Lotus Sutra

Japanese illustration depicting white lotuses in Chapter 25: "Universal Gateway" of the Lotus Sūtra. Text inscribed by Sugawara Mitsushige, Kamakura period, c. 1257, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीक सूत्रम्, IAST: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit. 'Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'; japanese language: 法華経; rōmaji: Hokkekyō; traditional Chinese: 法華經; simplified Chinese: 法华经; pinyin: Fǎhuá jīng; lit. 'Dharma Flower Sutra') is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. It is the main scripture on which the Chinese Tiantai and its derivative schools—the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren, Korean Cheontae, and Vietnamese Thiên Thai schools of Buddhism—were established. It has also influenced other East Asian Buddhist schools, such as Chan and Zen. According to the British Buddhologist Paul Williams, "For many Buddhists in East Asia since early times, the Lotus Sūtra contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha—complete and sufficient for salvation." The American Buddhologist Donald S. Lopez Jr. writes that the Lotus Sūtra "is arguably the most famous of all Buddhist texts," presenting "a radical re-vision of both the Buddhist path and of the person of the Buddha."