Lotus Sutra 5 of 8
11/2/2008
Report by Chang Jie
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, the Chan
Meditation Center held the 5th session of the
8-week lecture series on the Lotus Sutra presented by
Venerable Guo Chuan. During this talk, Venerable summarized
the Sutra chapter by chapter. The following is a selection
of summaries of key chapters.
Chapter 2: Expedient Means - The
ultimate purpose for the appearance of the Buddhas in the
world is to awaken all sentient beings and lead them to true
enlightenment.
Chapter 3: Simile and Parable - The
Buddha tells the parable of the Burning House to describe
the human realm and how the Buddha uses the Three Vehicles
to help living beings escape suffering and the cycle of
death and rebirth and that in reality, there is only one
Vehicle of Enlightenment. The Buddha also bestows
the prophecy of enlightenment to Shariputra, the wisest of
arhats. This is the first prophecy of enlightenment given
by the Buddha. In chapters 4, 6, 8, and 9, the Buddha gives
prophesies of enlightenment to other arhats.
Chapter 5: The Parable of the Medicinal
Herbs - The Buddha describes the dharma as a great rain that
nourishes many different kinds of plants. These plants
represent various sentient beings of different spiritual
capacities. The Buddha uses this metaphor to show how the
Buddha speaks with one voice but listeners understand
according to their own understanding and that the four arhats were lacking in understanding.
Chapter 7: The Parable of the Phantom
City - The Buddha tells a parable about a magically conjured
city is used as a rest stop for weary travelers. This is to
show how the Buddha uses provisional teachings for the arhats in order to help them reach the long- term objective
of enlightenment.
Chapter 10: The Teacher of the Law -
This chapter presents the five practices of the teachers of
the Lotus Sutra. These practices are accepting and
upholding, reading, chanting, explaining and writing the
Sutra.
Chapter 11: The Emergence of the
Treasure Tower - A great and ancient Treasure Tower with
seven tiers arises from the earth and hangs mid-air. It
attests to the truth of The Lotus Sutra.
Chapter 12: Devadatta - The Buddha
bestows prophecies of enlightenment on all beings, including
women, animals and the sinful. The chapter mentions the
story of the Dragon King's daughter becoming a buddha and
the story of Devadatta, a former disciple who committed
serious misdeeds, and is nevertheless, prophesized to become
a buddha.
Chapter 13: Encouraging Devotion - The
Buddha prophesizes that nuns will become buddhas in the
future. The Buddha encourages followers to embrace the
Sutra in this samsara world, during hard times and in the
future age of evil.
Chapter 14: Peaceful Practices - This
chapter states that even though we live in samsara, which is
full of challenges to our practice, if we can practice
wholeheartedly with body, speech and mind, we can have a
joyful, stable, and peaceful practice. This is the end of
the Trace Gate, or the parables taught to prepare the
listeners for the actual teachings.
Chapter 15: Emerging from the Earth -
This chapter marks the beginning of the Root or Source Gate,
or the true teachings. The Buddha reveals that there have
been countless Bodhisattvas emerging from the earth who are
the past disciples of the Buddha. The audience wonders how
the Buddha can have disciples from the past. The Buddha
states that the Buddha exists not only in this lifetime but
has existed since the infinite past.
Chapter 16: The Life Span of the Thus
Come One - This chapter continues the explanation of the
Buddha’s infinite lifespan, which is described as Dharmakaya
by some Buddhist teachers.
Chapter 17: Distinctions in Benefits -
This chapter describe the merits and virtues of hearing this
Sutra.
Chapter 18: The Benefits of Responding
with Joy - The Buddha explains what the benefits are for
responding with joy to the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, and
the practices of its teachers (Chapter 19: Benefits of the
Teacher of the Law).
Chapter 20: The Bodhisattva Never
Disparaging - The Buddha gives an example of a practitioner
who repeats one phrase, "you are all certain to attain Buddhahood" and attained the purity of the six sense organs.
Chapter 21 through 28: These chapters
are the teachings on the Transmission.
Venerable concluded her talk by stating
that the next two talks will focus on Chapter 20, "The
Bodhisattva Never Disparaging".
Reference: http://www.tientai.net/lit/LS/LS.htm,
"The Lotus Sutra: A Summary"
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