Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

I have a great affinity for the parable in this chapter. The PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND HIS POOR SON offers the flip side of the discussion begun in Chapter 2 on the need for expedients and expanded in Chapter 3 with the PARABLE OF THE BURNING HOUSE.

Told from the perspective of the elders among the Buddha’s followers, we see how the son does not believe he deserves riches and how the father uses expedients to help his son come to realize he is his son and does deserve to be a rich man.

World-Honored One! The great rich man is you. We are like [his son, that is,] your sons because you always tell us that we are your sons. World-Honored One! We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings. We were so distracted and so ignorant that we clung to the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitles discussions about them. We made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvana as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone. You did not tell us that we had the treasure-store, that is, the insight of the Tathagata. You expounded the wisdom of the Buddha[, that is, the Great Vehicle] with expedients, but we did not aspire for that vehicle because, when we had obtained the day’s pay of Nirvana from the Buddha, we thought that we had already obtained enough. We did not wish to have what you had showed and expounded to the Bodhisattvas by your wisdom.

Never looking beyond “a day’s pay,” satisfied with everyday accomplishments.

The poor son came to his father,
And took custody
Of the things of his father,
But wished to take none of them.

The same can be said of us.
We did not wish to have the treasure-store
Of the teachings of the Buddhas
Although we expounded it [to the Bodhisattvas].

We were satisfied with the elimination
Of illusions within ourselves.
What we accomplished was that elimination.
We did nothing more.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has asravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

And finally:

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

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.

World-Honored One!
We have attained enlightenment, perfect fruit.
We have secured pure eyes
With which we can see the Dharma-without-asravas.

We observed the pure precepts of the Buddha
In the long night.
Today we have obtained the effects and rewards
[Of our observance of the precepts].
We performed the brahma practices for long
According to the teachings of the King of the Dharma.
Now we have obtained the great fruit
Of the unsurpassed Dharma-without-asravas.

We are Sravakas in this sense of the word.
We will cause all living beings
To hear the voice telling
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

We are Arhats
In the true sense of the word.
All gods and men,
All Maras and Brahmans
In the worlds
Should make offerings to us.

You, the World-Honored One, are the great benefactor.
By doing this rare thing,
You taught and benefited us
Out of your compassion towards us.
No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he tries to do so
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.
No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he bows to you respectfully,
And offers you his hands, feet or anything else.

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Today covers the Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son in which the “men living the life of wisdom” tell the story of a young boy who ran away from his father and lived a life of poverty, searching for a day’s pay. The father sought to help the son but the son was “too base and mean” to realize he was the rich man’s son. Even when he became an employee of the rich man and progressively earned more responsibility in running the rich man’s house, he could not give up the thought that he was base and mean. The son finally realizes his place when the father, now an old man on his deathbed, announced, “This is my son. I am his father. All my treasures are his. He knows what has been taken in and what has been paid out.”

World-Honored One! We once had many troubles sufferings. We were so distracted and so ignorant that we clung to the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitles discussions about them. We made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvana as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone. You did not tell us that we had the treasure-store, that is, the insight of the Tathagata. You expounded the wisdom of the Buddha[, that is, the Great Vehicle] with expedients, but we did not aspire for that vehicle because, when we had obtained the day’s pay of Nirvana from the Buddha, we thought that we had already obtained enough. We did not wish to have what you had showed and expounded to the Bodhisattvas by your wisdom. 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. Although we were your sons then as we are now, we wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle.

And in gathas:

We did not wish to have the treasure-store
Of the teachings of the Buddhas
Although we expounded it [to the Bodhisattvas].
We were satisfied with the elimination
Of illusions within ourselves.
What we accomplished was that elimination.
We did nothing more.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has asravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

… Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

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.

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and completes the second volume of the Lotus Sutra.

Chapter 3’s parable of the burning house illuminated the Buddha’s perspective on his need to use expedients. Chapter 4’s parable about the missing son (Śrāvaka) and his rich father (Buddha) reveals the Śrāvaka’s perspective of why expedients were necessary.

It struck me as important this time around to note that “As time passed by, [the child] became poorer.” He wasn’t doing well on his own and it wasn’t like he’d do better in the future left to his own devices.

The father’s desire to just give his treasures to his some doesn’t work because the son can’t imagine that such a treasure could belong to him. Even after the father convinces the some to come work for him:

“The rich man gave him a name and called him son. The poor son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was a humble employee.”

