The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarīka-sūtra; 妙法蓮華經 Cn: Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Jp: 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 probably written several hundred years after the death of Sakyamuni Buddha. According to translator Burton Watson, it may have been originally comp ...

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Lotus Sutra

Or Saddharma-pundarika, Dharma Flower, or "The Lotus of the True Law." The sutra is the basis for the Lotus sect (T'ien-t'ai in Chinese). Among the sutras of the Mahayana canon. One of the earliest and most richly descriptive of the Mahayana sutras of Indian origin.

It became important for the shaping of the Buddhist tradition in East Asia, in particular because of its teaching of the One Vehicle under which are subsumed the usual Hinayana (Theravada) and Mahayana divisions. It is the main text of the Tendai (T'ien T'ai) school. (Joji Okazaki.)

This School has a historically close relationship with the Pure Land School. Thus, Master T'ai Hsu taught that the Lotus Sutra and the Amitabha Sutras were closely connected, differing only in length.

 (See also: Lotus Sutra, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Lotus Sutra (saddharma-pundarika): An early Mahayana Buddhist text (composed between 100 BCE and 200 CE) which emphasizes the means-to-ends ability (upaya).

 (See also: Lotus Sutra, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Tendai (Japanese: 天台宗, Tendai-shū) is a Japanese school of Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. Tendai - History. The Tiantai teaching was first brought to Japan by the Chinese monk Jianshen (鑑眞 Jp: Gishin) in the middle of the 8th century, but it was not widely accepted. In 805, the Japanese monk Saichō (最澄; also called Dengyō Daishi 伝教大師) returned from China with new Tiantai texts and made the temple that he had built on Mt. Hiei (比叡山), ...

Including:

• Tendai - History
• Tendai - Tendai Doctrine

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In Buddhist mythology, a kimnara is a celestial musician, half-human and half-bird. They are featured in the Lotus Sutra. Other related archivesBuddhist mythology, Lotus Sutra, musician

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There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. Buddhists place varying value on them: attitudes range from worship of the text itself, to dismissal of some texts as falsification of the ineffable truth. They therefore cannot be called "scripture" in the sense of other religions. The texts can be categorized in a number of ways, but the most fundamental division is that between canonical and non-canonical texts. The former, also called the Sutras (Sanskrit) or Suttas (Pali), are held to be, literally or metaphoricall ...

Including:

• Buddhist texts - Canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Texts of the Nikaya Schools
• Buddhist texts - Sutta
• Buddhist texts - Abhidharma
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Mahayana texts
• Buddhist texts - Perfection of Wisdom Texts
• Buddhist texts - Saddharma-pundarika
• Buddhist texts - Pure Land Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Samadhi Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Confession Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Avatamsaka Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Third Turning Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Tathagatagarbha class sutras
• Buddhist texts - Collected Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Transmigration Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Discipline Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Sutras Devoted to Individual Figures
• Buddhist texts - Proto-Mahayana Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - References
• Buddhist texts - Vajrayana Texts
• Buddhist texts - Buddhist tantras
• Buddhist texts - Other products of the Vajrayana literature

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Buddhism: Buddhist Scriptures

The Buddhist canon of scripture is known in Sanskrit as the Tripitaka and in Pali as the Tipitaka. These terms literally mean "three baskets" and refers to the three main divisions of the canon, which are:

1.    The Vinaya Piaaka, containing disciplinary rules for the Sangha of Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as a range of other texts which explain why and how rules were instituted, supporting material, and doctrinal clarification.

2.    The Sutta Pitaka (Pali; Sanskrit: Sutra Pitaka), containing discourses of the Buddha.

3.    The Abhidhamma or commentary Pitaka, containing a philosophical systematization of the Buddha's teaching, including a detailed analysis of Buddhist psychology.

