Approaching the Lotus Sutra

[Hans]

Hello,

waffling and rambling a la carte, courtesy of Mr. Mongen, International Man of Mystery and secret Wombat worshipper:

Sorry about the smacking noises...I guess I should use a pop-shield next time.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[RichardH]

Thank you, Mongen. Time to take another look at the Lotus Sutra... never got far with it before.


A bit disturbed to hear about wombat worship going on,... but who am I to judge? .


Gassho, Daizan

[Hans]

Hello Daizan,

just to clarify, Wombats are being worshipped, but no Wombats are being sacrificed....I must not say more, else I am running the risk of breaking my sacred oaths of allegiance to a secret antediluvian mystery cult....

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Kyonin]

Hi Mongen,

First of all, thank you for this teaching.

Second... I had to laugh at the Silmarillion reference. I am one of those guys. I bet I'll feel right at home when I read the Lotus Sutra.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Emmet]

Thank you for this. Interestingly enough, I just started attending a Lotus Sutra study last week with the priest of a local group which particularly reveres this sutra. I need all the tutelage in skillful means that I can get.

[Myozan Kodo]

Thanks Mongen. I'll have to revisit this Three-fold wonder in a time to come. Recently I've just been rubbing the cover, hoping to absorb its wisdom through osmosis. However, that just isn't working. Time to polish my reading glasses.

Thanks again. Gassho,
Myozan

[Mp]

Thank Mongen ... I enjoyed that talk and I agree ... "As it is". Try with an open mind to truly see what is there, or not there.

Gassho
Shingen

[Koshin]

Thank you Hans...and you are right, there is something about Wombats

Gassho

[Shokai]

Thank you Mogen, I trully enjoy your approach to things historical

gassho, Shokai

[Shohei]

Recently I've just been rubbing the cover, hoping to absorb its wisdom through osmosis. However, that just isn't working. Time to polish my reading glasses.

Like wise

Awesome, Thank you Mongen!

Gassho
Shohei

[Daisho]

Thanks, Mongen. Besides being informative, your lecture style is entertaining. . I'm ready to order the book, read until I'm almost comatose and then be shocked awake by the drama that suddenly unfolds!!! Hope your next lecture is soon.

[Ed]

OK. I went to my bookshelf and there they were still the Gene Reeves translation and the Taigen sensei's VISIONS OF AWAKENING...And a note dated 4/2011 when I last tried to read and study the Lotus Sutra.
I will clear my night table and try again. I remember seeing the word 'hermeneutics' in VISIONS and thinking "What the h..?"
Here I go again thanks to you Hans, will keep you informed.
Thanks.

[SyntaxJO]

You're not supposed to talk about the wombats. I am not responsible for what happens to you in the next 2 weeks. I'll contact you in Brussels.

[jeff_u]

Thank you Mogen, a great lecture! Thanks to your inspiration (or my foolishness) I'd like to dive in to the sutra. Do you (or anyone else) have a recommendation for a good English translation?

[Hans]

Dear Jefff,

"sadly" I am used to a German translation of the full sutra, but from what I have heard so far it seems the Gene Reeves also translated the whole sutra a few years ago and apparently most native English speakers (whose comments I have read on the internet) seem to think that his translation is pretty good.

Gassho and thank you for your enthusiasm, but be warned, a lot of parts are also so dry that one would be mistaken for thinking the Sahara desert was moist in comparison

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen