The Buddha, in Chapter 2, tells his contemporary disciples that the teachings they had been taught were only a stepping stone to a great way of practice which he says is not a Sravaka practice, not a Pratyekabuddha practice, and not a Bodhisattva practice, but it is in a way a combination of all of those practices. Instead of there being three different ways of practicing according to a persons capacity, there is in fact only one way of practicing. That single way of practicing is on the one hand combining all the three different ways into one, and – now this is important – it is the awareness and realization that there is an even higher state than Nirvana as a goal. There is the fundamental truth that all Buddhas are awakened to and that is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraCategory Archives: Lecture on Lotus Sutra
Replacing the Three Vehicle Practices
The three vehicle practices of Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva are all being replaced as individual, unique, and different ways of attaining Buddhahood by a single way of attaining supreme enlightenment. This way is the practice of Bodhisattva, which includes all the practices of the three previous vehicles. No longer is it the wish of the Buddha for people to think of their own practice as something unique to themselves. Beginning with the Lotus Sutra the Buddha wants all practitioners of Buddhism to see their practice as part of a greater objective of saving other people, of teaching and spreading Buddhism, and of seeking the supreme enlightenment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraLecture on the Lotus sutra
From AmazonOver several years I have given various lectures on the Lotus Sutra. In some instances the talks were given to a few people, in others the audience was quite large. Some times the same person would hear one or two lectures, but no one has heard them all. For what they are worth I have decided to put much of the best of the lectures here in this book. I first encountered the Lotus Sutra in 1969 when I was fresh out of Marine boot camp. I knew a little about Buddhism before I went to that first activity. I had studied a little of Buddhism in high school and college. I can honestly say now that what I really knew at that time was next to nothing. This is not a linear exposition of the sutra. This is a very circular approach, meandering even, I’ll mention something about a chapter in one part of the book, and then in another part of the book I may mention the same thing again but from a different perspective. I like to think of my approach to unraveling the mysteries of the Lotus Sutra as thematically oriented. This is not to say my approach is better than a linear chapter-by-chapter explanation. It is just a way that makes sense to me. I should point out that non-linear story telling is very popular in the south in America as well as much of Africa. There is reason to suspect the non-linear way may actually resonate with others as well. It is always a great joy when I am able to talk about the Lotus Sutra, and this book project has been no exception. I hope you think of this as a couple of friends sitting on the porch swing talking about something that means something important to both.
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