The Lotus Sutra was one of the most important sutra in Chinese Buddhism. It contained profound philosophy and provide the guidance on the ways of practice to practitioners. By analyzing from the contents of the Lotus Sutra, the ways of practice may be divided in two. One is such ways derived from the scripture as keeping the percepts, meditation and wisdom. The other is that all the ordinary beings should follow the examples of the bodhisattvas’ practice, for they will all become Buddhas and bodhisattvas in the future. The Lotus Sutra claims that the true and eternal Buddha in the person of Shakyamuni who appeared on earth was for the salvation of all the ordinary beings. He tries to tell them that by way of the methods of practice, they can become enlightened. Since the Lotus Sutra contained the doctrine of the eternal Buddha and universal salvation, and had been the inspiration for Buddhist practice in the past, the aim of this thesis is therefore to explore thoroughly the contents and the ways of practice in the Lotus Sutra in order to achieve Buddhahood by the guidance provided by the sutra.
