The First Noble Truth is, “All is suffering.” Suffering here refers to the situation in which we cannot meet our desires or wishes. This truth implies that all life is suffering as long as we are dominated by greed, ignorance of the law, and hostility towards others. Our desires can never be fully satisfied.

The Second Noble Truth states, “The cause of sufferings is ignorance.” This means that suffering in life is caused by ignorance arising from our instincts, such as thirst, hunger, sex, and fear.

The Third Noble Truth states, “The extinction of ignorance is nirvana.” The sravakas took this to mean that ignorance could be extinguished only by quenching human desires.

The Fourth Noble Truth maintains, “The Way to Nirvana is by practicing the Eightfold Path.” The Eightfold Path consists of (1) right views (a correct understanding of the Four Noble Truths), (2) right thoughts (the ability to reflect on the Four Truths), (3) right speech (speaking only the truth and words of kindness), (4) right deeds (proper acts—that is, morality), (5) right livelihood (making a living without harming others), (6) right effort (or exertion), (7) right memory (memory of things beneficial to enlightenment), and (8) right concentration of mind (correct meditation).

The Twelve Interdependent Causes are: (1) ignorance, (2) predisposition, (3) consciousness, (4) “name and form” (an entity of mind and body), (5) the six sense-organs, (6) contact (touch), (7) sensation, (8) craving, (9) grasping, (10) existence, (11) birth, and (12) aging and death. (Since death results in “ignorance,” the whole cycle begins all over again.) Each cause is dependent on its predecessor. For instance, the first cause, ignorance, is the origin of all illusions. At the same time, it generates the second action of predisposition, which induces the third factor of consciousness (the first consciousness after conception takes place), which further produces the fourth cause of “name and form,” and so on. Since the world of illusions is gradually formed through this chain of actions, we will be able to attain enlightenment by eliminating these causes one by one, starting with the last cause.

It is generally said that the teaching of the Four Noble Truths is for sravakas, and that of the Twelve Causes is for Pratyekabuddhas.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

“May the merits we have accumulated by this offering be distributed among all living beings, and may we and all living beings together attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.”

Kenji Miyazawa, the Japanese poet and author of children’s stories, once said, “Individual happiness is impossible unless the world as a whole becomes happy.” The altruistic spirit of the Great Vehicle is summarized here in these words of the Brahman heavenly-king.

[Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City,] has two distinct parts. The first is a story of the previous existence of a Buddha called Great-Universally-Excelling-Wisdom. The second consists of the parable for which this chapter is named, “The Magic City.” The concept of previous existences is a fundamental teaching in Buddhism. Its rationale is that there must be some prior meaning or conditions before something else can come into existence. (Nothing comes from nothing, and nothing takes place without a cause.) The story of a previous life here refers to a particular incident in the past which has led to the emergence of a present situation—that is, the origin of things. In the Lotus Sutra, Sakyamuni is said to employ three methods of expounding the law: logical explanations, parables, and stories of previous lives.

These allegorical descriptions [in the Lotus Sutra] can be understood as the development of the concept of the One Vehicle. Chapter Four described how the Buddha leads all beings by faith until they reach the final stage of enlightenment. Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, on the other hand, tells us that living beings are now at various levels of understanding, and the Buddha patiently and compassionately expounds the law to all of them equally, although in different ways.

[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.

Another important point of the parable [of the Burning House] is that we humans are allegorically illustrated as living in a burning house. The burning, of course, symbolizes our suffering. From the Buddhist viewpoint, suffering is an inescapable fact of life, as illustrated in the dictum, “All existence is suffering.” Many people think this view is too pessimistic, but that is not the case. The dictum is presented as a bare fact, neither good or bad. Biological suffering is a part of life. The question is, What can we do about it?

In [The Parable of the Burning House], the rich father symbolizes the Buddha, while the children represent all of us living beings. In other words, the relationship between the Buddha and living beings is compared to the relationship of a father and his children. That the father saves his children out of compassion for them implies that the Buddha does the same thing. In short, the parable proclaims the Buddha to be nothing less than the universal Savior.

Notwithstanding the Buddha’s efforts, people failed to realize that the expedients they had been taught were only part of the vast and profound truth attained by their master. Gradually they divided into different schools or sects clustered around a particular teaching which they believed to be the ultimate. During his fifty-year teaching Sakyamuni had employed a wide variety of expedients. His disciples, who scattered far and wide, noticed that they had received different teachings. They began to argue among each other about which teachings and practices were the more correct.

To solve these disputes, Sakyamuni introduced the Lotus Sutra – his ultimate teaching. Its first purpose was to break the attachments his disciples had formed to their own particular ideas. That is, Sakyamuni proclaimed that all he had previously taught were only expedients. They were partial truths, not the whole. They were separate “Vehicles.” Now they must be unified into One Vehicle, the Buddha Vehicle. This concept of the One Vehicle is the central thought of the Lotus Sutra and the chief idea presented in this chapter.