Bodhisattvas of the Earth (Chinese: 地涌菩薩; Japanese: 地涌の菩薩, 地湧の菩薩, 上行菩薩), also sometimes referred to as "Bodhisattvas from the Underground," "Bodhisattvas Taught by the Original Buddha," or "earth bodhisattvas," are the infinite number of bodhisattvas who, in the 15th ("Emerging from the Earth") chapter of the Lotus Sutra, emerged from a fissure in the ground. This pivotal story of the Lotus Sutra takes place during the "Ceremony in the Air" which had commenced in the 11th ("Emergence of the Treasure Tower") chapter. Later, in the 21st ("Supernatural Powers") chapter, Shakyamuni passes on to them the responsibility to keep and propagate the Lotus Sutra in the feared future era of the Latter Day of the Law.
Description
In the 15th ("Emerging from the Earth") chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the vast number of bodhisattvas from other realms who had appeared to hear Shakyamuni preach in the "Ceremony in the Air" hoped to receive the Buddha's permission to be the ones to propagate the Dharma in the perilous era to come. To their great chagrin, Shakyamuni refused their request, deferring this honor to unnamed bodhisattvas who already existed in the empty space underneath the sahā-world [tr: "world of endurance of suffering, any world of transmigration"]. Right after he made this statement the earth shook and a mighty fissure appeared. Dramatically, and in a single instant, bodhisattvas whose numbers are described in the sutra as "immeasurable, boundless, beyond anything that can be known through calculation, simile or parable" arose from the earth. All of them are "golden in hue, with the thirty-two features [of the Buddha] and an immeasurable brightness."
These bodhisattvas had four leaders and guiding teachers: Superior Practices (the leader of the four), Boundless Practices, Pure Practices, and Firmly Established Practices. The four leaders have been interpreted to represent the four bodhisattva vows as practiced by the Mahayana traditions of China, Japan, and Korea and are said to represent the four characteristics of Nirvana or Buddhahood as taught in the Lotus Sutra: true self, eternity, purity, and joy.
The same motif of countless bodhisattvas emerging from the earth occurs in the Tibetan edition of the Avaivartikacakra sutra.
Interpretations
According to Tao Sheng (ca. 360–434), the splitting of the earth and the welling forth of the bodhisattvas is indicative that "living beings inherently possess an endowment for enlightenment, and it cannot remain concealed; they are bound to break the earth of defilements and emerge to safeguard the Dharma.”
The allegory of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth in the 15th-21st chapters of the Lotus Sutra has affected the outlooks and practices of numerous Buddhist schools. Although interpretations vary school by school, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a generalized reference: by rejecting the entreaties of bodhisattvas from other realms of the universe to propagate the Lotus Sutra after his death and by summoning countless bodhisattvas from under the earth, the Buddha affirms that he is from the world and the people of the world can rise to be its caretakers. In addition, he thus affirms the infinite universality of his life and the lives of all beings.
The welling forth of innumerable bodhisattvas from the earth has also been used as a metaphor for the emergence of a grassroots Buddhist movement. The metaphor of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth is also being used in secular and ecumenical writing.
In Nichiren Buddhism
Whereas Nichiren Buddhists regard the first fourteen chapters as the transient or theoretical "Imprinted Gate," the "Emerging from the Earth" chapter (ch 15) is regarded as the opening of the Lotus Sutra's essential teachings (chapters 15-28), or the "Original Gate." The emergence of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth thus holds great significance. According to Kyōtsū Hori, "they are also called honge no bosatsu meaning bodhisattvas guided by the Original Buddha in the eternal past." Nichiren (1222–1282) self-identified himself as Bodhisattva Superior Practices, in several of his writings such as "The Opening of the Eyes." He claimed to qualify for this designation as the one who first grasped and taught the Mystic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day.
The four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are represented on the top row of the Gohonzon, the calligraphic mandala inscribed by Nichiren, flanking the characters for Shakyamuni and Taho (Many Treasures) Buddhas.