Mr. Altig’s Overview of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra

Learn this Buddhist classic, the Lotus Sutra

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  • The Perfection of Patience

    The Perfection of Patience

    A Poem When swords and sticks and stones arrive, And cruel words cut deep, The ancient Buddha taught a way For strength that we can keep. They call it Kṣānti—patience— But not the quiet kind, It’s not about just taking abuse Or being meek and blind. It’s “determined refusal to be beaten down,” A fire…

    William Altig

    October 11, 2025
    Chapter 10, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    accessible Buddhism, ancient wisdom modern voice, anger management, blues lyrics, boundary setting poem, Buddha Nature, Buddhist folk tradition, Buddhist patience, Buddhist philosophy poem, Buddhist Poetry, Compassion and Wisdom, compassionate boundaries, contemplative poetry, courage and compassion, dealing with abuse, delta blues, Dharma blues, Dharma teaching, emotional resilience, empowered compassion, endurance and wisdom, existential folk music, folk wisdom, forgiveness without enabling, healing through strength, inner strength, interfaith wisdom, Karmic Consequences, knowing when to leave, kshanti paramita, letting go of ego, Lotus Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism, meditation on patience, modern dharma, Non-Passive Endurance, non-self teaching, patience and action, patience poem, peaceful resistance, peaceful warrior, philosophical blues, practical spirituality, protective boundaries, protective love, refusing to quit, refusing victimhood, Religious Poetry, resilience poetry, roots music lyrics, Sacred Poetry, self-compassion, self-protection, Setting Boundaries, spiritual blues, spiritual folk song, spiritual strength, spoken word poetry, standing strong, suffering transformation, survivor strength, teaching through music, three types of patience, transformative suffering, unbreakable spirit, walking away poem, walking away with grace, wisdom literature, wise compassion
  • The Patient Heart Blues

    The Patient Heart Blues

    “The Patient Heart Blues” – A Song About Standing Strong While Walking Away Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is knowing when to stay and when to go. This song came from studying an ancient Buddhist text about patience—but not the kind of patience where you just take whatever comes. Real patience, the kind…

    William Altig

    October 11, 2025
    Chapter 10, music, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    12-bar blues, acoustic blues, acoustic soul, acoustic storytelling, alternative blues, Americana, americana roots, authentic blues, Ballad, Blues, blues poetry, blues standard, boundaries, buddhist blues, Chicago blues, classic blues, Compassion, Conscious Lyrics, Contemplative blues, contemplative music, Contemporary Blues, crossover blues, deep lyrics, delta blues, Dharma music, elder wisdom, emotional intelligence, empowerment, Folk Blues, Folk Music, folk rock, Forgiveness, harmonica blues, healing music, honest lyrics, independent blues, inner strength, letting go, life lessons, mature themes, meaningful music, meditation music, mental health, Mindfulness, modern blues, narrative folk, non-violence, old soul, organic sound, original blues, Patience, peaceful resistance, philosophical blues, porch blues, protest blues, raw vocals, real talk, recovery music, resilience, resonator guitar, roots music, roots poetry, self-care, self-protection, shuffle blues, Slide Guitar, slow blues, social consciousness, spiritual blues, spiritual folk, spoken word blues, story song, Storytelling, substance over style, survivor song, teaching song, therapy music, timeless wisdom, traditional blues, unsigned artist, vintage blues, walking away, wisdom music
  • When Patience Becomes Power: 5 Ancient Lessons for Handling Modern Life

    When Patience Becomes Power: 5 Ancient Lessons for Handling Modern Life

    In our modern lives, we’re taught to brace for the constant barrage of criticism, personal attacks, and overwhelming hardship. The struggle is mentally and emotionally exhausting, often leaving us feeling fragile and depleted. But what if there was a different way—a method for cultivating an inner strength so profound it could not be shaken by…

