The One Powerful Verse of Resurrection in the Lotus Sutra
Many people benefit from the practice of the Lotus Sutra. It doesn’t matter if you chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo or simply embrace the loving-kindness of Avalokitesvara, you will definitely see positive change and transformations in your life.
Here is the amazing real-life story of how a man in ancient China benefited from memorizing one powerful verse in the Lotus Sutra. This power verse is the last verse of Chapter 16, Eternal Lifespan of Tathagata:
“Every day, I am thinking:
‘How can I lead all living beings
to enter the unsurpassed Way
and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?’”
In the third year of Zhenguan during the Tang Dynasty, Yu Lintong from the town of Luozhou aspired to recite the Lotus Sutra, but he was too entangled in mundane affairs to have time to realize his aspiration. Later, he fell ill and died. Six officials from the underworld surrounded him, bringing him to a big city gate.
A monk who stood by the city gate spotted Yu Lintong and spoke to him, “I am the Medicine King. You passed away suddenly without fulfilling your aspiration of chanting the Lotus Sutra. I will teach you a verse. By reciting this verse, the world of hell will be transformed into a pond of lotus, and the suffering of Samsara will be transformed into the realm of the Buddha. You must memorize this verse well, and don’t you forget it. The verse is:
“Every day, I am thinking:
‘How can I lead all living beings
to enter the unsurpassed Way
and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?’”
Soon Yu Lintong met the King of Hades who interrogated him, “What merits have you accumulated?”
Yu Lintong answered, “I didn’t cultivate any merits except knowing how to recite one verse.”
“What verse is that?” King of Hades asked.
Yu Lintong recited the verse as taught by the Medicine King. His voice reverberated far and wide. All people in the realm of hell who heard the verse were instantly liberated. The eighteen realms of hell were transformed into a lotus pond.
The King of Hades quickly stopped Yu Lintong from reciting and granted him the permission to return to the human world. Two days later, Yu Lintong woke up and recovered from his illness.
The experience of Yu Lintong has shown that embracing one verse of the Lotus Sutra has the purifying power to transform unwholesome karma to wholesome merits. This is a testament of the divine power of the Buddhas to liberate all living beings from the suffering of Samsara.
Samantha, the author of Tara Zenyora and the Seven-jeweled Lighthouse, is so inspired by this verse of the Lotus Sutra that she skillfully crafted a fascinating fantasy fiction out of it. Go grab a copy to discover how Samantha ingeniously applies seven parables, metaphors, and verses of the Lotus Sutra to create a phenomenal work of fiction. It has always been the prayer of Samantha to bring healing and awakening of humanity, especially so when the entire world is ravaged by the scourge of Covid-19. May this tiny seed of True Love embedded within the fiction book awaken the mind of enlightenment in the hearts of all living beings.
