Of all the chapters of the Lotus Sutra, I have the closest affinity with Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva. Why, I’m not sure. I didn’t bring my parents to faith and I wasn’t inspired by my child’s example. Perhaps in another lifetime.

Nikkyō Niwano captures the message in his analysis of this chapter in Buddhism for Today.

This chapter seems to relate a fantastic story from a remote world and time, but actually it teaches a lesson that applies to our daily lives. First, it concerns religion in the family, which here is presented as the problem of a father and his sons who believe in different faiths. The problem of a father who believes in a mistaken faith and his sons who have faith in a right religion, and the attitude of the mother, who must deal with both father and sons, is one common in today’s society.

Buddhism for Today, p395

And the meaning behind the king’s abdication and the children’s leaving home:

The religious beliefs of those who are in positions of authority inevitably exert an influence upon many other people, even though it is a private matter of personal faith. The actions of King Resplendent suggest this problem to us. King Resplendent and his two sons renounced the world. In our time, religion and daily life are not considered to be in opposition but are regarded as compatible. If we take literally the royal sons’ renunciation of the world and the king’s abdication of his throne, we are liable to misinterpret this story. The renunciation of the world by the two princes, who were in easy circumstances, indicates the idea that mental peace through one’s spiritual life is far more important than satisfaction in material life. The story of King Resplendent’s abdicating the throne in favor of his younger brother and entering religious life expresses the idea that the spiritual kingdom established in man’s mind is far more worthy than the worldly power of a king.

Buddhism for Today, p395

As Nikkyō Niwano writes, “We should take the various characters in the story as models, appreciating their attitudes according to their positions.”