The Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra, Hokekyo (法華経), is the most influential scripture in Japanese history. Its promise that all beings, without exception, can become buddhas inspired the Tendai and Nichiren schools, shaped court literature and poetry, and gave rise to some of the most beautiful books ever made in Japan.

The teaching

In twenty-eight chapters, the sutra presents the Buddha's earlier teachings as skilful means suited to different hearers, all leading to a single vehicle of buddhahood. It reveals that Shaka did not truly die but has been awakened since time beyond reckoning. It teaches through parables: a father who lures his children from a burning house with promises of carts; a son who wanders in poverty, not knowing he is heir to a fortune; a phantom city conjured to rest weary travellers.

Images from the sutra

  • Two buddhas in the stupa. Shaka and the ancient buddha Tahō seated side by side in a jewelled stupa, a subject of sculpture and painting.
  • Kannon's chapter. Chapter twenty-five describes Kannon rescuing beings from every danger, and circulated on its own as the Kannon Sutra.
  • Fugen's promise. The last chapter, in which Fugen vows to protect those who recite the sutra.
  • The dragon princess. A young girl who attains buddhahood in an instant, a passage cherished by women of the Heian court.

Decorated sutras

Copying the Lotus Sutra was an act of great merit. In the twelfth century the Taira family dedicated a set of lavishly decorated scrolls, the Heike Nōkyō, to Itsukushima Shrine, with gold, silver and painted frontispieces. Sutras in gold ink on indigo paper and sutras written over painted fans are among the treasures of the age.

Collecting notes

  • Handwritten sutras, fragments of decorated sutras and printed editions are collected as calligraphy and as books.
  • Gold-on-indigo fragments are especially prized. See The Heart Sutra and Shakyō.

In the collection

Browse Nichiren Buddhist art and scrolls. Our collector concierge can search Japan for sutra material.

See also

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