Disappointed with the Lotus Sutra

[agorman]

I finally finished reading the Lotus Sutra today and I'm disappointed. Maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the non-obvious meanings of a guy that burns himself as an offering to the Buddha (I wonder what would the Buddha gain with that), another that burns his arms as an offering until he has no arms, but it doesn't matter; because they're later magically restored , the implications that being born as a woman is bad and the following, in the last chapter:

"If there is anyone who despises them, saying: ‘You are mad. This practice of yours is in vain and will attain nothing at the end,’ they will have no eyes lifetime after lifetime as a retribution for this wrongdoing. If there is anyone who pays them homage and praises them, he will attain tangible rewards in this world. If anyone sees those who preserve this sutra and speaks maliciously about their faults, whether true or not, such a person will suffer from leprosy in this life. If anyone scorns them, that person’s teeth will be either loose or missing; their lips will be ugly, their nose will be flat, their limbs will be crooked; they will squint; their body will stink and be dirty, suffering from evil tumors, oozing pus; their belly will swell with water; and they will have tuberculosis and other evil and serious illnesses."

Wow, so much for non-violence/ahimsa!

And the sutra talks against people who is after mundane wishes, but there it mentions "tangible rewards".

Anyway, it's always the same story with the books of every religion; you can't just buy the whole package.

I think the "Nam myoho renge kyo" is a bad idea if it means I'm bowing to this whole scripture. Maybe I'll go on reciting mantras of bodhisattvas or I'll keep investigating other paths.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I finally finished reading the Lotus Sutra today and I'm disappointed. Maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the non-obvious meanings of a guy that burns himself as an offering to the Buddha (I wonder what would the Buddha gain with that), another that burns his arms as an offering until he has no arms, but it doesn't matter; because they're later magically restored , the implications that being born as a woman is bad and the following, in the last chapter:

"If there is anyone who despises them, saying: ‘You are mad. This practice of yours is in vain and will attain nothing at the end,’ they will have no eyes lifetime after lifetime as a retribution for this wrongdoing. If there is anyone who pays them homage and praises them, he will attain tangible rewards in this world. If anyone sees those who preserve this sutra and speaks maliciously about their faults, whether true or not, such a person will suffer from leprosy in this life. If anyone scorns them, that person’s teeth will be either loose or missing; their lips will be ugly, their nose will be flat, their limbs will be crooked; they will squint; their body will stink and be dirty, suffering from evil tumors, oozing pus; their belly will swell with water; and they will have tuberculosis and other evil and serious illnesses."

Wow, so much for non-violence/ahimsa!

And the sutra talks against people who is after mundane wishes, but there it mentions "tangible rewards".

Anyway, it's always the same story with the books of every religion; you can't just buy the whole package.

I think the "Nam myoho renge kyo" is a bad idea if it means I'm bowing to this whole scripture. Maybe I'll go on reciting mantras of bodhisattvas or I'll keep investigating other paths.

Im reading The Lotus Sutra and The Buddha continues to say "he teaches by expedient means according to the understanding of the person." He also says that he talks in analogies so that we understand his teachings.

With that said, maybe you are reading the suttras to literally? Sola Sutrura?

Remember, The Buddha's disciples wrote The Lotus. It was their view (which seems more like worship) The Buddha's teachings. But I found it best to read the Pali and The Buddha's actual words to get a foundation of what The Lotus talks about.

As for Daimoku, it just means you are devoting yourself to the understanding of life and death through the nature of suffering and enlightement as well as rebirth. The analogy of what The Lotus means. So bowing and chanting means being part of he laws of cause and affect. Understanding life as it is and learning to be comfortable with life and death as one continuum.

Different Buddhist sects express it differently. Maybe if that expident means through Daimoku is not working for you, find another way of experiencing The Buddha's teachings. Its all in The Lotus but its not "the bible" so you can live The Lotus without the actual sutra.

It just depends on how you go about it. I dont like worshiping, so I dont have that type of connection with the Gohonzon but I do pay my respects as The Boddhisattvas, deities, and The Lotus all "represent" different aspects of life.

It comes by practice.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I finally finished reading the Lotus Sutra today and I'm disappointed. Maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the non-obvious meanings of a guy that burns himself as an offering to the Buddha (I wonder what would the Buddha gain with that), another that burns his arms as an offering until he has no arms, but it doesn't matter; because they're later magically restored , the implications that being born as a woman is bad and the following, in the last chapter:

"If there is anyone who despises them, saying: ‘You are mad. This practice of yours is in vain and will attain nothing at the end,’ they will have no eyes lifetime after lifetime as a retribution for this wrongdoing. If there is anyone who pays them homage and praises them, he will attain tangible rewards in this world. If anyone sees those who preserve this sutra and speaks maliciously about their faults, whether true or not, such a person will suffer from leprosy in this life. If anyone scorns them, that person’s teeth will be either loose or missing; their lips will be ugly, their nose will be flat, their limbs will be crooked; they will squint; their body will stink and be dirty, suffering from evil tumors, oozing pus; their belly will swell with water; and they will have tuberculosis and other evil and serious illnesses."

