In this week's feature article on the Lotus Sutra I mentioned two English translations. One is the Burton Watson translation (Columbia University Press, 1993), which has been popular since its publication for its clarity and readability. The other is a new translation by Gene Reeves (Wisdom Publication, 2008). The new translation has received very good reviews, but at the time I wrote the Lotus Sutra overview I hadn't seen it myself.
Now I do have a copy of the new translation, and I can report it is very readable. I haven't yet read it all the way through, but I've compared passages with the Watson translation to see how they differ and which is more readable. My impression is that the new translation compares very favorably.
Random example -- here's a bit of the Prodigal Son parable, from Watson:
At that time the Buddha
bestowed prophecies on them, saying,
"In a future existence
You will be able to attain Buddhahood."
Same passage, from Reeves:
Then the Buddha
assured them, saying:
In future lives
you will become buddhas.
Translator Reeves says in his Preface that he prepared the translation for people who are interested in Buddhism but not necessarily scholars. This works for me.
Thanks for the “heads up.”
The Lotus Sutra is one of my favorites, though it is also often the target of scorn by many.
The example of the new translation you provided demonstrates a high degree of clarity.
The new translation may open the door for those who might otherwise not have felt invited to venture into that fascinating world, sitting at the feet of the Buddha.
I do feel that the sentences impress two different ideas: “you will be able to attain Buddhahood” and “you will become Buddhas.” the first seems to indicate the option is available to be attained by them- the second comes off that Buddhahood will happen without doubt, it comes off as inevitable.
is that just me? anyone else see that?
I see you point Sara. Without the context of the rest of the Sutra, it does seem like Shakyamuni is saying that they can if they choose, not that they will.
I haven’t read the Reeves translation but the theme of prophesy is a constant thread throughout the Watson translation. In fact, since I have only had the Watson translation to rely on, I teach that one of the main points of The Lotus Sutra is this idea of prophecy; you can say that The Lotus Sutra is nothing but a prophecy and description of all of our enlightenments.
This is also part of that twisting of Time: we are reading this now so it must be a prophecy for us AND the sutra was taught in the past so this is the future when the prophecy is to happen AND, remembering that the first line of the sutra is “This is what I heard”, we actually did hear it in the past!
My final thought is that most of the time, Shakyamuni bestowed the prophecies in response to a question or concern voiced by his followers. Therefore, I like the word ‘assured’ used by Reeves. But it is also always clear in the Watson translation that Shakyamuni is assuring them.
How lucky we are to have 2 copies of excellent translations. I’ve read part of a translation written in the early 1900s and it was very difficult to read. It was more of a word by word translation that proved once again that translation is more of an art than a science.