Tag: Eternal Lifespan

• Why an Ancient Text Says You’re Already a Buddha

  

  Introduction: The Long Road to Enlightenment? The journey to enlightenment is often portrayed as an epic undertaking, a path of gradual cultivation requiring countless lifetimes of discipline and the accumulation of merit. The very concept of “countless kalpas (eons)” suggests a goal so distant it feels almost unattainable for an ordinary person. But what if…

  William Altig

  October 2, 2025

  Chapter 17, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Ajita, Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, Bodhi Tree, Bodhimaṇḍa, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Maitreya, Chapter 17, Degenerate Age, Dharma-kāya, Distinctions in Merits, Ekayāna, Eternal Lifespan, Immediate Enlightenment, Immediate Equivalence, Inherent Buddhahood, Latter Day of the Law, Living Relic, Lotus Sūtra, Maitreya, Mappō, Meritorious Practice, Nichiren Buddhism, Non-Duality, One Vehicle, Persecution, Practitioner Status, six pāramitās, Sokushin Jōbutsu, Stūpa Mandate, Supreme Perfect Enlightenment, Tiantai Buddhism, Votary, World of conflict

• The Three Meanings of Life and Measure

  

  We measure a life in years, a project in months, a distraction in minutes. We live under a countdown. We treat existence as a bank account we are always drawing down, with no way to make a deposit. Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra breaks that arithmetic. The Buddha says his measure is incalculable and his life…

  William Altig

  September 26, 2025

  Chapter 16, Chapter 17, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Chapter 16, Eternal Lifespan, Lotus Sutra, Tiantai, Trikaya, Zhiyi