The Lotus Sutra

Since in appearance in China in the third century. The Lotus Sutra has been regarded as one of the most illustrious scriptures in the Mahayana Buddhist canon. The object of intense veneration among generations of Buddhists in China, Korea, Japan and other parts of the world, it has had a profound impact on the great works of Japanese and Chinese literature, attracting more commentary than any other Buddhist scripture. As Watson notes in the introduction to his remarkable translation. The Lotus Sutra is not sun much an integral works as a collection of religious texts, an anthology of sermons, stories and devotional manual, some speaking with particular force to persons of one type or in one set of circumstances, some to those of another type or in other circumstances. This is no doubt one reason why it has had such broad and lasting appeal over the ages and has permeated so deeply into the cultures that have been exposed to it.