Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma

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Translations of Sutras (Chi-Eng)

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Originally published in 1976, Leon Hurvitz's monumental translation of the Lotus Sutra is the work scholars have preferred for decades. Hailed by critics as an "extraordinary" and "magnificent" achievement, Hurvitz's translation is based on the best known Chinese version of the text and includes passages of the original Sanskrit that were omitted from the Chinese.

Beloved for its mythology and literary artistry, the Lotus Sutra is one of the most popular and influential texts of Mahayana Buddhism, asserting that there is only one path to enlightenment, the bodhisattva path, and that all followers without exception can achieve supreme awakening. The text argues that the Buddha cannot be delimited by time and space and that a common intent underlies the diversity of Buddhist teachings. Through parables of the burning house, the wayward son, and other tales that have come to be known throughout East Asia, the sutra skillfully concretizes abstract religious concepts and clarifies bold claims about the Buddhist tradition. Urging devotees to revivify doctrine through recitation and interpretation, the sutra powered an organic process of remaking that not only kept its content alive in the poetry and art of premodern Asia but also introduced new forms of practice and scriptural study into contemporary Buddhism. Stephen F. Teiser's foreword addresses this vital quality of the sutra, discusses its background, and reflects on the enduring relevance of Hurvitz's critical work. Columbia University Press

Citation

Hurvitz, Leon, trans. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma. The Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions (IASWR). New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.

Publisher Link

https://cup.columbia.edu/

Table of contents

Roll One
- 1. Introduction1
- 2. Expedient Devices22

Roll Two
- 3. Parable49
- 4. Belief and Understanding84

Roll Three
- 5. Medicinal Herbs101
- 6. Bestowal of Prophecy120
- 7. Parable of the Conjured City130

Roll Four
- 8. Receipt of Prophecy by Five Hundred Disciples157
- 9. Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts168
- 10. Preachers of Dharma174
- 11. Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa183

Roll Five
- 12. Devadatta195
- 13. Fortitude202
- 14. Comfortable Conduct208
- 15. Welling Up out of the Earth225

Roll Six
- 16. The Life-span of the Thus Come One237
- 17. Discrimination of Merits245
- 18. The Merits of Appropriate Joy258
- 19. The Merits of the Dharma-Preacher264

Roll Seven
- 20. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging279
- 21. The Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One286
- 22. Entrustment291
- 23. The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King293
- 24. The Bodhisattva Fine Sound303

Roll Eight
- 25. The Gateway to Everywhere of the Bodhisattva He Who Observes the Sounds of the World311
- 26. Dhāraṇī320
- 27. The Former Affairs of the King Fine Adornment325
- 28. The Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universally Worthy332

Glossary339
Notes on the Sanskrit Text349
Index417

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Full translation of

Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra [सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र]. dam pa'i chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo [དམ་པའི་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Mahāyāna Sūtra "The White Lotus of the Good Dharma" (84000)]. Translated by Surendrabodhi, Ye shes sde, Kumārajīva, Dharmarakṣa, Dharmakṣema, Jñānagupta, Dharmagupta. Kangyur, RKTSK 113 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=113&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra, is taught by Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak to an audience that includes bodhisattvas from countless realms, as well as bodhisattvas who emerge from under the ground, from the space below this world. Buddha Prabhūtaratna, who has long since passed into nirvāṇa, appears within a floating stūpa to hear the sūtra, and Śākyamuni enters the stūpa and sits beside him. The Lotus Sūtra is celebrated, particularly in East Asia, for its presentation of crucial elements of the Mahāyāna tradition, such as the doctrine that there is only one yāna, or "vehicle"; the distinction between expedient and definite teachings; and the notion that the Buddha's life, enlightenment, and parinirvāṇa were simply manifestations of his transcendent buddhahood, while he continues to teach eternally. A recurring theme in the sūtra is its own significance in teaching these points during past and future eons, with many passages in which the Buddha and bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra describe the great benefits that come from devotion to it, the history of its past devotees, and how it is the Buddha's ultimate teaching, supreme over all other sūtras. (Source: 84000)