Lotus Sutra

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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; Vietnamese: "Diệu Pháp Liên Hoa Kinh") is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sutras in East Asia and the basis on which the Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.

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 Shakyamuni 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 Shakyamuni Buddha himself .

The Lotus Sutra appears to be a discourse delivered by Shakyamuni 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.

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The Lotus Sutra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksa around 209 CE, before being superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE.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 法華經, which is read Făhuā Jīng in Chinese and Hokekyō in Japanese, Beophwagyeong in Korean, and Pháp Hoa Kinh" in Vietnamese. The Sanskrit copies are not widely used outside of academia. It has been translated by Burton Watson. According to Burton Watson it may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then later translated into Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability.

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 introduced 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.

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.

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 billions, 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.

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).

Translations in Western languages

  • Burnouf, Eugène; Le lotus de la bon loi; 1852 [French translation, first in Western language]
  • Katō Bunnō (Übs.) Myōhōrenge-kyō – The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law; Tōkyō 1971 (Kōsei shuppan)
  • Kern, H.; Saddharma Pundarîka or the Lotus of the True Law; Oxford 1884 (Clarendon), New York 1963 (Dover), Delhi 1968; Sert.: Sacred Books of the East, Vol XXI
  • Hurvitz, Leon; Scripture of the lotus blossom of the fine dharma – Transl. from the Chinese of Kumarajiva; New York 1976 (Columbia Univ. Pr.)
  • Lethcoe Kuo-lin; The wonderful Dharma lotus flower sutra… With the commentary of Tripitaka Master Hua; San Francisco 1977 (Sino American Buddhist Assoc.)
  • Soothill, W. E.; The Lotus of the Wonderful Law; Oxford 1930 (Clarendon) [abridged]
  • Tanabe, George [Hrsg.]; The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture; Honolulu 1989 (Uni), ISBN 0-8248-1198-4 [II, 15]
  • Tamura Yoshirō, Miyasaka Kōjirō; Muryāgikkyō, the Sutra of Immeasurable Meaning and Kanfungengyō …; Tōkyō 1974 (Risshō Kōsekai)
  • Muranu Senchū; The Sutra of the Lotus Flower and the Wonderful Law; Tōkyō 1974 (Nichiren-shū)

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