The Lotus Sutra Quotes

“With the appearance of this light, the body of Universal Sage Bodhisattva will become as dignified as a mountain of purple gold, so well ordered and refined that it has all the thirty-two characteristics. From”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Medicine King, after the extinction of the Tathagata, if there are good sons or good daughters who want to teach this Dharma Flower Sutra for the four groups, how should they teach it? Such good sons or good daughters should enter the room of the Tathagata, put on the robe of the Tathagata, sit on the seat of the Tathagata, and then teach this sutra everywhere for the four groups.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“If you want to dwell in the Buddha way And gain natural wisdom, You should always be diligent about making offerings To those who receive and embrace the Dharma Flower.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Because he always teaches the unexcelled way, He will be called Universal Light. His land will be clean and pure. And all its bodhisattvas will be daring.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“The Buddha preached this sutra for eight thousand eons without resting. When he had finished preaching it, he entered a quiet room and meditated for eighty-four thousand eons.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“World-Honored One, what is this gateway to the Dharma called? What does it mean? How does a bodhisattva practice it?” The Buddha replied: “Good sons, this unique gateway to the Dharma is called innumerable meanings. A bodhisattva who wants to practice and study the gateway to the Dharma of innumerable meanings should observe that all things were originally, will be, and are in themselves empty and tranquil in nature and character; not large or small, not subject to arising or extinction, not fixed or movable, and neither advancing nor retreating. Like empty space, they are non-dualistic. “All living beings, however, make delusory distinctions: weighing whether something is this or that; whether it is a gain or a loss. Bad thoughts come to them, producing a variety of evil actions. They transmigrate within the six states undergoing all kinds of suffering and harm, from which they cannot escape during innumerable billions of eons. Seeing this clearly, bodhisattva great ones cultivate sympathy and show great kindness and compassion in the desire to extricate others from suffering. What’s more, they penetrate deeply into all things. “In accord with the character of Dharma, all things emerge. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things live. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things change. In accord with the character of Dharma, all things perish. In accord with the character of Dharma, bad things emerge. In accord with the character of Dharma, good things emerge, live, change, and perish. Bodhisattvas, observing these four modes and being thoroughly familiar with them from one end to the other, should next observe clearly that none of these things continues to live even for a moment, but emerges and perishes every moment, each emerging, living, changing, and perishing in an instant.”
― Wisdom Publications, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“To enter the room of the Tathagata is to have great compassion for all living beings. To wear the robe of the Tathagata is to be gentle and patient. To sit on the seat of the Tathagata is to contemplate the emptiness of all things. One should dwell in peace with all three and then, never becoming lazy or careless, teach this Dharma Flower Sutra everywhere to bodhisattvas and the four groups.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“For eight billion eons, With the most wonderful colors and sounds, And what is most pleasing to smell, taste, and touch, Make offerings to those who embrace this sutra!   If you make such offerings And hear the Dharma even for a moment, You will rejoice and say, “I have gained great benefit.”   Medicine King, I tell you now, Of the sutras I have preached, Among all of them The Dharma Flower is the greatest.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Those who are able to receive and embrace The Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra, Having given up the pure land, Have been born here out of sympathy for the living.   Know that such people, Free to be born where they want, Chose to be in this evil age To teach the unexcelled Dharma everywhere.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Now, having no more doubts, I dwell at peace in the Buddha way. As a skillful means, I will be a servant To protect and embrace the buddhas’ teachings.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Ananda always wanted to listen and learn, while I was devoted to active practice. This is why I have already managed to attain supreme awakening, while Ananda has been taking care of my teachings. He will take care of the Dharma storehouses of future buddhas, and teach, transform, and develop multitudes of bodhisattvas. Such was his original vow. So now he receives this assurance.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Then the five hundred arhats before the Buddha, having received this assurance, were ecstatic with joy. Immediately they got up from their seats, went before the Buddha, prostrated themselves at the Buddha’s feet, repented of their errors, and rebuked themselves, saying: “World-Honored One, we always thought we had attained final extinction already. Now we know we were foolish. Why? Because, while we were capable of reaching the wisdom of the Tathagata, we were content with lesser wisdom.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“World-Honored One, now you should preach the Dharma of supreme awakening for our sake. Once we have heard it, we will study and practice it together. World-Honored One, we are determined to gain the insight of a tathagata. What is deep in our hearts the Buddha must already know.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“The number of eons since that buddha passed into extinction until now still vastly exceeds that number by innumerable, unlimited hundreds of thousands of billions of eons. Yet by the power of the Tathagata’s insight, I observe that distant time as if it were today.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“All these lands—is it possible even for mathematicians or their disciples to count all of them and know the number of all the lands visited?”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Meanwhile, the father had searched for this son unsuccessfully, and now lived in another city. His household had become very wealthy, his goods and treasures incalculable: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, coral, amber, crystal, and other gems overflowed his storehouses. He also had many grooms and servants, clerks and attendants, and countless elephants, horses, carriages, oxen, and sheep. His revenues and investments spread to other lands. There also were many merchants and traveling traders around.