Katō and Tamura, et. al. The Threefold Lotus Sūtra, read the Introduction.
Mizuno, Kōgen. Buddhist Sūtras: Origin, Development, Transmission. Kosei, 1982. (selections on translators, catalogues, spurious sutras, etc.).
Questions for Paper Topics or Discussion
1)What evidence do you find in the Lotus for inclusion of the Sūtra of Innumerable Meanings and Sūtra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue within its scriptural cycle? How do the two sūtras confirm this? What do they contribute to the Lotus that is not already there (i.e. the three/one vehicle, idea of expedient means, concept of the Buddha, etc.? What features fo you find in the two scriptures that might arouse one's suspicions about their authenticity?
2)What does the Lotus have to say about itself as a scripture or text--i.e., internal evidence regarding its content, age, length, value or place in relation to other discourses of Buddha SÕkyamuni and Buddhas of the Past and Future? How might these features affect the way in which the written text of the Lotus was received or viewed? What evidence do you find for possible further expansion of the written text of the Lotus?
Abbott, Terry Rae. "Vasubandhu's Commentary to the 'Saddharmapundarika-sutra of': A Study of its History and Signigicance." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California-Berkeley, 1985. Selections, pp. 185-198 (on prediction given to srÕvakas, etc.).
Ochō Enichi (Robert F. Rhodes, trans.), "The Beginnings of Tenet Classification in China." The Eastern Buddhist 14/2 (1981): 71-94.
Questions for Paper Topics or Discussion
1)How does Tao-sheng construe the relationship between the three vehicles and the one vehicle (in comm. to Chap 2-7)? How does this compare with (i.e., further or detract from) KumÕrajîva's rudimentary system of scriptural and tenet classification as described by Ochō?
2)In his commentary to the Chapters on the Jeweled Stūpa and Lifespan of the TathÕgata, in what way does Tao-sheng embellish or extend the ideas about the Buddha implicit in the sūtra (especially the notion of the Buddha Sykyamuni having "long been enlightened" or making a docetic show of extinction? (One might provide a selection from the NirvÕna sūtra of SrÒmyly sūtra
3)What evidence do you find in Tao-sheng's commentary for establishing a temporal sequence or evolution to the srÕvaka and MahÕyÕna/bodhisattva teachings/scriptures preached over the course of the Buddha's career?
Rhodes, Robert F. "An Annotated Translation of the Ssu-chiao i (On the Four Teachings)." Otani daigaku Shinshū sōgō kenkyūjo nempō (Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute Annual Memoirs) 3 (1985):27-101 and 4 (1986): 93-141. (Selections)
de Bary, W. T., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964, pp. 309-328. (Includes translation of Chih-i's explication of the "ten dharmas" and "three thousand realms in an instant of thought" from the Fa-hua hsüan-i and Mo-ho chih- kuan.)
Donner, Neal, "Sudden and Gradual Intimately Conjoined: Chih-i's T'ien-t'ai View." In Peter N. Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987, pp. 201-226.
Hurvitz, L. "Chih-i (538-597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Buddhist Monk." Melange Chinois et Bouddhiques, vol. 12 (1960-62).
Swanson, Paul. Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1989.
Weinstein, Stanley. "Imperial Patronage in the Formation of T'ang Buddhism," in Wright &;Twitchett, eds. Perspectives on the T'ang, pp. 265-306.
Questions for Paper Topics or Discussion
1) What, according to Chegwan, sets the Lotus apart from other Buddhist sūtras? How does he characterize the Lotus and why?
2) Using either Chegwan, Chih-i's "Meaning of the Four Teachings" (Rhodes, trans.), or both, describe how the four teachings of T'ien-t'ai compare to or reflect the scheme of the three vehicles and the one vehicle of the Lotus. In what ways do you see the doctrine of the "perfect teaching" (yüan-chiao) to be indebted to the One Buddha Vehicle of the Lotus?
3) Using Chegwan's description of the stages of the "perfect teaching," demonstrate how this scheme is informed by (or explicates) Chapters 17 (Discrimination of Merits) through 19 (Merits of the Dharma Preachers) of the Lotus? Then, turning to Chapter 20, how might you explicate the religious practice and career of the Bodhisattva Never-Disparaging in light of this path?
