Before leaving the lessons taught by the children of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter 27, I would like to offer a personal story.

As mentioned before, I spent my rebellious teen years proclaiming myself a born-again Christian. I was not so much joyful and elevated as I was annoying and sanctimonious. I vividly recall my mother shaking her head at my behavior and telling me: “You don’t show any sign of having experienced a religious transformation. I’ve seen it in others. You don’t show it.”

Looking back with more than a half-century of hindsight, I must admit she was right. I also believe my immersion in the Lotus Sutra has led to a recognizable change in me.

There is nothing miraculous about this. No divine intervention required. As Rev. Ryusho Jeffus writes in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

“When it comes to the reward of practicing Buddhism, it lies solely in the change that takes place first in our own lives and then manifests in our environment. Buddhism is not about being rewarded with riches or material goods; those things are temporary and destructible. What we seek in our Buddhist practice is the indestructible enlightenment of the Buddha; something that the Lotus Sutra teaches us is possible.”

The point here is the focus within. As Rev. Ryusho Jeffus explains:

“If we think we can practice Buddhism and that this practice will change everyone in our lives to become agreeable or likeable or be some way that suits us, then we are working the wrong end of the formula. Buddhism is about changing ourselves, which in turn causes our environment to change. … The most effective thing to work on to become happy, to become enlightened, is one’s own life.”

Still, there’s a certain practicality in religious practice, as explained by Nikkyō Niwano in Buddhism for Today:

“If one earnestly takes refuge in a true faith, he will elicit a different response from other people. He begins to have feelings of optimism, confidence in life, and a positive attitude toward everything. Such feelings will naturally show in his face, speech, and conduct. Because of this change, those around him will be drawn to him because they feel buoyed up and strengthened by him. Accordingly, it is quite natural that his work should progress smoothly and that as a result he should come to be blessed with material wealth.”

Bottom line: True faith – combined with study and practice – transforms. As Rev. Ryusho Jeffus explains:

“In the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter 27, the two sons who vow to practice Buddhism and then vow to convert their father do so because they are able to manifest the benefits of their Buddhist practice. The truth of the teaching enables them to change their lives, giving them the joy of life and the capacity to turn around and save their father. Their faith and seeking spirit led them to Buddhism and their benefit enables them to share it.”
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Last Sunday, I offered my view of Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva, using the text of the chapter. Here are a couple of alternative views.

Gene Reeves explains in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“The Lotus Sutra teaches that we should reflect the Dharma in our own lives, especially in relation to those who are close to us, such as other members of our family. Just thinking we are Buddhist, or saying we are Buddhist, or belonging to a Buddhist organization, or even regularly performing Buddhist practices such as meditation or recitation, is not enough. It doesn’t mean much unless it affects how we behave in everyday life.

“And when this happens, all kinds of transformations are possible. When the King and Queen give their extremely valuable necklaces to the Buddha, the necklaces are transformed into a jeweled platform with a seat for the Buddha from which he emits light. The point of this, I think, is that when we devote ourselves to the Buddha, not only can our lives be transformed, but ordinary things as well. The necklaces can symbolize any gift to the Buddha. Here the necklaces are exceptionally valuable because they are from a king and queen. But every gift to the Buddha is valuable in its own way.

This is also illustrated by the two sons who have been asked by their mother to “show some wonders” to their father to convince him to allow them to join the Buddha.

As explains Nikkyō Niwano in Buddhism for Today:

“First, we must think of the true meaning of the two sons’ showing their father many kinds of supernatural deeds. This does not mean that they became able to display supernatural deeds by means of the Buddha’s teachings, nor that they stimulated their father’s curiosity by showing him such deeds. Their performing various supernatural deeds means that they completely changed their character and their daily lives by studying and believing the Buddha’s teachings. Their showing their father supernatural deeds thus means nothing but the fact that before their father they proved the true value of the Buddha’s teachings by their deeds and led him to be aroused to the aspiration for Perfect Enlightenment.

“When we lead others to the teachings of the Buddha, none will follow us only through hearing us praise the teachings. We must clearly show them the reason that the Buddha’s teachings are worshipful …

“The quickest and simplest way to lead others to the Buddha’s teachings is to justify the teachings by our own practice of them. Our first consideration is to show others living evidence: “I have changed in this way since believing in the Buddha’s teachings and practicing them.” There is no more powerful and direct a way of leading others.”

Putting our faith into daily practice, we work toward this transformation as we actualize our Bodhisattva vow to help all sentient beings.

In considering the lessons of Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva, I’m always struck by the fact that the two sons weren’t trying overtly to convert their father from his wrong views but to inspire him by showing what they had accomplished.

“The mother said to them, ‘Show some wonders to your father out of your compassion towards him! If he sees the wonders, he will have his mind purified and allow us to go to that Buddha.’

“Thereupon the two sons went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala-tree, and displayed various wonders because they were thinking of their father. They walked, stood, sat, and reclined in the sky. Then they issued water from the upper parts of their bodies, and fire from the lower parts. Then they issued water from the lower parts of their bodies, and fire from the upper parts. Then they became giants large enough to fill the sky, became dwarfs, and became giant again. Then they disappeared from the sky and suddenly appeared on the earth. Then they dived into the earth just as into water, and stepped on the surface of water just as on the earth. [Then they went up to the sky and stayed there.]”

The transformation of his children – not the fantastical aerial feats but real-life changes in their lives – inspired the transformation of the father.

“By displaying these various wonders, they purified the mind of their father, that is, of the king, and caused him to understand the Dharma by faith.”

The father was now able to aspire for Enlightenment. His sons had been the spark that ignited his faith.

“After he renounced the world, the king acted according to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma constantly and strenuously for eighty-four thousand years. Then he practiced the samādhi for the adornment of all pure merits. Then he went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala-tree, and said to that Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! These two sons of mine did the work of the Buddha. They converted me from wrong views by displaying wonders. They caused me to dwell peacefully in your teachings. They caused me to see you. These two sons of mine are my teachers. They appeared in my family in order to benefit me. They inspired the roots of good which I had planted in my previous existence.’

“Thereupon Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to King Wonderful-Adornment, ‘So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives. The teachers will do the work of the Buddha, show the Way to them, teach them, benefit them, cause them to rejoice, and cause them to enter into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

In the Lotus Sutra, we are directed to be teachers of the Dharma and at the same time to watch for and to appreciate those who are acting as our teachers.