Perception as a trick
Many writers fail to explicate the unique trait which separates Mahayana Buddhism from former versions of the faith. Since this collection of scriptures celebrates that tradition, it is important to start at the first point of Mahayana. The word "Mahayana" refers to the nature of reality and their belief that reality is a magical spell designed to trick our eternal consciousness into believing that we are experiencing the whole of reality, even though the science clearly indicates that we are not. To attain enlightenment in this mode of religion simply means that a person has become awakened to the unspeakable irony of existence that it does not actually follow from any preceding principles. That is to say that enlightenment is to Mahayana Buddhism what Absurdism is to Existential philosophy, and the major difference between those is just that Mahayana celebrates the meaninglessness of reality through a sense of humor and levity.
Nirvana
Nirvana in former modes of Buddhism is a kind of essential transcendence, which perhaps it still is in these scriptures, but in these writings, nirvana seems to have been broadened as a concept. Now, nirvana is a whole realm of experience which can be attained in real time. In more ancient Buddhist conceptions, nirvana is associated with death, but in Mahayana, it refers to a kind of ego-less perception of reality. Nirvana is the sublime quality of consciousness without reference to sensory perception or emotion.
The Lotus flower
In the Lotus Sutra, the reader examines a philosophical or religious portrait of reality. The flowers in Buddhism are often a representation of life itself and the karmic circle of life and death. When life is extant, there is often a floral bloom of absurdly beautiful life produced by nature. And yet, that same force which makes the flower comes along and takes that life away, leaving seeds for the ground to eat. In Buddhism, it is not uncommon for the Hindu theology of the Lotus flower to make an appearance, like the memory of the Brahma as the navel-Lotus of Vishnu, or as an association with divinity through the tantric chakra system of Hinduism.
Mutability and immutability
The first task of Buddhism as a form of self-care or self-improvement is to identify the aspects of one's self-opinion which are mutable and immutable. This is extremely relevant to enlightenment. In Buddhism, the immutable world is often referred to as a kind of darkness, or a void. This Taoist element of Buddhism is a large part of what makes Asian religion unique. The mutable is "being" and the immutable is "non-being." Suddenly, the yin-yang symbology of Taoism is made relevant to the Hindu theology of temporal and eternal modes of reality. This dualism is the symbology of Buddhism mysticism, because by the time a person attains full clarity about their own nature, the illusion disappears which formerly convinced them that they were separate by nature with their external reality. In fact, they are in a karmic work of art which elaborates the progress of their soul toward the culmination of their reincarnation cycle.
Karma and reincarnation
Many Buddhists just import the theology of Hinduism wholesale, while others make more adjustments. In these scriptures, the conversation is undoubtably oriented around Hindu conceptions of karma. This is difficult because that word has its own meaning in the Western world. In Buddhist scriptures, karma is a force of nature which elaborates a reality (manifestation) for each person's consciousness which illustrates to them the progress of their enlightenment. This means there must be a grace system, lest Buddhism become an esoteric faith where all world folks go to hell or something. This is why karma must be taken hand-in-hand with reincarnation, because reincarnation is essentially a second-chance. It is also a karmic reckoning because if you live as an evil, hateful person, perhaps you'll come back as a cricket or something.