And so it was with the Śrāvakas and the Buddha:

We made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvāṇa as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone. You did not tell us that we had the treasure-store, that is, the insight of the Tathāgata. You expounded the wisdom of the Buddha[, that is, the Great Vehicle] with expedients, but we did not aspire for that vehicle because, when we had obtained the day’s pay of Nirvāṇa from the Buddha, we thought that we had already obtained enough.

And in gāthās:

The poor son came to his father,
And took custody
Of the things of his father,
But wished to take none of them.

The same can be said of us.
We did not wish to have the treasure-store
Of the teachings of the Buddhas
Although we expounded it [to the Bodhisattvas].

We were satisfied with the elimination
Of illusions within ourselves.
What we accomplished was that elimination.
We did nothing more.

The work of the expedients:

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

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.

Day 8 concludes Chapter 8, Understanding by Faith, and finishes the Second Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 8 covers the parable of the lost son and his rich father, a parable told by the elder Śrāvakas. I relate personally to the son’s feeling that he was unworthy.

The father said this because he had realized that his son was too base and mean to meet a noble man [like his father].

Even when treated like a son, he felt unworthy:

‘From now on I will treat you as my son.’ The rich man gave him a name and called him son. The poor son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was a humble employee.

For years and years:

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.

Even when he is finally given his inheritance:

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.’

Settling for a day’s pay:

We [Śrāvakas] made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvāṇa as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone.

We all are sons of the Buddha:

Now we know that you do not grudge your wisdom to anyone. 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. Now you expound only the One Vehicle in this sūtra.

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and the second volume of the Lotus Sutra.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have affinity for the “elders of the Samgha” who are explaining to the Buddha why they did not feel worthy of the greatest treasure.

The elders tell the parable of the boy who ran away and the rich father who, after the two were reunited, attempted to give the boy the treasure that was his inheritance. The boy was frightened. The father realized his son was “too base and mean” and devised an expedient plan in which he hired the son for day labor and the son grew eventually to realize that he was worthy of taking over control of the father’s treasure.

What resonates with me is the lack of self-worth of the son. He does not recognize that he is himself the son of a rich man. He settled for a day’s pay.

World-Honored One! We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings. We were so distracted and so ignorant that we clung to the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitless discussions about them. We made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvāṇa as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone. You did not tell us that we had the treasure-store, that is, the insight of the Tathāgata. You expounded the wisdom of the Buddha[, that is, the Great Vehicle] with expedients, but we did not aspire for that vehicle because, when we had obtained the day’s pay of Nirvāṇa from the Buddha, we thought that we had already obtained enough.”

Or as it is explained in the gathas:

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

A day laborer no more.

In March 2015, I began my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra Practice. Mornings I use the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized, which provides the shindoku version of the Lotus Sutra divided into 32 parts. Each afternoon, I read aloud the same section of the Lotus Sutra in English. (For more on the value of reciting in shindoku, a reading of the Chinese translation of the Sūtra with a Japanese pronunciation, see The Dharma Sound blog post.)

For the first 40 32-day cycles I used the Third Edition of Senchu Murano’s English translation of the Lotus Sutra. Then I started using alternate translations. After 10 cycles through those, I have returned to Murano.

Beginning July 23, 2019, following my self-styled 21-Day Retreat Encouraged by Universal Sage Bodhisattva, I added the recitation of The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva (Reeves) following Day 32 and the recitation of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings before Day 1. Since I don’t have shindoku versions of these sutras, I am reading one half in the morning and the remainder in the evening.

Here I note what I read each day.

Lotus Sutra Text

Current Day

• Sutra of Innumerable Meanings
• Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory [Text]
• Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory. [Text]
• Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients. [Text]
• Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the First Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable [Text]
• Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable [Text]
• Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith. [Text]
• Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the Second Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood. [Text]
• Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City. [Text]
• Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City [Text]
• Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples. [Text]
• Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma. [Text]
• Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures. [Text]
• Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra. [Text]
• Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices. [Text]
• Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground. [Text]
• Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata. [Text]
• Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits. [Text]
• Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma. [Text]
• Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas. [Text]
• Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva. [Text]
• Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva. [Text]
• Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva. [Text]
• Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs [Text]
• Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva. [Text]
• Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. [Text]
• Contemplation of Universal Sage

(For more on what I’m doing and why, see this blog post.)