The Lotus Sūtra is regarded by many as the most profound teaching of Buddhism. It is certainly one of the great treasures of literature we have inherited from the ancient world. The sixteenth chapter, On Measuring the Life of The One Who Has Descended Into This World, is about the eternal nature of the grace descending from the Buddha’s spiritual life (dharma kāya, 法身).
This book is an in-depth examination of this chapter, including English translations of:
- The chapter itself
- The general introduction to this chapter from Zhìyǐ’s ‘Words & Passages of The Lotus Sūtra’ (C. Fahuá Wénjù, J. Hokke Mongu, 法華文句), on the eternal, undying nature of the Buddha’s spiritual life and its grace that descends into this world
- Its explanation of the chapter’s title: ‘On Measuring the Lifespan of The One Who Has Descended Into This World’: The three-fold nature of the Buddha’s spiritual life
- Its line-by-line explanation of the chapter’s text
- Commentaries on key passages in this chapter from ‘The Oral Transmission of the Meaning’, (Ongi Kuden, 御義口傳), said to be given by Nichiren to his disciples and recorded by Nikkō.
- Commentaries on passages in this chapter from Nichikan
- Interlinear readings of the chapter in Chinese, romanized Japanese and Sanskrit transliteration and English translation
- Outlines of the chapter’s meaning and narrative flow
- Comprehensive footnotes that offer a background on Buddhist concepts and history relevant to the subject.
Click here for the table of contents
This book serves as a companion piece to On Skillfulness in Ways & Means, on the second chapter of The Lotus Sūtra.
It is available in two versions: a black & white edition and a special edition with the scripture’s text in color.
An Lạc Publications 