The Lotus Sutra in its present form has twenty-eight chapters. But since chapter 12, “Devadatta,” did not appear as a separate chapter until the time of Tiantai Zhiyi in the sixth century, the sutra originally had only twenty-seven chapters. Traditionally, the sutra was divided in two between chapters 14, “Safe and Easy Practices¹,” and 15, “Springing Up from the Earth.” But in modern times various attempts have been made to divide it according to research on and explication of original texts. If we now reexamine it with reference to these various divisions, the following seems reasonable: The part of the sutra that spans from chapter 2, “Skillful Means,” through chapter 9, “Assurance for Arhats,” can be seen as the first part, which we can assume to have been formed around 50 CE. Then the part that spans from chapter 10, “Teachers of the Dharma,” through chapter 22, “Entrustment,” together with the first chapter, “Introduction,” can be regarded as the second part, which we may assume to be from around 100 CE. And finally, chapter 23, “Previous Lives of Medicine King Bodhisattva,” through chapter 28, “Encouragement of Universal Sage Bodhisattva,” can be seen as a third part, formed around 150 CE.

As previously stated, the first group of chapters, formed around 50 CE, is the original part of the Lotus Sutra. Later the second group was put together and added to the first. It seems that chapter 1, “Introduction,” was created at that time and placed at the beginning in order to create some coherence between the first and second groups. I imagine that the third group was created after the formation of the second as a way of assimilating the general thought and faith that arose at that time. It seems that each of these chapters were created individually and then successively added to the sutra. The reason for regarding this third group to be from around 150 CE lies in the fact that citations from the Lotus Sutra, even from its last chapter, appear in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Discourse, written by Nagarjuna around 200 CE. …

When we explore the division into first and second groups, we see that between chapter 9, “Assurance for Arhats” and chapter 10, “Teachers of the Dharma,” the audience of Shakyamuni’s sermon changes. Up to chapter 9, Shakyamuni addresses the shravakas, one of the two kinds of followers of the Small Vehicle, while from chapter 10 on, he addresses bodhisattvas. In chapter 1 as well, bodhisattvas are the audience. As discussed, chapter 1 was created at the time of the formation of the second group in order to provide coherence between the two groups of chapters.

Next, it is worth noting that in chapters 2-9 the Buddha gives individual assurances of becoming a buddha, while from the latter part of chapter 10 on he advocates social propagation of the Dharma. The assurance of becoming a buddha is meant mainly to signify that Small Vehicle shravakas are equally assured of becoming buddhas in the future, after being awakened and transformed by the Wonderful Dharma of One Vehicle. In general, “assurance” (vyakarana) refers to assurance by the Buddha that one will become a buddha in the future. The special entrustment, general entrustment, and the like signify the transmission of the Buddha’s mission to those who put truth into actual practice, thereby propagating it in society. Such assurance symbolizes the paragon of Mahayana Buddhism and has a deep relationship with the Mahayana bodhisattvas. …

Here I want to mention briefly the chronological divisions involved in the formation of the Lotus Sutra. In the earliest part of the sutra the prose sections amplify the verse sections, or conversely, the verses repeat what is in the prose sections. This seems to indicate that the verse sections were created first and then the prose sections added to supplement them. On the other hand, in the second group of chapters there are many things in verse form that are not merely repetitions of what was in prose, and we can only make sense of the whole through a combination of the prose and verse sections. Therefore, we can imagine that in this case the prose and verse sections were created at the same time. In this respect, too, there seems to be some difference between the first and second groups of chapters.

Moreover, within the first group, the terms “receive and embrace,” “read and recite,” and “explain” occur regularly, but “copy” is not mentioned. “Copy” was added in the second group, completing the set that later came to be known as the five kinds of Dharma teacher practice—receive and embrace, read, recite, explain, and copy. Thus we see, again, a chronological difference between the first and second groups. The fact that “copy” is not mentioned in the first group is a vestige of the period of memorization prior to the development of writing in India, indicating that the first group is older. Also, the six lower realms or paths—i.e., those of purgatories or hells, hungry spirits, animals, asuras, people, and heavenly beings—are found in the first group, but the idea of the ten realms of living beings, which include the realms of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas, was not yet formulated. We see the ten realms, however, in the second group, which provides another reason for maintaining that there is a chronological division between the formation of the first and second groups. It was not until sometime after the beginnings of Mahayana Buddhism that the realms of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas were added to the six lower realms. Beyond this, there are several other reasons, in terms of contents and chronological period, for maintaining a distinction between the first and second groups of chapters.

1. Chapter title names come from Gene Reeves’ 2008 translation of the Lotus Sutra. return