Selections from the Saddharmapuëòaréka-Sütra Sütra on the Lotus of the True Dharma The Lotus Sutra

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Dharma, T. S.
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	[Certainly one of the most important and revered scriptures in all of East Asia, the Lotus Sütra is most famous for its doctrine of ekayäna, the “One Vehicle,” which became the distinctive teaching of the T’ien-tai School of Buddhism as it developed in China (Tendai in Japan). Bewildered by the wide diversity of Indian Buddhist scriptures, and attempting to reconcile the seeming contradictions in the Buddha’s Dharma that arose as a result of the three vehicles of Indian Buddhism, the Hénayäna, Mahäyäna, and Vajrayäna, the teachers of the T’ien-tai emphasized that there is really only one vehicle as taught in the Lotus Sütra. While on the lower levels of knowledge and truth there are different vehicles and different paths, on the highest third level of knowledge and truth there is only one path, one vehicle. All the various teachings found in the different scriptures are merely strategies, or ‘expedient means’ (upäya), by which the Buddha adapted his teachings to suit the needs of particular individuals in their own particular situation. This notion of ‘skill-in-means’ emphasized in the Lotus Sütra is one of the key concepts of Mahäyäna Buddhism. This opening chapter presents the striking image, captured in this frontispiece, of the Buddhha’s teachings or Dharma as a beam of light emitting from between the eyebrows of the Buddha, lighting up all the worlds. Seeking to understand this magical beam of light, the bodhisattva Maitreya turns to the bodhisattva Maïjuçré, especially known for his great wisdom. The beam of light is a simile for the unsurpassed enlightenment of a Buddha (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi). As Maïjuçré explains it, since the enlightened mind knows all things everywhere, and the dharmakäya universally fills the dharma realm, the Dharma penetrates everywhere and rains down upon all equally, according to their needs.] Chapter One Introduction
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil302/14.%20The%20Lotus%20Sutra.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article