The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra; Mandarin: 妙法蓮華經Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Japanese: Myōhō Renge Kyō; Korean: Myo beob nyeon hwa gyeong; Vietnamese: Diệu Pháp Liên Hoa Kinh) is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia, and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.
The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled...
more
The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra; Mandarin: 妙法蓮華經Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Japanese: Myōhō Renge Kyō; Korean: Myo beob nyeon hwa gyeong; Vietnamese: Diệu Pháp Liên Hoa Kinh) is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia, and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.
The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled in the first century BCE in Kashmir, India some 500 years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, it is not included in the more ancient Āgamas, nor in the parallel Sutta Pitaka of the Theravada Buddhists, both of which represent scriptures which to a greater degree of likelihood can be historically linked to the Buddha himself.
The Lotus Sutra purports to be a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life. The tradition in Mahayana states that the sutra was written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five...
less
