Meditation Symbols in Eastern and Western Mysticism: Mysteries of the Mandala

by

Manly P. Hall, D.LITT

Philosophical Research Society

Los Angeles, California

1988

Chapter V: The Lotus sutra and Its Mandala

The most important of the religious writings of Northern Buddhism is the Saddharma-Pundarika-Sutra (Japanese: Hokkekyo) or the Lotus of the True Law.  Generally referred to in the Orient as the Lotus sutra, it has been described as the most precious jewel among all Buddhist sacred writings.  

The Lotus Sutra has influenced all the Buddhist sects of Japan and has been especially venerated by the followers of the Tendai and Nichiren schools.  The principle mandara devised by the Nichiren sect glorifies the Lotus sutra.  The design composed of written characters is called the Daimoku.  The sacred words "Namu Myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo" (Hail to the Sutra of the Good Law) are placed vertically in the center and dominate the design.  At the four corners are written the names of the guardian kings who preside over the four directions of space.  On either side of the central inscription are the names of two Buddhas described in the apocalyptical vision the Lotus Sutra.  The Daimoku is the Lotus Sutra, the ten regions of the world, and the body of moral precepts.

Like many apocalyptical writings, the Lotus Sutra, is strongly theatrical in the presentation of its pageantry.  The curtain rises to reveal the Buddhist universe reminiscent of the elaborate ritualism of the Greek Mystery dramas.  Guatama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is presented as an ideal - a personification of cosmic truth.

The Buddha of this Sutra is passionless, revealing no evidence of human emotions.  As the personification of the immutability of Universal Law, this detachment is perfectly consistent with Buddhist Teachings; but what the non-Buddhist does not realize is that to the devotees of the Lotus sutra, Law itself is the perfect expression not only of truth but of divine love.

The Lotus sutra begins with the simple statement, "Thus I have heard."  The great discourse took place in India at Vulture Peak, located in Rajagriha.  The scene is so magnificent that it transcends imagination, and it takes the first ten chapters to describe this pageantry to the reader.  Gautama Buddha is seated upon the throne of teaching.  Suddenly, a ray of light streams from the white curl on his forehead and illumines all the innumerable cosmic systems which make up the Buddha Worlds.  After the Buddha declares his intention by permitting the luminous rays to shine from his forehead, all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas from the myriads of Buddha Worlds assemble at Vulture's Peak.  They fly with the speed of light, each with hosts of followers, until myriads upon myriads seem to fill all the parts of the universe.  Each of the Buddhas is seated on a lion throne and shaded by a tree of jewels.

The Buddhas of the Ten Regions of Space have assembled to hear the perfect revelation of the Eternal Law.  The great bodhisattvas in their splendid garments wait breathlessly for the words of the Perfectly Awakened One.  The arhats have gathered from all the countries, continents, and abodes where they dwell, each bringing with him a retinue of saints.  The monks and nuns of the monastic orders, including the wife of Buddha and the aunt who raised him after his mother's death, are present.  In addition to these are creatures of the invisible worlds.  The gods of India are in attendance, with the great rajas who guard the four corners of the world.  There are multitudes of the pious, extending to the very limits of space.  The universe is breathless with expectation.

Manjusri tells Maitreya that Gautama is about to preach the Great Discourse, the final revelation of all revelations; and the name of this discourse is "The Lotus of the True Law."

In the midst of this celestial assembly the earth seems to open, and there rises up from the ground a stupa (pagoda or relic tower) of stupendous size, decorated with garlands, and fashioned from precious stones.  The stupa is suspended in the midst of the sky, and from the innermost part of this sanctuary a voice as mighty as the rumble of thunder exclaims: "Excellent!  Excellent!  World-Honored Shakyamuni!"  The assembly is filled with great wonder and delight, for the voice is that of Prabhutaratna (Taho Buddha), a famous Buddha of long ago.

Prabhutaratna invites Gautama to enter the stupa and share his throne.  The scene is so splendid that the Buddhas appear like meteors in a star-strewn sky.  At this point, Gautama, by his perfect insight and absolute power of consciousness, draws the entire assembly up into the sky with him and then delivers his discourse.

The presence of the "Extinct Buddha"  seems to suggest that the wisdom of past ages supports and sponsors the revelation.  All that still exists and all that has ceased in the mystery of time gone by is invoked to bear witness to the eternality of the Law.  Vast periods of time are dissolved in the vision, as are all dimensions of space.  The cosmos is suspended for one dramatic instant, which may properly be termed the "eternal now."

