Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post Reply
User avatar
Javierfv1212
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:39 am
Location: South Florida

Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Javierfv1212 »

In "Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side" Donald Lopez and Jacqueline Stone write that Saichō saw the Lotus Sūtra as providing a "great direct path" to Buddhahood which could be reached in this life. They also write that later Tendai figures interpreted the Lotus as an esoteric work and developed esoteric practices based on the Lotus and on original enlightenment thought (hongaku).

Further research reveals some interesting works of art, such as the following Lotus sutra mandala: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... andala.jpg

I am extremely curious about the Tendai interpretations and practices based on the Lotus Sutra, but it is really hard to find information about it. I have so many questions! What was Saicho's interpretation of the Lotus? Did he and others after him write commentaries? How exactly did they see the Lotus Sutra as teaching hongaku? What were the main Tendai practices based on the Lotus Sutra when Saicho founded Tendai? Was it just the Zhiyi Lotus samadhi stuff or was it different? What mantras, mudras and mandala practices did later Tendai figures they teach in connection with the Lotus?

Does any one have any sources that could elucidate some of these questions? I have been googling but the information is generally elementary or tangential. The main book on Saicho in English at the moment (Groner) mostly focuses on his work with the bodhisattva precepts.
It is quite impossible to find the Buddha anywhere other than in one's own mind.
A person who is ignorant of this may seek externally,
but how is it possible to find oneself through seeking anywhere other than in oneself?
Someone who seeks their own nature externally is like a fool who, giving a performance in the middle of a crowd, forgets who he is and then seeks everywhere else to find himself.
— Padmasambhava

Visit my site: https://sites.google.com/view/abhayajana/
User avatar
Queequeg
Former staff member
Posts: 14454
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:24 pm

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Queequeg »

Javierfv1212 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:56 pm In "Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side" Donald Lopez and Jacqueline Stone write that Saichō saw the Lotus Sūtra as providing a "great direct path" to Buddhahood which could be reached in this life. They also write that later Tendai figures interpreted the Lotus as an esoteric work and developed esoteric practices based on the Lotus and on original enlightenment thought (hongaku).

Further research reveals some interesting works of art, such as the following Lotus sutra mandala: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... andala.jpg

I am extremely curious about the Tendai interpretations and practices based on the Lotus Sutra, but it is really hard to find information about it. I have so many questions! What was Saicho's interpretation of the Lotus? Did he and others after him write commentaries? How exactly did they see the Lotus Sutra as teaching hongaku? What were the main Tendai practices based on the Lotus Sutra when Saicho founded Tendai? Was it just the Zhiyi Lotus samadhi stuff or was it different? What mantras, mudras and mandala practices did later Tendai figures they teach in connection with the Lotus?

Does any one have any sources that could elucidate some of these questions? I have been googling but the information is generally elementary or tangential. The main book on Saicho in English at the moment (Groner) mostly focuses on his work with the bodhisattva precepts.
Stone's Original Enlightenment book has some info.

I suspect Tendai-shu is very strict about the secrecy of esoteric teachings.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
User avatar
Javierfv1212
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:39 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Javierfv1212 »

Hmmm, I would guess so, though sometimes "esoteric" practices can be found being openly shared. I mean, Nichiren's practice is basically a kind of esoteric practice of its own, but reconfigured as a widely shared open practice.

What about non-esoteric practices?
It is quite impossible to find the Buddha anywhere other than in one's own mind.
A person who is ignorant of this may seek externally,
but how is it possible to find oneself through seeking anywhere other than in oneself?
Someone who seeks their own nature externally is like a fool who, giving a performance in the middle of a crowd, forgets who he is and then seeks everywhere else to find himself.
— Padmasambhava

Visit my site: https://sites.google.com/view/abhayajana/
User avatar
Queequeg
Former staff member
Posts: 14454
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:24 pm

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Queequeg »

Javierfv1212 wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 5:19 pm Hmmm, I would guess so, though sometimes "esoteric" practices can be found being openly shared. I mean, Nichiren's practice is basically a kind of esoteric practice of its own, but reconfigured as a widely shared open practice.

What about non-esoteric practices?
Nichiren path offers little insight into Tendai Mikkyo.

As for esoteric practices that are shared or not shared... Unless you personally know it's all just speculation.

As for non-Esoteric... It's Zhiyi's legacy.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
User avatar
Javierfv1212
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:39 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Javierfv1212 »

Gotcha thanks, so basically, Tendai exoteric practice and doctrine would be found in Zhiyi's Mohezhiguan.

Esoteric stuff would be only practiced with an ajari anyways, so point in seeking it out through books.
It is quite impossible to find the Buddha anywhere other than in one's own mind.
A person who is ignorant of this may seek externally,
but how is it possible to find oneself through seeking anywhere other than in oneself?
Someone who seeks their own nature externally is like a fool who, giving a performance in the middle of a crowd, forgets who he is and then seeks everywhere else to find himself.
— Padmasambhava

Visit my site: https://sites.google.com/view/abhayajana/
passel
Posts: 604
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by passel »

This is what you're after:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... ke0jS2zJAW

You want the second to last chapter, "Shortening the Path," Groner, especially the fourth section.

Apparently there was a Hokke Shugen too- a Nichiren-affiliated Shugendo tradition. The Nichiren temple in Seattle has a connection there.
"I have made a heap of all that I have met"- Svetonious
User avatar
Javierfv1212
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:39 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by Javierfv1212 »

Fascinating, thank you
It is quite impossible to find the Buddha anywhere other than in one's own mind.
A person who is ignorant of this may seek externally,
but how is it possible to find oneself through seeking anywhere other than in oneself?
Someone who seeks their own nature externally is like a fool who, giving a performance in the middle of a crowd, forgets who he is and then seeks everywhere else to find himself.
— Padmasambhava

Visit my site: https://sites.google.com/view/abhayajana/
passel
Posts: 604
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Lotus Sutra Practices and Esotericism

Post by passel »

If the Shugendo angle is interesting to you, look on FB and Google for the International Shugendo Association. (The Seattle Shugendo dojo is connected to them.) The head of ISA is a Tendai priest, so there will be a Hokke link there, though I haven’t seen anything specifically on the subject.
"I have made a heap of all that I have met"- Svetonious
Post Reply

Return to “Tendai”