Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Essential Selections (法華經玄義節要)

About 法華經玄義節要

Ming · by 智旭節

48,097 · about 160 min

The Essence of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, compiled by the late Ming dynasty eminent monk Zhixu, extracts the essentials from the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, authored by Zhiyi, the de facto founder of the Tiantai school. Based on the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra, this work systematically expounds the core teachings of the true nature of all phenomena, opening the provisional to reveal the ultimate, and uniting the three vehicles into the one. It elucidates the fivefold profound meaning—name, essence, principle, function, and teaching—to unveil the principle of the one vehicle, perfect and immediate. As a concise philosophical outline of the Tiantai school, it distills the perfect teaching thought of Master Zhiyi, representing a pinnacle of Chinese Buddhist doctrinal studies. With profound influence on later generations, it is an essential text for studying Tiantai śamatha-vipaśyanā and Lotus Sutra thought.