Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

It amazes me that I can still have “ah-ha!” moments when reciting the Lotus Sutra. Today, I had one of those moments when reading the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Chilren.

To set the stage, we have the children who got into some poison and are rolling on the floor in agony by the time their father returns home.

At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not.

I bring this up because of how it plays out when the physician gives his children the medicine he says has a good color, smell and taste.

Notice here that the children can see the medicine has a good color and they can sniff the medicine to test its smell. But they must have faith in their father and his talents as a physician in order to believe the medicine tastes good before they take it.

And so…

The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

This is a wonderful example of faith because that faith – accepting that the medicine will taste good – is tested and confirmed. Once we take the medicine we realize it does, indeed, taste great.