Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra
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The Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra (
The extant Chinese text of the meditation sutra was translated by Dharmamitra between 424 and 442 CE (T09n277).
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
According to the sutra itself,
- He practices the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
- He protects the Dharma teachings from every kind of persecution.
- He witnesses the merits obtained by those who practice the teachings and the punishments of those who slander the Dharma or persecute the practitioners.
- He proves that those who violate the Dharma can be delivered from their transgressions if they are sincerely penitent.
In the Meditation Sutra, the Buddha describes Universal Virtue's body as unlimited in size, and the range of his voice and the forms of his image are also described as unlimited. He possesses
Universal Virtue rides the white elephant for the sole purpose of guiding the people of Jambudvīpa, or the sahā-world, through practices that are associated with their environment.[7] The bodhisattva riding on his white elephant is a symbolic image of Buddhist practice, as well as a representation of purity. The purity of the six sense organs is represented by the six tusks of Universal Virtue's white elephant.[7]
It is undeniable that the Meditation Sutra is a continuation of the Lotus Sutra, because the sutra itself testifies to the "Dharma Flower Sutra" three times.[1][8]
Meaning of Repentance
The denotational meaning of the word "repentance" in a general sense, is the confession or remorse of one's own past physical and mental misdeeds, or
Contemplation of Reality
In Japan, the text is also called the Repentance Sutra (
The essence of Buddhist repentance is summed up in the following lines from the verse spoken by the
- The ocean of impediment of all karma
- Is produced from one's false imagination.
- Should one wish to repent of it
- Let him sit upright and meditate on the true aspect of reality.
- All sins are just as frost and dew,
- So wisdom's sun can disperse them.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Reeves 2008, p. 4
- ^ a b c Niwano 1976, p. 423
- ^ Kato 1993, p. 348
- ^ Niwano 1976, pp. 405–406
- ^ Kato 1993, p. 349
- ^ Kato 1993, pp. 349–350
- ^ a b Niwano 1976, p. 429
- ^ Kato 1993, pp. 354, 355, and 356
- ^ Niwano 1976, pp. 451–453
- ^ Niwano 1976, p. 453
- ^ Kato 1993, pp. 365–366
Sources
- Kato, Bunno (1993). The Threefold Lotus Sutra (PDF).
- Niwano, Nikkyo (1976), Buddhism For Today: A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra (PDF), Tōkyō: Kōsei Publishing Co., ISBN 4-333-00270-2, archived from the original(PDF) on July 22, 2013
- Reeves, Gene (2008). The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic. ISBN 978-0861715718.
Bibliography
- Shinjo Suguro, Nichiren Buddhist International Center, trans. (1998): Introduction to the Lotus Sutra, Fremont, Calif.: Jain Publishing Company. ISBN 0875730787; pp. 203-218