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Samantabhadra (also Viśvabhadra, 普賢 Chinese: Pǔxián; Japanese: Fugen) is the Lord of the Truth (理) in Buddhism, who represents the practice and meditation of all Buddhas. Together with Shakyamuni and fellow disciple Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity. He is the patron of the Lotus Sutra and, according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, made the ten great vows which are the basis of a bodhisattva. Samantabhadra is most commonly described as a bodhisattva himself, although some es ...

Including:

• Samantabhadra - Iconography

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Burton Watson (born 1925) is one of the world's best-known translators of the Chinese and Japanese literary works. Burton Watson was born in New York City, United States. He has taught at Columbia, Stanford, and Kyoto universities. His translations include The Lotus Sutra, The Vimalakirti Sutra, Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings, Mo Tzu: Basic Writings, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home, and The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early Times to the Thirteenth Century, all published by Columbia University P ...

Including:

• Burton Watson - External link

Read more here: » Burton Watson: Encyclopedia - Burton Watson

Tiantai (天台宗, Wade-Giles: T'ien T'ai) is one of the thirteen schools of Buddhism in China and Japan, also called the Lotus Sutra School because of its emphasis on the supremacy of that scripture. It was founded by Zhiyi (智顗, Wade-Giles: Chih-I) (538-597) during the Sui dynasty in China. Tiantai is a Mahāyāna school established at Tiantai mountain. The official line of transmission lists the Indian scholar Nagarjuna and Chinese monks Huiwen and Huisi as Zhiyi's predecessors, although modern scholars believe th ...

Including:

• Tiantai - External link

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Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経, also transliterated Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō) is a mantra that is chanted as the central practice of all forms of Nichiren Buddhism. The mantra is referred to as daimoku (題目, "title") and was first "revealed" by the Japanese Buddhist teacher Nichiren on the 28th day of the fourth lunar month of 1253 ce at Kiyosumi-dera (also, Seichōji) near Kominato in current-day Chiba, Japan. The practice ...

Including:

• Nam Myoho Renge Kyo - Meaning

Read more here: » Nam Myoho Renge Kyo: Encyclopedia - Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Benzaiten (弁才天, 弁財天) is the Japanese name of goddess Sarasvati (Saraswati). There is also a mighty river in ancient India of this name (see Vedic Saraswati River). Some suggest a connection between the goddess and the river. Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries, mainly via the Chinese translations of the Sutra of Golden Light, which has a section devoted t ...

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There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. Buddhists place varying value on them: attitudes range from worship of the text itself, to dismissal of some texts as falsification of the ineffable truth. They therefore cannot be called "scripture" in the sense of other religions. The texts can be categorized in a number of ways, but the most fundamental division is that between canonical and non-canonical texts. The former, also called the Sutras (Sanskrit) or Suttas (Pali), are held to be, literally or metaphoricall ...

Including:

• Buddhist texts - Canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Texts of the Nikaya Schools
• Buddhist texts - Vinaya
• Buddhist texts - Sutta
• Buddhist texts - Abhidharma
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Mahayana texts
• Buddhist texts - Perfection of Wisdom Texts
• Buddhist texts - Saddharma-pundarika
• Buddhist texts - Pure Land Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Samadhi Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Confession Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Avatamsaka Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Third Turning Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Tathagatagarbha class sutras
• Buddhist texts - Collected Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Transmigration Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Discipline Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Sutras Devoted to Individual Figures
• Buddhist texts - Proto-Mahayana Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - References
• Buddhist texts - Vajrayana Texts
• Buddhist texts - Buddhist tantras
• Buddhist texts - Other products of the Vajrayana literature

Read more here: » Buddhist texts: Encyclopedia - Buddhist texts

Yaksha (Sanskrit, also Yaksa; Pāli: Yakkha, Chinese and Japanese: 夜叉, Pin Yin ye4 cha1, J. yasha) originally from Hindu mythology, a class of nature ghosts or demons. Also: demigod attendants of Kuvera Also: twelve heavenly generals who guard the Buddha of Medicine (Sanskrit: Bhaisajya; Tibetan: sangs-rgyas sman-bla; Chinese and Japanese: 藥師如來) The yakshas were originally the tutelary gods of forests and villages. Later, however, they came to be viewed as the steward deities of the earth and the wealth burie ...

