Mysteries of the Lotus Sutra

QUESTION: How would a Christian feel if he found out his Bible was incomplete? For instance, suppose he learned that Jesus had written down His teachings, but that they had been lost or destroyed?

A similar question crossed my mind as I read the Lotus Sutra, considered by the Buddha to be his highest teaching. This passage appears in the Lotus:

QUOTE*:

I have heard this Lotus Sutra with its eight hundred, thousand, ten thousand, millions of nayutas, kankaras, vivaras, akshobhyas of verses.

:UNQUOTE.

So, based on this quote, just how long is this teaching supposed to be? Apparently, the number of "verses" exceeds the number of atoms in the entire (known) universe.

What to think? The Lotus is a religious text after all; so it might (for that reason) be the victim/beneficiary of (er) exaggeration.  The text we have in our possession today boils down to only 326 pages, after being translated into English. And, no, it's not 326 pages of teeny, tiny print.

Where are all these "lost" verses? And what are they?

After having read all 326-pages of the Burton Watson translation for a total of 130 times out loud, I have an idea – derived mostly from what I’ve read in between the lines (perhaps such derivations should be considered part of the Lotus). My personal view is: Not only has the Lotus Sutra been in existence since the infinite past; it's also a work in progress. Each time a Buddhist tries (or, in the far-flung past, tried) to encourage someone to practice Buddhism based on the Lotus Sutra, he adds to the Lotus Sutra itself. In a manner of speaking, he is the Lotus Sutra itself.

Each word uttered, in the name of conversion, becomes part of a growing body of words called the Lotus Sutra.

I have also heard a claim to this effect, "The words of the Buddhas never differ, no matter where in the universe they preach." I take that to mean, "The words these Buddhas decide to use - chosen because they know their listeners and what will move them - contain the essence of Buddhism, even though the words that issue from their mouths aren’t the same." That is to say, a word heard by one person is heard (that is, processed) by that person in the same way a different word is processed by another person. In that sense, these two different words are the same word – in effect.

This serves to add further complication:

"This Law [Lotus Sutra] cannot be described, words fall silent before it" and "...what the Buddha has achieved is the rarest and most difficult-to-understand Law. The true entity of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas."

Words may well "fall silent before it," however words are exactly what the Buddhas use to attract people to the Lotus Sutra so that they too may become Buddhas. Buddhists would call this effective-though-seemingly-useless employment of words "mystic" or an example of "skillful means." Perhaps words can succeed only when a Buddha (or when the Buddha that exists within all of us) uses them, in which case I am suggesting that more is conveyed than just an aural output.

As if this weren't vague enough, allow me to further confound: The Lotus speaks of "wisdom that comes of itself, Buddha wisdom." This hints that it's not even necessary to have a Buddha teach us in order to attain enlightenment. In fact, the Lotus speaks of individuals who "prefer solitary practices."

I would answer: wisdom might "appear" to come of itself, but nothing ever happens without cause. When the onslaught of wisdom finally comes to a person, it feels like it's coming out of nowhere. But in reality, it's been a long time coming and has been stoked by eons of practice over many lifetimes and by the hidden supportive action of visible friends – as well as those not visible.

As far as "solitary practices" are concerned - even in exile, even in solitary confinement, we are never truly alone. The Buddha is always with us, trying to teach us. I address this more fully at: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/11/buddha-speaks-within-your-mind.html

Please note where it says "point of death" in the following:

QUOTE*:

When this monk was on the point of death, he heard up in the sky fully twenty thousand, ten thousand, a million verses of the Lotus Sutra that had been previously preached by the Buddha Awesome Sound King, and he was able to accept and uphold them all ... [therefore] his life span was increased by two hundred ten million nayutas of years, and he went about widely preaching the Lotus Sutra for people.

:UNQUOTE.

This means, when this particular monk was on the verge of dying, he "heard," "accepted," and "upheld" all these verses (even though “all,” in this case, doesn’t comprise the entire Lotus Sutra). Quite a feat, when one is at the "point of death." This indicates to me that some kind of compression is taking place; that a great deal of "information" was being introduced to and processed by "this monk" within a very brief time. This points out one of the features I most admire about the Lotus: It respects the potential (or capacity for absorption) which anybody can develop ... over time (that's the catch, "over time").

This next quote testifies to the power which the Lotus Sutra can bestow on its practitioners (please note the words "good men or good women"):

QUOTE*:

Moreover, Constant Exertion, if good men or good women accept and uphold this sutra after the Thus Come One [Buddha] has entered extinction, if they read it, recite it, explain and preach it, or transcribe it, they will acquire twelve hundred mind benefits. Because of purity of their mental faculties, when they hear no more than one verse or one phrase [of the (Lotus) sutra], they will master immeasurable and boundless numbers of principles. And once having understood these principles, they will be able to expound and preach on the single phrase or a single verse for a month, for four months, or for a whole year, and the doctrines that they preach during that time will conform to the gist of the principles and will never be contrary to true reality. If they should expound some text of the secular world or speak on matters of government or those relating to wealth and livelihood, they will in all cases conform to the correct Law.

:UNQUOTE.

In other words, you don't have to be anyone special in order to obtain this power; all you have to be is a good man or a good woman who embraces this teaching. Insofar as everybody has the potential to become a Buddha, nobody is (or has to be) special or different from anybody else. In addition, we do not have to be slaves to someone else's interpretation of the Lotus. We may feel free to expound to the best of our ability, without having to use someone else's words. ["someone else" = a contemporary teacher of Buddhist doctrine]

For members of the Soka Gakkai, in particular

I hesitated (but only briefly) before deciding to continue this post by offering this advice to members of the lay organization of Buddhists known as the SGI (Soka Gakkai International, which emphasizes the chanting of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo):

QUOTE*:

As long as a person has not yet heard. Not yet understood. And not yet been able to practice this Lotus Sutra, then you should know that person is still far away from [the supreme enlightenment of the Buddha]. Why? Because all [practitioners] who attain [enlightenment] in all cases do so through this sutra.

:UNQUOTE.

As much as I admire their efforts and love them, I must conclude that my fellow SGI members are not practicing Buddhism correctly. The Buddha (above) made clear how indispensable the Lotus Sutra is to the attainment of Buddhahood. He also makes clear that to "practice this Lotus Sutra" means (among other things) to "read and recite it." This is what my friends are not doing.

Instead, they are taught to recite (on a daily basis) only two of the Lotus's 28 chapters - and in ancient Chinese! So they are being taught to ignore the other 26 chapters and to only recite two chapters in a language they don't understand. Therefore, they are not encouraged to seek understanding (except on the rare occasion when excerpts in English are published in SGI periodicals).

I would encourage my friends to discover what I have discovered: The value of practicing correctly, which means embracing and trying to understand the entire Lotus Sutra. Nothing less will do.

Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

"Not everything in life comes with an instruction manual, so we’re fortunate when something this important does.”

Contact me at: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

* All quoted material is from the Burton Watson translation of The Lotus Sutra.