The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra; 妙法蓮華經 Chinese: Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Japanese: Myōhō Renge Kyō; Korean: Myobeomnyeonhwagyeong) is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sutras in East Asia and the basis on which the Tiantai (Chinese), Tendai (Japanese) and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established. SÅ«tra (sex) (Sanskrit) or Sutta (Pāli) literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. ... Binomial name Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... Tiantai (天台宗, Wade-Giles: Tien Tai) is one of the thirteen schools of Buddhism in China and Japan, also called the Lotus Sutra School because of its emphasis on the supremacy of that scripture. ... Tendai (Japanese: 天台宗, Tendai-shÅ«) is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. ... Nichiren Buddhism (日蓮系諸宗派: Nichiren-kei sho shÅ«ha) is a branch of Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282). ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, which is also a philosophy and a system of psychology. ...

History and background

The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled in the first century CE in Kashmir, during the fourth Buddhist Council of the newly founded Mahayana sect of Buddhism, more than 500 years after the death of Sakyamuni Buddha. It is thus not included in the more ancient Agamas of Mahayana Buddhism, nor in the Sutta Pitaka of the Theravada Buddhists, both of which represent the older Buddhist scriptures which can be historically linked to Sakyamuni Buddha himself. Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Gautama Buddha was a South Asian spiritual leader who lived between approximately 563 BCE and 483 BCE. Born Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit, a name meaning descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims, he... Agama (Sanskrit (IAST): Āgama) literally means that which has come down (i. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... The Sutta Pitaka (suttapiṭaka; or Suttanta Pitaka; Sanskrit सूत्र पिटक Sutra Pitaka) is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the great Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. ... Theravada (Pāli: थेरवाद theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda; literally, the Way of the Elders) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population[1]) and continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and parts of southwest... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Gautama Buddha was a South Asian spiritual leader who lived between approximately 563 BCE and 483 BCE. Born Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit, a name meaning descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims, he...

The Lotus Sutra appears to be a discourse delivered by Sakyamuni Buddha himself toward the end of his life. The tradition in Mahayana states that the Lotus Sutra was written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the dragons (or Nagas). After this, they were re-introduced into the human realm at the time of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. The tradition further claims that the teachings of the Lotus Sutra are higher than the teachings contained in the Agamas and the Sutta Pitaka (the Sutra itself also claims this), and that humankind was unable to understand the Lotus Sutra at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE). This is the reason given for the need to store the Lotus Sutra in the realm of the dragons for 500 years, after which humankind was able to understand the Lotus Sutra. Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... The nagas ( snake) are an ancient race of snake-humanoid beings first depicted in ancient Vedic Hindu mythology and oral folklore from at least 5000 B.C.E. Stories involving the Nagas are still very much a part of contemporary cultural traditions in predominantly Hindu (India, Nepal, and the island... Agama (Sanskrit (IAST): Āgama) literally means that which has come down (i. ... The Sutta Pitaka (suttapiṭaka; or Suttanta Pitaka; Sanskrit सूत्र पिटक Sutra Pitaka) is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the great Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. ...

Translation and Composition

The Lotus Sutra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksa around 209 CE, before being superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE. The Chinese title is usually abbreviated to ː₦ː, which is read Făhuā Jīng in Chinese and Hokekyō in Japanese, Beophwagyeong in Korean, Pháp Hoa Kinh" in Vietnamese while in Sanskrit it is called the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra. The Sanskrit copies are not widely used outside of academia. The Lotus Sutra has been translated into English by various organizations, goups of people and individuals such as Leon Hurvitz, Bunno Kato and Burton Watson. According to the latter , it may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then later translated into Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability. Dharmaraksa (Ch: 竺法护, Zhu Fahu) was one of the greatest translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. ... KumārajÄ«va (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; also Kiu-kiu-lo, Kiu-mo-lo-che, Kiu-mo-to-tche-po, Tang-cheu), (b. ... Burton Watson (born 1925) is one of the worlds best-known translators of the Chinese and Japanese literary works. ... Prakrit (also spelt Pracrit) (Sanskrit: , original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual, i. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

This sutra is well-known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means (Sanskrit: 'upaya'; Jp: hōben), mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to coin the term Mahayana, or 'Great Vehicle' Buddhism. Another concept introducted by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is more of an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world. The idea that the physical death of the / a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of this scripture, in which another Buddha, who "parinirvana-ed" long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of Buddhic eternity is repeatedly expounded in the tathagatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances in spirit to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Upaya (Sanskrit: उपाय) is a term in Mahayana Buddhism which is often translated as means, though literally expedient would be more accurate[citation needed], as upaya (from upa√i) refers to something which goes or brings you up to something (i. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... (Devanagari , Pali: Nibbāna िनब्बान -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: nièpán, Japanese: 涅槃, nehan, Korean: ì—´ë°˜, yeol-bhan, Thai: Nibpan นิพพาน ), is a Sanskrit word that literally means extinction (as in a candle flame) and/or extinguishing (i. ... Dharma (Sanskrit: धर्म) or Dhamma (Pāli: धमा) (Natural Law) refers to the underlying order in Nature and human behaviour considered to be in accord with that order. ... The Tathagatagarbha doctrine says that each sentient being contains the potential to become a Buddha. ...

The Lotus Sutra also indicates (Chapter 4) that emptiness (sunyata) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the obtention of Buddhic Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure which transcends seeing all as merely empty. Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit, Pali: suññatā), or Emptiness, is a term for a concept or set of concepts playing an important role in some versions of the Buddhist metaphysical critique, but also having important implications for Buddhist epistemology and phenomenology. ...

In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra often uses astronomical numbers and measurements of time meant to convey a sense of timeless time, or to convey the inconceivable. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the millions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually says what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahayana Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words. This same point is also often cited by critics of the Lotus Sutra. A kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon, or a long period of time in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ...

At least some sources consider that the Lotus Sutra has a prologue and an epilogue, these being respectively the Sutra of Infinite Meaning (無量義經 Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Jp: Fugen Kyō). The Lotus Sutra is then referred to as The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, collectively known in Japan and China as the Threefold Lotus Sutra.

See also

• Eternal Buddha

A stone image of the Buddha. ...

External links

• An old translation into English by H. Kern, 1884, from the Sacred Texts Web site
• The first U.S. translation of a fragment of the Lotus Sutra, attributed to Henry David Thoreau and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, originally published in Ralph Waldo Emerson's magazine The Dial in 1844
• Lotus Sutra in Sanskrit (romanized) from Buddhist Sanskrit Texts No. 6 Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtram, Dr. P. L. Vaidya, ed, The Mithila Institute, Darbhanga, 1960 (scroll down to navigate chapters)
• The Lotus Sutra Study Center
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism entry (log in with userID "guest")
• Article that comments on the Lotus Sutra, including origin and relationship with other Sutras
• "Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra English Translation. Piece in female gender form
• "Better Than HD-TV," an article authored by a Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) member that examines Nichiren's interpretation of the Lotus Sutra's Ceremony in the Air, also called the "Towering Assembly"
• The Art, 13 volumes of illuminated manuscripts inspired by the Lotus Sutra
• Lotus Sangha A Danish Buddhist Sangha dedicated to the practice and study of the Lotus Sutra