Meeting the Mahayana through Myth and Symbol — The Lotus Sutra (Fall Dharma Study 2026)

Our Zen practice moves us toward encountering the world in a way that goes beyond intellectual understanding, beyond concepts and discursive thought. We do this in a number of ways: zazen, embodied ritual, koan study, etc.

Another mode for encountering the world in this way, one that human beings have made use of for millennia, lies in myth and symbol. Stories and/or images can present something that is real and alive but impossible to reduce to words and ideas.

The Mahayana sutras invite us to encounter the mind of Buddha through myth and symbol. They require us to go beyond our doubt and skepticism related to the imaginal world. No Mahayana text is richer in this way or more widely revered than the Lotus Sutra. Whole schools of Buddhist practice center on it. Dogen says the Lotus Sutra “may be said to be the great king and the great master of all the various sutras that the Buddha Sakyamuni taught. Compared with this sutra, all the other sutras are merely its servants, its relatives, for it alone expounds the Truth.”

In this class, we will work with selected passages from the Lotus Sutra, deepening our experience of the Mahayana, exploring such themes as: the path to Buddhahood open to all, the interpenetration of the historical and ultimate dimensions, our lives that lack nothing, the impossibility of expressing the truth in words, and skillful means.

Classes held in person at Vashon Zendo and on Zoom. In person size limit is 25.

Digital excerpts from these books and other materials will be made available to students at no additional cost:

– Nhat Hanh, Thich, Peaceful Action, Open Heart—Lessons from the Lotus Sutra, Parallax Press, 2008

– Reeves, Gene, The Lotus Sutra—A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic, Wisdom Publications, 2008

– Reeves, Gene, The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Wisdom Publications, 2010

– Watson, Burton, The Lotus Sutra (a translation), Columbia University Press, 1993

This is session 1 of 5 in this series. Full schedule: Oct 29, Nov 5, Nov 12, Nov 19, and Dec 3 2026