This blog post was originally published Feb. 15, 2016. Since I need a place in which to track Ryusho Shonin‘s Lotus Sutra project, I’m going to periodically update this blog post and re-date it so that it appears in the Blog queue in its most recent position.
Last updated, June 19, 2016:
I’m excited about Ryusho Shonin‘s new project in which he will examine one chapter of the Lotus Sutra each month.
In my daily reading of 1/32nd of the Lotus Sutra – eight scrolls, each divided into four parts – I’m writing down a summary of what I read and what on each day’s reading stands out or seems new or remarkable.
One aspect of Ryusho Shonin’s writing that I have loved in all of his books is his focus on bringing the Lotus Sutra to life. As he explains in this new project:
“[T]his is not a retelling of the Lotus Sutra as it appears on paper in books. We are not replacing someone else’s words with your own in this study; it isn’t paraphrasing. I hope doing this will reveal to you the Lotus Sutra as it has manifested in your life, your life activities, your life experiences. This is not an exercise of expressing your agreement with the ideas or concepts in the Lotus Sutra. I invite you on a journey into what the Lotus Sutra would look like if you told it from your life.”
My daily retelling of what I read lacks this, and I’ve felt that dissatisfaction on occasion. I can see in “The Story of the Lotus Sutra of Your Life” great potential for me and for my understanding and, most important, for my appreciation of the Lotus Sutra in my daily life.
- The Story of the Lotus Sutra of Your Life
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 1: Leading Up to the Opening of Your Lotus Sutra
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 2: Who Was In Your Assembly?
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 3: The Event
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 4: Conclusion
- Chapter 2 Part 1: Inexplicable by Words
- Chapter 2 Part 2: Even Children in Their Play
- Chapter 3, Part 1, The Greatest Joy
- Chapter 3, Part 2, Peaceful as the Sea
- Chapter 3, Part 3, Rejoice
- Chapter 4, Part 1, Never Had Before
- Chapter 4, Part 2, Treasury of the Buddha Law
- Chapter 5, Part 1, If They Have Not Yet Done So