We can come to faith only by encountering the absolute Buddha and believing his words. This is an act beyond the working of our knowledge. In Chapter Two, the Buddha says, “Sariputra, know this! The Buddhas do not speak differently.” The Buddhas speak truth. We can recognize that truth even when it is beyond our full understanding.

On the other hand, this does not mean that we should believe blindly. There is a Japanese saying that “even the head of a sardine seems blessed if you have faith in it.” This is not what we mean by faith. We can maintain a belief that is inspired by the experience of something beyond our ordinary capacities. We can evaluate it by means of our intellect and reason, and form our own mental attitudes. The title of Chapter Four, “Understanding by Faith,” refers to this process of the formation of our own psychological attitudes.

The studies conducted over so many centuries made possible a deeper understanding of the Lotus Sutra, and methodological standards for its interpretation were established. One example is called Kamon. It is a classification of the twenty-eight chapters into several sets for a systematic explanation of their meaning.

The major Kamon is the “Three Parts of Each of the Two Divisions of the Lotus Sutra” which was established by Great Master Chih-i. Most commentators since his time have accepted his guidelines. …

[T]he “Three Parts of Each of the Two Divisions of the Lotus Sutra” refers to the division of the Sutra into two main sections: the first half, consisting of Chapters One through Fourteen, and the second half, consisting of Chapters Fifteen through Twenty-eight. Kamon gives a detailed explanation of the reason for this division. The first half is named Shakumon, literally “imprinted gate.” Its main purpose is to teach how “hearers” and Pratyekabuddhas can attain Buddhahood in the One Vehicle. The second half is called Hommon, which means “Primal Gate” or “Primal Mystery.” This part reveals Sakyamuni to be the infinite, absolute Buddha, the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remotest past but still leads living beings in the present. These two points are considered the fundamental ideas of the Lotus Sutra.

The Lesser Vehicle of the “Sravaka” and “Pratyekabuddha” drew a sharp line between this world of sufferings and the pure world of spirit. Its followers renounced worldly concerns, devoted their lives to religious austerities, and made every effort to attain absolute tranquility. This made for a two-dimensional world view, esteeming the pure world of spirit and devaluating the everyday world in which we live.

Bodhisattvas, on the other hand, saw the two worlds as one. They saw this world as the center stage for their religious practice, and preached that spiritual enlightenment must be realized in our life in this world. In short, the Bodhisattva’s mission to deliver people from suffering is to be accomplished in this world of sufferings.

[W]hy is Chapter Four called “Understanding by Faith?” This refers to the mental attitude of accepting faith. Faith appears in an honest heart. Neither logic nor reason can awaken faith in us. Faith grows beyond reason when we encounter someone beyond our capacities, or when we unexpectedly touch something absolute in our lives or in the cosmos. In Chapter Three, the sutra maintains, “They will be able to follow this sutra only because they believe my words, not because of their own wisdom” (p. 80).

[T]he son improved his mental attitude by stages. As Great Master Chih-i put it, the parable illustrates how Sakyamuni presented the truth in stages, giving us (1) the Garland Sutra [Avatamsaka-sutra, wherein the Buddha’s enlightenment is seen as too dazzling for most people to understand], (2) the Agama sutras of the Lesser Vehicle, wherein we enter the path of labor and discipline, (3) expanded sutras according to people’s capacities [Vaipulya], (4) the Wisdom sutras [Prajna-paramita], and finally (5) the Lotus Sutra, which makes us all children and heirs of the Buddha. Buddhism as a whole consists of these five stages of teachings. It could be said that the son’s fainting dead away upon first seeing his wealthy father suggests the ignorance of the “hearers,” who, according to the Garland Sutra, were unable to appreciate this highest and most difficult teaching among the five.

[In Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith] Sakyamuni predicted the enlightenment of the four great disciples just as he had with Sariputra. Chapters Three (“A Parable”), Four (“Understanding by Faith”), and Five (“The Simile of Herbs”) had used parables to clarify the basic lesson from Chapter Two (“Expedients”) – namely, all teachings are only expedients leading to the One Buddha Vehicle. The parables were followed up with assurances of future Buddhahood. In the next chapter, “The Parable of the Magic City,” he employs a different teaching method, showing how events in the remote past can affect the present and the future. This is called teaching by affinities with the past. These three methods – doctrinal teaching, parables, and affinities – are known as the Three Stages of Preaching. All three are designed to make the basic lesson easy for us to understand.

Mental 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 this parable, 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.

The Buddhist faith often expounds difficult doctrines consisting of abstract philosophical ideas. When it comes to the Lotus Sutra, however, such complicated dogmas do not appear on the surface. For this reason, some critics have argued that there are no doctrines in the Lotus Sutra. But this is not true. The Lotus Sutra does contain profound philosophical thoughts. Instead of using tortuous logic, however, the Sutra explains its philosophy in the simplified form of stories, drawing on examples familiar to us from everyday life. This is why we find many parables in the text.