Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sutra

Scholars Lopez Jr. and Stone offer an in-depth introduction to the Lotus Sutra—one of the most influential texts of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism—in this comprehensive, highly technical work. Their opening exploration of the Lotus Sutra focuses on the work as a text of timeless revelation (which captures the Buddha’s words and actions) against a backdrop of backlash from mainstream Buddhism. Although originally composed in India during the first century BCE, over centuries the text rose in stature and influence over Mahayana Buddhism. Nichiren, the 13th-century Japanese founder of the Nichiren Buddhist tradition, reinterpreted the Lotus Sutra for what he saw as an age of decline, emphasizing the salvation of even the most deluded as long as they accepted and embraced the sutra. By unpacking the Lotus Sutra chapter by chapter and explaining both the lesson presented by the Buddha and the influence on subsequent Buddhist lineages, Lopez Jr. and Stone’s detailed analysis makes for a welcome, admirable addition to the large repertoire of more general Lotus Sutra studies. Their incorporation of Nichiren showcases the sutra as not merely a religious document, but a text of living faith concerned with the salvation of everyday people. Though readers with even a passing interest in the topic will find this hard-going, this intricate text will be welcomed by dedicated Buddhist readers interested in the history of the Lotus Sutra. (Oct.)