Download Lotus Sutra

Mahayaha Buddhism #3
Mahayaha View
Importance of Lotus Sutra
Masayo Urasaki
28 June 2012
The Trikaya Doctrine
The Trikāya doctrine Image
(Three bodies:
三身 Chinese: Sānshēn, Japanese: sanjin)
Spread to China
Through Silk Road, reached to China
 Emperor Ming (58–75 AD) precipitated the
first introduction of Buddhist teachings into
China.
 5c： Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅汁
Kumārajīva revolutionized Chinese Buddhism
with his high quality translations, which are
still praised for their flowing smoothness,
clarity of meaning, subtlety, and literary skill.

Tendai Schools (天台宗）


Due to the wide proliferation of Buddhist texts
available in Chinese and the large number of
foreign monks who came to teach Buddhism in
China, various new and independent traditions
emerged.
Major early tradition was the Tiantai school天台
宗, founded by Zhi yi 智顗 , which is based upon
the primacy of the Lotus Sutra, along with
supplementary sūtras and commentaries. Zhiyi
wrote several works that become important and
widely-read meditation manuals in China. 「法華
三昧」
Lotus Sutra
(Saddharma-pundarika Sutra)
"Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law."
 Lotus Sutra was written in the 1st or 2nd
century CE, probably by more than one writer.
 The sutra is divided into 28 chapters Kamarajiva translation -- in which the Buddha
or other beings offer sermons and parables.

The Lotus Sutra begins.....
"Thus I have heard.
At one time the Buddha was
in Rajagriha, staying on
Mount Gridhrakuta."
Rajagriha was a city on the
site of present-day Rajgir, in
northeastern India, and
Gridhrakuta, or "Vulture's
Peak," is nearby.
So, the Lotus Sutra begins by
making a connection to a
real place associated with
the historical Buddha.
Mount Gridhrakuta
Vulture's Peak
1) All Vehicles Are One Vehicle
(Ekayana)
In early passages the Buddha tells the
assembly that his earlier teachings were
provisional. People were not ready for his
highest teaching, he said, and had to be
brought to enlightenment by expedient means.
But the Lotus represents the final, highest
teaching, and supersedes all other teaching.
 In particular, the Buddha addressed the
doctrine of triyana, or "three vehicles" to
nirvana.

The Doctorine of Triyana




In particular, the Buddha addressed the doctrine of triyana, or
"three vehicles" to nirvana.
1) people who realize enlightenment by hearing the Buddha's
sermons <Shravaka>
2)people who realize enlightenment for themselves through
their own effort <Pratyekabuddha>
3)people who realize enlightenment for the path of the
bodhisattva.<Bodhisattva>
But the Lotus Sutra says that the three vehicles are one vehicle,
the buddha vehicle, through which all beings become buddhas
2) All Beings May Become Buddhas


A theme expressed throughout the sutra is that all
beings may attain buddhahood and attain Nirvana. A
significant point is that in the dialogues the Buddha
promises several women that they will attain
buddhahood without having to be reborn as men.
The Buddha is presented in the Lotus Sutra as
dharmakaya -- the unity of all things and beings,
unmanifested, beyond existence or nonexistence,
unbound by time and space. Because the dharmakaya
is all beings, all beings have the potential to awaken
to their true nature and attain buddhahood.
3)The Importance of Faith and
Devotion

Buddhahood may not be attained through
intellect alone. Indeed, the Mahayana view is
that the absolute teaching cannot be expressed
in words or understood by ordinary cognition.

The Lotus Sutra stresses the importance of
faith and devotion as means to realization
of enlightenment. Among other significant
points, the stress on faith and devotion makes
buddhahood more accessible to laypeople,
who do not spend their lives in ascetic
monastic practice.
The Parables
 A distinctive
feature of the Lotus
Sutra is the use of parables.
 The parables contain many laypersons of metaphor that have
inspired many lay-persons of
interpretation.
The Burning House.

A King lures his children out of a burning
house (Chapter 3).
The Prodigal Son.

A poor, self-loathing
man gradually learns
that he is wealthy
beyond measure
(Chapter 4).
The Medicinal Herbs.

Although they grow in
the same ground and
receive the same rain,
plants grow in different
ways (Chapter 5).
The Fantastic Castle City.

A man leading people on a difficult journey
conjures an illusion of a beautiful city to give
them the heart to keep going (Chapter 7)
The Jewel in the Jacket.

A man sews a gem into
his friend's jacket.
However, the friend
wanders in poverty not
knowing that he
possesses a Jewel of
great value (Chapter 8)
The Excellent Physician.

A physician's
children are dying of
poison but lack the
sense to take
medicine
(Chapter 16)