    William Altig

    October 11, 2025
    Chapter 10, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    Anutpattikadharmakṣānti, Avīci Hell, Bodhisattva Path, Buddha Nature, Buddhanusmrti, Chapter Ten, Compassion, Dharma Teacher, Dukkha, Ekayāna, emptiness, endurance, Equanimity, Eternal Buddha, Forbearance., Great Teacher Zhiyi, hōbō, Kṣānti Paramita, Latter Day of the Law, Lotus Sūtra, Mahayana Buddhism, Mahākaruṇā, Mappo, Nichiren, Non-Dual Reality, Non-Passive Endurance, Non-self, One Vehicle, Patience, Persecution, prajñā, Recollection of the Buddha, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Setting Boundaries, Skillful Means, Slander of the Dharma, Sticks, Stones, Suffering, Swords, Tathāgatagarbha, Tiantai, Tile-pieces, upāya, wisdom
  • The Sweet Dew of the Ultimate Path

    The Sweet Dew of the Ultimate Path

    The Hearers walked a path of quiet rest,Believing Arhat status was the best. The Three Great Vehicles held separate ways,Defined by limits through the passing days.But in the Lotus, a new light definedThe single truth that binds all humankind. O, Bright-Lamp-of-Wisdom, shining true and deepYou wake the seeds that every being keeps.The paths before were Skillful…

    William Altig

    October 10, 2025
    Chapter 9, poems, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    Amṛta, Arhatship, Doctrinal Completeness, Ekayāna, Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna Buddhism, One Vehicle, Prophecy of Buddhahood, Skillful Means, Spiritual Joy, Sweet Dew, Universal Potential, upāya, Vyākaraṇa, Śrāvakas
  • 5 Surprising Ideas from the Lotus Sutra That Will Change How You See Enlightenment

    5 Surprising Ideas from the Lotus Sutra That Will Change How You See Enlightenment

    1.0 Introduction: The Ancient Text with a Radical Message In our search for meaning, many of us look to ancient wisdom traditions for guidance. We often expect to find timeless truths, but it’s rare to encounter a text so revolutionary that it rewrites the rules of the spiritual path itself. These texts offer insights that…

    William Altig

    October 10, 2025
    Chapter 9, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    Amṛta, Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, Arhatship, Bodhisattva, Buddha-gotra, Buddhahood, Chapter Nine, Chih-i, Completeness, Doctrinal Realization, Ekayāna, Eternal Buddha, Gāthā, Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna, Nichiren School, Nirvāṇa, One Vehicle, P’an-chiao, Pratyekabuddha, Prophecy, Rāhula, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Skillful Means, Sweet Dew, three vehicles, Tiantai School, Two Thousand Bhikṣus, Universal Potential, upāya, Vyākaraṇa, Śrāvaka, Ānanda
  • The Body That Burns Without Burning

    The Body That Burns Without Burning

    They said the old saint lit himself on fire, Twelve hundred years of light, arms ablaze, And I thought: how can I match that pyre With my small hands and ordinary days? The Sutra promises we all can wake Right here, right now, in skin and bone, But if the price is everything I break—…

    William Altig

    October 9, 2025
    Chapter 23, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    body as temple, Buddhist modernism, Buddhist Poetry, contemplative verse, contemporary religious poetry, daily devotion, doctrinal poetry, East Asian Buddhism, embodied practice, endurance, Enlightenment, faith under persecution, Gratitude, human resilience, Karmic Transformation, Lotus Sutra, Mappō, meaning in suffering, metaphysical poetry, mundane as sacred, Nichiren Buddhism, Perfect Offering, perseverance, philosophical poetry, religious philosophy, sacred ordinary, sacrifice reinterpreted, Shikidoku, Soteriology, Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Resilience, spiritual struggle, suffering and transformation, theodicy
  • The One That Stays

    The One That Stays

    “The One That Stays” wrestles with an ancient question: How do ordinary people offer something sacred when the old stories demand the impossible? Inspired by Buddhist teachings about sacrifice and perseverance, this song explores the tension between spectacular acts of devotion and the quiet heroism of simply continuing—of getting up, showing up, and staying present…

