The teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra

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illarraza
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The teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra

Post by illarraza »

There are various teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra: simile; metaphor; parable [of which there are seven]; skillful or expedient means; logic; historical precedent; narration [current events and prior birth stories]; questions and answers; and most importantly, a direct exposition of his Enlightenment. When studying the Lotus Sutra one can reflect, "here the Buddha is speaking of his experience in a previous existence and here the Buddha is answering the question of Sariputra", etc. Are there worlds where the Buddha actually experienced parthenogenesis as the physiological method of reproducing the species or is it a metaphor or is it something else? Is the Treasure Tower a metaphor only? Bodhisattvas 500 feet tall on other worlds? Flying cars? Some things are fruitless to question or contemplate and the Buddha was silent.
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Minobu
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Re: The teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra

Post by Minobu »

I read somewhere in the lotus sutra there will be a time when everything will move like the wheel and , i forgot the words...but people will be able to fly through the air in vehicles....really bad memory ..maybe someone could correct me.
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tkp67
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Re: The teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra

Post by tkp67 »

I think the sutra represents both provision and true aspect.

This means while it represents the true aspect without distinction the provisions of our own lives are such that one only knows provision. In this way the lotus is at first understood through provision. Because it represents any means possible it appears according to the causes, capacity and conditions of a person's own life.

It is meant to resolve all differences between those who can trace their teaching to the same source since there is only one primordial Buddha and enlightenment under and other name is of one's own creation.
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