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  • The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin I/II
    • Volume I
    • Volume II
  • The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras
  • The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings
  • The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism

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Lotus Sutra | Dictionary of Buddhism | Nichiren Buddhism Library
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  • Lalitavistara

    [普曜経] (;  Fuyō-kyō)

  • Lamenting Heresy

    [歎異抄] ( Tan’ni-shō)

  • Lan-ch’i Tao-lung

    [蘭渓道隆] (PY Lanqi Daolong;  Rankei Dōryū)

  • Land of Actual Reward

    [実報土] ( jippō-do)

  • Land of Enlightened and Unenlightened Beings

    [凡聖同居土] ( bonshō-dōgo-do)

  • Land of Eternally Tranquil Light

    [常寂光土] ( jōjakkō-do)

  • Land of Joy

    [歓喜国] ( Abhirati;  Kangi-koku)

  • Land of Sages and Common Mortals

    [凡聖同居土] ( bonshō-dōgo-do)

  • Land of Tranquil Light

    [寂光土] ( jakkō-do)

  • Land of Transition

    [方便土] ( hōben-do)

  • Land of Wonderful Joy

    [妙喜国] ( Myōki-koku)

  • Lankāvatāra Sutra

    [楞伽経] (; Chin Leng-ch’ieh-ching;  Ryōga-kyō)

  • Larger Wisdom Sutra

    [大品般若経] ( Panchavimshatisāhasrikā-prajnāpāramitā; Chin Ta-p’in-pan-jo-ching;  Daibon-hannya-kyō)

  • last five-hundred-year period

    [後五百歳] ( go-gohyakusai)

  • Latter Day of the Law

    [末法] ( mappō)

  • Law

    [法] ( dharma;  hō)

  • Law Bright

    [法明如来] ( Dharmaprabhāsa;  Hōmyō-nyorai)

  • Law-devouring hungry spirit

    [食法餓鬼] ( jikihō-gaki)

  • Law-wheel

    [法輪] ( hōrin)

  • lay nun

    [尼] ( ama)

  • lay priest

    [入道] ( nyūdō)

  • Learned Youth

    [儒童] ( Mānava or Mānavaka;  Judō)

  • lecture hall

    [講堂] ( kōdō)

  • Legacy Teachings Sutra

    [遺教経] (Chin I-chiao-ching;  Yuikyō-gyō)

  • lessening one’s karmic retribution

    [転重軽受] ( tenjū-kyōju)

  • lesser vehicle

    [小乗] ( shōjō)

  • Letter to Shimoyama

    [下山御消息] ( Shimoyama-goshōsoku)

  • Liang Dynasty Biographies of Eminent Priests, The

    [梁高僧伝] (Chin Liang-kao-seng-chuan;  Ryō-kōsō-den)

  • Liang-hsü

    [良諝] (n.d.) (PY Liangxu;  Ryōjo)

  • Liang-pi

    [良賁] (717–777) (PY Liangbi;  Ryōhi)

  • Licchavi

    [離車] (, Pali;  Risha)

  • life-liberating practice

    [放生会] ( hōjō-e)

  • “Life Span” chapter

    [寿量品] ( Juryō-hon)

  • “Life Span of the Thus Come One” chapter

    [如来寿量品] ( Nyorai-juryō-hon)

  • Light Bright

    [光明如来] ( Rashmiprabhāsa;  Kōmyō-nyorai)

  • Light Sound Heaven

    [光音天] ( Ābhāsvara;  Kō’on-ten)

  • Lin-chi school

    [臨済宗] (PY Linjizong;  Rinzai-shū)

  • lion seat

    [師子座・獅子座] ( simhāsana;  shishi-za)

  • Lion Sound King

    [師子音王仏] ( Simhanādarāja;  Shishionnō-butsu)

  • lion’s roar

    [師子吼・獅子吼] ( simhanāda;  shishi-ku)

  • Lion’s Roar of Queen Shrīmālā Sutra

    [勝鬘師子吼経] ( Shōman-shishiku-kyō)

  • lion throne

    [師子座・獅子座] ( shishi-za)

  • little desire and contentment with a little gain

    [少欲知足] ( shōyoku-chisoku)

  • lobha

    [貪・貪欲] (, Pali;  ton or ton’yoku)

  • Lokakshema

    [支婁迦讖] (n.d.) (;  Shirukasen)

  • Lokāyata

    [順世外道] (, Pali;  Junse-gedō or Junsei-gedō)

