Again, I'm reading this as a layman...
Out of the multitude of Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas who had flocked from other worlds, Bodhisattvas eight (times) equal to the sands of the river Ganges then rose from the assembled circle. Their joined hands stretched out towards the Lord to pay him homage, they said to him: If the Lord will allow us, we also would, after the extinction of the Lord, reveal this Dharmaparyâya in this Saha-world; we would read, write, worship it, and wholly devote ourselves to that law. Therefore, O Lord, deign to grant to us also this Dharmaparyâya. And the Lord answered: Nay, young men of good family, why should you occupy yourselves with this task? I have here in this Saha-world thousands of Bodhisattvas equal to the sands of sixty Ganges rivers, forming the train of one Bodhisattva; and of such Bodhisattvas there is a number equal to the sands of sixty Ganges rivers, each of these Bodhisattvas having an equal number in their train, who at the end of time, at the last period after my extinction, shall keep, read, proclaim this Dharmaparyâya.
No sooner had the Lord uttered these words than the Saha-world burst open on every side, and from within the clefts arose many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Bodhisattvas with gold-coloured bodies and the thirty-two characteristic signs of a great man, who had been staying in the element of ether underneath this great earth, close to this Saha-world. These then on hearing the word of the Lord came up from below the earth...
You gotta give the writers of this sutra credit for originality; it's quite ....baroque...
Eventually Shakyamuni Buddha gets around to saying:
Be attentive all, young men of good family - be well prepared and steady on your post, you and the entire host of Bodhisattvas; the Tathâgata, the Arhat, &c., is now going to exhibit the sight of the knowledge of the Tathâgata, young men of good family, the leadership of the Tathâgata, the work of the Tathâgata, the sport [i.e. magic display of creative power, lîlâ, synonymous with mâyâ.] of the Tathâgata, the might of the Tathâgata, the energy of the Tathâgata...
These Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas, Agita, so innumerable, incalculable, inconceivable, incomparable, uncountable, whom you never saw before, who just now have issued from the gaps of the earth, these Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas, Agita, have I roused, excited, animated, fully developed to supreme, perfect enlightenment after my having arrived at supreme, perfect enlightenment in this world. I have, moreover, fully matured, established, confirmed, instructed, perfected these young men of good family in their Bodhisattvaship. And these Bodhisattvas Mahâsattvas, Agita, occupy in this Saha-world the domain of the ether-element below. Only thinking of the lesson they have to study, and devoted to thoroughly comprehend it, these young men of good family have no liking for social gatherings, nor for bustling crowds; they do not put off their tasks, and are strenuous. These young men of good family, Agita, delight in seclusion, are fond of seclusion. These young men of good family do not dwell in the immediate vicinity of gods and men, they not being fond of bustling crowds...
To which Maritreya questions...
How is it possible that within so short a moment, within the lapse of so short a time so many Bodhisattvas, so countless, have been roused and made fully ripe to reach supreme, perfect enlightenment? Then the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Maitreya asked the Lord: How then, O Lord, has the Tathâgata, after he left, when a prince royal, Kapilavastu, the town of the Sâkyas, arrived at supreme, perfect enlightenment on the summit of the terrace of enlightenment, not far from the town of Gayâ, somewhat more than forty years since, O Lord? How then has the Lord, the Tathâgata, within so short a lapse of time, been able to perform the endless task of a Tathâgata, to exercise the leadership of a Tathâgata, the energy of a Tathâgata?...
Chapter 15 seems like a continuation of Chapter 14...whereupon the answer to Maritreya's question is given:
But, young men of good family, the truth is that many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Æons ago I have arrived at supreme, perfect enlightenment...
The Tathâgata sees the triple world, not as the ignorant, common people, he seeing things always present to him; indeed, to the Tathâgata, in his position, no laws are concealed. In that respect any word that the Tathâgata speaks is true, not false. But in order to produce the roots of goodness in the creatures, who follow different pursuits and behave according to different notions, he reveals various Dharmaparyâyas with various fundamental principles. The Tathâgata then, young men of good family, does what he has to do. The Tathâgata who so long ago was perfectly enlightened is unlimited in the duration of his life, he is everlasting. Without being extinct, the Tathâgata makes a show of extinction, on behalf of those who have to be educated.
The theme of skillful means is re-introduced here, albeit in a somewhat hyper-operatic fashion.
The next chapter reiterates, in the same hyper-operatic fashion, that eventually with practice all get enlightened.
I'm probably not in any way reading this like Hakuin read it, or Nichiren, but on the other hand, maybe the doctrine of skillful means can be expounded in a style I wouldn't use in a trip report, but these means have to be mindfully adapted for the present circumstances.
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