Lotus Sutra
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The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarīka-sūtra; 妙法蓮華經 Cn: Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Jp: Myōhō Renge Kyō; Kr: Myobeop Yeonhwa Kyong) is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sutras in East Asia and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established. Like all Buddhist texts, it was probably written several hundred years after the death of Sakyamuni Buddha. According to translator Burton Watson, it may have been originally 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 expedient means (方便 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.
The Lotus Sutra was originally translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksa around 290 CE, before being superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE. It has been translated into English by Leon Hurvitz, Burton Watson, and others. The Chinese title is usually abbreviated to 法華經, which is read Fǎhuā Jīng in Chinese and Hokekyō in Japanese and Beophwakyong in Korean.
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).
See also
External links
- Text of the Lotus Sutra translated into English by Burton Watson, courtesy of Soka Gakkai International–USA
- An old translation into English by H. Kern, 1884, from the Sacred Texts Web site
- The first US 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
- Ida B. Wells Memorial Sutra Library includes versions of the Lotus Sutra and commentaries
- 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
- The Art, 13 volumes of illuminated manuscripts inspired by the Lotus Sutrade:Lotossutra
es:Sutra del Loto fr:Sūtra du Lotus it:Myohorengekyo ko:법화경 ms:Lotus Sutra ja:法華経 pt:Sutra do Lótus vi:Diệu pháp liên hoa kinh zh:法华经