Some readers may get the impression from [Chapter 16] that this everlasting, imperishable Shakyamuni Buddha is the personal God of monotheism. Hendrik Kern, who edited the Sanskrit text of the Lotus Sutra and translated it into English, had such an impression. His research led him to conclude that the Lotus Sutra is similar to the Bhagavad Gita and had been influenced by it. The Bhagavad Gita is presumably from about first century India. Its ancient religious poetry is full of songs of praise for a monotheistic and personal God. Most Indian people, down to the present, have come to love to recite its beautiful and passionate verses. …

Yet there is reason to disagree with this. Gita teaches a Creator and a cosmic creation, while in the Lotus Sutra the Everlasting Buddha is not regarded as the Creator, and there is no term equivalent to “creation.” Furthermore, the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes passionate and fanatical devotion (bhakti) to God, while we cannot find the idea of passionate and fanatical devotion to God anywhere in the Lotus Sutra.