Lotus Sutra; 妙法蓮華經，法華經; Tibetan: དམ་ཆོས་པདྨ་དཀར་པོ (damchö pema karpo); Wylie: lum+bi nI; Sanskrit: Saddharma Pundarika Sutra;
Lotus Sutra, Sutra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, is one of the most influential and venerated Mahayana Buddhist sutras. It contains the final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha — complete and sufficient for salvation. Two central teachings of the Lotus Sutra are:
- Doctrine of the One Vehicle, which says that all Buddhist paths and practices lead to Buddhahood and so they are all merely upaya, skillful means, of reaching Buddhahood.
- The lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable and that therefore, he did not really pass on into final Nirvana. He only appeared to do so, as upaya, but is still active teaching the Dharma.
法華經是佛陀釋迦牟尼晚年說的教法，佛陀弘法《法華經》和《涅槃經》共八年，全經總共二十八品，前面十四品說一乘之因，後十四品說一乘之果。以蓮花出自淤泥而不沾染，比喻佛法的潔白、清淨，一乘圓教表達清淨了義，究竟圓滿，無上微妙，大小一樣，顯示所有眾生皆可成佛。