What is your favorite translation of the Lotus Sutra?
What do you suggest for a first translation?
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Written by Matty about 4 months ago.
The Leon Hurvitz translation is very good. The new Reeves translation also is very good. The one I like the least is the old Kern translation. The Kosei edition is a little awkward, too. Watson is OK, though in the new edition of Watson it looks like the SGI translation committee has gotten their grubby hands involved in a few critical places to conform with their translations of the Gosho. Hrmph.
The best approach I could suggest is get as many translations as you can and compare all of them. Each one seems to take a different approach to translations – aside from idiosyncratic styles, some emphasize readability, some emphasize accuracy at the cost of readability, some are just dated in their vocabulary.
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Written by clown hidden about 4 months ago.
I like the translation by Gene Reeves published by Wisdom a couple of years ago.
I think The Essential Lotus: Selections from the Lotus Sutra might be good for someone starting out it’s only about 150 pages long. I think that reading something like Suguro’s Introduction to the Lotus Sutra is a good idea it’s short easy to read and gives you the gist. When I first read the Lotus Sutra I couldn’t make heads or tails of it or understand why it was important.
Niwano also did a commentary on the Three-Fold Lotus Sutra called Buddhism for Today. Which while not always fun to read has a lot of information on buddhist doctrine and theory which the sutra presupposes the reader to know.
I’m not given to magical thinking so I’m not inclined to say that chanting daimoku is what made the sutra meaningful to me, but certainly what ever small undestanding I have developed over time. -
Written by Mark Rogow about 4 months ago.
I use all the translations except Burton Watson’s because I don’t trust a Zen practitioner hired by SGI to translate the Lotus Sutra regardless of his credentials. One can find passages and words in his translation that have little or no concordance with the other translations and the general tenor of his work, to me, is less reverential.
I like the Buddhist Translation Society’s translation on line:
http://www.buddhistdoor.com/oldweb/resources/sutras/lotus/sources/contents.htm
The most rhythmical easily memorized English translation of Gongyo is Graham Lamont’s Kempon Hokke translation which can be chanted quite nicely.
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Written by Engyo Mike Barrett about 4 months ago.
Personally I don’t have a favorite. I like using multiple translations at the same time; having the benefit of several different viewpoints on a word or phrase expands the potential for understanding.
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Written by Nancy about 4 months ago.
Mike – can you tell us some of the translations you use? And which one do you think is a good first translation for a new practitioner.
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Written by Engyo Mike Barrett about 4 months ago.
Hi, Nancy – I mostly use the Murano version and the Threefold by Kato et al. There are some word and emphasis choices in Watson’s version I’m not fond of. Gene Reeves’ new translation reads easily, but I think something is lost in his westernization of the other sentient beings – primarily that most of the western mythical equivalents he chose had only limited points of correspondence as well as not being intelligent (in my recollection, anyway).
For a new practitioner, no specific recommendations other than I find Kern’s translation almost incomprehensible, personally.
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Written by Michele about 4 months ago.
Like Engyo, I like to read several translations at the same time. I have the Murano, Hurvitz, Reeves, Threefold by Kato et al, and the Watson versions. I like the Murano and Reeves best.
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Written by Fred about 4 months ago.
I like the Murano version the best, and the translation by Kato. I agree with Engyo Mike…Kern’s translation is tough…too tough for a beginner.
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Written by Kris about 4 months ago.
I’d have to say my “favorite” is the Murano, though I like having other translations, like Engyo, to check against and clarify things. I like Nikkyo Niwano’s commentary, though it is somewhat dated in some parts.
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Written by Michele about 4 months ago.
Has anyone else had trouble trying to leave a comment on Rev. Ryuei’s blog? I tried today and it wouldn’t let me. I kept getting a 404 page.
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Written by Theodore about 3 months ago.
A question for those who have read many English translations: What version of the Sutra was the translators source? Other than Watson, which ones are based on Kumarajiva’s Chinese version, which is the source text for the chapters used in Gongyo?
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Written by Gerhard Lenz about 3 months ago.
An explanatory interpretations translation (trukai) of Kumarajiva’s version of the Lotus Sutra is currently underway. You can read it online at http://dharmagateway.org/
Martin Bradley is translating both the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s commentary
(Oral Transmission, Ongi Kuden). This is a ‘Work in Progress’ with Chapter six having been recently posted in May 2010. The integration of both these works brings the teachings of Shakyamuni and Nichiren closer and with greater clarity so that the reader can grasp the underlying principals without obstruction. -
Written by Michele about 3 months ago.
Theodore – I think most translated from the Kumarijiva translation, though Hurvitz also translated from Sanskrit and included the places where there were significant differences in his footnotes.
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