Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month considered why the Buddha used a skilful expedient to save his children, we consider the Buddha’s gift of the Great Vehicle.
“Śāriputra! Those who have intelligence, who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World Honored One, and who seek Nirvāṇa with strenuous efforts in order to get out of the triple world, are called Śrāvakas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the sheep-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who seek the self-originating wisdom with strenuous efforts, who wish to have good tranquility in seclusion, and who perfectly understand the causes of all things, are called Pratyekabuddhas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the deer-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self-originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathāgata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are called Mahasattvas because they seek this vehicle. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the bullock-carts.
“Śāriputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart. I am also a father, the father of all living beings. Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvāṇa, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathāgata.’
The Daily Dharma offers this:
Śāriputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart.
The Buddha tells the parable of the Burning House in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, a man tries to warn his children who are playing in a dangerous house of the harm that will come to them if they do not set aside their preoccupations and come out. The children did not listen to him, so he told them about nonexistent toys outside the house. The Buddha then compares himself promising an end to suffering to the father promising nonexistent toys, and himself leading all beings to Enlightenment to the father giving his children toys more wonderful than they could imagine.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com