Although we were your sons then as we are now, we wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. If we had aspired for the teaching of the Great Vehicle, you would have already expounded it to us.
Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana speak this passage in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. This is before they tell the story of the Wayward Son. They explain their realization that the Buddha holds nothing back from us. The reason we hear expedient teachings rather than the highest teaching is because of the limits of our own aspiration. When we aspire to become Buddhas, we receive the highest teaching.
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The Buddhas expound the Dharma
In perfect freedom.
Knowing the various desires and dispositions
Of all living beings,
They expound the Dharma
With innumerable parables
And with innumerable similes
According to their capacities.
These verses are sung by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. They show the realization by the Buddha’s disciples of why the Buddha uses different teachings for different people. For us who do not know the various desires and dispositions of all living beings, the Buddha gives this Lotus Sūtra, When we put this teaching into practice, and use it to benefit all beings, it is as if we are teaching from the Buddha’s own mind.
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The rich man thought:
“He is ignorant, narrow-minded, and mean.
If I tell him that I am his father,
He will not believe me.”
These verses are part of the story of the Wayward Son told by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. The son in the story has forgotten who his father is. The father cannot just bring him into his inheritance while the son is still attached to his lowly life. The story explains the disciples’ understanding of why the Buddha cannot give his highest teaching without expedients.
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The son thought: “I was poor, base and mean.
Now I have obtained
The treasures, houses,
And all the other things
From my father.
Never before
Have I been so happy.”
These verses are part of the story of the Wayward Son told by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. The son in the story has come into his inheritance after years of training and preparation by his father. The story explains the disciples’ understanding of how the Buddha uses expedients over time to prepare us for enlightenment. When we are not ready for the Buddha’s wisdom, he teaches to the capacity of our own minds. Now that we are ready for his highest teaching, he reveals his own mind in the Lotus Sutra.
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 48Q: Are the Five Time Periods clarified in the Lotus Sutra?
A: In the chapter on “Belief and Understanding” in the Lotus Sutra it says, “Accordingly he dispatched an attendant to follow quickly … but the poor son was terrified and fell to the earth.” This refers to the first time period. It also says, “He secretly dispatched two men” who brought the son back through expedient means. This refers to the second time period. It also says, “At the end of this time there was mutual trust and he came and went without difficulty, though he still lived in the same place.” This refers to the third time period. It also says, “The father knew that he would die before long ” This refers to the fourth time period. It also says, “When facing his last moments, he ordered his son [to come, and the father revealed their true relationship]. ” This refers to the fifth period.
Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.
Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana, all disciples of the Buddha, speak these lines in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra as they explain their story of the wayward son. They compare the father’s treasure house in the story to the Buddha’s enlightenment. Until they had been led by the Buddha’s expedient teachings, they could not even imagine themselves as enlightened, any more than the wayward son in the story could imagine the contents of his father’s treasure house.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
Last month I discussed how Senchu Murano’s title for Kumārajīva’s Chapter 4 added a nice twist by taking the elements of faith and understanding and emphasizing faith. Understanding by Faith is more than simply individual elements of Belief and Understanding or Faith and Understanding.
But when we compare with H. Kern’s translation of the Nepalese Sanskrit document and the title for the story “exemplifying the skill of the wise father in leading a child that has gone astray and lost all self-respect back to a feeling of his innate nobility and to happiness,” we lose the elements of faith or belief or understanding and focus instead on the disposition of the son.
