World Peace Buddhists  

     Stanford University                           SGI-USA

* Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra

 

Simile and Parable : compassion and wisdom distilled to their fragrant essence

 

(Wisdom of the lotus sutra II, ch 1)

 

An Example : Parable of the three carts and the burning house

 

After Shakyamuni had revealed that fundamental law that Buddha nature was innate to every living beings. His wisest disciple Shariputra jumped instantly, burst into dance with joy. Many others didn’t quite get what it means to them. To explain his realization more effectively, Shakyamuni expressed it in a parable - the three carts and the burning house.

 

Once there’s a rich men lived with his kids in a great mansion. In his absence, the mansion was suddenly on fire. The heat, the flame coupled with the bugs, snakes, rats, evil spirits being driven out of their hidden habitats .. It’s a horrible scene.

 

The kids were however unaware of the danger they’re in and continued their games without a slight intention to leave. The father, now having returned, devised a plan to lure them out of the house - by promising the kids to ride them on a goat, deer and ox cart at the rim of the mansion. Expecting for some fun, the kid followed their father to a safer place, failed to see the carts they originally demanded but a more elaborately decorated big white ox cart. They rode on the cart and left the burning mansion successfully.

 

Here the mansion represented the three fold world that we live in. The kids are the ordinary beings that we’re. Unaware of the suffering that we’re facing, but lived our lives for short term amusement. The old man is Shakyamuni who tried to safe the living beings out from suffering. The three carts that Shakyamuni promised for stood for the provisional teachings, which only lead practitioners to the realm of Learning, realization and bodhisattvas, which were the highest state of life known to the ‘kids’. It’s only after the kids had elevated in their state of mind to accept something more profound, that the true way to happiness – Buddhahood, being metaphor as the great white ox, was revealed.

 

The great white ox cart being described as capable of transcending over mountains and valleys, symbolized Buddhahood as a state of mind that’s strong enough to cope with all the rugged landscapes in our lives.

 

The wide influence of parables of lotus sutra

 

There’re in total seven important parables in the whole volume of the lotus sutra, with addition of numerous shorter similes scattering throughout. The richness in parables and similes roots back to the spirit of the lotus sutra itself – it’s a sutra that speaks for the people.

 

In describing, for instance the concept of ‘long distance’, Shakyamuni will eloquently referred it as the span after crushing the world into sand particles, and placing each particle after each ten steps, instead of giving a clear length dimension, or simply jus saying ‘it’s very long’. Such vivid narration enables the bilateral participation of the audience while encouraged the them to use their imagination to grape the law more firmly and substantially.

 

Employing Parables as a tool was the way to guide every being to Buddhahood without an exception, through a more accessible and charming way of expressing the law.

 

The lotus sutra casts big influence in literature in China and Japan. It’s also believed by some scholars to have an impact on the bible. An evidence for this was the similarity of the story of the prodigal son in Gospel of Luke and the parable of the wealthy man and poor son in the lotus sutra.

 

The Distinctive features of Parables

 

The word hidden behind the use of parable is Compassion, for it was the most effective way that profound concepts can be reached to people of all walks of life, and to people centuries after. Indeed, in all metaphors, the role that ‘plays’ Buddhism or Shakyamuni are all embrace with compassionate character, For instance, in the parable of three kinds of medicinal herbs, the Buddha rain fall equally to all types of plants, giving help and care.

 

Parables are identical to the entity of the law

 

In the sutra, parables were not only referred by Shakyamuni himself, but also his disciples, in sharing their joy to others after realization of the law. The sense of joy can be comparable to the famous scream of Archimedas “Eureka, Eureka (I’ve found it ..)” after his unprecedent discovery of the theory of buoyancy.

 

A point to note, Shakyamuni told Shariputra that his understanding of the law is actually the recalled of his own Buddha way in the past. Understanding and conveying truth to others are acts of remembering, Recollection is possible because truth is contained in one’s life. Using Parables in interpreting the law requires a degree of recalling of one’s own memory in understanding one’s experience in a recombined, or reorganized, yet a more precise and accurate way.

 

The fact that Lotus Sutra is composed mainly of parables means that parables and similes are the basic elements in the Buddha’s heart. The daimoku Nammyohorengekyo is the ultimate expression that the parables of the lotus sutra are identical to the entity of the law.

 

Yet because of this, Lotus sutra was usually criticized in the academic domain as being empty or not offering much concrete philosophical idea. Indeed the sutra being the words of Buddha, more is the word of praise distributed throughout its entire volume. Praising is the fundamental reflexive behavior that Buddhas would have.

 

In the letters to encourage Ikegami brothers, Nichiren wrote “Could there be ever a more wonderful story than your own ?”

 

By sharing our own stories and experiences of practice, we’re aligned with the spirit of parables and similes in elucidating the law in a more practical and enchanting way.