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Japanese illustration depicting white lotuses in Chapter 25: “Universal Gateway” of the Lotus Sutra. Text inscribed by Sugawara Mitsushige, Kamakura period, c. 1257, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, romanized: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, lit. ‘Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma’)[1] is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. It is the main scripture on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established. It is also influential for other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Zen. According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, “For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the Lotus Sūtra contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation.”[2] The American Buddhologist Donald S. Lopez Jr. writes that the Lotus Sūtra “is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist texts,” presenting “a radical re-vision of both the Buddhist path and of the person of the Buddha.”[3]
Two central teachings of the Lotus Sūtra have been very influential for Mahāyāna Buddhism. The first is the doctrine of the One Vehicle, which says that all Buddhist paths and practices lead to Buddhahood and so they are all merely “skillful means” of reaching Buddhahood. The second is the idea that the lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable and that therefore, he did not really pass on into final Nirvana (he only appeared to do so as upāya), but is still active teaching the Dharma.[note 1]
Title
Sanskrit manuscript of the Lotus Sūtra in South Turkestan Brahmi script.
The Japanese title of the Lotus Sutra (daimoku) depicted in a stone inscription.
The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, which can be translated as “the Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma” or “The Discourse on the White Lotus of the True Doctrine.”[4][5] In English, the shortened form Lotus Sūtra is more common.
Translations of this title into Asian languages include the following:[6]
- Chinese: 妙法蓮華經; pinyin: Miàofǎ Liánhuá jīng (shortened to 法華經; Fǎhuá jīng). This is the title of Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation. The characters mean: Subtle (妙) Dharma (法) Lotus (蓮) Exalted (華) Sutra (經). Shortened title: 法華経, Fa-hua jingin (Dharma Exalted Sutra). The title of Dharmaraksha’s Chinese translation is Zheng-fa-hua jing (正法華經), or True Dharma Exalted Sutra.
- Japanese: 妙法蓮華経, romanized: Myōhō Renge Kyō (short: Hoke-kyō)
- Korean: 묘법연화경; RR: Myobeop Yeonhwa gyeong (short: 법화경; Beophwa gyeong).
- Tibetan: དམ་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོའི་མདོ, Wylie: dam chos padma dkar po’i mdo, THL: Damchö Pema Karpo’i do.
- Vietnamese: Diệu pháp Liên hoa kinh (short: Pháp hoa kinh).
According to Donald S. Lopez Jr., the puṇḍarīka (the white lotus) is “a symbol of particular purity in Indian literature,” while the term “saddharma” (“true doctrine”) is “used to distinguish the Lotus Sūtra from all other previous teachings of the Buddha.”[5] The lotus flower imagery is also said to point to the earthly connection of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The lotus is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air, just like the bodhisattva lives in the world but remains unstained by it.[6]
The Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) regarded the title as the summary of the Lotus Sūtra‘s teachings. The chanting of the title is the basic religious practice he advocated during his lifetime.[7][8]
Main themes
In the parable of the burning house (shown in the upper part of this Korean illustration of the sutra), a father uses three types of carts as a way to get his sons to exit a burning house. However, when they escape the fire, they all receive only one type of cart.
One Vehicle, Many Skillful Means
The Lotus Sūtra is known for its extensive instruction on skillful means (Sanskrit: upāyakauśalya or upāya, Ch.: fangbian, Jp.: hōben), which refers to how Buddhas teach in many ways adapted to the needs of their disciples. This concept of Buddhist pedagogical strategies is often explained through parables or allegories.[9] In the Lotus, the many ‘skillful’ or ‘expedient’ practices and teachings taught by the Buddha (including the “three vehicles” to awakening) are revealed to all be part of the “One Vehicle” (Skt.: ekayāna, Ch.:一乘; yīchéng), the supreme and all encompassing path that leads to Buddhahood.[9][10] Moreover, this single vehicle is none other than the myriad skillful means which are its expressions and modes. As the Buddha says in the sutra “seek as you will in all ten directions, there is no other vehicle, apart from the upāyas of the buddhas.”[9]
The One Vehicle is associated with the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”), which is a path that rejects the cutting off of rebirth (the individual nirvana or “extinction” of the Buddhist saint) and seeks to heroically remain in the world of suffering to help others attain awakening, all while working towards complete Buddhahood.[9] In the Lotus Sūtra, the One Vehicle encompasses many different and seemingly contradictory teachings because the Buddha’s great compassion and wish to save all beings (bodhicitta) led him to adapt the teaching to suit many different kinds of people and contexts.[11] As the Buddha states in the Lotus Sūtra: “Ever since I became a buddha, I have used a variety of causal explanations and a variety of parables to teach and preach, and countless skillful means to lead living beings.”[12]
The Lotus Sūtra sees also all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of the ultimate truth of the “One Buddha–Vehicle”, a goal that is available to all.[13][14] This can and has been interpreted by some figures in an exclusive and hierarchical sense, as meaning that all other Buddhist teachings are to be dispensed with.[9] However, Reeves and other interpreters understand the one vehicle in a more pluralist and inclusive sense which embraces and reconciles all Buddhist teachings and practices. Some have even applied this universalism to non-Buddhist teachings.[9][14]
Reeves also notes that the theme of unity and difference also includes other ideas besides the one vehicle. According to Reeves “on more than one occasion, for example, the many worlds of the universe are brought together into a unity.” Similarly, though there are said to be many Buddhas, they are all closely connected with Shakyamuni and they all teach the same thing.[15]
All beings have the potential to become Buddhas
The dragon king’s daughter offers her priceless pearl to the Buddha. The narrative of her instantaneous attainment of Buddhahood was understood as a promise of the enlightenment of women.[16] Frontispiece of a 12th century Lotus Sutra handscroll.[17]
Another important teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is that all beings can become Buddhas.[18] The sutra sees the awakening of a Buddha as the only and ultimate goal and it boldly claims that “of any who hear the dharma, none shall fail to achieve buddhahood”.[9] Numerous figures in the sutra receive predictions of future Buddhahood, including the ultimate Buddhist villain Devadatta.[19][20][21] In chapter 10, the Buddha points out that all sorts of people will become Buddhas, including monks, nuns, laypeople, along with numerous non-human beings like nagas.[22] Even those, who practice only simple forms of devotion, such as paying respect to the Buddha, or drawing a picture of the Buddha, are assured of their future Buddhahood.[23]
According to Gene Reeves, this teaching also encourages this potential for Buddhahood in all beings, even in enemies as well as “to realize our own capacity to be a buddha for someone else.”[18] According to Reeves, the story of the little Dragon Girl promotes the idea that women can also become Buddhas just like male monks.[24] Reeves sees this as an inclusive message which “affirms the equality of everyone and seeks to provide an understanding of Buddha-dharma that excludes no one.”[24]
Although the term buddha-nature (buddhadhatu) is not mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra, Japanese scholars Hajime Nakamura and Akira Hirakawa suggest that the concept is implicitly present in the text.[25][26] An Indian commentary (attributed to Vasubandhu), interprets the Lotus Sūtra as a teaching of buddha-nature and later East Asian commentaries tended to adopt this view.[27][28] Chinese commentators pointed to the story of bodhisattva Never Disparaging in chapter 20 as evidence that the Lotus taught buddha-nature implicitly.[9]