At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitless discussions about them.

This is connected with the second [part of the] parable, intended for preaching the doctrine of the three vehicles. [The words] one day’s wages disparage the self-satisfied mind of the Lesser Vehicle. The merits they had accumulated when they were blind are equal to no more than those the bodhisattvas would accumulate in one day. They are so little and are short of [reaching] the ultimate.

The great rich man is you.

The next three [statements] are connected with the above three sections of the parable. This [sentence] conjoins with the first section of the parable, concerning the meaning of father and son.

We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings.’

The Buddha spoke of the three states of sensation (vedanā) as being the causes of the three kinds of suffering. When suffering becomes intensified, it is referred to as “suffering as [ordinary] suffering (duhkha-duhkha)”; when [suffering] comes as the result of change, it is spoken of as “suffering produced by change (vipariṇama-duhkha)”; and when it is neither an unpleasant nor pleasant [sensation] and changes every moment as its life passes beyond [the present life], it is referred to as “suffering as conditioned states (saṃskāra-duhkha). By reason of the three kinds of suffering” is “by reason of the three kinds of sensation.” Why? The sensation of suffering is bitter and cutting. Going against one’s sentiment gives rise to anger (dveṣa). Following the way one is used to gives rise to desire (rāga). [In a state] neither unpleasant nor pleasant, and in an utterly disturbed state, arises stupidity (moha). Because of these three states of sensation, there arise the three evil faculties. As the three evil faculties are affected, the passion instigators become active. As the passion instigators spread out and thrive, karma is being committed by body and mouth. When karma and the passion instigators join forces, future retributions are induced. Hence, it is said: “by reason of the three kinds of suffering, [in the midst of birth and death] we suffer various annoyances.” Because birth and death are the outcome of “annoyances,” it means that habits formed have not been overcome; hence, “erring and ignorant, we cling in desire to the lesser dharmas.” [The rest of the paragraph] from this point on conjoins with their wandering from the transformative teaching.

Now the rich man became ill. He knew that he would die soon. He said to the poor son, ‘I have a great deal of gold, silver, and other treasures. My storehouses are filled with them. You know the amounts of them. You know what to take, and what to give. This is what I have in mind. Know this! You are not different from me in all this. Be careful lest the treasures be lost!’

They already knew that [the Buddha] had preached various sūtras of the Greater Vehicle, such as when, [for instance], he ordered Subhūti to preach the Prajña(-pāramitā Sūtras) so that all might be taught that it was their own property.

“Thereupon the poor son obeyed his order. He took custody of the storehouses of gold, silver, and other treasures, but did not wish to take anything worth even a meal from them. He still stayed in his old lodging. He could not yet give up the thought that he was base and mean [lowly and inferior].

Although he received what he was entrusted with, he did not yet realize that it was his own property. He felt, therefore, [lowly and inferior].

“After a while the father noticed that his son had become more at ease and peaceful, that he wanted to improve himself, and that he felt ashamed of the thought that he was base and mean. The time of the death of the father drew near. The father told his son to call in his relatives, the king, ministers, kṣatriyas, and householders.

This is the third paragraph. His mind became open, and the incipient, subtle triggering-mechanism for embracing the Greater [Vehicle] was manifested. Following this [the father] gathered his kinsmen, announcing to them that he was his son: this refers to the preaching of the Dharma Blossom Sūtra.

When they all assembled, he said to them, ‘Gentlemen, know this! This is my son, my real son. He ran away from me when I lived in a certain city,

This refers to the place where formerly two trillion [future] Buddhas received transformative teaching. The merits of the transformative teaching had not yet matured, and he forsook “me” and ran off to hide himself in the three spheres.

and wandered with hardships for more than fifty years

He drifted through the five forms of existence, ready to taste “loneliness” and “hardship.”

“World-Honored One! At that time the poor son was very glad to hear these words of his father. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He thought, ‘I never dreamed of having this store of treasures myself. It has come to me unexpectedly.’

The preceding three paragraphs explain how the unsurpassed treasures reached him of themselves. Here this meaning is clearly shown.

The poor son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was a humble employee. Therefore, the rich man had him clear dirt for twenty years.

Seeing the truth and meditating on it have taken him ten [years] each: so it is said, “twenty years.”

After that the father and son trusted each other. Now the son felt no hesitation in entering the house of his father [Came and went at his ease]

[The Buddha] had him hear about the Greater Vehicle, and so he came and went to this li at his ease without harboring any doubt.

but still lodged in his old place.

He heard the teaching of the Greater Vehicle preached and was led to know that it was what he had already had, and yet he did not comprehend it: he was “lodged in the same place as before.”