The aim of this paper is to compare the contents of the Lotus Sutra and the style of presentation of its message with the thrust of the Buddha`s teachings as they are preserved in the early Buddhist sources, particularly the Sutta Pi%aka of the Pali Canon, and also in the Pali commentarial literature. In the process it attempts to identify in the early sources the precedents of some of the bold statements in the Lotus Sutra which appear as complete innovations, but may be elaborations of elements contained in Pali sources in germinal form. Despite the difference in style, language and mythological imagery, the conclusion is that both the Sutta Pi%aka and the Lotus Sutra express in their respective manners the true spirit of the Buddhist message. Attention is drawn also to the striking parallels between the Buddhist picture of the multiple universe and modern cosmological theories.
