Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts
"Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts" chapter
[授学無学人記品] (Jpn Jugaku-mugaku-ninki-hon )
Abbreviated as the "Prophecies" chapter. The ninth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in which Shakyamuni Buddha prophesies the enlightenment of Ananda, Rahula, and two thousand other voice-hearer disciples in the far distant future. The chapter begins with Ananda and Rahula, inspired by Shakyamuni's prediction of enlightenment for the five hundred arhats in the previous (eighth) chapter, requesting that Shakyamuni bestow on them a prophecy of enlightenment. Shakyamuni complies and predicts that Ananda will become a Buddha named Mountain Sea Wisdom Unrestricted Power King, and Rahula, a Buddha named Stepping on Seven Treasure Flowers. He then bestows a prophecy of enlightenment on the two thousand voice-hearer disciples, who include both learners and adepts. Adepts are those who, having mastered the enlightenment of the voice-hearer and become arhats, have nothing more to learn. All of these two thousand disciples, he declares, will become Buddhas with the name Jewel Sign. This chapter concludes Shakyamuni's teaching of the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle. The subsequent chapters deal with the practice and propagation of the sutra after the Buddha's death and its transmission to future ages.
