Bodhisattva Never Despise (Never Disparaging)

"In the past there was a buddha 

Styled King of Majestic Voice, 

Boundless in divine wisdom, 

Leader of all creatures; 

Gods, men, dragons, spirits 

All paid homage to him. 

After this buddha's extinction, 

When the Law drew near its end, 

There existed a bodhisattva 

Whose name was Never Despise. 

At that time the four groups 

Were devoted to [material] things. 

The Bodhisattva Never Despise 

On approaching them 

Would address them thus: 

'I may not despise you; 

You are followers of the Way 

And will all become buddhas.' 

When they had heard it, they 

Contemned or reviled him. 

Bodhisattva Never Despise 

Bore it all patiently. 

When his sins were expiated 

And his end was drawing near, 

He heard this sutra 

And his organs were clarified. 

By his transcendent power 

He prolonged his period of life 

And again, to all the people, 

Widely preached this sutra. 

The groups [formerly] devoted to things 

All received from this bodhisattva 

Instruction and perfection, 

Being led to abide in the Buddha-way. 

Never Despise, his lifetime ended, 

Met with countless buddhas, 

And through his preaching of this sutra 

Obtained inestimable happiness. 

Gradually perfecting his merits, 

He soon accomplished the Buddha-way. 

The Never Despise of that time 

Is really I myself. 

The four groups of that time, 

Attached to [earthly] things, 

Who heard Never Despise say, 

'You are to become buddhas,' 

And who because of this 

Met with countless buddhas 

Are the bodhisattvas of this assembly, 

The host of five hundred, 

And also the four sections 

Of pure believers, men and women, 

Who are now before me 

Listening to the Law. 

I, in my former lives, 

Exhorted these people 

To hear and receive this sutra, 

The peerless Law, 

And revealed and taught it to men, 

That they might abide in nirvana. 

Age by age have [I] received and kept 

This so [wonderful] a sutra. 

During myriads of kotis and kotis of kalpas 

Of inconceivable reach, 

Rare are the times that have heard 

This Law-Flower Sutra. 

During myriads of kotis and kotis of kalpas 

Of inconceivable reach, 

Buddhas, world-honored ones, 

At rare times preach this sutra. 

Therefore let his followers, 

After the Buddha's extinction, 

On hearing such a sutra as this, 

Not conceive doubt or perplexity. 

But let them wholeheartedly 

Publish abroad this sutra, 

And age by age meeting buddhas, 

They will speedily accomplish the Buddha-way."