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

Day 8 Text with annotations

Having last month begun The Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son in gāthās, we consider the expedients the Rich Man used to lure his frightened son to his house.

From his lion-like seat,
The rich man saw the poor son in the distance,
And recognized him as his son.
But he did not tell this to the others.

He immediately dispatched a messenger
To chase, catch, and bring him back.
The poor son cried out with fright,
And fell to the ground in agony, thinking:
“He caught me. I shall be killed.
What use was it coming here
For food and clothing?”

The rich man thought:
“He is ignorant, narrow-minded, and mean.
If I tell him that I am his father,
He will not believe me.”

He thought of an expedient.
He called
Some squint-eyed, short, ugly, powerless and virtueless men,
And said to them:
“Go and tell him:
‘You will be employed
To clear away dirt and dust.
You can get a double day’s pay.”‘

Hearing this from them,
The poor son came joyfully with them.
He cleared away dirt and dust,
And cleaned the buildings.

The rich man saw him from the window.
He thought:
“He is ignorant.
He willingly does mean work.”
Thereupon the rich man
Put on old and dirty clothes,
Picked up a dirt-utensil,
And walked towards his son.
With this expedient he came to his son,
And told him to work on, saying:
“I will pay you more.
You can use twice as much oil for your feet.
You can take food and drink as you like.
You can use more matting to warm yourself with.”

Sometimes he chided him, saying:
“Work hard!”
At other times he coaxed him, saying:
“I will treat you as my son.”

The Introduction of the Lotus Sūtra offers this explanation of Presenting The Truth In Stages:

[T]he son improved his mental attitude by stages. As Great Master Chih-i put it, the parable illustrates how Sakyamuni presented the truth in stages, giving us (1) the Garland Sutra [Avatamsaka-sutra, wherein the Buddha’s enlightenment is seen as too dazzling for most people to understand], (2) the Agama sutras of the Lesser Vehicle, wherein we enter the path of labor and discipline, (3) expanded sutras according to people’s capacities [Vaipulya], (4) the Wisdom sutras [Prajna-paramita], and finally (5) the Lotus Sutra, which makes us all children and heirs of the Buddha. Buddhism as a whole consists of these five stages of teachings. It could be said that the son’s fainting dead away upon first seeing his wealthy father suggests the ignorance of the “hearers,” who, according to the Garland Sutra, were unable to appreciate this highest and most difficult teaching among the five.