Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month learned of the dangers inside the burning house in gāthās, we consider the expedient used to convince the children to escape the burning house.

At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate.
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.

In order to save them
From burning to death,
He told them
Of the dangers of the house:
“There are demons and poisonous vermin here.
Flames have already spread all over.
Many sufferings are coming
One after another endlessly.
There are poisonous snakes,
Lizards, vipers,
Yakṣas, kumbhanda demons,
Small foxes, foxes, dogs,
Crested eagles, eagles,
Kites, owls and centipedes here.
They are unbearably hungry and thirsty.
They are dreadful.
These sufferings are difficult to avoid.
Worse still, there is a big fire.”

Though the children heard his warning,
They were still engrossed in playing.
They did not stop playing
Because they were ignorant.

The rich man
Thought:
“They are ignorant.
My anxiety deepens
There is nothing pleasant
In this house.
But they are engrossed
In playing.
They do not listen to me.
They will be burned to death.”

At the time
He thought of an expedient.
He said to them:
“I have many kinds of toys.
They are beautiful carts
Made of wonderful treasures.
They are sheep-carts, deer-carts,
And large bullock-carts.
They are outside the gate.
Come out!
I made those carts
For you.
Play with them
As you like!”

Hearing of the carts from him,
They ran out,
Striving to be first,
And reached an open place.
They were now free
From the sufferings.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this on expedient vehicles:

The Sanskrit word upaya (“expedient”) conveys the meaning of leading to or approaching the goal. The Three Vehicles are such expedients leading to the goal, the true teaching of the One Buddha Vehicle. Expedients are not just means to an end; they have significance in and of themselves. They are valid steps in the process leading to the truth, the insight of the Buddha. Conversely speaking, the One Buddha Vehicle (the final single truth) is revealed in the form of expedient teachings, valid according to the complexity of our world view. So the sutra says, “The Buddhas divide the One Buddha Vehicle into three as an expedient” (p. 33).

Thus expedients equal the truth in essence. It is not true that “a white lie can be an expedient.” A lie, white or black, is not an expedient in the Buddhist sense. An expedient is true within its own context.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra