7.  Again, O Noble-minded Man, what is meant by "requesting the Buddhas to remain in the world"?  The Buddhas are infinite in number as the minutest dust-motes of the ten directions and three periods of time throughout the Dharma-realms and empty space; and so are the Bodhisattvas, the Sravakas, the Pratyeka-Buddhas, the Arhats, the partly learned ones, and the well-learned laymen, when they set their minds on the attainment of Nirvana; I entreat them all to remain in touch with living beings, instead of entering Nirvana; even to the duration of kalpas of Buddha lands, equal to the minutest dust-motes in number, in order to benefit all living beings.  Thus even though the void of space has ended, and likewise the states of beings, the karmas of beings, and the sorrows of beings, though all such have ended, yet, my request to the Buddhas is endless.  Thought succeeds thought without interruption, and in bodily, vocal, and mental deeds, without weariness. 

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