  • Lokeshvararāja

    [世自在王仏] (;  Sejizaiō-butsu)

  • Long Āgama Sutra

    [長阿含経] (Chin Ch’ang-a-han-ching;  Jō-agon-gyō)

  • long broad tongue

    [広長舌] ( kōchō-zetsu)

  • lord of teachings

    [教主] ( kyōshu)

  • Lotus and Nirvana period

    [法華涅槃時] ( Hokke-nehan-ji)

  • lotus as a metaphor

    [譬喩蓮華] ( hiyu-renge)

  • Lotus meditation

    [法華三昧] ( hokke-sammai or hokke-zammai)

  • lotus of the entity

    [当体蓮華] ( tōtai-renge)

  • Lotus school

    [法華宗] (Chin Fa-hua-tsung;  Hokke-shū)

  • Lotus Sutra

    [法華経] ( Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra; Chin Fa-hua-ching;  Hoke-kyō)

  • Lotus Sutra and Its Traditions, The

    [法華伝記] (Chin Fa-hua-chuan-chi;  Hokke-denki)

  • Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law

    [正法華経] (Chin Cheng-fa-hua-ching;  Shō-hoke-kyō)

  • Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law

    [妙法蓮華経] ( Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra; Chin Miao-fa-lien-hua-ching;  Myoho-renge-kyo)

  • Lotus Treasury World

    [蓮華蔵世界・華蔵世界] ( Kusuma-tala-garbha-vyūhālamkāra-loka-dhātu-samudra or Padma-garbha-loka-dhātu;  Rengezō-sekai or Kezō-sekai) (1) (2)

  • Lou-lan

    [楼蘭] (PY Loulan;  Rōran)

  • Lumbinī

    [藍毘尼] (, Pali;  Rambini)

  • Lung-men caves

    [竜門石窟] (PY Longmen;  Ryūmon-sekkutsu)

  • Lü school

    [律宗] (PY Lüzong;  Risshū)

Lotus Sutra [法華経] ( Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra; Chin Fa-hua-ching;  Hoke-kyō): One of the Mahayana sutras. Several Sanskrit manuscripts are extant, and Sanskrit fragments have been discovered in Nepal, Kashmir, and Central Asia. There is also a Tibetan version. Six Chinese translations of the sutra were made, of which three are extant. They are (1) the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law, in ten volumes and twenty-seven chapters, translated by Dharmaraksha in 286; (2) the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, in eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters, translated by Kumārajīva in 406; and (3) the Supplemented Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, in seven volumes and twenty-seven chapters, translated by Jnānagupta and Dharmagupta in 601. Among these, Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law has known the greatest popularity. Therefore, in China and Japan, the name Lotus Sutra usually indicates the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Chin Miao-fa-lien-hua-ching;  Myoho-renge-kyo).
  In India, Nāgārjuna (c. 150–250) often cited the Lotus Sutra in his Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, and Vasubandhu wrote a commentary on the Lotus Sutra known as The Treatise on the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. In China, Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law exerted a great influence and was widely read. Many scholars, including Fa-yün (467–529), wrote commentaries on it. T’ien-t’ai (538–597), in The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, formulated a system of classification of the entire body of Buddhist sutras called the “five periods and eight teachings,” which ranks the Lotus Sutra above all the other sutras. His lectures on the sutra’s text are compiled as The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, and on his method of practice as Great Concentration and Insight. These two works and Profound Meaning are the records of T’ien-t’ai’s lectures compiled by his disciple Chang-an and are together known as T’ien-t’ai’s three major works.
  In Japan, Prince Shōtoku (574–622) designated the Lotus, Shrīmālā, and Vimalakīrti sutras as the three sutras that could protect the country, and he wrote commentaries on each of them. After that, the Lotus Sutra gained wide acceptance in Japan. Emperor Shōmu (701–756) built provincial temples for priests and nuns throughout the country. In the temples for nuns, the Lotus Sutra was honored above all other sutras for its teaching that women can attain Buddhahood. Dengyō (767–822) established the Tendai (Chin T’ien-t’ai) school, which was based on the Lotus Sutra and became one of the major Buddhist schools in Japan. Nichiren (1222–1282) also upheld the Lotus Sutra, which describes all living beings as potential Buddhas, and identified its essence as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, spreading this teaching. In his later years he lectured on the Lotus Sutra, and his lectures were compiled by his disciples, by Nikkō as The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings and by Nikō as The Recorded Lectures. See also Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.


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