Mahayaha Buddhism #3

Mahayaha ViewImportance of Lotus Sutra

Masayo Urasaki

28 June 2012

The Trikaya Doctrine

The Trikāya doctrine Image (Three bodies:

三身 Chinese: Sānshēn, Japanese: sanjin)

Spread to China

Through Silk Road, reached to China Emperor Ming (58–75 AD) precipitated the

first introduction of Buddhist teachings into China.

5c ： Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅汁 Kumārajīva revolutionized Chinese Buddhism

with his high quality translations, which are still praised for their flowing smoothness, clarity of meaning, subtlety, and literary skill.

Tendai Schools ( 天台宗） Due to the wide proliferation of Buddhist texts

available in Chinese and the large number of foreign monks who came to teach Buddhism in China, various new and independent traditions emerged.

Major early tradition was the Tiantai school 天台宗 , founded by Zhi yi 智顗　 , which is based upon the 　 primacy of the Lotus Sutra, along with supplementary sūtras and commentaries. Zhiyi wrote several works that become important and widely-read meditation manuals in China. 「法華三昧」

Lotus Sutra (Saddharma-pundarika Sutra)

"Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law." Lotus Sutra was written in the 1st or 2nd centu

ry CE, probably by more than one writer. The sutra is divided into 28 chapters - Kamaraj

iva translation -- in which the Buddha or other beings offer sermons and parables.

The Lotus Sutra begins..... "Thus I have heard. At one time the Buddha was

in Rajagriha, staying on Mount Gridhrakuta." Rajagriha was a city on the site of present-day Rajgir, in northeastern India, and Gridhrakuta, or "Vulture's Peak," is nearby.

So, the Lotus Sutra begins by making a connection to a real place associated with the historical Buddha.

Mount Gridhrakuta

Vulture's Peak

1) All Vehicles Are One Vehicle(Ekayana)

In early passages the Buddha tells the assembly that his earlier teachings were provisional. People were not ready for his highest teaching, he said, and had to be brought to enlightenment by expedient means. But the Lotus represents the final, highest teaching, and supersedes all other teaching.

In particular, the Buddha addressed the doctrine of triyana, or "three vehicles" to nirvana.

The Doctorine of Triyana In particular, the Buddha addressed the doctrine of triyana, or "t

hree vehicles" to nirvana. 1) people who realize enlightenment by hearing the Buddha's

sermons <Shravaka> 2)people who realize enlightenment for themselves through

their own effort <Pratyekabuddha> 3)people who realize enlightenment for the path of the

bodhisattva.<Bodhisattva>

But the Lotus Sutra says that the three vehicles are one vehicle, the buddha vehicle, through which all beings become buddhas

2) All Beings May Become Buddhas

A theme expressed throughout the sutra is that all beings may attain buddhahood and attain Nirvana. A significant point is that in the dialogues the Buddha promises several women that they will attain buddhahood without having to be reborn as men.

The Buddha is presented in the Lotus Sutra as dharmakaya -- the unity of all things and beings, unmanifested, beyond existence or nonexistence, unbound by time and space. Because the dharmakaya is all beings, all beings have the potential to awaken to their true nature and attain buddhahood.

3)The Importance of Faith and Devotion

Buddhahood may not be attained through intellect alone. Indeed, the Mahayana view is that the absolute teaching cannot be expressed in words or understood by ordinary cognition.

The Lotus Sutra stresses the importance of faith and devotion as means to realization of enlightenment. Among other significant points, the stress on faith and devotion makes buddhahood more accessible to laypeople, who do not spend their lives in ascetic monastic practice.

The Parables

A distinctive feature of the Lotus Sutra is the use of parables.

The parables contain many lay-persons of metaphor that have inspired many lay-persons of interpretation.

The Burning House.

A King lures his children out of a burning house (Chapter 3).

The Prodigal Son.

A poor, self-loathing man gradually learns that he is wealthy beyond measure (Chapter 4).

The Medicinal Herbs.

Although they grow in the same ground and receive the same rain, plants grow in different ways (Chapter 5).

The Fantastic Castle City.

A man leading people on a difficult journey conjures an illusion of a beautiful city to give them the heart to keep going (Chapter 7)

The Jewel in the Jacket.

A man sews a gem into his friend's jacket. However, the friend wanders in poverty not knowing that he possesses a Jewel of great value (Chapter 8)

The Excellent Physician.

A physician's children are dying of poison but lack the sense to take medicine

(Chapter 16)