Some people want only to find relief from their own suffering. They feel it is all they can do to try to liberate themselves, and so they take up the practice and attend a retreat or two at Plum Village and receive the benefit of that. This is the shravaka path. Then there are some practitioners who are able to get a direct insight into the nature of dependent co-arising and attain freedom for themselves, but they do not wish to teach or guide others. This is the path of the pratyekabuddha. Others have a wider aspiration. They hope that by practicing the Dharma they will be able to organize Dharma communities and share the benefits of the practice with many people. Rather than just enjoying their own attainment, they want to share the fruits of their practice with others. This is the bodhisattva path. So when the time is ripe the Buddha reveals the path of the One Vehicle (ekayana), the Great Vehicle of the Mahayana, which embraces all three of these paths – the shravakayana, pratyekabuddhayana, and bodhisattvayana. The One Vehicle teaching says you can do more – you can arrive at the fruit of the highest awakening, become a Buddha, and help many other beings across the river of suffering to the shore of freedom.

The insight of the Buddha is infinitely deep, and not easily understood. Those who are still at the level of the shravakas or pratyekabuddhas cannot fathom this profound insight of the Buddha. Whatever eyes you use to look at the Buddha, you will see the Buddha only through the eyes you use to look at the Buddha, you will see the Buddha only through those eyes. If you are driven by craving and look at others through those eyes. If you are driven by craving and look at others through those eyes, everyone you see will seem to you to be full of craving also. If you feel angry, and regard others with eyes of anger and small-mindedness, then you will see everyone as angry and small-minded too. So if you look at the Buddha through the eyes of a shravaka or pratyekabuddha, you will not be able to see the real Buddha as he is, you will see the Buddha only as a shravaka or pratyekabuddha. But the Buddha’s insight is much greater than that.

The Lotus Sutra is not a scholarly work for specialists. It is more of a popular work with universal appeal that can be applied in practice. As we read the Lotus Sutra, we see how it has inherited the essence and the ideas of the Mahayana sutras that preceded it. For example, it has inherited the teachings of emptiness from the Prajn͂āpāramitā sutras, the teachings of the multiple layers of causation from the Avatamsaka Sutra, and the idea of the liberation that goes beyond all conceptualization from the Vimalakirtinirdesha. However, the way the Lotus Sutra presents these ideas is not academic. The Lotus Sutra takes Buddhism forward an enormous step because of its universal appeal and practical nature. The strength of the Lotus Sutra lies in its ability to present deep teachings in a clear way that is easy to understand and applicable to all walks of life.

Before the appearance of the Lotus Sutra, many profound Mahayana ideas and philosophies had already been developed and had begun to be admired by many people. But the Mahayana was only there as a number of individuals scattered here and there. It was an expression of thought and scripture, but it was not yet there in the form of a community, an organization, or an establishment. Only when the Lotus Sutra was born, with its spirit of moderation, reconciliation, and unity, did the Mahayana begin to have a complete fourfold Sangha of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. This is the environment in which the Lotus Sutra was born, and its appearance was a very fortunate occurrence that contributed to the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism at just the right time. The Lotus Sutra applied a new method that was very compassionate

The attitude of reconciliation and harmony reflected in the Lotus Sutra was very important in the maturation of Mahayana Buddhism. Because of the Sutra’s capacity to accept and integrate the paths of all the Buddhist vehicles, it has been given the highest place in the Mahayana canon. In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha says to the bodhisattva called Beflowered by the King of Constellation, “Just as among all streams, rivers, and bodies of water the sea is the first, the Sutra of the Dharma Blossom is the deepest and greatest among the scriptures preached by the Thus Come One.” And earlier in the Sutra, the Buddha says:

Medicine King, I now proclaim to you
the scriptures that I preach;
And among these scriptures
The Dharma Blossom is foremost.

This is the great insight of the Mahayana: everyone can become a Buddha. What Siddhartha achieved, all of us can also achieve, whether we are a man or a woman, no matter what social class or ethnic group we were born into, or whether we practice as a monastic or as a layperson. We all have the capacity to become a fully enlightened Buddha. And while on the path to becoming a fully enlightened Buddha, we are all bodhisattvas.

The concept of “emptiness” here is not a form of nihilism as some early Western scholars of Buddhism thought; it simply means that all things are empty of an inherent, unchanging, and permanent nature—no thing exists independently and remains fixed, but rather arises due to a set of constantly changing causes and conditions. This is the insight of interbeing.

We can see that this insight in the Prajn͂āpāramitā sūtra arose from such essential Buddhist teachings as dependent co-arising (pratityasamutpada). It’s important to remember that the Mahayana draws upon the same teachings that are the basis for the Theravada school. Rather than stopping there, however, Mahayana thinkers continued to expand upon these teachings, adding new insights and interpretations to respond to the changing conditions and spiritual needs of the people. So we should not think of the Mahayana as a rejection of the early Buddhist canon but rather as a continuation and a new way of presenting its insights to fit the times.

The Lotus Sutra affirms that we all have the capacity to become a Buddha. This is a very great gift. How can we best use this wonderful gift we have received? By becoming the arms of the Buddha through our practice in our daily life, in Sangha building, and in our work in the world. This is why I propose that we develop a third division of the Lotus Sutra, beyond the two of the historical and the ultimate: the dimension of action. Part Ill of this book shows us how the Lotus Sutra opens the gateway to enter the action dimension of the bodhisattvas.

One reason the Lotus Sutra is called the king of sutras is because it has the capacity to bring together and accept all the schools of Buddhism. Buddhism is a living reality, and living things are always growing. A tree continually grows more branches, leaves, and flowers. In order for Buddhism to stay alive we have to allow it to develop. If not, it will die.