤供養， 受持法華者。 其有欲疾得， 一切種智慧， 當受持是經， 并供養持者。 若有能受持， 妙法華經者， 當知佛所使， 愍念諸眾生。 諸有能受持， 妙法華經者， 捨於清淨土， 愍眾故生此。 當知如是人， 自在所欲生， 能於此惡世， 廣說無上法。 應以天華香， 及天寶衣服， 天上妙寶聚， 供養說法者。 吾滅後惡世， 能持是經者， 當合掌禮敬， 如供養世尊。 上饌眾甘美， 及種種衣服， 供養是佛子， 冀得須臾聞。 若能於後世， 受持是經者， 我遣在人中， 行於如來事。 若於一劫中， 常懷不善心， 作色而罵佛， 獲無量重罪。 其有讀誦持， 是法華經者， 須臾加惡言， 其罪復過彼。 有人求佛道， 而於一劫中， 合掌在我前， 以無數偈讚。 由是讚佛故， 得無量功德， 歎美持經者， 其福復過彼。 於八十億劫， 以最妙色聲， 及與香味觸， 供養持經者。 如是供養已， 若得須臾聞， 則應自欣慶， 我今獲大利。 藥王今告汝， 我所說諸經， 而於此經中， 法華最第一。」
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this same meaning once more, spoke in verse: "If you wish to abide in the buddha-path, and accomplish wisdom that arises of itself, you should constantly make diligent offerings to those who uphold the Lotus Sūtra. Whoever wishes swiftly to attain the wisdom of all modes should uphold this sūtra, and make offerings besides to those who uphold it. Whoever is able to uphold the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra, know that he is an emissary of the Buddha, taking pity on every being. All who are able to uphold the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra have set aside a pure land of their own, and, out of pity for beings, have been born here instead. Know that such a person, though free to be born wherever he wishes, is able, in this evil age, to broadly teach the unsurpassed Dharma. You should make offerings to this teacher of the Dharma with heavenly flowers and incense, heavenly jeweled robes, and heaps of wondrous heavenly treasure. After my parinirvāṇa, in this evil age, whoever is able to uphold this sūtra should be honored with joined palms, as one would honor the World-Honored One himself; with fine food of every sweet flavor, and every kind of robe, make offerings to this child of the Buddha, hoping only to hear him even for a moment. Whoever, in the ages to come, is able to uphold this sūtra, I send into the world among people, to do the work of the Tathāgata. If a person, for a whole kalpa, constantly harbored an unwholesome mind, and, with an angry countenance, reviled the Buddha, he would incur immeasurable, grave offense; but whoever, even for a moment, speaks an evil word against one who reads, recites, and upholds this Lotus Sūtra, his offense is graver still. If a person seeking the buddha-path were to stand before me for a whole kalpa, palms joined, praising me with countless verses, he would, through this praise of the Buddha, attain immeasurable merit — yet praising one who upholds this sūtra brings a blessing greater still. For eighty koṭis of kalpas, with the finest forms, sounds, fragrances, tastes, and touches, one might make offerings to one who upholds this sūtra — and having made such offerings, if one is then able to hear this sūtra even for a moment, one should rejoice in oneself, saying: 'I have now gained a great benefit.' Bhaiṣajyarāja, I now declare to you: among all the sūtras I have taught, this Lotus Sūtra is foremost of all."
The closing line states outright what the rest of this chapter has been implying through the weight of its comparisons: "among all the sūtras I have taught, this Lotus Sūtra is foremost of all." This is the sūtra's own explicit self-ranking, stated in the Buddha's own voice rather than left for a reader to infer — and it is worth simply noting as exactly that: a claim the text makes about itself, presented here without further argument, the way the chapters on prediction presented each disciple's future without argument either.
