Greetings

Lokesh Chandra
Gandhi and the Lotus Sutra

THE Lotus Sutra came into the limelight in our family due to theinfluence of Mahatma Gandhi. While Mahatma Gandhi was fighting
for the freedom of India, he linked our freedom to the freedom of humanity as a whole. We were not fighting for the freedom of the people ofIndia alone but for the freedom of all people who were oppressed by colonization. In this quest, a number of people of Asian and European origin came to his ashram. There were some Japanese monks who recited
the Lotus Sutra living in the ashram at Wardha, as well as a Cambodianmonk. Buddhism became a presence at the ashram. Gandhiji wanted toknow about the Lotus Sutra, as it was unknown on Indian soil. A Sanskrit edition had been published in Russia, but it was difficult to find acopy of it in India. My father, Prof. Raghu Vira, obtained a copy forGandhiji. He also found him a copy of an English translation of theSutra made by Heinrich Kern that was included in The Sacred Books ofthe East published by Oxford University Press. Gandhiji read it and wasmoved to ask; “Why have we lost a Sutra of such importance, whereexistence and transcendence come together?” The lotus grows out of avillage pond and shines brilliantly. Likewise, the human mind in theLotus Sutra shines anew in the efflorescence of our inherent Buddhanature. This ascendance of the mind is crucial to the thought of theLotus Sutra.
In 1955, Premier Nikolai Bulganin and General Secretary Nikita
Khrushchev of the Soviet Union came to India on a state visit and presented a microfilm of the Petrovsky manuscript of the Lotus Sutra toPandit Jawaharlal Nehru. My father was at that time a Member of Parliament. Panditji called him and said that he had received a microfilm ofa Sanskrit manuscript for his work. It was well nigh impossible in thosedays to acquire a microfilm from the Soviet Union. My father was overwhelmed with this opportunity coming from the Prime Minister himself.
My father passed away before he could complete the manuscript for afacsimile edition. I continued his work and furthermore collected stray91

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leaves and fragments from the British Museum in London and theMuseum at Mannheim, Germany. The publication of the manuscript has
since attracted the constant attention of Japanese scholars.
The History of the Spread of the Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sutra was an important Sutra in the Central Asian states,almost a palladium. It was translated into several Central Asian languages, such as, Hsi-hsia, Tibetan, and Mongolian. You can see examples of these different versions in the exhibition.
In China, the Lotus Sutra played a special role. The Sutra was translated by one of the greatest translators to ever like, Kumarajiva. TheKumarajiva Institute at Kucha has honored President Daisaku Ikeda. Itis an honor richly deserved by President Ikeda, the great successor ofKumarajiva and Nichiren. When I was at Dunhuang in 2000, I visited astupa nearby where the horse of Kumarajiva collapsed out of thirst andhunger and then died. Kumarajiva was barely two kilometers away fromthe Crescent Lake. The grief he felt on the death of his horse is immortalized by this beautiful stupa. It reminds us of the fragility of life. I
have paid homage to this stupa connected with the Sutra. At the exhibition, you can see photographs of the paintings of the Sutra that adorn thewalls of the Dunhuang caves. Mogaoku caves in Dunhuang has about
496 caves and is one of the largest cave complexes containing Buddhist
relics. In Cave No. 17, about 50,000 manuscripts were discovered. The
earliest Turkish and Chinese manuscripts were found in this cave. It is atreasure house of the world. All of the Dunhuang caves are covered with
Buddhist wall paintings. There are three cave complexes: Mogaoku,Yumen, and the Western caves. These three complexes comprise about athousand caves, where as in Ajanta there are only 29 caves. You canimagine the immensity of the vision of the Buddhist monks and patrons
who built these caves. The work began in the fourth century when an
Indian master dug out the first cave. Dunhuang was an important centerof Chinese military power in the second century BC, and gradually it
became a place of meditation as well. An inscription made during theGupta period can also be seen in the Dunhuang caves. It shows thevibrant relationship that existed between India and East Asia. One day
the people of Asia will look more towards the East than towards theWest.
On display in the exhibit is a photograph of the Rawak monastery in
the kingdom of Khotan. Khotan was a source of manuscripts of theLotus Sutra in China. The Petrovsky manuscript, whose main portion is
now at St. Petersburg and some leaves in two other museums, comesGREETINGS

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from Khotan.
This exhibition shows some Japanese paintings that display various
motifs of the Lotus Sutra. The representation of sutras in pictures was anestablished tradition in Japan. This tradition goes back to the time ofLord Buddha. The great monastery of Jetavana, nine stories high, wasdedicated to Lord Buddha by Anathapindada. At that time, few peoplecame to take part in Dharma activities. Lord Buddha asked the donor tohave the walls of the monastery decorated with images painted in brilliant colors. When the paintings were completed, people came to admirethem. The images captured their minds and their hearts, and the messageof Dharma was thus conveyed in a unique aesthesis of grace and beauty.
The Buddha was not only a hermit but also a prince, a Prince of Dharma. This exhibition is the first in the world to show the great expanse ofthe Lotus Sutra. Beautiful colors enshrine the message. Aesthesis
becomes the dynamics of the mind.
The Lotus Sutra is displayed in several manuscripts in different languages, from various lands and several centuries. The Petrovsky manuscript is the most ancient on display. It goes back to about the seventhcentury, close to the time of the Chinese translation by Kumarajiva. ThePetrovsky manuscript represents an earlier tradition than that of thetranslation of Kumarajiva. Kumarajiva was born of a Kashmiri trader
and a Princess of Kucha. The people of Kucha spoke a Celtic language.
It was the coming together of Sanskrit, Celtic, and Chinese, as Kucha
had close contact with China. The Lotus Sutra was a global phenomenon in the person of Kumarajiva. Kumarajiva thus represents the convergence of humankind on the levels of spirituality and physicality becauseof his noble birth and education.
Closing Remarks
We are happy that you have come to enjoy the exhibition. You will carryaway with you the message of the Lotus Sutra, which says that the mind
is like a lotus. No one opens the lotus, but the lotus blooms by itself.
Likewise, the human mind opens on its own to the inherently divine, toits intrinsic Buddha nature. Our Buddha nature has to evolve on its own,
from within, and we have to be lamps unto ourselves. This innate efflorescence, the enlightened core is not enshrined anywhere better andin a more refined manner than in Japan. The Japanese have createdeverything with their own hands, with their own eyes, with theirown language, with their own vision, and in keeping therewith, they
have propounded a new hermeneutics of the Lotus Sutra. President
Daisaku Ikeda renews this message to India.

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Gandhiji would have been thrilled to see the exhibition and to appreciate the visual appeal of the Lotus Sutra. At the time of Gandhiji, India
was thrilled to see Japan as representing the evolution of Asia into themodern world of science and technology, power and progress, while
retaining her spirit and spirituality. Such a modern country so deeply
steeped in the Lotus Sutra was the realization of the harmonization ofculture and civilization. The Western conceptualization of a Judaic paradigm with its categorical monocentrism can only lead to the “Clash ofCivilizations” of Huntington. Humanity has to move away from clashing
to the sharing of civilization and cultures. Theodiversity and humanevalues are the future. The Lotus Sutra with its open text and context isthe paradigm of a just future, wherein will be a harmonization of several
languages, multiple ideas, and different ethnicities; and above all thatthe Divine is inherent or innate to all sentient beings. The wisdom of aBuddha is present in every being to enrich him, to ennoble him.