Translating the Lotus Sutra, Ch. II, Opening
妙法蓮華經方便品第二爾時世尊, 從三昧安詳而起，告舍利弗：「諸佛智慧，甚深無量, 其智慧門，難解難入 「諸佛智慧，甚深無量, 其智慧門，難解難入 一切聲聞、辟支佛、所不能知。
The Wonderful Dharma of The Lotus Flower Sutra, Skillful Means (方便 upāya), Chapter II At that time the World Honored One from arose fully and serenely from His Samadhi and said to Shariputra: “The Buddhas’ realized wisdom is vastly deep and immeasurable; the gate to their realized wisdom is hard to explain, hard to enter. Amongst all the Śrāvakas and Pratykabuddhas, not one is able to know it.
(Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo Ho Ben Pon Dai Ni)
The Wonderful Dharma of The Lotus Flower Sutra, Skillful Means (方便 upāya), Chapter II
妙 法 蓮 華 經is the Buddha Dharma itself, wonderful and sublime, so gives me great joy to study it’s meaning. These five characters contain all its treasures.
Chapter II of the Lotus Sutra is entitled 方便or “upāya,” which is an important Buddhist concept in its own right. Yet all the major translations do not choose to transliterate the term, opting instead to translate. In this instance I tend to agree, for while no one term fully captures its meaning, terms such as “skillful means” or “expedient means” come close enough. Moreover, the entire first section of the Lotus Sutra is devoted to unfolding and explaining the Buddha’s skillful employment of expedient means to lead all people to enlightenment. Thus even in the Lotus Sutra, Lord Shakaymuni Buddha must explain upāya 方便 at length. Hence it makes sense that it should be translated and explained into whatever language it is preached and taught in.
(Ni je se son, ju san mai an jo ni ki, go Sha-ri hotsu)
At that time the World Honored One from arose fully and serenely from His Samadhi and said to Shariputra:
In Chapter I, the Buddha enters a Samadhi called “innumerable meanings”* wherein a light from his brow illuminates all the cosmos, from the highest heaven to the deepest hell. All in the congregation – a gathering of all the heroes, gods, angels, demons and famed Buddhist figures – are able to see the activities of myriad Buddhas and Bodhisattavas through all time and space. It is this Samadhi from which the Lord Shakyamuni arises to address Shariputra. Thus the opening of Chapter II has the Buddha’s words arising out of His Samahdi, but in a fashion, allows Shariputra, and we the hearers, to be lifted out of this wonder as well so as to be drawn to the Buddha’s words.
I agree with those translators who choose translation 三昧as “Samadhi,” as opposed to attempting translation into a more common English word, such as “concentration” or “meditation.” The word Samadhi another important Buddhist term – important enough that we should encourage its ready acceptance into English, as has been done with terms such as karma and dogma. Also, as noted above, the nature of the Buddha’s Samadhi is special; it is not merely meditation as a more mundane translation would message. Finally, there are other Buddhist terms that mean “concentration” or “mediation,” such as禪or dhyana or zen (after which the sect is named), which are not the same thing as Samahdi. As I understand it, Samadhi the meditative state achieved, whereas dhyana is the discipline for entering into Samadhi.
(sh0 but’ chi e, jin jin mu ryo, go che e mon, nan ge nan nyu)
“The Buddhas’ realized wisdom is vastly deep and immeasurable; the gate to their realized wisdom is hard to explain, hard to enter.
I have translated the terms 智慧to “realized wisdom.” Soothill explains that the terms智慧refer to jñāna and prajñā, which are again important Buddhist concepts; especially the latter. But again we are in a situation where the Buddha is revealing something previously unknown. So knowledge of the terms would not add any new insight in exchange for the lost fluidity and added obscurity. Indeed, the Buddha says the full extent of the various Buddhas’ wisdom “is vastly deep and immeasurable; the gate to their realized wisdom is hard to explain, hard to enter.”
On the translation of the term jñāna, I’ve used the term “realized” to convey the sense that the Buddha has fully accomplished and manifested this wisdom. It is not merely intellectual, but encompasses full morality and insight into the phenomenal world. Both Reeves and Murano use the word “profound,” which has a better ring to it, but does not capture the idea that the Buddha is embodied with this wisdom. Also, the passage later uses terms to modify the character of the wisdom itself as “vastly deep and immeasurable,” so I wanted a translation for jñāna that did not merely add another modifier to wisdom, but also reflected back to the Buddhas.
A final note is that 諸佛can translate as “the various Buddhas’” or “the many Buddhas.’” I was tempted by “various,” since each Buddha expresses the Buddha’s enlightenment in different ways, no doubt in accord with upāya 方便. That said, in Chapter I of the Lotus Sutra we have been given a wondrous view of all the Buddha’s of the Cosmos as well as a story of a Buddha from the past, so the idea of many and varied Buddhas is well drawn in Chapter I. On the other hand, Lord Shakyamuni is preaching about the Buddhas’ realized wisdom, which is treated as a single object – something the Buddhas together share in. Thus I have opted to simply make “Buddhas” plural and possessive, which I think accomplishes the later object with more elegance and without a significant loss of meaning. It also helps to preserve the original word order without clumsiness.
Amongst all the Śrāvakas and Pratykabuddhas, not one is able to know it.
I was quite on the fence on whether to translate or transliterate Hearers (Śrāvaka) and Private-Buddhas (Pratykabuddha). The Śrāvaka are the direct disciples of the Buddha, and the Pratykabuddha are those who do not seek the Dharma via a teacher, but pursue it on their own. Such classes of followers are well understood by Buddhists.
The argument favoring transliteration is that if I use the term “Hearers” for Śrāvaka or “Private-Buddhas” for “Pratykabuddha” for I am simply trading jargon for jargon, and worse, obscuring the original terms. The argument favoring translation is that these are readily translatable terms. Better translations will be clumsy, but fairly accurate: such as “the Buddha’s direct disciples” for Śrāvaka and “solitary contemplatives” (or indeed, “private-buddhas”) for Pratykabuddha. For the reasons given below, I again think the best course is the leave the terms of art – although it is a close call.
In the information age, there is more incentive to leave specialized terminology in place. Its always a balance to assess how much you want to transliterate and how much to translate, but given the relative ease with which terms of art can be looked up – in some cases with the click of a cursor – then why not take advantage and allow the reader to get familiar with important concepts. It is still that case that a translation should be fluid and not jargon laden, but if a term is going to show up repeatedly or is key to understanding the work as a whole, see if Wikipedia has an entry. If so, I’d argue for transliteration.
智— Wisdom, knowledge, intelligence
(Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, Soothill: “智慧 jñāna as 智 knowledge and prajñā as 慧 discernment, i.e. knowledge of things and realization of truth; in general knowledge and wisdom; but sometimes implying mental and moral wisdom.”)
甚 — 1. great extent, 2. considerably.
深 — 1. Deep 2. Depth 3. Far 4. Extreme
無 — Negating particle or prefix: “Un” “Not”
量 — measure, quantity, capacity
其 - 1. omniperson possessive pronoun (can be singular or plural) 2. that
難 - 1. difficult, arduous, hard 2. unable
解 - 1. untie, unfasten, loosen 2. explain
入- 1. enter, come in, join
Definitions from A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, William Edward Soothill, Lewis Hodous:
一切 sarva. All, the whole;
辟支 pratyek: oneself, individual; 佛 Buddha = Private Buddhas
Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha
所 A place; where, what, that which, he (etc. ) who.
不 No, not, none. (Sanskrit a, an. ).
能 śak. Able to, can; capability, power.
知 To know. Sanskrit root vid, hence vidyā, knowledge; the Vedas, etc. 知 vijñā is to know, 智 is vijñāna, wisdom arising from perception or knowing.
* “The Threefold Lotus Sutra,” tr. Bunno Kato, footnote states: “Here the Buddha contemplates the truth that the boundless principles come forth from the one Law, that is, the Wonderful Law revealed in the Lotus Sutra.”