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Then I thought to myself: “If I merely praise the Buddha-Vehicle, Beings sunk in suffering Will not be able to believe this Dharma.   “And by rejecting the Dharma through unbelief They will fall into the three evil paths. It would be better not to teach the Dharma And quickly enter nirvana.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“In continuous, Unending suffering, They are firmly rooted in the five desires Like an ox chasing its own tail.   Blinded by greed and desire, They are blind and can see nothing. Seeking neither the Buddha With his great power Nor the Dharma, Which can bring an end to suffering. With deeply entrenched wrong views, They try to use suffering to get rid of suffering.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Now, I am like them. For the peace and comfort of living beings I use various gateways to the Dharma To proclaim the Buddha way.   Through the power of wisdom, Knowing the nature and desires of living beings, I teach them the Dharma using skillful means, Bringing them great joy.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“The buddhas, the most honored of people, Know that nothing exists independently, And that buddha-seeds arise interdependently. This is why they teach the one vehicle.   Things are part of the everlasting Dharma, And the character of the Dharma in the world endures forever. Having come to know this at the place of the Way, Leaders and teachers teach it in skillful ways.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Monks and nuns full of arrogance, Proud laymen, and laywomen of little faith: In the assembly of the four groups, such people Were five thousand in number.   Not seeing their own errors, Failing to observe the precepts And carefully defending their faults, These people of little wisdom have already left.   Those dregs of the assembly left Because of the Buddha’s dignity and virtue. Such people of little merit and virtue Are incapable of receiving the Dharma.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“I also see bodhisattvas Who leave behind all play and laughter And all foolish companions, And seek association with the wise.   Single-mindedly removing distractions, Concentrating their thoughts while in mountain forests, For tens of thousands of millions of years, They seek the Buddha way.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“The Buddha said: “Good sons, first, this sutra leads a not-yet-awakened bodhisattva to aspire to awakening, leads one without human kindness to aspire to kindness, leads one with a murderous heart to aspire to great compassion, leads one who is jealous to aspire to respond with joy, leads one with attachments to aspire to impartiality, leads one who is greedy to aspire to generosity, leads one who is full of arrogance to aspire to be moral, leads one who is angry to aspire to patience, leads one who is lazy to aspire to perseverance, leads one who is distracted to aspire to meditation, leads one who is ignorant to aspire to wisdom, leads one who lacks concern for saving others to aspire to saving others, leads one who commits the ten evils to aspire to do ten good things, leads one who is willful to aspire to let things be, leads one who is prone to backsliding to aspire to never retreat, leads one who commits faulty acts to aspire to being faultless, and leads one who suffers from afflictions to aspire to detachment. Good sons, this is called the first amazing power of blessing of this sutra.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“By cutting off pride and arrogance, He has acquired such a glorious body.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Inexhaustible Mind, such are the blessings attained by this Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva and the various forms in which he travels around in many lands to save the living. This is why all of you should wholeheartedly make offerings to Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva. This Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva, this great one, is able to bestow freedom from fear on those who are faced with a frightening, urgent, or difficult situation. This is why in this world everyone gives him the name Bestower of Freedom from Fear.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“If any living beings are afflicted with a great deal of lust, let them keep in mind and revere Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva and they will be freed from their desire. If they have a great deal of anger and rage, let them keep in mind and revere Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva and they will be freed from their anger. If they are deluded by great folly, let them keep in mind and revere Regarder of the Cries of the World Bodhisattva and they will be freed from their stupidity.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Even if someone were to give a three-thousand great thousandfold world full of the seven precious materials as an offering to the Buddha, great bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and arhats, the blessings such a person would gain would not equal those of someone who receives and embraces even a single four-line verse of this Dharma Flower Sutra. Happiness greater than this won’t be found.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“His distinguishing thirty-two characteristics And the eighty different attractive features seem to be visible, Yet in reality, his form is neither with nor without features. All visible features are transcended.   Without having features His body has features. This is also true of the features Of the bodies of all living beings.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“First, they have small drops of moisture fall to dampen the dust of desire, and by opening the gateway of nirvana, fanning the wind of liberation, and ridding themselves of the heat of worldly passions, they bring about the cooling quality of the Dharma. Next, raining down the profound teaching of the twelve causes and conditions, pouring it on the ferocious, intense rays of suffering—ignorance, old age, illness, death, and so on—they pour out the unexcelled Great Vehicle, soak the good roots of all the living with it, scatter seeds of goodness over the field of blessings, and everywhere bring forth sprouts of awakening. With wisdom as bright as the sun and the moon, and timely use of skillful means, they make the enterprise of the Great Vehicle prosper and grow, and lead many to attain supreme awakening quickly. Always living in the blessedness of a reality that is fine and wonderful, with immeasurable great compassion, they save the living from suffering.”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

“Then Maitreya Bodhisattva thought: “Now the World-Honored One has displayed a marvelous sign. But what is the cause or reason for this auspicious sign? Now that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into concentration, whom can I ask about such inconceivable and unprecedented wonders? And who will be able to answer?”
― Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic