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From: kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( Keith Evans)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: On Omens
Message-ID: <kde.666973489@heawk1>
Date: 19 Feb 91 14:24:49 GMT
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The omens that occurred before Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra
were:

	1) after preaching the Sutra of Infinite Meaning, the assembly
	   do not disperse, but wait in expectation,

	2) Shakyamuni enters profound meditation,

	3) four kinds of exquisite flowers rain from heaven,

	4) the earth trembles in 6 different ways,

	5) seeing these, the people rejioce and placing their palms
	   together, single-mindedly behold the Buddha,

	6) Shakyamuni emits a beam of light from the tuft of white hair
	   between his brows, illuminating 18,000 worlds to the east; all
	   the beings of the 6 paths as well as the Buddhas and their
	   disciples in all these worlds, become clearly visible.

These occurred before most of the sutras that Shakyamuni taught, but
according to Nichiren, they were more auspicious than ever before
Shakyamuni taught the Lotus Sutra.

Also, during the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, the Treasure Tower appeared
in the 11th chapter, with the 7 kinds of jewels and Taho (Many Treasures)
Buddha, who proclaimed that "eveything that you (Shakyamuni) have said is
the truth. Then in the 15th chapter, the Shakyamuni's disciples from the
past emerged from the Earth (after the whole assembly was raised into the
air). It was like saying this 25 year-old man was the father of these 
100-year-old men. Shakyamuni's disciples at Eagle Peak, didn't understand
who these bodhisattvas were, and this is when Shakyamuni proceeded to talk
about the length of his life (16th chapter, "Length span of the Tathagata").
Then in the 21sat chapter, the most auspicious of omens occurred when the 
Buddha displayed the 10 mystic powers, one was to extend his long
broad tongue to the Brahma heaven,  another was to emit a variety of colors 
of light from every pore of his body, illuminating the TEN directions,
all the land in the TEN paths tremblein 6 different ways, etc. (the rest
I leave off for brevity).

What other sutra has these kinds of omens? (hint: none)

This is all very difficult to understand. The key to understanding the 
Lotus Sutra is recognizing that all this came from Shakyamuni's own life,
demonstrating the fullness of human life. 


--
   Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
            Respectfully,
  	         Keith Evans		kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov