The Lotus Sutra’s statement on the Four Noble Truths

In a revolutionary declaration, Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra (Simile and Parable) explains that the ultimate teaching of Buddhism is: “the Law of the Lotus”, which is “unsurpassed, wonderful and superior” to the teaching of the Four Noble Truths:

“In the past at Varanasi you turned the wheel of the Law of the Four Noble Truths, making distinctions, preaching that all things are born and become extinct,

Now you turn the wheel of the most wonderful, the unsurpassed great Law.

This Law is very profound and abstruse; Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One’s preaching, but we have never heard this kind of profound, wonderful and superior Law. Since the World-Honored One preaches this Law, we all welcome it with joy”.

The above passage indicates a profound shift in Shakyamuni’s teachings from the focus on “sufferings” (of the Four Noble Truths), to experiencing “joy”.

While the Four Noble Truths lack mention to experiencing joy in life, The Lotus Sutra repeatedly brings the element of “Joy” and “wonderful feeling” in the teaching of the “Law of the Lotus”, for which “the mind is filled with joy”:

“World-Honored One, now I have heard from the Buddha what I had never heard before, a Law never known in the past, and it has ended all my doubts and regrets. My body and mind are at ease and I have gained a wonderful feeling of peace and security. When I heard the sound of this Law, I gained what I had never had before. My mind was filled with great joy”.