3. The Stūpa of the Dharma, and the Parable of Digging for Water
爾時佛復告藥王菩薩摩訶薩：「我所說經典無量千萬億，已說、今說、當說，而於其中，此法華經最為難信難解。 「藥王！此經是諸佛祕要之藏，不可分布妄授與人；諸佛世尊之所守護，從昔已來，未曾顯說。而此經者，如來現在，猶多怨嫉，況滅度後？ 「藥王！當知如來滅後，其能書、持、讀、誦、供養、為他人說者，如來則為以衣覆之，又為他方現在諸佛之所護念。是人有大信力，及志願力、諸善根力。當知是人與如來共宿，則為如來手摩其頭。 「藥王！在在處處，若說、若讀、若誦、若書，若經卷所住處，皆應起七寶塔，極令高廣嚴飾，不須復安舍利。所以者何？此中已有如來全身。此塔，應以一切華、香、瓔珞，繒蓋、幢幡，伎樂、歌頌，供養恭敬，尊重讚歎。若有人得見此塔，禮拜、供養，當知是等皆近阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 「藥王！多有人在家、出家行菩薩道，若不能得見聞、讀誦、書持、供養是法華經者，當知是人未善行菩薩道；若有得聞是經典者，乃能善行菩薩之道。其有眾生求佛道者，若見、若聞是法華經，聞已信解受持者，當知是人得近阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 「藥王！譬如有人渴乏須水，於彼高原穿鑿求之，猶見乾土，知水尚遠；施功不已，轉見濕土，遂漸至泥，其心決定、知水必近。菩薩亦復如是，若未聞、未解、未能修習是法華經者，當知是人去阿耨多羅三藐三菩提尚遠；若得聞解、思惟、修習，必知得近阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。所以者何？一切菩薩阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，皆屬此經——此經開方便門，示真實相。是法華經藏，深固幽遠，無人能到，今佛教化成就菩薩而為開示。 「藥王！若有菩薩聞是法華經，驚疑、怖畏，當知是為新發意菩薩；若聲聞人聞是經，驚疑、怖畏，當知是為增上慢者。」
At that time the Buddha said further to Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva: "Of the immeasurable thousands of myriads of koṭis of sūtras I have taught — already taught, now teaching, and yet to teach — this Lotus Sūtra is, among them all, the hardest to believe and hardest to understand. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! This sūtra is the secret, essential treasury of the buddhas; it is not to be distributed carelessly or given recklessly to just anyone. It is guarded by the buddhas, the world-honored ones, and from ancient times has never yet been openly taught. And this sūtra, even while the Tathāgata is still present in the world, already meets with much enmity and jealousy — how much more so after his parinirvāṇa? "Bhaiṣajyarāja! You should know that after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, whoever is able to copy, uphold, read, recite, make offerings to, or teach this sūtra to others — the Tathāgata will cover him with his own robe, and he will besides be held in mind and protected by the buddhas presently dwelling in other worlds. Such a person has great power of faith, power of resolve, and power of good roots. You should know that this person dwells together with the Tathāgata, and that the Tathāgata's own hand rests upon his head. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! Wherever this sūtra is taught, read, recited, or copied, and wherever a copy of this sūtra-scroll resides, a stūpa of the seven treasures should be raised there, as high and broad and finely adorned as possible — there is no need to place relics within it as well. Why is this so? Because the Tathāgata's entire body is already present there. This stūpa should be honored with every kind of flower, incense, garland, silken canopy, banner, music, and hymn, revered and praised. If a person is able to see this stūpa, and bow before it and make offerings to it, you should know that such a person is already close to unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! There are many people, both laypeople and monastics, who practice the bodhisattva path; but if they are unable to see, hear, read, recite, copy, uphold, or make offerings to this Lotus Sūtra, you should know that they have not yet practiced the bodhisattva path well. If there are those who are able to hear this sūtra, then they are able to practice the bodhisattva path well. Whatever beings seek the buddha-path, if they see or hear this Lotus Sūtra, and, having heard it, believe, understand, and uphold it, you should know that such people have drawn close to unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! It is like a person, thirsty and in need of water, who digs into a high plateau in search of it: as long as he sees only dry earth, he knows the water is still far off; but as he continues his labor without ceasing, and comes to see moist earth, and then gradually reaches mud, his mind grows certain that the water must now be near. Bodhisattvas are likewise so: if they have not yet heard, not yet understood, and not yet been able to practice this Lotus Sūtra, you should know that they are still far from unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening; but if they come to hear it, understand it, reflect on it, and practice it, they may know for certain that they have drawn near to unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening. Why is this so? Because the unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening of every bodhisattva belongs entirely to this sūtra — this sūtra opens the gate of skillful means, and reveals the mark of true reality. This treasury of the Lotus Sūtra is profound, firm, and deep, beyond anyone's reach — and the Buddha now teaches and brings bodhisattvas to accomplishment by opening and revealing it to them. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! If there is a bodhisattva who, hearing this Lotus Sūtra, is startled, doubtful, or afraid, you should know that he is a bodhisattva newly resolved in his intent; if there is a śrāvaka who, hearing this sūtra, is startled, doubtful, or afraid, you should know that he is one who is arrogant."