This Disposition used by Kern as the title for Chapter 4 is addressed specifically in the final prose section of the chapter:
Even so, O Lord, do we represent the sons of the Tathāgata, and the Tathāgata says to us: Ye are my sons, as the householder did. We were oppressed, O Lord, with three difficulties, viz. the difficulty of pain, the difficulty of conceptions, the difficulty of transition (or evolution); and in the worldly whirl we were disposed to what is low. Then have we been prompted by the Lord to ponder on the numerous inferior laws (or conditions, things) that are similar to a heap of dirt. Once directed to them we have been practicing, making efforts, and seeking for nothing but Nirvāṇa as our fee. We were content, O Lord, with the Nirvāṇa obtained, and thought to have gained much at the hands of the Tathāgata because of our having applied ourselves to these laws, practised, and made efforts. But the Lord takes no notice of us, does not mix with us, nor tell us that this treasure of the Tathāgata’s knowledge shall belong to us, though the Lord skillfully appoints us as heirs to this treasure of the knowledge of the Tathāgata. And we, O Lord, are not (impatiently) longing to enjoy it, because we deem it a great gain already to receive from the Lord Nirvāṇa as our fee. We preach to the Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas a sublime sermon about the knowledge of the Tathāgata; we explain, show, demonstrate the knowledge of the Tathāgata, O Lord, without longing. For the Tathāgata by his skillfulness knows our disposition, whereas we ourselves do not know, nor apprehend. It is for this very reason that the Lord just now tells us that we are to him as sons, and that he reminds us of being heirs to the Tathāgata. For the case stands thus: we are as sons to the Tathāgata, but low (or humble) of disposition; the Lord perceives the strength of our disposition and applies to us the denomination of Bodhisattvas; we are, however, charged with a double office in so far as in presence of Bodhisattvas we are called persons of low disposition and at the same time have to rouse them to Buddha-enlightenment. Knowing the strength of our disposition the Lord has thus spoken, and in this way, O Lord, do we say that we have obtained unexpectedly and without longing the jewel of omniscience, which we did not desire, nor seek, nor search after, nor expect, nor require; and that inasmuch as we are the sons of the Tathāgata.
Comparing this with Murano’s translation you realized the shift in the perspective. Murano’s Śrāvakas are focused on their clinging to the Lesser Vehicle.
You expounded the Dharma to us with expedients according to our capacities because you knew that we wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. We did not know that we were your sons. Now we know that you do not grudge your wisdom to anyone.
While Kern’s Śrāvakas are focused on their innate disposition.
For the Tathāgata by his skillfulness knows our disposition, whereas we ourselves do not know, nor apprehend. It is for this very reason that the Lord just now tells us that we are to him as sons, and that he reminds us of being heirs to the Tathāgata.
Kern’s translation also notes an extra burden placed on the Śrāvakas, which is not made in Murano’s translation:
For the case stands thus: we are as sons to the Tathāgata, but low (or humble) of disposition; the Lord perceives the strength of our disposition and applies to us the denomination of Bodhisattvas; we are, however, charged with a double office in so far as in presence of Bodhisattvas we are called persons of low disposition and at the same time have to rouse them to Buddha-enlightenment.
One could argue that Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra is much less sympathetic to the plight of the Śrāvakas than the Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra.
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
H. Kern’s English translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra offers interesting variation in the telling of parables compared to English translations of Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese Lotus Sutra. The first example of this comes in Chapter 4 in what Kern describes as a parable “exemplifying the skill of the wise father in leading a child that has gone astray and lost all self-respect back to a feeling of his innate nobility and to happiness.”
Let’s begin with Senchu Murano’s version. After introducing the father and the missing son and their current situations, we are told the son becomes frightened and runs away after the father dispatches a messenger to bring him to the father:
“The messenger pulled him by force. The poor son thought, ‘I am caught though I am not guilty. I shall be killed.’ More and more frightened, the poor son fainted and fell to the ground. Seeing all this in the distance, the father said to the messenger, ‘I do not want him any more. Do not bring him forcibly! Pour cold water on his face and bring him to himself! Do not talk with him any more!’
“The father said this because he had realized that his son was too base and mean to meet a noble man [like his father]. He knew that the man was his son, but expediently refrained from telling to others that that was his son. [The messenger poured water on the son. The son was brought to himself.] The messenger said to him, ‘Now you are released. You can go anywhere you like.’
“The poor son had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He stood up and went to a village of the poor to get food and clothing.
