Maxim’s Reviews > The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers > Status Update

Halfway through the Universal Sage Sutra. It seems to teach a lesson about ownership, take responsibility for your actions and take the sins of the world upon your shoulders. The part I am at also mentions the problems of having forming value judgements. It seems to advocate taking time to think about our actions, those of others and the actual consequences of our actions.

Chapter 28 was the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra. It was very disappointing as a the beginning seemed to open with four behaviours to adopt in sharing this wisdom, but it did not deliver that. Instead it kept enumerating the benefits of keeping the precepts. I did not expect it to go full vegan, but given that hunters and butchers should be rejected, it’s hard to see an alternative.

Chapter 27 had an interesting narrative, teaching a lesson about the embodiment of wisdom and teaching by experience. Rather than arguing with their father about their beliefs, they showed him how they benefited from it. This convinced the father. They also talk about how rare it is to meet a Buddha, which I take to be a lesson about seizing opportunities to learn, even when it goes against some if our convictions.

Chapter 26, Dharanis, was very short, which I am thankful for since I found it quite uninteresting. Dharanis are invocations, a different sort of prayers meant to achieve specific goals or to prevent specific things. It seems to have a similar value to invocations, but they may be for more hopeful or mire frivolous situations, in order to keep Hearer of Sounds of the World more sacred.

Chapter 25 is very repetitive, enumerating the qualities of a Boddhisatva. From what I understand, she is a means of “invocation”, just like the Jesus prayer. By invoking Regarder of the Sounds if the World sincerely at least once, one should be freed from any torment. I take it to be a practice to generate faith and help one find peace of mind when desperate.

Chapter 24 concerned itself with status and its limitations. At first it mentioned how Wondrous Sound should remain modest and humble on his journey to obtain the Dharma from Shakyamuni. To this he replied that he would not go directly, which still puzzles me. His skill was to appear in any form, which I take to mean that we can learn something from anyone and wedo nit need to make extravagant displays of status.

Chapter 22 was very short. It described the attitude of the Buddha: benevolent, compassionate and never ungenerous. This attitude would be what makes him so wise. It seems to me that having this attitude and inspiring others to have this attitude is sort of the ultimate point if this book. It claims that for those who are not ready to accept it, we must use skillful means.

Chapter 21 was about transcendent powers. The Buddha’s transcendent power, it seems to me, is to speak the truth and guide us toward other wise people. The Sutra is said to be a recollection of all his accomplishments. As such, the Sutra is said to be so praiseworthy because it essentially is the Buddha, which seems to support my previous hypothesis about the Buddha’s lifespan.

Chapter 20 had a lesson about having faith in people. It may take a lot of time, but simply showing respect and believing in people tends to lead them in a positive direction. I’m pretty sure Rogers made a similar point in “On Becoming a Person”. It also makes a case that we may need to endure negative outcomes from this, but that it is worth it.

Chapter 19 discusses that the righteous may trust their sense, speech, appearance and intuition. That those who agree with those teaching, through honesty, discernment and compassion would never be untruthful and that by having faith in themselves they ought to have much charisma. It talks about all the things, whether big or small, that we can perceive without being divine and the gift that it truly is.