Tag: Instantaneous Enlightenment

• The Dragon Girl’s Enlightenment: A Briefing on Universal Buddhahood and the Challenge to Tradition in the Lotus Sūtra

  

  Date: August 8, 2024 Subject: Analysis of the Dragon Girl’s Narrative in the Lotus Sūtra‘s Chapter Twelve Purpose: This briefing provides a detailed review of the main themes and most important ideas presented in the provided sources regarding the Dragon Girl’s story in the Lotus Sūtra, highlighting its significance for Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine, particularly concerning…

  William Altig

  August 8, 2025

  Chapter 12, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Avalokiteśvara, Bodhi, Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, Buddhism, Buddhist art, Chapter Twelve, Devadatta, Dharma, Dragon Girl, Dragon King Sāgara, East Asian Buddhism, Emptiness (Śūnyatā), Enlightenment, Expedient Means (Upāya), Female Buddhahood, Five Obstacles, Gender Transformation, Guanyin, Henjō Nanshi, Instantaneous Enlightenment, Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Meditation, Nichiren Buddhism, Nichiren Daishonin, Nāga, One Vehicle (Ekayāna), Patriarchal Prejudices, Philosophy, Precious Jewel, Religion, Sokushin Jōbutsu, Spiritual Equality, Spirituality, Spotless World of the South, Subitism, Sudden Enlightenment, Sudhana, Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life (Ichinen Sanzen), Tiantai School, universal salvation, Wisdom Accumulated, Zhiyi, Śāriputra

• Devadatta’s Enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s Philosophy

  

  1. Executive Summary This briefing examines the paradoxical concept of Devadatta’s enlightenment, a central tenet in the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s philosophy. Devadatta, cousin and notorious adversary of Shakyamuni Buddha, committed two of the five “Anantarika-karma” (grave offenses) and was traditionally condemned to the Avīci Hell, a realm of incessant suffering. However, the Lotus Sutra,…

  William Altig

  August 7, 2025

  Chapter 12, Nichiren, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  Adversaries as Teachers, Arhatship, Avici Hell, Bodhisattva Ideal, Buddha, Buddhahood, Buddhism, Changing Poison into Medicine, compassion., Devadatta, Dharma, Dragon King’s Daughter, Enlightenment, Ethical Implications, Final Dharma Age, Five Anantarika-karma, Grave Offenses, Heavenly King Buddha, Hell of Incessant Suffering, Ichinen Sanzen, Inherent Buddha-nature, Instantaneous Enlightenment, karma, Karmic Retribution, Kitō-shō, Lotus Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism, Mappo, Meditation, Nichiren, Non-dualistic Perspective, Philosophy, Religion, Schism in Sangha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Soteriology, Spiritual Growth, Theravada Buddhism, Treatise on Prayers, Universal Buddhahood, universal salvation