Lotus Sutra - Definition and Overview

The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarīka-sūtra; Chinese: 妙法蓮華經 or Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Japanese Myōhō Renge Kyō) 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 written several hundred years after the death of Shakyamuni 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 , mostly in the form of parables.

The Lotus Sutra was originally translated into Chinese by Dharmaraksa around 290 CE, before being superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE.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 was translated into English by Leon Hurvitz, Burton Watson, and others. The Chinese title is usually abbreviated to 法華經, which is read as Fǎhuā J&#299ng; in Chinese or Hokkekyō in Japanese.

At least some sources consider that the Lotus Sutra has a prologue and an epilogue, these being respectively the Sutra of Infinite Meanings (Muryogui Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (Fugen Kyō).

External links

• Text of the Lotus Sutra (http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Buddhism/LotusSutra/) translated into English by Burton Watson, courtesy of Sokka-Gakkai International–USA
• An old translation (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/lotus/index.htm) ento English by H. Kern, 1884, from the Sacred Texts Web site
• The first US translation (http://www.buddhistinformation.com/henry_david_thoreau.htm) 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
• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism entry (http://www.acmuller.net/cgi-bin/search-ddb4.pl?Terms=妙法蓮華經) (log in with userID "guest")
• Article that comments on the Lotus Sutra, including origin and relationship with other Sutras (http://reluctant-messenger.com/lotus_sutra.htm)