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

In yesterday’s reading of Chapter 3, A Parable, Sakyamuni said:

Even you, Sariputra,
Have understood this sutra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Sravakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sutra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.

And it is not by accident that the next day we reach Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and those very same Sravakas and their Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son.

Last month, I focused on the fact that the word “faith” does not appear in the chapter outside the title.

This time through I see even less evidence of faith. The Rich Man had to raise up the “base and mean” son, giving him more and more responsibility, calling him “son” and treating him as a son. And yet, when the day finally comes for the Rich Man to give his treasures to his son:

He thought, ‘I never dreamed of having this store of treasures myself. It has come to me unexpectedly.’

But the effort was still successful:

Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
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 brahrna 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.

The Bottom Line:

The Buddhas expound the Dharma
In perfect freedom.
Knowing the various desires and dispositions
Of all living beings,
They expound the Dharma
With innumerable parables
And with innumerable similes
According to their capacities.

Some living beings planted the roots of good
In their previous existence.
Some of the roots have fully developed.
Seeing all this, the Buddhas understand
The capacities of all living beings,
And divide the teaching of the One Vehicle into three,
According to the capacities
Of all living beings.