Becoming a Buddha: Lessons from Little Girls

In one well-known episode in the Lotus Sutra, we meet an unlikely candidate for buddhahood: the eight-year-old daughter of the dragon king. Our introduction to her comes through gossip. Discussing—behind her back—the girl's rumored readiness for buddhahood, the bodhisattvas Manjushri and Wisdom Accumulated mull over whether or not she could possibly be as advanced as they have heard. Wisdom Accumulated argues that, since it took the Buddha a very long time to become the Buddha, he "cannot believe that this girl in the space of an instant could actually achieve correct enlightenment" (Burton Watson, The Lotus Sutra). Young, female, non-human—the daughter of the dragon king, in Wisdom Accumulated's view, cannot attain the accomplishments of a buddha, accomplishments he himself has not yet achieved.