The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers
by Michio Shinozaki, Brook Ziporyn, David Earhart, Nichiko Niwano (Foreword)
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma, popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, has been one of the foremost scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism since the appearance of its superb translation into Chinese by Kumarajiva in 406 CE. Over the ensuing centuries, this centerpiece of the three sutras composing the Threefold Lotus Sutra has thoroughly suffused East Asian civilization. With interest in Buddhism increasing in Europe and America, in 1975 Kosei Publishing issued the first complete English translation of these three sutras as The Threefold Lotus Sutra, and because of constant demand, it has remained in print ever since. Now Kosei Publishing, responding to the needs of a truly globalized, twenty-first century Buddhism, has revitalized this acclaimed work with a newly translated publication, The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers. This is the first English version of this religious classic tailored to the essential Buddhist practice of daily sutra recitation. In addition to providing an accurate translation faithful to the original text and following standard definitions of key Buddhist terminology, this innovative Threefold Lotus Sutra breaks new ground by employing more inclusive language to reflect present-day concepts of equality and human dignity in an increasingly diversified world.