The Lotus Sūtra: A Biography

ISBN-10: 0691152209
ISBN-13: 9780691152202
Series: The Lotus Sūtra
Category: Religion
Pages: 272
Language: English
Published: 2016-10-04
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Author: Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Description

The Lotus Sutra is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist scriptures. Composed in India in the first centuries of the Common Era, it is renowned for its inspiring message that all beings are destined for supreme enlightenment. Here, Donald Lopez provides an engaging and accessible biography of this enduring classic. Lopez traces the many roles the Lotus Sutra has played in its travels through Asia, Europe, and across the seas to America. The story begins in India, where it was one of the early Mahayana sutras, which sought to redefine the Buddhist path. In the centuries that followed, the text would have a profound influence in China and Japan, and would go on to play a central role in the European discovery of Buddhism. It was the first Buddhist sutra to be translated from Sanskrit into a Western language—into French in 1844 by the eminent scholar Eugène Burnouf. That same year, portions of the Lotus Sutra appeared in English in The Dial, the journal of New England's Transcendentalists. Lopez provides a balanced account of the many controversies surrounding the text and its teachings, and describes how the book has helped to shape the popular image of the Buddha today. He explores how it was read by major literary figures such as Henry David Thoreau and Gustave Flaubert, and how it was used to justify self-immolation in China and political extremism in Japan. Concise and authoritative, this is the essential introduction to the life and afterlife of a timeless masterpiece.

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Other editions

The Lotus Sūtra: A Biography
- 2016-09-12
- 272 pages
- Ebook
- Princeton University Press
The Lotus Sutra: SADDHARMA PUNDARIKA
- 2017-03-31
- 305 pages
- Ebook
- Youcanprint
The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic
- 2014-04-14
- 504 pages
- Ebook
- Simon and Schuster
The Lotus Sutra
- 2012-08-02
- 366 pages
- Paperback
- CreateSpace

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