A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra examines what many consider to be the highest teaching of the historical Buddha Shakyamun. Buddhist Kaleidoscope brings together essays on the Lotus Sutra by an international assembly of Buddhist scholars, taking into account historic and modern reflections on the Lotus Sutra. Discussions in the book range from "The Lotus Sutra and the Dimension of Time" to "The Lotus Sutra and Health Care Ethics." One essay considers the Lotus Sutra in relation to social obligations, while others regard feminist and paternalist readings. In his introduction, editor Gene Reeves says he tried to include the broadest possible diversity of views, offering a complete vision of this important Buddhist scripture.
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About the Author
Gene Reeves is recently retired from teaching at the University of Tsukuba, where he taught Buddhism and American Studies. He is currently doing research, teaching, and writing about the Lotus Sutra at Rissho-Kosei-kai in Tokyo.
The late Nikkyo Niwano (1906-99) was the founder and for many years president of Rissho Kosei-kai. The recipient in 1979 of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, he was dedicated to interreligious cooperation in the quest for peace and played a leading role in the establishment of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP). Many of his books on Buddhism have been translated into English.
The late Nikkyo Niwano (1906-99) was the founder and for many years president of Rissho Kosei-kai. The recipient in 1979 of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, he was dedicated to interreligious cooperation in the quest for peace and played a leading role in the establishment of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP). Many of his books on Buddhism have been translated into English.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unfolding the Lotus,
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This review is from: A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra (Paperback)
The Lotus Sutra is much admired among Buddhists but its value isn't immediately apparent to Westerners who expect all scripture to be of the style and intent of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The Lotus Sutra is in fact a series of stories and parables which also include examples of lives of several extraordinary enlightenment beings, bodhisattvas. The saving truth of the Sutra is that every sentient being will become a buddha; that The Buddha is eternal, and with various and appropriate means is actively involved in curing the sufferings of our world; and that the way to buddhahood is by walking the bodhisattva path of compassionate action for others.The greatness of KALEIDOSCOPE is that it doesn't just stare at the Lotus Sutra, or venerate it, or treat it as a talisman. The contributors have looked at it from a variety of angles: Buddhist and non-Buddhist, literary and hermeneutical, historical and mythological, Asian, European American, academic, feminist, etc. And what they produced was a unique compendium of insight and knowledge about a book as vital to world religion as the Torah, the Bible, the Qu'ran, and the Upanishads.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wide-Ranging, Thought-Provoking, and Enjoyable Book!,
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This review is from: A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra (Paperback)
First of all, let's specify who this book is for: someone who has read the Lotus Sutra, and preferably has also read a reliable commentary, such as Nikkyo Niwano's "Buddhism for Today".
For those who haven't read it, the Lotus Sutra is the pre-eminent scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, and sects like Tendai, Nichiren Shu, Reiyukai, and Rissho Kosei-kai are built around it. It's not only influenced religion, but Japanese and Chinese culture. It's a symbolic, multi-leveled, complex work that reveals fresh insights with consistent study. The contributors to this book of essays (edited by the insightful Dr. Gene Reeves under the auspices of Rissho Kosei-kai)have clearly done their homework. Each essay reveals another facet of the sutra, from its echoes in the works of great writers, to its view of women, to its compatibility with inter-religious dialogue. Yes, this is a scholarly book, and some background in theology will make for easier reading. But the essays are as accessible as possible, and overall, the book makes an enjoyable read for any Buddhist or student of world religions. Although the book is published by the well-respected Japanese Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei-kai, the authors don't shy away from taking a hard look at parts of the Lotus Sutra, and, because the contributors come from a variety of backgrounds, there is no doctrinal bias whatsoever. Overall, a very rewarding (and, pardon the pun, enlightening) book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most useful collection of articls about the Lotus sutra.,
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This review is from: A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra (Paperback)
The lotus sutra, along side with the Prajnaparamitra sutras, is considered by many as the corner stone of Mahayana Buddhism. The teachings of Emptiness, the idea of the Buddhisatva and the "ever present Buddha", are well recorded throughout the sutra, and give everyone that reads in it a taste of pure Mahayana style philosophy. This "Buddhist Kaleidoskope" takes many many points of view on the sutra and try to explain them in a broader context. I find this collection to be amazing as far the subjects being delt with, and I think that anyone who has an interest in the Lotus should ,at least, check the table of content....
If you want to have an idea of how great this collection is, read these numbers : 6 chapters about various subjects regarding the sutra, more than 30 articles, more than 25 different writers . I found it very helpful indeed.... P.S - If you're looking for the stories within the sutra, from a folclorist point of view, I would suggest reading the : "Miraculous tales of the Lotus sutra from ancient Japan" by priest Chingen. .
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The Threefold Lotus Sutra consists of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law (Saddharmapundarika-sutra) and two shorter related sutras, the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
decline motif, jeweled stupa, recompense body, trikaya theory, somatic realization, semblance dharma, nembutsu teaching, dharma world, naga princess, innumerable meanings, ichinen sanzen, phenomenal existents, final dharma, ankoku ron, term dharmakaya, nondualistic thinking, bodhisattva practice, upaya kausalya, tender forbearance, saha world, whole sutra, true dharma, nembutsu practice, immeasurable life, sutra itself Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lotus Sutra, New York, Mahayana Buddhism, East Asia, University of Hawaii Press, Columbia University Press, Mount Hiei, Nichiren Buddhism, Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, Japanese Buddhism, John Paul, Gotama Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, Vulture Peak, Bodhisattva Medicine King, Bodhisattva Wonderful Voice, Burton Watson, Jesus Christ, Leon Hurvitz, Michael Pye, New Testament, Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, Heirakuji Shoten, Pure Faith, Pure Gift New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The Threefold Lotus Sutra consists of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law (Saddharmapundarika-sutra) and two shorter related sutras, the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
decline motif, jeweled stupa, recompense body, trikaya theory, somatic realization, semblance dharma, nembutsu teaching, dharma world, naga princess, innumerable meanings, ichinen sanzen, phenomenal existents, final dharma, ankoku ron, term dharmakaya, nondualistic thinking, bodhisattva practice, upaya kausalya, tender forbearance, saha world, whole sutra, true dharma, nembutsu practice, immeasurable life, sutra itself Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lotus Sutra, New York, Mahayana Buddhism, East Asia, University of Hawaii Press, Columbia University Press, Mount Hiei, Nichiren Buddhism, Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, Japanese Buddhism, John Paul, Gotama Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, Vulture Peak, Bodhisattva Medicine King, Bodhisattva Wonderful Voice, Burton Watson, Jesus Christ, Leon Hurvitz, Michael Pye, New Testament, Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, Heirakuji Shoten, Pure Faith, Pure Gift New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
2
books
cite this book:
- The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture by George Joji Tanabe on 16 pages
- The Threefold Lotus Sutra by Bunno Kato on 9 pages
- Buddhism and Bioethics by Damien Keown on 6 pages
- Buddhism in Practice by Donald S. Lopez Jr. on 6 pages
- The Nature of Buddhist Ethics by Damien Keown on 4 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice by David Morgan in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression by Taigen Dan Leighton in Back Matter
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