Soto Zen
Sutras, Scriptures, Chants and Songs

Monterey Bay Zen Center Sutra Book (forthcoming; meanwhile, here is the Online Service Sutra Book, digest version).

 
Lotus 25 3.jpg
Handscroll section 2, center. Shakyamuni Buddha in deep samadhi before Manjushri Bodhisattva announces the teaching is about to begin. On right, section 1 and left is the final section 23 of 23. (Open each section in a browser new tab to enlarge (us…

Handscroll section 2, center. Shakyamuni Buddha in deep samadhi before Manjushri Bodhisattva announces the teaching is about to begin. On right, section 1 and left is the final section 23 of 23. (Open each section in a browser new tab to enlarge (usually with a right click). Best resolution at The Met 150.

 
Lotus 25 1.jpg

Universal Gateway, Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, dated 1257. Calligrapher: Sugawara Mitsushige Japanese

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “…this handscroll is the earliest known painted version of the twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which is known as the “Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds.” The text of the sutra is interspersed with thirty-four colorful images that celebrate the merciful acts of the bodhisattva Kannon (Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara). According to the inscription, this work was modeled after a Chinese printed book of 1208, which in turn was based on an earlier painted handscroll. The anonymous artist transforms the Chinese original through the inclusion of indigenous yamato-e (traditional Japanese painting style) elements, especially in the landscapes.”

Public domain/The Met150