In the Lotus Sutra Buddha is caused to unfold the deepest mysteries of the heart doctrine.  He does this most skillfully with the aid of parables and persuasive discourse.  In this Sutra Buddha is presented as a concrete manifestation of the Infinite Mind.  He embraces within his own nature all the mental phenomena of existence and transcends them.  There is a strange undercurrent that seems to imply that this magnificent spectacle is curiously, even divinely, unsubstantial.  It is the production of a cosmic dreaming, but it is a dreaming as near to truth as dreams can ever come.  It is the ultimate expansion of the power to think, to know, or to reason.  The spectacle is suspended in the midst of "no mind," for beyond it there is only that which transcends and defies even the highest conceivable aspects of the human consciousness.

Buddha as the personification of the Eternal Mind is an eternal being.  The author of the Lotus sutra causes him to declare that he has existed for countless eternities and that he will continue for the duration of infinity.  His original enlightenment was not under the bo tree at Buddh Gaya but occurred in a remote time beyond the power of man to calculate.

The Lotus Sutra projects the moral philosophy of Buddha into all the dimensions and regions of space.  Creation itself is an inconceivable ethical mechanism, splendid with the beauties of wisdom.  Throughout space the Buddhas and bodhisattvas fulfill the eternal mystery of redemption.  It is no longer assumed that they will retire into Parinirvana and vanish utterly from the world of suffering.  The great teachers, although ever appearing to be born, are never born in the cycle of mortality.  Although they may appear to suffer, they only voluntarily assume suffering as part of the labor of salvation; and, though in the end they seem to vanish into the mystery of the void, in reality they never cease to exist.

A new dimension is added to the teaching of the older Buddhist schools.  The Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats are fulfilling vows they made before the beginning of mortal history.  The vows always include labors of salvation, for the Great Ones can never rest until the tiniest molecule floating in a sunbeam has attained the true enlightenment.

If we assume that this apparently extravagant pageantry refers to the infinite manifestation of the unfolding universal consciousness, it is comprehensible at least in theory.  If each of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats personifies an aspect of Infinite Mind, the Sutra becomes more meaningful.

Buddhist philosophy does not admit the existence of a principle of evil or of any power or being seeking to frustrate man's search for truth.  The only hindrance is the weakness of human nature, which man must overcome by self-discipline.

The real message of the Lotus Sutra is not conveyed by the words of the speaker, for it is obvious that its deeper meaning cannot be verbalized.  The real message was the impact of the total scene, which takes on the dimensions of the ultimate mandala.  The words of Buddha merely state the essential structure of the concept.  The rest must be experienced.  The whole scene suggests a cosmic version of Buddha's own enlightenment under the bo tree.  There is an incredible burst of light, as though a psychic atom had been split.  The cosmos is revealed, like the unfolding lotus, forever evolving, forever maturing, and forever fruitful.  Lives are bound together in an infinite pattern of mutual benevolence.  The cosmos is revealed as the eternal teacher of all that lives.

The vision scene as unfolded in the Lotus sutra sets forth the physical world as revealed to the perfectly enlightened seer or sage.  Physical forms disappear, boundaries of time and space fade away, and all that is seen is the radiance of causation on its various levels of manifestation.  Every flower in the field becomes a radiant light.  Even the physical earth is vibrant with an eternal energy.  Instead of a star-lit heaven, there is a star-lit earth.  As in a lantern, every existing creature in all kingdoms is a form enclosing a light.  The power that administers the clouded world seen by the limited sensory perceptions suddenly reveals the mystery of itself.  Many unseen and unknown types of beings shepherd the several kingdoms of physical nature.  No living thing is without protector and enlightener.  A hierarchy lies behind every veil, and in the Lotus Sutra the psychic mechanism is revealed in its fullest splendor.  It is true indeed that even the fall of a sparrow is noted, and the little soul finds its eternal refuge in the heart of a loving and protecting friend and teacher.  We see only shadows, and space seems empty except for a few sidereal bodies.  Actually, we are in the midst of a life which surrounds and penetrates every physical unit of eternal energy.

As the psychological aspects of the Lotus Sutra are examined sympathetically, it becomes evident that it is one of the most extraordinary revelations of Will-Consciousness-Mind to be found in the religious literature of the world.