derris’s Reviews > The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic > Status Update
derris
is on page 262 of 504
despite the extremely hyperbolic and fantastical nature of the narrative (if you can call it that), i think this actually functions as a rather profound meta commentary on and re-interpretation of the whole buddhist tradition. but i imagine if you approached this book with no prior knowledge, it would be extremely alienating or just boring.
— Oct 21, 2024 09:39AM
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Paul
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Oct 21, 2024 01:50PM
the Lotus Sutra is a fascinating mess for sure. I have to say I mostly consider it fan fiction; actual Buddhism is just a few monasteries in Sri Lanka, at this point (these Mahayana folks, man ...)
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I guess fanfiction is one way of putting it. I have to say though that I find myself more attracted to mahayana than theravada. From what limited information I've taken in, I find their view of emptiness to be more consistent imo. I need to read more theravada stuff though, to be fair.
I'm mostly kidding haha -- it's a legitimate religious development, but just such an exceedingly odd one
yeah it is fascinating.
I've found most sutras nigh-unreadable, with a few notable exceptions, like the Samdhinirmocana Sutra.
yeah a lot of them definitely are. I like the diamond sutra the most since its pretty straightforward. then on the opposite end of the spectrum you have the avatamsaka which is thousands of pages of basically incomprehensible text. But I still like to look through it for the verse sections, which can be quite nice. The lotus sutra is actually very readable, just repetitious. I think the way it reinterprets the concept of upaya is pretty ingenious though. I've enjoyed reading it.
Whenever I think of the Lotus Sutra, I think of upaya first and foremost, and the parable of the burning house. As far as I can gather, the Lotus Sutra was stupendously influential in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, on figures like Dogen. One day I'd like to make a study of it.
