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

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, we begin again.

Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, ‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay. If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’

“The two messengers looked for the poor son. Having found him, they told him what they had been ordered to tell. The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them. Seeing him, the father had compassion towards him, and wondered [why he was so base and mean]. Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust. The father took off his necklace, his garment of thin and soft cloth, and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing, smeared himself with dust, and carried a dirt-utensil in his right hand. He looked fearful. He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

“With this expedient the father came to his son. He said to him, ‘Man! Stay here and work! Do not go anywhere else! I will pay you more. Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar as much as you need! You can have an old servant if you want to. Make yourself at home! I feel like your father. Do not worry any more! I am old, and you are young. When you work, you do not deceive [the other workers]. You are not lazy. You do not get angry [with the other workers], or reproach them. You are not like the other workers who do these evil things. From now on I will treat you as my son.’

The Spring Writings of Kanta Tsukamoto Shonin offers this on receiving the rich man’s treasures:

[T]he Buddha nature we develop will enlighten us, so we can realize that our own life in the past, while it may have seemed empty, in fact, had great meaning, and we will also understand how to live in the future. Although you may have previously despised Buddhism, and didn’t care about attaining enlightenment, you will realize you have a Buddha-nature, and you are Buddha’s child. Then you will automatically succeed the Buddha’s wisdom and virtue, just like the poor man who succeeded the rich man’s treasures.