The Lotus Sutra consists of twenty-eight chapters. At the beginning, the Buddha taught from Mount Sacred Eagle (Grdhrakuta, “Vulture Peak,” in Sanskrit) near the city of Rajagriha, India, which today is called Rajgir. In Chapter Eleven, “Beholding the Stupa of Treasures,” he ascended to the sky and remained there until returning to Mt. Sacred Eagle in Chapter Twenty-three, “The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.” Thus he held three assemblies, which are called the First Assembly on Mt. Sacred Eagle; the Assembly in the Sky; and the Second Assembly on Mt. Sacred Eagle. We can divide the chapters of the sutra into three parts according to these three locations.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra