Tag: Spiritual Authority
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The Buddha’s Declaration and the Universal Way

Date: September 3, 2025 Subject: An analysis of the Buddha’s declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra and its implications for understanding universal enlightenment. Executive Summary: Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra features a seemingly audacious declaration by the Buddha: “I know the Way. I have opened the Way. I will expound the Way.…
William Altig
Absolute Happiness, Buddha’s Declaration, Buddhist Community, Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhist teachings, Chapter Five, Compassionate Function, Cosmic Audience, daimoku, Devotional Text, Dharma, Dharma Rain, Diverse Beings, Enlightenment, Eternal Buddha, Gods Men Asuras, Great Cloud Metaphor, human revolution, Individual Effort, liberation, Living Buddha, Lotus Sūtra, Mahayana Buddhism, Nichiren School, Non-Duality, One Vehicle, Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, Rhetorical Strategy, sangha, Self-mastery, Shakyamuni, Skillful Means, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Capacities, Spiritual Progress, Three Thousand Realms in One Thought Moment, Tiantai School, Universal Buddhahood, upaˉya, Zhiyi -
The Unveiling of Universal Wisdom in the Lotus Sūtra

I. Introduction: The Lotus Sūtra and the Bodhisattva Ideal The Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapundarika-sutra) is a foundational and highly influential text in East Asian Buddhism, composed between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE. It is widely considered the final and complete teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, aiming for the enlightenment of all sentient beings and…
William Altig
Adorned with Pure Light, Bodhisattva, Buddha, Buddhism, Cloud Thunder Sound King, Compassion, Devadatta, Dragon King’s Daughter, Eagle Peak, Ekayāna, Enlightenment, God Narayana, Great Compassion, Humanism, Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, Lotus Sūtra, Mahayana Buddhism, Mahākaruṇā, Meditation, Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds, Myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren, Nirvana, One Vehicle, Philosophy, Pure Flower Constellation King Wisdom, Pāramitās, Religion, Sahā-World, Samadhi of Revelation of All Forms, Samadhi of Understanding the Speech of all Living Beings, Shakyamuni Buddha, Six Moral Perfections, Skillful Means, Spiritual Authority, Ten Worlds, Tendai, Tiantai, True Aspect of All Phenomena, Universal Buddhahood, Upaya, Wise King of Pure and Gorgeous Constellation Tathagata, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, World of Endurance