The Lotus Sutra, down through the centuries, has meant different things to different people in different cultures, but its unifying core is the somatic realization of its basic message: the negation of the delusory self and the embodying of wisdom and compassion. This is to be accomplished by the dedicated praxis of receiving and keeping the scripture through reading, reciting, expounding, and copying. These acts are not mere formalities or ritual acts but are intended to realize the teaching of the Lotus in one’s own life, leading ultimately to compassionate action in the world. Its basic philosophy is summed up in the language of a contemporary exemplar of the Lotus teaching, Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), who once said, “Until the whole world attains happiness, there can be no individual happiness.”
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Taitetsu Unno, Somatic Realization of the Lotus Sutra, Page 71