SACRED SCRIPTURE • MYŌHŌ-RENGE-KYŌ
The Lotus Sutra
Explore the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma through complete English reading editions, 2,100+ inline study annotations, multi-translator concordances, liturgical shindoku chanting, spoken English audio, and the Sanskrit manuscript tradition.
Jump to section: English Editions & Study Tools (5) • Chanting & Audiobook (2) • Kern’s Sanskrit Translation (1)
LITURGICAL OPENING VERSE
Kaikyōge*
The most profound and wonderful teaching is presented in this sūtra. This sūtra is difficult to meet even once in thousands and millions of aeons.
Now I have been able to see, hear, receive and keep this sūtra. May I understand the most excellent teaching of the Tathāgata! The most excellent teaching of the Great Vehicle is very difficult to understand.
Read remaining Kaikyōge verses
I shall be able to approach enlightenment when I see, hear, or touch this sūtra.
Expounded is the Buddha’s truth.
Expounding is the Buddha’s essence.
The letters composing this sūtra are the Buddha’s manifestation.
Just as perfume is caught by something put nearby, so shall I be richly benefited by this sūtra, even when I am not aware of being so benefited, because infinite merits are accumulated in this sūtra.
I can expiate my past transgressions, do good deeds, and attain Buddhahood by the merits of this sūtra. It does not matter whether I am wise, or whether I believe the sūtra.
This sūtra is the most wonderful and most excellent taught by the Buddhas of the past, present, and future.
May I meet and receive it,
Birth after birth,
World after world!
*This is a personalized version (substituting “I” for “we”) of the verses recited prior to Hōben Pon and Ji-Ga Ge during traditional Nichiren Shu services. Senchu Murano’s edition shown above (without tabs) is available in electronic and print versions from Amazon.
SECTION 1 • KUMĀRAJĪVA TRADITION IN ENGLISH (5 RESOURCES)
Threefold Lotus Sutra in English & Study Companions
Centered on Rev. Senchu Murano’s English translation from Kumārajīva’s 5th-century Chinese text (Myōhō-Renge-Kyō), paired with four specialized reading and reference companions.
PRIMARY EDITION • 3 SUTRAS • 8 VOLUMES (28 CHAPTERS) • 34-DAY PLAN
Threefold Lotus Sutra in English
Read the complete Threefold Lotus Sūtra chapter by chapter: the opening Sūtra of Innumerable Meanings, all eight volumes and 28 chapters of Senchu Murano’s Lotus Sūtra, and the closing Sūtra of Contemplation of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva. Also features a structured 34-day reading and MP3 audio schedule with background commentary, plus access to the interactive Gemini Lotus Sūtra Study Notebook.
COMPANION EDITIONS & REFERENCE TOOLS IN THIS SERIES
CONTINUOUS EDITION • ALL 28 CHAPTERS
The Lotus Sutra Full Text on Single Page
All 28 chapters of Senchu Murano’s English translation combined onto a single continuous page—ideal for uninterrupted reading and instant full-text browser search across the entire scripture.
STUDY EDITION • 2,100+ COMMENTARY LINKS
The Lotus Sutra Full Text with Annotations
The complete 28-chapter text divided into 32 daily study sections and interwoven with more than 2,100 inline links to Daily Dharma essays, Tao-sheng’s commentary, T’ien-t’ai teachings, and Nichiren Shōnin’s writings.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC GUIDE • 9 MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
List of English Translations of the Lotus Sutra
Chronological reference to nine English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese text—including Murano, Kato/Tamura/Miyasaka, Watson, Kubo & Yuyama (BDK), Reeves, Hurvitz, Shinozaki/Ziporyn/Earhart, and BTTS—with links to online texts, PDFs, and print copies.
PROPER NAMES INDEX • 6 ENTITY CATEGORIES
Nomenclature Concordance
Cross-reference every Buddha, Bodhisattva, Arhat, Deva, ruler, and sacred realm in the Threefold Lotus Sūtra across Murano, Reeves, Watson, and Hurvitz alongside Sanskrit, Japanese, chapter citations, and future-Buddhahood prophecy notes.
SECTION 2 • LITURGICAL RECITATION & SPOKEN AUDIO (2 RESOURCES)
Chanting & Audiobook Recordings
SINO-JAPANESE CHANTING • 9 HRS 12 MIN
Lotus Sutra Chanted in Shindoku
Listen to or chant along with the entire 28-chapter sūtra in traditional Sino-Japanese shindoku liturgical pronunciation—streamed as one complete playlist, grouped into the eight fascicles (~1 hour each), or chapter by chapter, with an Explanation of Shindoku.
SPOKEN ENGLISH • ALL 28 CHAPTERS + SYNOPSES
Lotus Sutra Audiobook
Complete 28-chapter spoken English video audiobook produced by Dharma Realm Buddhist University from the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of Kumārajīva’s Chinese text, with spoken chapter synopses introducing nearly every chapter.
SECTION 3 • SANSKRIT MANUSCRIPT TRADITION (1 RESOURCE)
Comparative Sanskrit Translation
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST (1884) • 27 SANSKRIT CHAPTERS + PDF
Kern’s Translation
Hendrik Kern’s landmark 1884 English translation of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka directly from Nepalese Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts. Features Kern’s scholarly introduction, chapter-by-chapter synopses across all 27 Sanskrit chapters, a downloadable PDF of the 1884 volume, and a companion essay comparing Kern’s Sanskrit edition with Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation.