The Lotus Sutra (Watson)

Book

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Since its appearance in China in the third century, The Lotus Sutra has been regarded as one of the most illustrious scriptures in the Mahayana Buddhist canon. The object of intense veneration among generations of Buddhists in China, Korea, Japan, and other parts of the world, it has had a profound impact on the great works of Japanese and Chinese literature, attracting more commentary than any other Buddhist scripture.

As Watson notes in the introduction to his remarkable translation, "The Lotus Sutra is not so much an integral work as a collection of religious texts, an anthology of sermons, stories, and devotional manuals, some speaking with particular force to persons of one type or in one set of circumstances, some to those of another type or in other circumstances. This is no doubt why it has had such broad and lasting appeal over the ages and has permeated so deeply into the cultures that have been exposed to it." (Source: Columbia University Press)

Citation

Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Sutra. Translations from the Asian Classics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. https://ia802902.us.archive.org/13/items/lotussutraburtonwatson_202003_473_o/Lotus%20Sutra%20Burton%20Watson.pdf.

Publisher Link

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-lotus-sutra/9780231081610

Texts Translated

Kumārajīva, trans. 妙法蓮華經 Miào fǎ lián huá jīng (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra), T262, 09: https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2012/T0262.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

Translator's Introductionix
Translator's Notexxiii

THE LOTUS SUTRA

- 1. Introduction3
- 2. Expedient Means23
- 3. Simile and Parable47
- 4. Belief and Understanding80
- 5. The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs97
- 6. Bestowal of Prophecy107
- 7. The Parable of the Phantom City117
- 8. Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples143
- 9. Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts154
- 10. The Teacher of the Law160
- 11. The Emergence of the Treasure Tower170
- 12 . Devadatta182
- 13. Encouraging Devotion190
- 14. Peaceful Practices196
- 15. Emerging from the Earth212
- 16. The Life Span of the Thus Come One224
- 17 . Distinctions in Benefits233
- 18. The Benefits of Responding with Joy245
- 19. Benefits of the Teacher of the Law251
- 20. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging265
- 21. Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One272
- 22. Entrustment277
- 23. Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King280
- 24. The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound290
- 25. The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World's Sounds298
- 26. Dharani307
- 27. Former Affairs of King Wonderful Adornment312
- 28. Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy319
- Glossary325
- Index343