The Lotus of the Wonderful Law: Or the Lotus Gospel

by W.E. Soothill

The "Lotus of the Wonderful (or Mystic) Law" is the most important religious book of the Far East, and has been described as "The Gospel of Half Asia". It is also the chief scripture of Buddhism in China, and therefore the chief source of consolation of the many millions of Buddhists in East Asia. It is justifiable to consider it as one of the greatest and most formative books of the world, and the text is here translated for the use of the Western student whilst an endeavour is made to reveal the contour of the most spiritual drama known in the Far East.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

William Edward Soothill was Professor of Chinese at Oxford University after having spent 29 years as a Methodist missionary in Wenzhou, China.

Reviews

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are too many parallels with the New Testament theologically to list them all. The earliest evidence of the Lotus Sutra is after the Christian faith spread in India. Suddenly, this Sutra comes on the scene, adopting the concept of heaven, justification by faith, redemption available to all not just to the few, the Buddha morphs into the Supreme Being who occasionaly takes human form to guide his people to heaven, and when he is not physically present, his spirit inspires his followers. This Sutra is a rejection of Buddha's earlier teaching and the bulk of this composition is trying to explain that conclusion away.
The similarities I have encountered in researching every major faith and Eastern philosophy is astounding. Humanity is endowed with an appreciation of an inexplicable higher power that preaches tolerance, rejection of sin and violence, hope and love. The glaring exception is Islam and that because of the warped concept of the Hadith, retroactively attributing to The Prophet laws he never espoused.

[Stephen Groenewegen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soothill's translation of the White Lotus Sutra is rendered in a straightforward style. Unfortunately it is incomplete and contains intrusive interpolations by the translator. The paperback edition was apparently first published in the UK in 1987 but the style reads as if it was translated in the first half of the 20th century by a scholar researching the 'Far East'. Nevertheless it remains a readable introduction to a major Buddhist text.