Buddha of All Worlds and the Sutra of All Time

Manjushri Bodhisattva’s story about Sun and Moon Light Buddha indicates not only that the Buddha is the Buddha of all worlds, but also that the Dharma Flower Sutra itself is not something devised a few centuries ago. It too is in all time, at least in the sense that it teaches timeless truths. Thus the books we have called “The Lotus Sutra” and the like, whether in Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, French, or English, are at best representations or exhibits of the Sutra itself. Such pages of text, on wood or palm leaf or paper, are embodiments of the Sutra. This does not mean, however, that the Lotus Sutra itself is in any way more real than the concrete embodiments. Rather, it is only in such concrete embodiments – not only in printed texts, but also in recitation, in teaching, and in practicing it – that the Sutra lives.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p42