The instruction that a stūpa should be raised wherever this sūtra is kept, "with no need to place relics within it as well," rests on a striking claim stated in passing rather than elaborated: "the Tathāgata's entire body is already present there." Where a conventional stūpa marks and honors physical remains, this passage locates that same presence in the text itself. The chapters ahead in this sūtra will return to stūpas in a far more literal and visually dramatic way — Part 12 opens with an entire jeweled stūpa erupting bodily out of the earth — and it is worth holding this quieter, textual version of the same claim alongside that more spectacular one when it arrives.
The parable of digging for water introduces a note this sūtra has not emphasized as directly before: certainty arriving gradually, through visible incremental change, rather than all at once. Every threshold this sūtra has described so far — five thousand leaving the assembly, twelve hundred receiving a single collective name, a phantom city appearing and vanishing — has turned on a single decisive moment. Here the image is instead of dry earth slowly giving way to moisture, and then to mud, before water is ever reached — progress that can be tracked and trusted before the goal itself is in view. Read alongside it, the closing distinction between a bodhisattva's fear at hearing this sūtra (attributed to simply being new to the path) and a śrāvaka's identical fear (attributed to arrogance) suggests the difference the sūtra cares about is not the fear itself, but what a person does with uncertainty — whether it is treated as evidence of how far the ground still is, or as reason to stop digging.
4. The Tathāgata's Room, Robe, and Seat
「藥王！若有善男子、善女人，如來滅後，欲為四眾說是法華經者，云何應說？是善男子、善女人，入如來室，著如來衣，坐如來座，爾乃應為四眾廣說斯經。如來室者，一切眾生中大慈悲心是；如來衣者，柔和忍辱心是；如來座者，一切法空是。安住是中，然後以不懈怠心，為諸菩薩及四眾廣說是法華經。 「藥王！我於餘國遣化人為其集聽法眾，亦遣化比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷聽其說法。是諸化人聞法信受，隨順不逆。若說法者在空閑處，我時廣遣天、龍、鬼神、乾闥婆、阿修羅等，聽其說法。我雖在異國，時時令說法者得見我身。若於此經忘失句逗，我還為說，令得具足。」
"Bhaiṣajyarāja! If there is a good son or good daughter who, after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, wishes to teach this Lotus Sūtra for the fourfold assembly, how should he teach it? This good son or good daughter should enter the Tathāgata's room, put on the Tathāgata's robe, and sit in the Tathāgata's seat, and only then should he broadly teach this sūtra for the fourfold assembly. The Tathāgata's room is the mind of great loving-kindness and compassion toward all beings; the Tathāgata's robe is the mind of gentleness and patience; the Tathāgata's seat is the emptiness of all things. Abiding securely within these, one should then, with a mind never lax, broadly teach this Lotus Sūtra for the bodhisattvas and the fourfold assembly. "Bhaiṣajyarāja! In other lands I shall send phantom people to gather an assembly to listen to his teaching, and shall send as well phantom monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen to listen to his teaching of the Dharma. These phantom people, hearing the Dharma, will believe and accept it, following it without contradiction. If the teacher of the Dharma is in a quiet, secluded place, I shall then broadly send gods, dragons, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, and the rest, to listen to his teaching of the Dharma. Though I myself may be in another land, I shall, from time to time, cause the teacher of the Dharma to see my own body. And if he should forget a phrase or a passage of this sūtra, I shall come and teach it to him again, so that he may have it complete."
These three phrases became, across the centuries of commentary that followed this sūtra, one of its most frequently invoked formulas on their own, independent of the surrounding chapter — a short enough discipline to be memorized and returned to by anyone who teaches, in any capacity: compassion as the room one works from, patience as the covering one wears, and the emptiness of all fixed views as the ground one sits on. It is worth noticing what the formula does not require. It names no doctrine to master beyond emptiness itself, no credential, no lineage — only three interior postures, available in principle to the "good son or good daughter" of the opening line as readily as to any of the great disciples named earlier in this sūtra. The promise that follows — phantom assemblies gathered to listen, protection from harm, the Buddha's own body made visible to a teacher working in solitude — is offered on the same terms: not as a reward for status, but as what accompanies the practice of the three phrases themselves.