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Mañjuśrī (Ch: 文殊 Wenshu or 文殊師利 Wenshushili; Jp: Monju; Tib: Jampelyang (Wylie "'jam dpal dbyangs")), also written Manjushri, is the bodhisattva of keen awareness in Buddhism. A disciple of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, he represents wisdom, intelligence and realisation, and is one of the most popular Bodhisattvas following Avalokitesvara (Ch: Guan Yin). Together with Shakyamuni and fellow disciple Samantabhadra he forms the Shakyamuni trinity (Jp: Sanzon Shaka). Manjusri is ...

Including:

• Manjusri - Manjusri Mantra
• Manjusri - Iconography
• Manjusri - Manchu

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The Lotus position (Sanskrit: Padmasanam -- "lotus posture") is a cross-legged sitting posture which originated in representations and meditative practices of Hinduism. It is an established part of the Hindu Yoga tradition, Zen and other meditative disciplines. The position is said to resemble a lotus, encourage "proper" breathing and foster physical stability. It is perhaps the marquee image of the Eastern religious figure. Famous depictions of the lotus-posture include Shiva, the meditating ascetic god of Hindui ...

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Śāriputra (Pāli: Sāriputta; Chinese: 舍利弗 Sheli Fu) was one of two principal disciples of the Buddha. He became an Arhat renowned for his wisdom and is depicted in the Theravada tradition as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha. Śāriputra came from a brahmin family and had already embarked on life as a spiritual ascetic when he encountered the teachings of the Buddha. Śāriputra had a close friend Mahamaudgalyayana, another wandering ascetic. They both renounced the world on the same day and became disciples of the sceptic Sañj ...

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Faith (saddha/ sraddha) is an important constituent element of the teachings of the Buddha - both in the Theravada tradition as in the Mahayana. While not of the “blind” variety and on occasion linked with insight (prajna), Buddhist faith (as advocated by the Buddha of the various scriptures) nevertheless requires a degree of trusting confidence and belief primarily in the spiritual attainment and salvational knowledge of the Buddha. Faith in Buddhism centres on belief in the Buddha as a supremely Awakened being, on his unexcelled ...

Including:

• Faith in Buddhism - Faith in Early Buddhism Theravada
• Faith in Buddhism - Faith in Mahayana Buddhism
• Faith in Buddhism - Literature

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Pāramitā (Sanskrit) or Parami (Pāli): "Perfection" or "Transcendent". In Buddhism, the Paramitas refer to the perfection or culmination of certain practices. These practices are cultivated by Bodhisattvas for crossing from sensuous life (Samsara) to Enlightenment (Nirvana). In Theravada Buddhism, the Ten Perfections (Paramis) are; (original terms in Pali) dāna parami : generosity, giving of oneself sila parami : virtue, morality, proper conduct < ...

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Hinayana (Sanskrit: "inferior vehicle"; Chinese: 小乘 Xiǎoshèng; Japanese: Shōjō; Vietnamese: Tiểu thừa) is a term coined by the Mahayana, which appeared publicly around the 1st century CE. There are differing views on the use and meaning of the term, both among scholars and within Buddhism. The meaning of 'vehicle' here is probably best understood as a 'movement', rather than some sort of school or tradition. Hinayana - In brief. Hinayana is used as a name to refer variously ...

Including:

• Hinayana - In brief
• Hinayana - Three types of Buddha
• Hinayana - Origins of Hinayana: Vehicles and Paths
• Hinayana - Hinayana as a pejorative
• Hinayana - Hinayana and Theravada
• Hinayana - Etymology
• Hinayana - Bibliography

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