Lotus Sutra of the Wondrous Dharma, Fascicle Five

「普賢！若於後世，受持、讀誦是經典者，是人不復貪著衣服、臥具、飲食、資生之物，所願不虛，亦於現世得其福報。若有人輕毀之，言：『汝狂人耳，空作是行，終無所獲。』如是罪報，當世世無眼；若有供養讚歎之者，當於今世得現果報。若復見受持是經者，出其過惡，若實、若不實，此人現世得白癩病。若有輕笑之者，當世世牙齒踈缺，醜唇、平鼻，手腳繚戾，眼目角睞，身體臭穢，惡瘡、膿血、水腹、短氣、諸惡重病。是故，普賢！若見受持是經典者，當起遠迎，當如敬佛。」

(The Buddha continued:) "Samantabhadra! If in later ages someone receives and holds and reads and recites this sutra, this person no longer clings to clothing, bedding, food and drink, or the necessities of life; what he wishes will not be in vain, and he will also receive the reward of his blessings in this present life. If someone slights and disparages him, saying: 'You are just a madman; your practice is empty and will in the end obtain nothing,' the retribution for such an offense will be to have no eyes in life after life; if someone makes offerings and praises him, he will receive visible retribution in this life. If someone again sees a person who receives and holds this sutra and brings out his faults, whether true or untrue, this person in this life will get white leprosy. If someone laughs at him lightly, in life after life his teeth will be sparse and missing, his lips ugly, his nose flat, his hands and feet twisted, his eyes squinting, his body foul-smelling, with evil sores, pus and blood, dropsy, shortness of breath, and all kinds of evil serious diseases. Therefore, Samantabhadra, if you see a person who receives and holds this sutra, you should rise and greet him from afar, and treat him as you would respect a Buddha."

說是普賢勸發品時，恆河沙等無量無邊菩薩，得百千萬億旋陀羅尼；三千大千世界微塵等諸菩薩，具普賢道。

When this chapter on the Exhortation of Samantabhadra was spoken, Bodhisattvas as many as the sands of the Ganges, countless and boundless, attained hundreds of thousands of myriads of billions of Revolving Dharanis; Bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of the three thousand great thousand worlds were complete in the Way of Samantabhadra.

佛說是經時，普賢等諸菩薩，舍利弗等諸聲聞，及諸天、龍、人非人等，一切大會，皆大歡喜，受持佛語，作禮而去。

When the Buddha spoke this sutra, Samantabhadra and the other Bodhisattvas, Shariputra and the other Hearers, and the devas, nagas, humans and non-humans, the whole great assembly, were all greatly delighted, received and held the Buddha's words, bowed, and departed.

《法華經》者，諸佛之秘藏，眾經之實體也。以華為名者，照其本也；稱芬陀利者，美其盛也。所興既玄，其旨甚婉，自非達識傳之，罕有得其門者。夫百卉藥木之英，物實之本也；八萬四千法藏者，道果之原也，故以喻焉。諸華之中，蓮華最勝，華尚未敷，名屈摩羅；敷而將落，名迦摩羅；處中盛時，名芬陀利。未敷喻二道，將落譬泥洹，榮曜獨足以喻斯典。至如《般若》諸經，深無不極，故道者以之而歸；大無不該，故乘者以之而濟；然其大略，皆以適化為大；應務之門，不得不以善權為用。權之為化，悟物雖弘，於實體不足，皆屬《法華》，固其宜矣。尋其幽旨，恢廓宏邃，所該甚遠，豈徒說實歸本，畢定殊塗而已耶？乃實大明覺理，囊括古今。雲佛壽無量，永劫未足以明其久也；分身無數，萬形不足以異其體也。然則壽量定其非數，分身明其無實，普賢顯其無成，多寶照其不滅。夫邁玄古以斯今，則萬世同一日；即萬化以悟玄，則千途無異轍。夫如是者，則生生未足以期存，永寂亦未可言其滅矣。尋幽宗以絕往，則喪功於本無；控心轡於三昧，則忘期於二地。經流茲土，雖復垂及百年，譯者昧其虛津，靈關莫之或啟；談者乖其準格，幽蹤罕得而履；徒復搜研皓首，竝未有窺其門者。秦司隷校尉左將軍安城侯姚嵩，擬韻玄門，宅心世表，注誠斯典，信詣彌至，每思尋其文，深識譯者之失。既遇鳩摩羅法師，為之傳寫，指其大歸真，若披重霄而高蹈，登崑崙而俯盻矣。於時聽受領悟之僧八百餘人，皆是諸方英秀，一時之傑也。是歲弘始八年，歲次鶉火。

The Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of all Buddhas and the very substance of all sutras. It takes flower as its name to illuminate its root; it is called pundarika to praise its flourishing. What it raises is profound and its purport very subtle, and unless a person of penetrating insight transmits it, few can find its gate. The blossoms of the hundred plants, herbs, and trees are the root of the fruits of things; the eighty-four thousand Dharma treasuries are the source of the fruit of the Way; and so they are compared. Among all flowers, the lotus is supreme: when the flower has not yet opened, it is called kumuda; when opened and about to fall, it is called kamala; at its prime in the middle, it is called pundarika. The unopened illustrates the two paths, the about-to-fall illustrates nirvana, and the splendor alone is enough to illustrate this sutra. As for the Prajna sutras, none is not deep to the utmost, and so those who seek the Way return to them; none is not great and all-embracing, and so those who ride are ferried by them; yet in broad outline they all take adaptation to transforming others as greatness; the gate of responding to affairs is thus why skillful means cannot but be used. Skillful means as a way of transformation, though it awakens beings widely, is insufficient with regard to the real substance, and all this belongs to the Lotus Sutra, as indeed is fitting. Seeking its subtle purport, it is vast and profound and embraces far; is it only speaking of the real and returning to the root, settling different paths at last? It truly brings the great light of the principle of awakening, encompassing past and present. It says the Buddha's lifespan is immeasurable, and even endless eons are not enough to show its length; his divided bodies are countless, and ten thousand forms are not enough to differentiate his substance. Thus the lifespan chapter fixes that it is not a number, the divided bodies show that there is no reality, Samantabhadra reveals that there is no accomplishment, and Prabhutaratna shines that it does not perish. Passing beyond remote antiquity to now, then ten thousand ages are the same as one day; taking the ten thousand transformations to awaken to the profound, then a thousand paths have no different tracks. If so, then birth after birth is not enough to expect survival, and eternal stillness also cannot be called extinction. Seeking the subtle source to cut off going, one loses merit in original non-being; holding the reins of the mind in samadhi, one forgets expectation in the two grounds. Though the sutra has flowed into this land for nearly a hundred years, the translators were obscure about its empty ford, and the spiritual gate was not opened by any; the discussers departed from its norm, and its subtle traces were rarely trodden; in vain they searched and studied with white heads, and none glimpsed its gate. Yao Song, Commandant of the Capital, General of the Left, and Marquis of Ancheng of Qin, set his rhyme to the profound gate and dwelt in mind beyond the world, devoted his sincerity to this sutra, and his faith arrived at the utmost; each time he thought of seeking its text, he deeply recognized the translators' errors. Having met the Dharma master Kumarajiva, who transcribed it for him and pointed to its great return to truth, it was like parting the layered heavens and soaring high, climbing Kunlun and gazing down. At that time more than eight hundred monks listened, received, and understood, all outstanding men of various regions, the heroes of the age. This year was the eighth of Hongshi, the year Chunhuo.

魯國太夫人張氏，伏遇亡夫太傅大丞相李公遠忌之辰，謹施淨財壹貫文入福州開元寺大藏經司，雕鳳字凾《妙法蓮華經》七卷、《法華三昧》等經三卷，共計一十卷，伏茲勝因薦嚴超生淨土。時紹興二十一年正月十五日謹題。

Lady Zhang, Grand Dame of the state of Lu, on the day of the distant memorial of her late husband, Grand Tutor and Grand Chancellor Duke Li, respectfully donated one string of pure coins to the Great Sutra Office of Kaiyuan Temple in Fuzhou, to carve the seven fascicles of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma in the Feng character case and three fascicles of the Lotus Samadhi and other sutras, ten fascicles in all, relying on this excellent cause to offer for his adornment and rebirth in the Pure Land. Respectfully inscribed on the fifteenth day of the first month, in the twenty-first year of Shaoxing.