Compare that with Kern’s telling:
At the same time, moment, and instant, Lord, he dispatches couriers, to whom he says: Go, sirs, and quickly fetch me that man. The fellows thereon all run forth in full speed and overtake the poor man, who, frightened, terrified, alarmed, seized with a feeling of horripilation all over his body, agitated in mind, utters a lamentable cry of distress, screams, and exclaims: I have given you no offence. But the fellows drag the poor man, however lamenting, violently with them. He, frightened, terrified, alarmed, seized with a feeling of horripilation all over his body, and agitated in mind, thinks by himself: I fear lest I shall be punished with capital punishment; I am lost. He faints away, and falls on the earth. His father dismayed and near despondency says to those fellows: Do not carry the man in that manner. With these words he sprinkles him with cold water without addressing him any further. For that householder knows the poor man’s humble disposition and his own elevated position; yet he feels that the man is his son.
The householder, Lord, skillfully conceals from everyone that it is his son. He calls one of his servants and says to him: Go, sirrah, and tell that poor man: Go, sirrah, whither thou likest; thou art free. The servant obeys, approaches the poor man and tells him: Go, sirrah, whither thou likest; thou art free. The poor man is astonished and amazed at hearing these words; he leaves that spot and wanders to the street of the poor in search of food and clothing.
Kern’s version offers a much clearer explanation of why the son was frightened. And the detail that the father sprinkled his son with cold water after he fainted without addressing him any further enhances our understanding of the depth of the father’s feelings for his son. This detail is dropped from the gāthās.
The details of the expedient used by the father to attract his son are significantly different.
Murano offers:
Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, ‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay. If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’
“The two messengers looked for the poor son. Having found him, they told him what they had been ordered to tell. The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them.
Kern expands this, offering:
In order to attract him the householder practices an able device. He employs for it two men ill-favored and of little splendor. Go, says he, go to the man you saw in this place; hire him in your own name for a double daily fee, and order him to do work here in my house. And if he asks: What work shall I have to do? tell him: Help us in clearing the heap of dirt. The two fellows go and seek the poor man and engage him for such work as mentioned. Thereupon the two fellows conjointly with the poor man clear the heap of dirt in the house for the daily pay they receive from the rich man, while they take up their abode in a hovel of straw in the neighborhood of the rich man’s dwelling.
Again, this detail is dropped from the gāthās.
At this point, it is Murano who adds details to clarify the timeline.
Kern says:
And that rich man beholds through a window his own son clearing the heap of dirt, at which sight he is anew struck with wonder and astonishment.
While Murano adds:
Seeing him, the father had compassion towards him, and wondered [why he was so base and mean]. Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust.
As for the father taking up a disguise in order to chat with his son, and the son advancing until he takes over the household and the final revelation of the son’s inheritance, the differences in the two versions are more a product of Kern’s 19th century English vocabulary than the substance of the story.
In the gāthās Kern offers some curious added details. The boy is said to have run away because he was “seduced by foolish people.” And in describing the work the son will do, the rich man points out that the dirt is “replete with feces and urine.” But on a whole, the story in gāthās is even closer between versions than the prose.
Sometimes he chided him, saying:
“Work hard!”
At other times he coaxed him, saying:
“I will treat you as my son.”
These verses are part of the story of the Wayward Son told by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. The son in the story has become attached to his lowly existence. The father must teach him slowly with expedients to prepare him to come into his inheritance. The story explains the disciples’ understanding of how the Buddha uses expedients to prepare us to aspire for enlightenment. The Buddha leads each of us differently, and as we progress in our wisdom, he changes how he teaches us. All this is preparation for us to come into the Buddha’s own mind and enjoy his wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Introduction to the Lotus SutraMental attitudes can be right or wrong; they can be noble or base. Faith that is formed through wrong mental attitudes is nothing more than superstition. Of course, there cannot be any errors in Sakyamuni’s teachings. But he expounded the law expediently in different ways according to our needs and abilities to understand. In [Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith], the son, who believes himself to be base and humble, is a representation of all living beings. The father (the Buddha) educated his son with expedients in an effort to raise his base mind and make it into a noble one. This superior, noble mind is what we call the heart of the Buddha. Under the guidance of our father (the Buddha), we are all enabled to develop the heart of the Buddha, which every one of us already possesses by nature.