Transformation or rediscovery? Soteriological and Cosmological themes in the Lotus Sutra and the Philokalic tradition

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to begin a conversation between the speculative vision of the Lotus Sutra and the life of devotion it inspires, on the one hand, and the theological and spiritual tradition of the Philokalia, on the other. The purpose of this dialogue is to highlight the points of contact between the notion of Buddhahood and devotional practice intimated in the Lotus Sutra and the soteriological thrust of certain currents of early Christian thought, such as the Origenist spiritual tradition of the fourth century.