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Mahayana Tripitaka - Northern Transmission
The Lotus Sutra is considered the king of Mahayana sutras due to its ability to harmonize the profound teachings of the Prajnaparamita, Avatamsaka, and Vimalakirti Sutras into a form that is accessible, popular, and practical. Its strength does not lie in specialization or scholarliness, but in its capacity to reconcile the traditional teachings of the sangha with new ideas, creating a solid foundation for Mahayana Buddhism.
The formation of the sutra went through four main stages:
- It first appeared in gāthā (verse form) in Prakrit.
- Prose sections (sūtra) were added to explain the verses.
- It was refined and translated into Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.
- New chapters were added, up to 27 in Sanskrit and 28 in Chinese, affirming that “all beings have Buddha nature.”
The original name, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka, means “The Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma”—the wondrous Dharma like the white lotus flower—which became the foundation for the Tiantai school in China and the Nichiren school in Japan (with the recitation of Namo Myoho Renge Kyo) as a means to practice skillful means.