Another criticism of the Lotus Sutra is that it is merely a vulgar work meant to attract stupid men and women. This is what Tenyu Hattori said. For example, in chapters 18¹ and 25 and elsewhere, the sutra preaches about the benefits to be gained in this life as a result of faith in the sutra, such as the elimination of suffering and having good fortune. “This is just inferior, shallow stuff, best laughed at, for alluring stupid men and women. It’s too inferior and shallow to think about,” he said. “Its purpose is wholly to attract stupid lay people.” Atsutane Hirata followed Hattori in this vein, remarking that chapter 25 had been highly valued for a long time, “becoming a separate sutra which ordinary Japanese people know as the Kannon Sutra,” but which “only serves to attract stupid lay men and women because it is utterly clumsy.”

There are many places in the section of the Lotus Sutra that is considered to have come third historically that emphasize the benefits to be obtained in this life, such as the wonderful powers of faith, overcoming suffering, and having good fortune. And generally speaking, in later times devotion to the Lotus Sutra became mainstream as a result of these chapters. This is why such criticisms arose. As we have already seen, the third part of the sutra was added in order to respond to the magical and esoteric Buddhist and folk religions of India. It adds to and supplements the earlier parts of the sutra and, if taken in a positive way, can be its applied part. It is not appropriate to characterize the whole sutra in that way by emphasizing the third part, though historically admiration for the Lotus Sutra in China and Japan generally rested on that part, so, in one sense, we can understand why there were such criticisms.

Notes

1. I believe this should be Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, not Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra.
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