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The Lotus Sūtra: A Biography
A concise and accessible introduction to the classic Buddhist text
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 Eug�ne 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.
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 Eug�ne 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.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2016
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About the author
Donald S. Lopez Jr.
70 books56 followersDonald Sewell Lopez, Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.
Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.
Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 8, 2017
I have been a fan of the scholarship of Donald S. Lopez Jr. for a long time: His "Prisoner's of Shangri-la" and "Tibetan Religion in Context" shattered a lot of myths I had held on the topic and that permeated popular culture both within and outside convert Buddhist circles. Although he has two books on myths about Buddhism and the Buddha that go into little known elements of Theravada history, Lopez tends to focus on myths of Mahayana buddhism and the critical studies around it, and particularly on Vajrayana variants. This was different in that he was dealing with a text, although he did a treatment on the "Tibetan Book of the Dead," and a text, while important to Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism, is foundational for Tendei, Shin, Shingon, and most dramatically Nichiren Buddhism.
Lopez starts with the texts seem origins in the Sanskrit literature of the Indo-Greek world of Bactria. There is some speculations on the exact nature of the shift here. The secret doctrine elements of the text set it apart from the other two famous Mahayana sutras readily found in English, the Heart Sutra (which isn't really even a Sutra) and the Diamond Sutra (foundational for Chan/Seon/Zen). Lopez then talks us through the reception in China, the development of Chinese esoteric Buddhism, the shift to Japan, Japanese devotional and esoteric Buddhism(s), the develop of Nichiren Buddhism in particular, the reception of the Lotus Sutra in French and American scholarship, the Development of the modern Nichiren sects, their consolidation in the Meiji restoration at the same time as French-English scholarship on the Lotus sutra begins, and then the post-war development of Nichiren outside of Japan.
Fascinating and brings up many of the problems of the history of Buddhism and the Mahayana developments outside of India and outside of their original Sanskrit context. Easily readable despite the obscurity of a lot of the topic, and offers a good history of Mahayana developments in both Japan and America in particular through the lens of the Lotus Sutra's reception.
Lopez starts with the texts seem origins in the Sanskrit literature of the Indo-Greek world of Bactria. There is some speculations on the exact nature of the shift here. The secret doctrine elements of the text set it apart from the other two famous Mahayana sutras readily found in English, the Heart Sutra (which isn't really even a Sutra) and the Diamond Sutra (foundational for Chan/Seon/Zen). Lopez then talks us through the reception in China, the development of Chinese esoteric Buddhism, the shift to Japan, Japanese devotional and esoteric Buddhism(s), the develop of Nichiren Buddhism in particular, the reception of the Lotus Sutra in French and American scholarship, the Development of the modern Nichiren sects, their consolidation in the Meiji restoration at the same time as French-English scholarship on the Lotus sutra begins, and then the post-war development of Nichiren outside of Japan.
Fascinating and brings up many of the problems of the history of Buddhism and the Mahayana developments outside of India and outside of their original Sanskrit context. Easily readable despite the obscurity of a lot of the topic, and offers a good history of Mahayana developments in both Japan and America in particular through the lens of the Lotus Sutra's reception.
March 29, 2025
A very academic review of the Lotus Sutra, its history, purpose, and use. There were, admittedly some very interesting portions, particularly dealing with the advent and rise of the Sōka Gakkai movement. Obviously, the work of Eugéne Burnouf was extremely relevant and important, but it might have been summarized to a greater degree.
Were it not for the fact that it came out three years later, there were times when this felt like a long-winded introduction to his co-authored (J. Stone) "Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side" which, to my taste was much more interesting and covered much of the same ground.
Were it not for the fact that it came out three years later, there were times when this felt like a long-winded introduction to his co-authored (J. Stone) "Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side" which, to my taste was much more interesting and covered much of the same ground.
July 28, 2025
This book delivered pretty much everything I wanted: a lucidly written, consistently engaging historical overview of the Lotus Sutra's Indian development and conceptualization in China by Zhiyi et al., followed by chapter after chapter of the wonderfully unhinged antics of Nichiren and his followers. Reception history enthusiasts will find his chapter on Burnouf enlightening, too. You'll laugh. You'll learn. And you might also start chanting "myō hō ren ge kyō" to yourself as you read (Tina Turner, I get it now).
January 31, 2020
General introduction to a famous book, suitable for grad students and higher level undergrads.
Has highs and lows. Best parts are the beginning and Japanese history background, with the description of the influence on a single mid-19th century French translator and the Americans who read them a bit slower.
Has highs and lows. Best parts are the beginning and Japanese history background, with the description of the influence on a single mid-19th century French translator and the Americans who read them a bit slower.
April 9, 2022
Mostly informative, sometimes interesting, but not terribly enlightening. Apart from a lot of historical facts I wasn't sure what I was supposed to take away from this monograph. Repetitive in places; read like Annual Review, sadly.
June 13, 2024
At points a bit too hostile to it's subject but overall a good summary of the history. There's nothing much to learn here if you've already read a few books on the topic.
November 28, 2016
A well written and very short survey of Buddhism through the lens of one Mahayana text. the Lotus Sutra. On the other hand, much of the last two chapters felt like tangents to a larger story. Instead of what is the status of the Lotus Sutra in the Buddhist world today, there was a history of a doctrinal fight in Japan and how it spun out into America.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews