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Saturday, August 11, 2018

Two Questions, one on the Lotus Sutra's Eternal Buddha and another on Plotinus', "the Good".

1). Why is Shakyamuni Buddha of India not the Eternal Buddha, Shakyamuni of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra?

2). Why is the Lotus Sutra superior to Plotinus'*, "the Good"


We can use the analogy of the Moon. The moon, as the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, have three aspects: The Moon or Eternal Buddha itself is one aspect and is the Dharma Body; the moon's light or the Buddhas wisdom and compassion is another aspect and the Reward Body; and the Moon's reflection on many bodies of water (or Shakyamuni Buddha or even us) is the third aspect and is comparable to the Manifested body.

Just as a single moon has these three different aspects appearance or existence, light or nature, and reflections, so a single Buddha possesses the virtues of these three different bodies (the Dharma Body, appearance, or existence of the Eternal Buddha, the Rewards Body or nature of compassion and wisdom, and the Manifest Body or the reduplication (reflection) body here and everywhere.

The reason that we are superior to the (religion/philosophy) of plotinus is that the reflection of the Eternal Buddha (the good) is propagated perfectly so the reflections (or reduplications), likewise are perfect. Not so in Plotinus teachings. The reduplicates lose some of the attributes of the Good.

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