Śāriputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart.
The Buddha tells the parable of the Burning House in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, a man tries to warn his children who are playing in a dangerous house of the harm that will come to them if they do not set aside their preoccupations and come out. The children did not listen to him, so he told them about nonexistent toys outside the house. The Buddha then compares himself promising an end to suffering to the father promising nonexistent toys, and himself leading all beings to Enlightenment to the father giving his children toys more wonderful than they could imagine.
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I see that all living beings are burned by the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. They undergo various sufferings because they have the five desires and the desire for gain…Notwithstanding all this, however, they are playing joyfully. They are not conscious of the sufferings. They are not frightened at the sufferings or afraid of them. They do not dislike them or try to get rid of them. They are running about this burning house of the triple world, and do not mind even when they undergo great sufferings.
The Buddha offers this explanation to his disciple Śāriputra in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares his teaching of suffering and Nirvāṇa to a father luring his children from a dangerous house with a promise of better toys. The children were so preoccupied with their own entertainment that they could not hear their father’s warning. In this triple world of beautiful forms, fascinating ideas and consuming desires, it is easy to stay with our childish games and ignore the Buddha’s teaching. Our maturity as Bodhisattvas comes when we set these aside for the benefit of all beings.
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I led all living beings at first with the teaching of the Three Vehicles. Now I will save them by the Great Vehicle only. Why is that? It is because, if I had given them the teaching of the Great Vehicle at first directly from my store of the Dharma in which my immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness are housed, they would not have received all of the Dharma.
The Buddha speaks these words to Śāriputra in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. This is part of his explanation of why he needed to use expedient teachings of the Three Vehicles prior to giving the Great Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, and why expedient teachings need to be set aside. Since the earlier teachings were tailored to the limited capacity of the hearers, they could not hold all of the Buddha’s wisdom. In the Great Vehicle, the Buddha teaches us with his wisdom, and increases our capacity.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 72-73Q: Is this [doctrine of] the Ten Suchlikes [the direct teaching of] the Dharma [as it truly is], or is it just [a teaching by] analogy?
A: This is [a direct teaching of] the Dharma, not just an analogy
Q: What if it were taught by analogy?
A: There is the text in the chapter of “Parables” in the Lotus Sutra concerning the Great White Bull Cart.
Q: What if [the Ten Suchlikes as] both [the direct teaching of] the Dharma and as analogy are harmonized?
A: That which is called “suchlike appearance” in the text, which is the direct teaching of the Dharma, is explained as “adorned with a multitude of jewels” in the analogy. The Dharma of “suchlike nature” is analogously explained as “there was a Great White Bull Cart.” The Dharma of “suchlike essence” is analogously explained as “that cart was high and vast.” The Dharma of “suchlike power” is analogously explained as “also, on its top are spread out parasols and canopies.” The Dharma of “suchlike activity” is analogously explained as “swift as the wind.” The Dharma of “suchlike causes” is analogously explained as “mounting the jeweled cart, they played in all four directions.” The Dharma of “suchlike conditions” is analogously explained as “there are also many attendants serving and guarding it.” The Dharma of “suchlike results” is analogously explained as “leading directly to the seat of enlightenment.”
Q: What is utilized to harmonize the [direct] teaching of the Dharma and [the teaching] as an analogy with regard to these Ten Suchlikes?
A: The texts that explain the Dharma [directly] refer to the fruit of Buddhahood as the true aspect of reality. The analogous explanation refers to the “grandly adorned great cart” as that which leads directly to the seat of enlightenment. The section concerning past lives [the first half of the Lotus Sūtra] teaches the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood as the exposition of the tentative and the manifestation of the real. The section on the original basis [of the Buddha] [the second half of the Lotus Sūtra teaches] that the eternally enlightened Buddha corresponds to the subtle Dharma. How can it be referred to as merely a harmonization [of the direct teaching] of the Dharma and [teaching through] analogy? This meaning is common to all from the stories of past lives to [the explanation of original Buddhahood in] the last half of the Lotus Sūtra.
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
Many of the variations between H. Kern’s translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document and Kumārajīva’s fifth century translation fall into a category I call, “Now that’s interesting, but what does it mean?”
Consider the Parable of the Burning House. In the gāthās re-telling, Kern states:
62. In such a state is that awful house, where thousands of flames are breaking out on every side. But the man who is the master of the house looks on from without.
63. And he hears his own children, whose minds are engaged in playing with their toys, in their fondness of which they amuse themselves, as fools do in their ignorance.
64. And as he hears