The Lotus Sutra

THE LOTUS SUTRA (Indian Buddhism, c. 1st century BCE-2nd century CE)

The Lotus Sutra (in Sanskrit, the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, or "Sutra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma") is one of the most influential sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly important in the Chinese Tiantai (Jp. Tendai, Kr. Cheontae) sect, as well as Japanese Nichiren Buddhism. (The Chinese call it Fahua Jing; the Japanese, Myoho Renge Kyo or Hoke-kyo for short.) Some east Asians consider it the highest, final teaching of the Mahayana or "Great Vehicle." It teaches the doctrine of the One Vehicle (all Buddhist schools and practices are "skillful means" leading to Buddhahood); that all beings can become Buddhas; and that the lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable, so he only appeared to pass on into final Nirvana (death)--he is still teaching the Dharma.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

Lalitavistara Sutra

LALITAVISTARA SUTRA (Mahayana Buddhist, 3rd century CE)

The Lalitavistara Sutra is a 27-chapter Sanskrit Mahayana Buddhist text, and a partial "autobiography" of the historical Buddha from the time he came down from the Tushita heaven (where he resided before being reborn on Earth as Prince Siddhartha Gautama) until his first sermon (after his Enlightenment) in the Deer Park near Varanasi, which launched his public mission. It covers his (re)birth and childhood, education, courtship, palace life, departure and search, asceticism, temptation, and attainment. It is portrayed in a series of reliefs at Borobudur.

• The name has been translated "The Play in Full," hinting that the Buddha's last incarnation was a performance given for the benefit of the beings in this world.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

Nagarjuna

NAGARJUNA (Indian Buddhist, c. 150-250 CE)

An Indian Mahayana Buddhist scholar, he is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. He is credited as founding the Madhyamaka or "Middle Way" School. To "prove" that all existence is "empty" (that is, devoid of self-existence, or that all things are dependent on all others) he employed what has been called the tetralemma (like a dilemma, but with four choices):

1. A is A. [affirmation]
2. A is not A. [negation]
3. A is both A and not A. [double affirmation]
4. A is not A nor not not A. [double negation]
   [Therefore, all is empty]

An oversimplified, homely example:

1. A rose is a rose.
2. A rose is not a rose (e.g. it is made up of constituent parts).
3. A rose is both a rose and not a rose (1 & 2).
4. A rose is not a rose nor not not a rose (2 & 1).
   [Therefore, all is empty]

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

The Milinda Panha

THE MILINDA PANHA (Indian Buddhist, 100 BCE-200 CE)

The Questions of [King] Milinda is a Buddhist text from sometime between 100 BCE and 200 CE, in which the Indo-Greek king of Bactria, Menander I (called in Pali Milinda), questions the great Indian Buddhist sage Nagasena about the Buddha's teachings. Milinda is historical; he reigned in the 2nd century BCE. Nagasena seems to be unknown outside of this dialogue, which is almost largely fabricated. Nevertheless, it is included in the canons of Burma and, in an abridged form, China; Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhism do not accept it as such. After each question has been addressed, the king responds (in one translation), "Well answered, Nagasena!" Tradition says Nagasena's answers were indeed effective: after the discussion, Milinda took refuge in the Buddha and turned his kingdom over to his son. Further tradition says he ultimately attained enlightenment.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

Vimalakirti Nirdesha

VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESHA (Mahayana Buddhist, c. 100 CE)

Tradition says that Vimalakirti was a Buddhist layperson from the Buddha's time who achieved a level of enlightenment that (some said) was second only to that of the Buddha himself. The Vimalakirti Nirdesha (a word meaning "teachings") is one of the major Mahayana sutras. The Mahayana branch of Buddhism embraces layperson and monastic alike, and Vimalakirti's attainment may have been making a point. In one chapter he schools Manjushri, a Bodhisattva said to embody wisdom. In another, he feigns illness so, when sympathetic people come to visit, he can teach them. The sutra seems to have been more popular in East (where the Mahayana is prevalent) than in South Asia.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

The Buddhacharita

THE BUDDHACHARITA (Sanskrit, early 2nd century CE)

The Buddhist monk Ashvaghosha (c. 80-150 CE) was born in northern India, and is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist; but today he is best remembered for the Buddhacharita or "Acts of the Buddha," an epic poem written in Sanskrit (previous Buddhist works had largely used Pali or another vernacular of Sanskrit) in the early second century CE on the life of Gautama Buddha. Only the first half survives complete in Sanskrit (fragments of the latter half remain), but Chinese and Tibetan translations were made early on. Dealing with the "miracles" in a restrained style (for the time at least) he tells of the Buddha's birth and youth, his flight, austerities and training, enlightenment, life with his followers, and death.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

The Pali Canon

THE PALI CANON (perhaps 483 BCE)

The Pali Canon is sort of the "Bible" of Southern (Theravada) Buddhism. It was compiled from the recollections of the Buddha's closest followers at the First Buddhist council (perhaps 483 BCE) after his death; but it was preserved orally and wasn't written down until centuries afterward. Many say it contains the oldest and most authentic collection of the words of the historic Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The entire Canon is long: one edition runs to over 2.7 million words in Pali, a language (similar to Sanskrit) which is close to the one in in which the Buddha actually taught. Printed editions run to around 40 volumes.

• The Pali Canon is divided into three parts--Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma; in Pali, it's called Tipitaka ("three baskets").
• The Vinaya Pitaka deals with rules for monks; the Sutta Pitaka is the sayings of the Buddha (the largest "basket"); and the Abhidhamma is a later, psychologizing expansion of the teachings.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index

The Jataka Tales

THE JATAKA TALES (Indian, 300 BCE-400 CE)

In Buddhism, the Jataka Tales are considered to be stories of the previous lives of the Buddha (Jataka means "birth"), with around 550 of them in one collection. Whenever the Buddha tells one, he identifies who he was (always a virtuous figure), and which characters in the story were which of his disciples. But the stories are, for the most part, more like Aesop, the 1,001 Nights, or the Indian Panchatantra. One of the most famous tells of a prince giving his body to feed a dying tiger, saving both her and her seven cubs. The prince, of course, is the Buddha-to-be. In another, he is captain of a ship who--as the lesser of two evils--kills a robber who plans to kill 500 merchants, even though this will be a setback to his attainment of enlightenment.

---

Navigation:

• View this post on Facebook or Instagram
• Go to the Great Books Index