1. Readings of the Lotus Sūtra. Edited by Stephen F. Teiser and Jacqueline I. Stone. Columbia University Press, 2009. 284 pages. $24.50. 2. Natalie Gummer, Beloit College.
摘要
Readings of the Lotus Sūtra aims above all to enrich undergraduate engagement with what is arguably the single most influential work in East Asian Buddhism, and the edited volume fulfills this task admirably. It assumes no prior knowledge of Buddhism, and is written in clear, accessible, and nontechnical prose. Comprised of an excellent and extensive introduction to the sūtra and seven additional chapters on specific trends in the history of its interpretation, not to mention several useful supplements, this book deserves a prominent place in any course that seeks to engage students with the Lotus Sūtra in some depth.
The introductory chapter on “Interpreting the Lotus Sūtra” by editors Stephen Teiser and Jacqueline Stone provides an up-to-date but accessible overview of Lotus Sūtra scholarship that will be of value to scholars as well as students with no prior knowledge of Buddhism. Most of the volume focuses on the interpretation of the sūtra in East Asia, but the introduction situates the sūtra within Buddhist literature, and considers briefly its South Asian roots and relation to broader trends within the Mahāyāna. It also surveys some of the “central claims” of the sūtra, including the ambiguous concept of the “one vehicle” and the Buddha's related use of “expedient devices” to lead beings to the truth, the notion that all beings can eventually attain buddhahood, and the revelation that the Buddha Śākyamuni is a cosmic figure with an incalculably long life span. Translation practices through which the text was transmitted are also considered, especially the Chinese committee-based translation procedures that produced Kumārajīva's translation, the authoritative version of the text in East Asia. The editors then survey “movements” focused on the Lotus Sūtra, from the development of commentarial traditions and doctrinal classification schemas, to the production of …