4) Compare the respective claims regarding the relative position of the Lotus and Avatamsaka sūtras in T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen. (For the former use Chappel, Hurvitz, Swanson. For the latter use Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism as well as Liu-ming Wood articles, etc.).
*Stevenson, (trans.) "Chih-i's Procedure for the Lotus
SÕmadhi Repentance (Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i)." Manuscript translation of Chih-i's Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i. Selections.
Luk, Charles, "Self-Cultivation according to the T'ien-t'ai School (translation of Chih-i's Hsiao chih-kuan), in Secrets of Chinese Meditation. London: Rider &;Co.; reprinted, New York: Samuel Weiser, 1969, pp. 109-162.
Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism, no. 5. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987.
Donner, Neal A. and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Three Kinds of Calming and Contemplation
ÊDonner, Neal A. and Daniel B. Stevenson. The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan. Kuroda Institute Classics in East Asian Buddhism 2. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press (forthcoming).
*Stevenson: Video of performance of Lotus Repentance at Jōjuji.
Questions for Paper Topics or Discussion
1)In what ways are the Easeful Course (an-le hsing) [or Practice Devoid of Distinguishing Features] and 21 day Lotus/ Samantabhadra Repentance [or Practice Endowed with Distinguishing Features] directly indebted to the Lotus and the Sūtra on the Meditation of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy? In what ways (if at all) do they go beyond these two sūtras, either in their presentation of the practice or its professed goal?
1)We often think of "devotion" as something that is purely inward or non-physical. What concrete ritual and behavioral patterns attend (or define) proper devotion to the Lotus in the HTFHC? What about "wrong" devotion?
2)How are the five practices of (1) receiving and upholding/keeping, (2) reading, (3) reciting, (4) copying, and (5) explicating the Lotus actually carried out in the HTFHC? How are they ritually embellished over and above the sparse descriptions given in the Lotus itself?
3)How does the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Universal Worthy) enter into the tales of the HTFHC? In what way is his role or presence derivative of the sūtra? In what way different?
4)What is the point of immolating yourself? In what way do the preparations and procedures described in the HTFHC conform to or deviate from the Chapter on the Deeds of the Bodhisattva Medicine King in the sūtra?
5)What role does "past karmic roots (i.e. connections with the Lotus)" and "memory or recollection" of those roots play in th Lotus? How, if at all, does this theme enter into the notion of religious practice and spiritual awakening found in the HTFHZ and/or Chih-i's Procedure for Performance of the Lotus SamÕdhi Repentance?
6)What role do "relics" (of saintly devotees) play in the Lotus? How are they treated (ritually and otherwise)? Mummification (i.e. non-decay) of the tongue is an attribute specifically associated with Lotus devotion. Can you find a basis for it in the sūtra itself?
7)What evidence do you find in these tales for "revelation" --either by deities or memory of past lives--of mistaken or lost sections of the Lotus. Is there justification for these ideas in the Lotus itself?
8)In what way do the general norms of practice outlined in the Comfortable Conduct (Chap. 14) and Exhortations of Universal Worthy (Chap. 28) figure into biographies of the HTFHC?
9)What connection do you see in the HTFHC between devotion to the Lotus and rebirth in the Pure Land of AmitÕbha? Is there justification for this in the Lotus? In Chih-i's Procedure for the Lotus SamÕdhi Repentance?
The Lotus Sūtra in Medieval China
Daniel B. Stevenson, University of Kansas
October, 1992
Rough Draft: Not for Citation
I. Transmission and Formation of the Text of the Lotus in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-28
II. The Lotus and Chinese Buddhist Exegesis . . . . . . . 29-42
III. The Narrative Structure of the Lotus . . . . . . . . 43-55
IV. Views on the Internal Structure of the Lotus in Medieval Chinese Exegesis . . . . . . . . . 56-67
V. Themes and Controversies: The Three and the One, the Near and the Far, etc. . . .68-88
VI. The Lotus and P'an-chiao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89-115
Selections from the Hongzan Fahua Zhuan
I. Background to the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-
II. Selections [in Translation] . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-53