Wow, so much for non-violence/ahimsa!

And the sutra talks against people who is after mundane wishes, but there it mentions "tangible rewards".

Anyway, it's always the same story with the books of every religion; you can't just buy the whole package.

I think the "Nam myoho renge kyo" is a bad idea if it means I'm bowing to this whole scripture. Maybe I'll go on reciting mantras of bodhisattvas or I'll keep investigating other paths.

Ive been trying to figure ways to study and apply the lotus without the emphasis on daimoku but it doesnt teach as in the Pali but its full of analogies and/or dialogue that mimics the disciples worshiping The Buddha. At timss, to be honest, it seems The Buddha puts himself on a pedelstool.

Maybe brainstorm ideas of other ways to interpret the sutra for application rather than theology?

 

[92But2]

I've been trying to study Lotus Sutra and I've learned the important thing in interpreting the Lotus Sutra. Not to interpret literally. "burning the body" means " "extremely earnestly", so I've heard.
The penalties of slandering the Lotus Sutra is very serious, so that is why Shakyamuni asked not to spread it carelessly.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I finally finished reading the Lotus Sutra today and I'm disappointed. Maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the non-obvious meanings of a guy that burns himself as an offering to the Buddha (I wonder what would the Buddha gain with that), another that burns his arms as an offering until he has no arms, but it doesn't matter; because they're later magically restored , the implications that being born as a woman is bad and the following, in the last chapter:

"If there is anyone who despises them, saying: ‘You are mad. This practice of yours is in vain and will attain nothing at the end,’ they will have no eyes lifetime after lifetime as a retribution for this wrongdoing. If there is anyone who pays them homage and praises them, he will attain tangible rewards in this world. If anyone sees those who preserve this sutra and speaks maliciously about their faults, whether true or not, such a person will suffer from leprosy in this life. If anyone scorns them, that person’s teeth will be either loose or missing; their lips will be ugly, their nose will be flat, their limbs will be crooked; they will squint; their body will stink and be dirty, suffering from evil tumors, oozing pus; their belly will swell with water; and they will have tuberculosis and other evil and serious illnesses."

Wow, so much for non-violence/ahimsa!

And the sutra talks against people who is after mundane wishes, but there it mentions "tangible rewards".

Anyway, it's always the same story with the books of every religion; you can't just buy the whole package.

I think the "Nam myoho renge kyo" is a bad idea if it means I'm bowing to this whole scripture. Maybe I'll go on reciting mantras of bodhisattvas or I'll keep investigating other paths.

I think my approach to the Lotus Sutra would be to ask if you are turning the petals of the lotus, or are the petals of the lotus turning you?

 

[Jeff Strehlow]

I've been trying to study Lotus Sutra and I've learned the important thing in interpreting the Lotus Sutra. Not to interpret literally. "burning the body" means " "extremely earnestly", so I've heard.

I agree with that. It shouldn't all be taken literally. The Lotus Sutra is highly regarded, not only in Nichiren Buddhism, but also in other Buddhist schools such as Tien Tai and Chan Buddhism. Though I don't understand much of it, the earlier part of the Lotus Sutra has been helpful to me. When I first read it I was focusing too much on the individual words and not looking enough at the big picture.

 

[Mudramoksha]

I finally finished reading the Lotus Sutra today and I'm disappointed. Maybe I'm not intelligent enough to understand the non-obvious meanings of a guy that burns himself as an offering to the Buddha (I wonder what would the Buddha gain with that), another that burns his arms as an offering until he has no arms, but it doesn't matter; because they're later magically restored , the implications that being born as a woman is bad and the following, in the last chapter:

"If there is anyone who despises them, saying: ‘You are mad. This practice of yours is in vain and will attain nothing at the end,’ they will have no eyes lifetime after lifetime as a retribution for this wrongdoing. If there is anyone who pays them homage and praises them, he will attain tangible rewards in this world. If anyone sees those who preserve this sutra and speaks maliciously about their faults, whether true or not, such a person will suffer from leprosy in this life. If anyone scorns them, that person’s teeth will be either loose or missing; their lips will be ugly, their nose will be flat, their limbs will be crooked; they will squint; their body will stink and be dirty, suffering from evil tumors, oozing pus; their belly will swell with water; and they will have tuberculosis and other evil and serious illnesses."

Wow, so much for non-violence/ahimsa!

And the sutra talks against people who is after mundane wishes, but there it mentions "tangible rewards".

Anyway, it's always the same story with the books of every religion; you can't just buy the whole package.

I think the "Nam myoho renge kyo" is a bad idea if it means I'm bowing to this whole scripture. Maybe I'll go on reciting mantras of bodhisattvas or I'll keep investigating other paths.

I've got various interesting views from fellow Buddhists over the years on the Lotus Sutra. It's one that I've found a lot of Theravada's have taken issue with and has even been difficult for non-Buddhists exploring Mahayana (and Vajrayana) to get into.
Some of the content is challenging at first, a lot of it actually, yes.

 

[Srivijaya]

I think the key thing for any text is whether it enables you to practice and/or gain insight. If not, then move on. There are many doors into the dharma.