5. Verse: The Teacher of the Dharma, Never Alone
爾時世尊欲重宣此義，而說偈言： 「欲捨諸懈怠， 應當聽此經， 是經難得聞， 信受者亦難。 如人渴須水， 穿鑿於高原， 猶見乾燥土， 知去水尚遠； 漸見濕土泥， 決定知近水。 藥王汝當知！ 如是諸人等， 不聞法華經， 去佛智甚遠， 若聞是深經， 決了聲聞法， 是諸經之王， 聞已諦思惟， 當知此人等， 近於佛智慧。 若人說此經， 應入如來室， 著於如來衣， 而坐如來座， 處眾無所畏， 廣為分別說。 大慈悲為室， 柔和忍辱衣， 諸法空為座， 處此為說法。 若說此經時， 有人惡口罵， 加刀杖瓦石， 念佛故應忍。 我千萬億土， 現淨堅固身， 於無量億劫， 為眾生說法。 若我滅度後， 能說此經者， 我遣化四眾， 比丘比丘尼， 及清信士女， 供養於法師， 引導諸眾生， 集之令聽法。 若人欲加惡， 刀杖及瓦石， 則遣變化人， 為之作衛護。 若說法之人， 獨在空閑處， 寂寞無人聲， 讀誦此經典， 我爾時為現， 清淨光明身。 若忘失章句， 為說令通利。 若人具是德， 或為四眾說， 空處讀誦經， 皆得見我身。 若人在空閑， 我遣天龍王， 夜叉鬼神等， 為作聽法眾。 是人樂說法， 分別無罣礙， 諸佛護念故， 能令大眾喜。 若親近法師， 速得菩薩道， 隨順是師學， 得見恒沙佛。」
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this same meaning once more, spoke in verse: "If you wish to cast off every laxity, you should listen to this sūtra; this sūtra is hard to have the chance to hear, and hard, too, to find those who believe and accept it. It is like a person, thirsty for water, digging into a high plateau: as long as he sees only dry, parched earth, he knows the water is still far off; gradually seeing moist earth and mud, he knows for certain the water is near. Bhaiṣajyarāja, you should know: people such as these, who have not heard the Lotus Sūtra, are far indeed from the Buddha's wisdom; but if they hear this profound sūtra, which settles once and for all the Dharma of the śrāvakas, this king of all sūtras, and, having heard it, reflect on it carefully, you should know that such people have drawn near to the Buddha's own wisdom. If a person is to teach this sūtra, he should enter the Tathāgata's room, put on the Tathāgata's robe, and sit in the Tathāgata's seat, and, standing before the assembly without fear, broadly distinguish and teach it. Great loving-kindness and compassion are the room; gentleness and patience are the robe; the emptiness of all things is the seat — dwelling within these, one should teach the Dharma. If, while teaching this sūtra, someone should revile him with foul words, or strike him with swords, staves, tiles, or stones, he should, mindful of the Buddha, bear it with patience. Throughout thousands of myriads of koṭis of lands, I manifest a pure, unbreakable body, and, through immeasurable koṭis of kalpas, teach the Dharma for beings. If, after my parinirvāṇa, there is one able to teach this sūtra, I shall send phantom monks, nuns, and devoted laymen and laywomen, to make offerings to this teacher of the Dharma, and to lead beings to him, gathering them so that they may listen to the Dharma. If anyone should wish to do him harm, with swords, staves, tiles, or stones, I shall send phantom people to guard and protect him. If the teacher of the Dharma, alone in some quiet and secluded place, silent and without another human voice, reads and recites this sūtra, at that time I shall manifest for him my own pure, radiant body. And if he should forget a passage or a phrase, I shall teach it to him, so that he may master it fully. If a person is complete with these qualities, whether teaching for the fourfold assembly, or reading and reciting the sūtra in some empty place, he shall, in either case, come to see my own body. If a person is in some quiet place, I shall send dragon kings of the gods, yakṣas and spirits, to form his assembly of listeners. Such a person delights in teaching the Dharma, distinguishing it without any hindrance, and, because the buddhas hold him in mind and protect him, he is able to bring joy to the whole assembly. Whoever draws near to a teacher of the Dharma shall swiftly attain the bodhisattva path, and, following and learning from this teacher, shall come to see buddhas as many as the sands of the Ganges."
This closing verse pairs two promises worth reading together rather than separately: protection from hostility ("if anyone should wish to do him harm... I shall send phantom people to guard and protect him") and companionship in isolation ("alone in some quiet and secluded place, silent and without another human voice... I shall manifest for him my own pure, radiant body"). The chapter's opening sections addressed a teacher facing an audience — the merit of being heard, the offense of being disparaged; its closing verse addresses a teacher with no audience at all, reciting to no one, and promises the same presence there. Between the two conditions, hostile crowd and empty room, the chapter leaves out the most ordinary case — teaching to a room that simply listens without incident — perhaps because that case needs no promise attached to it at all.