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The Cooling of the Earth

    The Tathagata is greatly to be honoured
    And profound in wisdom;
    And long has he kept secret this message,
    Not endeavoring hastily to declare it,
    The wise, if they hear it,
    Are able to accept and discern;
    The ignorant doubt and turn away,
    Losing it perpetually.
    Therefore, Kasyapa,
    According to their powers I preach to them
    With varied reasonings
    To bring them to right views,
    Know, Kasyapa!
    It is like a great cloud
    Rising above the world,
    Covering all things eveywhere,
    A beneficient cloud full of moisture;
    Flashes of lighting shine and glint,
    Bringing gladness and ease to all,
    The sun’s rays are veiled,
    And the earth is cooled;
    The cloud lowers and spreads
    As if it might be caught and gathered;
    It rain everywhere equally
    Descends on all sides,
    Streaming and pouring without stint,
    Enriching all the land.
    On mountains, by rivers, in steep valleys,
    In hidden recesses, there grow
    The plants, trees, and herbs;
    Trees, big or small,
    The shoots of all the ripening grain,
    Sugar cane and grapevine,
    All these by the rain are fertilized
    And abundantly enriched.
    The dry ground is all soaked,
    And herbs and trees flourish together.
    From the one water which
    Issued from that cloud,
    Plants, trees, thickets, forests,
    According to their need, receive moisture.
    All the trees,
    Superior, middle, inferior, all,
    Each according to its size,
    Grow and develope
    Roots, stalks, branches, and leaves,
    Blossoms and fruits in their brilliant colours;
    By the pouring of the one rain,
    All become fresh and glossy,
    Just as their bodies, forms
    And natures are divided into great and small,
    So the enriching rain, though one and the same,
    Yet makes each flourish.
    In the same manner Buddha also
    Appears in the world,
    Like a great cloud
    Universally covering all things;
    And having appeared in the world,
    He, for the sake of all living beings,
    Discriminates and proclaims
    The reality of all the laws.

    The Lotus Sutra