Sixteen

"Furthermore, Subhuti, if good men and good women accept and hold and read and recite this sutra, if they are slighted by others, those people should have fallen into miserable ways because of their misdeeds in former times; but because of being slighted by others in the present, the misdeeds of former times are thereby erased, and they will attain unexcelled complete perrect enlightenment.

"Subhuti, I remember how in the past, over incalculable eons in the presence of Dipankara Buddha, I got to meet eight hundred four thousand myriad zillions of buddhas; I supported and served every one of them, not missing a single oppurtunity. If, however, there is someone in the final age who can accept and hold and read and recite this sutra, the virtues realized thereby are such that the virtues of my support of those buddhas do not amount to a hundredth part, to a trillionth part, indeed to any numerical or figurative part.

"Subhuti, if I were to fully expound the virtues realized by good men and good women who accept and hold and read and recite this sutra in the final age, people who heard it would become mentally disturbed and would not believe.

"Subhuti, you should know that the principle of this sutra is inconceivable, and its reward is also inconceivable."[Translation by Thomas Cleary]

[Buddha said:] "I recollect through my Buddha-cognition, Subhuti, that in the remote past, aeons before the supremely enlightened one, I faultlessly served millions of Buddhas throughout incalculable ages. Nevertheless, the merit gained by those who take up, remember, study, recite and explain to others this discourse in the future, when the way is obscured, will surpass the merit gained in the service I rendered to all Buddhas millions of times over. Their merit has no number; it is incalculable and incomparable.

"If I were to teach just how vast this merit which will be gained in the future is, Subhuti, good men and women who hear me would become confused, mentally disturbed and even frantic. But since the Tathagata has taught that this discourse on dharma is inconceivable, and incommensurable karmic fruit should be expected from it."[Joshua Pritikin]

"Nevertheless, Subhuti, the noble son or daughter who grasps, memorizes, recites, and masters such a sutra as this and contemplates it thoroughly and explains it in detail to others will suffer their contempt, their utter contempt. And how could this be? Subhuti, the bad karma created by these beings in their past lives should result in an unfortunate rebirth. But now, by suffering such contempt, they put an end to the bad karma of their past lives and attain the enlightenment of Buddhas.

"Subhuti, I recall in the past, during the countless, infinite kalpas before Dipankara Tathagata, the Arhan, the Fully Enlightened One, I served eighty-four hundred, thousand, million, trillion other buddhas and served them without fail. Nevertheless, Subhuti, alhtough I served those buddhas and bhagavans and served them without fail, in the future, in the final epoch, in the final period, in the final five hundred years of the dharma-ending age, the body of merit of the person who grasps, memorizes, recites, and masters such a sutra as this and explains it in detail to others will exceed my former body of merit not by a hundredfold or a thousandfold or a hundred thousandfold or a millionfold or a hundred-thousand millionfold, but by an amount that cannot be measured, calculated, illustrated, characterized, or even imagined. Subhuti, if I were to describe this noble son or daughter's body of merit, the full extent of the body of merit this noble son or daughter would thereby produce and obtain, it would bewilder or disturb people's minds. Furthermore, Subhuti, inconceivable and incomparable is this dharma teaching spoken by the Tathagata, and inconceivable is the result you should expect."[Translation by Red Pine]