The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel (1975)
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The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel: Saddharma Pundarīka Sūtra, Miao-Fa Lien Hua Ching
Book
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Description
The "Lotus of the Wonderful (or Mystic) Law" is the most important religious book of the Far East, and has been described as "The Gospel of Half Asia". It is also the chief scripture of Buddhism in China, and therefore the chief source of consolation of the many millions of Buddhists in East Asia. It is justifiable to consider it as one of the greatest and most formative books of the world, and the text is here translated for the use of the Western student whilst an endeavour is made to reveal the contour of the most spiritual drama known in the Far East. (Source: Routledge)
Citation
Soothill, William Edward, trans. The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel: Saddharma Pundarīka Sūtra, Miao-Fa Lien Hua Ching. London: Curzon Press; Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1975. First published 1930 by Clarendon Press (Oxford). https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108057/page/n5/mode/2up.
Table of contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSxi
- INTRODUCTION
- Historical1
- Form and Content10
- Doctrine34
- THE LOTUS SUTRA
- I. The Assembly and the Illumination59
- II. Tactful Revelation65
- III. Parable of the Burning House81
- IV. Faith-discernment, the Prodigal Son106
- V. Parable of the Rain122
- VI. Prediction of the Four Disciples129
- VII. Parable of the Magic City131
- VIII. Prediction of Five Hundred Disciples142
- IX. Prediction of Ananda, Rahula, and others146
- X. The Preacher149
- XI. The Precious Shrine157
- XII. Devadatta. The Dragon-King's Daughter169
- XIII. Steadfastness. Prediction of Women and others176
- XIV. The Serene Life. The Four Spheres181
- XV. Hosts of Disciples issue from the Earth192
- XVI. Eternity of The Buddha. The Physician200
- XVII. The Merit and Reward of Faith209
- XVIII. The Merit and Reward of Accordance216
- XIX. The Merit and Reward of the Preacher219
- XX. The Bodhisattva "Never Despise"226
- XXI. Divine Power of a Buddha’s Tongue230
- XXII. The Final Commission234
- XXIII. The King of Healing. Bodhisattva Beautiful236
- XXIV. Wonder-sound242
- XXV. Kuan-yin, Regarder of the Cries of the World247
- XXVI. Spells252
- XXVII. King Resplendent and Buddha Thunder-Voice255
- XXVIII. Universal Virtue260
- GLOSSARY267
- INDEX271
Interconnections
1 Full translation of
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)