    William Altig

    October 9, 2025
    Chapter 23, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    Americana, bluesy folk, Buddhist Philosophy, contemplative music, contemporary folk, daily struggle, devotion, endurance, faith and doubt, folk pop, gospel influenced, human spirit, inner strength, meaningful life, ordinary heroism, perseverance, philosophical lyrics, protest song, Religious Poetry, resilience, roots music, sacred ordinary, social justice, soul folk, spiritual songs, standing firm, staying power, suffering and transformation, survival
  • 5 Ancient Buddhist Ideas That Radically Redefine ‘The Perfect Offering’

    5 Ancient Buddhist Ideas That Radically Redefine ‘The Perfect Offering’

    Introduction: What Does It Mean to Give Everything? What does it truly mean to dedicate yourself to a cause? When we think of ultimate sacrifice, we often imagine a single, heroic act that costs the giver everything. But what if the greatest offering isn’t a final, spectacular gesture, but a continuous way of living? This…

    William Altig

    October 9, 2025
    Chapter 23, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    daimoku, Embodied Resilience, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, Gratitude, Ichinen Sanzen, Karmic Transformation, kosen-rufu, Latter Day of the Law (Mappō), Lotus Sūtra, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Myōhō (Wonderful Dharma), Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō, Nichiren Buddhism, Offering in Actuality, Offering in Principle, Perfect Offering, Persecution, Physical Sacrifice, Self-Immolation, Shikidoku (Reading with the Body), Sokushin Jōbutsu (Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Body), Soteriology, Suffering
  • This 2,000-Year-Old Text Is a Recipe for Life—Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Just Read It

    This 2,000-Year-Old Text Is a Recipe for Life—Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Just Read It

    Introduction: The Gap Between Knowing and Doing There’s a well-known gap between knowing something in theory and understanding it through experience. An old metaphor captures this perfectly: you can read a recipe for a meal, memorize every ingredient, and understand the chemistry of cooking, but you will remain completely ignorant of the food’s taste. True…

    William Altig

    October 8, 2025
    Chapter 5, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    Arhat, Bodhicitta, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattvas of the Earth, Buddha-nature, Burning House Parable, Chapter Two, Compassion, dṛṣṭi, Ekayāna, Engaged Buddhism, expedient means, insight, Insight of the Buddha, kosen-rufu, kōans, Lotus Sūtra, One Vehicle, Pedagogy, practice, prajñā, Pratyekabuddhas, Prodigal Son Parable, Pāramitās, realization, Recipe analogy, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Samsara, Six Perfections, Skillful Means, Tathāgata, Tathāgatagarbha, Theravada Buddhism, three vehicles, upāya, vipassanā, wisdom, zazen, Zen Buddhism, śrāvakas
  • “One Word of Praise”

    “One Word of Praise”

    What if everything you’ve been told about spiritual progress is backwards? This song came from reading an ancient Buddhist text—the Lotus Sutra—that completely flips our understanding of how transformation happens. We’re taught that meaningful change requires years of effort, countless hours of practice, immense sacrifice. Grind long enough and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get somewhere.…

    William Altig

    October 7, 2025
    Chapter 18, Chapter 2, music, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law
    70s folk, acoustic blues, acoustic gospel, acoustic soul, acoustic storytelling, alt folk, Americana, americana blues, authentic folk, bluesy folk, Bob Dylan style, brushed drums, buddhist folk, buddhist music, conscious folk, contemplative folk, contemplative music, delta blues, dusty folk, Dylan-esque, earthy music, existential blues, fingerpicked guitar, folk ballad, folk gospel, folk noir, folk revival, gospel folk, Grounded folk, Hammond organ, hand percussion, healing music, honest folk, hope music, indie folk, interfaith music, intimate vocals, Iron and Wine, John Prine style, joy music, liberation songs, meditation music, mindfulness music, Modern Folk, organic folk, philosophical folk, porch music, praise music, raw vocals, roots music, sacred music, singer songwriter, Slide Guitar, slow blues, soulful acoustic, spiritual awakening, spiritual blues, Spiritual Journey, stripped down, sutra music, The Tallest Man on Earth, traditional folk, transformative music, universal spirituality, vintage folk sound, walking bass, wisdom songs
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