The Threefold Lotus Sūtra

Book

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, is revered by millions of Buddhists as containing the core and culmination of the Buddha's teaching. Together with the two shorter sutras that traditionally accompany it, Innumerable Meanings and Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, it comprises one of the most important scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism and indeed one of the major documents of world religion.
      In The Threefold Lotus Sutra all three scriptures are presented together for the first time in English. The sutras of Innumerable Meaning and Meditation of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue have never before been translated into English, while the present version of the Lotus Sutra itself is based on the translation from the Chinese made by Bunnō Katō and W. E. Soothill, thoroughly revised and annotated in the light of present scholarship. A glossary of Sanskrit and doctrinal terms has been compiled especially for this edition.
      The Lotus Sutra consists of a series of sermons delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his forty-year teaching ministry before a great multitude of disciples and other beings ranging from gods to demons. The setting and scope are cosmic, but the sermons themselves, presented in both prose and verse, are replete with parables and graphic anecdotes.
      At the heart of the sutra and three major concepts of Mahayana Buddhism: 1) All sentient beings can atain Perfect Enlightenment—that is, buddhahood—and nothing less that this is the appropriate final goal of believers. 2) The Buddha is eternal, having existed from the infinite past and appearing in many forms throughout the ages to guide and succor beings through the teaching of the Wonderful Law. And 3) The noblest form of Buddhist practice is the way of the bodhisattva, one who devotes himself to attaining enlightenment not only for himself but for all sentient beings.
      The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings records the sermon preached by the Buddha to a host of bodhisattvas immediately preceding the delivery of the Lotus Sutra. Constituting and introduction to the central sutra, the shorter scripture is traditionally known as the "opening sutra." The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, supposed to have been delivered following the Lotus Sutra, establishes the way of repentance as the practice of the spirit of the Lotus Sutra. Being an epilogue to the main scripture, it is called the "closing sutra," while because of its theme it is also known as the "sutra of repentance." (Source: book jacket)

Citation

Kāto, Bunnō, Yoshirō Tamura, and Kōjirō Miyasaka, trans. The Threefold Lotus Sutra: Innumberable Meanings, The Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, and Mediation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing, 1995. https://archive.org/details/threefoldlotussu0000unse_d9v6.

Texts Translated

Dharmāgatayaśas, trans. 無量義經 Wúliáng yì jīng (Anantanirdeśasūtra), T276, 9: https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0276.html.
Kumārajīva, trans. 妙法蓮華經 Miào fǎ lián huá jīng (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra), T262, 9: https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0262.html.
Dharmamitra, trans. 觀普賢菩薩行法經 Guān pǔ xián púsà xíng fǎ jīng, T277, 9: https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0277.html.

Translation of

Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra

Commonly referred to as the Lotus Sūtra, this text is extremely popular in East Asia, where it is considered to be the "final" teaching of the Buddha. Especially in Japan, reverence for this text has put it at the center of numerous Buddhist movements, including many modern, so-called new religions. The esteemed status of this scripture is epitomized in the Nichiren school's sole practice of merely paying homage to its title with the prayer "Namu myōhō renge kyō".

Text

THE SUTRA OF INNUMERABLE MEANINGS3
- Chapter 1 Virtues3
- Chapter 2 Preaching8
- Chapter 3 Ten Merits12

THE SUTRA OF THE LOTUS FLOWER OF THE WONDERFUL LAW18
- Introductory18
- Tactfulness31
- A Parable48
- Faith Discernment69
- The Parable of the Herbs79
- Prediction85
- The Parable of the Magic City91
- The Five Hundred Disciples Receive the Prediction of Their Destiny107
- Prediction of the Destiny of Arhats, Training and Trained114
- A Teacher of the Law118
- Beholding the Previous Stupa124
- Devadatta132
- Exhortation to Hold Firm137
- A Happy Life141
- Springing Up Out of the Earth151
- Revelation of the [Eternal] Life of the Tathagata158
- Discrimination of Merits163
- The Merits of Joyful Acceptance170
- The Merits of the Preacher173
- The Bodhisattva Never Despise182
- The Divine Power of the Tathagata186
- The Final Commission189
- The Story of the Bodhisattva Medicine King190
- The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound195
- The All‐Sidedness of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World199
- Dharanis204
- The Story of the King Resplendent207
- Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue211

THE SUTRA OF MEDITATION ON THE BODHISATTVA UNIVERSAL VIRTUE214
- The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue214