Thank you. For the next four weeks, we're going to explore the parables of the Lotus Sutra. And I've been really enjoying studying this and I hope you will too. The Lotus Sutra is sort of cosmic in scale. And I don't, I think we've had study group on it and several times we've had all day reading of the Lotus Sutra, which is a wonderful practice. But I don't feel like we've ever studied it for a formal class. This is the first time that I can recall in the years I've been here. And it's also been really I just feel really instructive to me to begin to plunge into this study and feel like, I think by way of these parables and the even greater number of stories that you'll see in Jean Reeves' book, to begin to get a sense of what was put forward in this sutra and what is radical about it.

[01:28]

I think the question for us, which we'll come back to in this study and I want to come back to again and again, is actually how do these wonderful teachings support and encourage our practice? I'm really interested in knowing how you see this material and what use you can make of it in your own lives, in your own practice. So I hope that will be at the heart of our class discussions, even though the stories themselves are wonderful and engaging and intriguing. So the Lotus Sutra is, it's really cosmic in scale. And I think the first time or two that I read it, like many Mahayana sutras, I kind of got lost in the, in this, cosmic psychedelic dimension of the sutra.

[02:33]

But as Gene Reeves points out, while it's cosmic in scale, it's actually earthbound in location. All of the actions take place here, and everything that is really focused on is activity that takes place in our world. In our Saha world, Saha is the Buddha field that Shakyamuni Buddha is located in. And Saha translates as to be endured. So this is the world where things are to be endured. or withstood. And it's quite distinct from other Buddha fields which you'll see in the Avatamsaka Sutra and other sutras where the cause of awakening would be rains of heavenly flowers or quaffing

[03:58]

delicious cosmic nectars, or hearing celestial memories, melodies, all of those in different Buddha fields that are watched over by other Buddhas are, those are the means of enlightenment. For us, enlightenment comes with endurance, I'm sorry to say. But it's also fortunate, because otherwise, we might very well lose hope. But if we see that the key to our awakening is actually our challenges and difficulties, then it puts a different spin on it. So the Lotus Sutra has a number of main themes and many side roads and vivid stories and Some of them, they're not all of a piece.

[05:04]

It's certainly not linear. But you can look at these themes. And again, as Ryushin said, I recommend Gene Reeves' book, The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, and also the book that I tried to put in the chat, Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side by Jacqueline Stone and Donald Lopez. Each one of them is kind of a chapter by chapter overview of the sutra. It really helps you give you a sense of the structure and the activity of it rather than kind of the assault of all these fabulous images. So I wanted to identify before we go into the parable, I want to identify what I think these main themes are. So the first one is the prediction of Buddhahood for all.

[06:12]

And this is a departure from other earlier forms of of Buddhism, and we'll go into that a little later, but where in to the Pali Buddhism, early Buddhism, the kind of the end state for mortals was becoming an arhat, which meant you left the world, you left the wheel of birth and death and rebirth. And there was one Buddha. So this is a radical proposition that all beings are going to have, they're not all going to, they have the capacity to become Buddhist.

[07:15]

And that includes in other schools, particularly in early Mahayana, but also in earlier Buddhism, you had a class of beings that was known as the Ichantikas. And Ichantikas were like lost souls. They did not have the capacity to awaken. That's taken off the table here. So we all have the capacity to become Buddhists. The second major theme is is that irrespective of how it appears, there's one vehicle. There is just the Buddha vehicle. So there's not the Hinayana and Mahayana. There's the Buddhayana. And that's one of the arguments of the Sutra that is also...

[08:25]

complicated, and we'll actually see some of the complications in this parable of the burning house that we'll talk about. The third major theme, which is particularly elucidated in the first chapters is the matter of skillful means of upaya. And this, again, is a radical teaching. is what it's saying in this sutra is that the Buddha's teachings, whatever they may be, are designed to wake people up according to their capability at that moment. And by waking them up to the extent that they are capable, it puts them on the path to full Buddhahood. And so the skillful means is actually, it's the implementation of this one vehicle.

[09:34]

And many, a number of the first parables we'll address are all in one way or another about skillful means. The fourth theme, which you don't come to until you're about halfway through the book, is all of a sudden, you are asked to understand that the Buddha's life, his para-nirvana, which is his death, that itself is skillful means. Because truly, the Buddha's lifespan is immeasurable. And this is hinted at throughout the book, where the Buddha says, at one point in the chapter we're going to do, he says to Shariputra, you know, Shariputra, I taught you this many times, in many lifetimes in the past, but you forgot.

[10:38]

So what we have is, interestingly, the proposition of a quasi-eternal Buddha. or certainly a Buddha whose lifespan is immeasurable. And that kind of cuts across our understanding of the life of the Buddha. So those are four of the themes. And I would add a fifth, which Reeves brings out in a way that I find very useful. So he says the perspective of the Dharma Flower Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and Buddhist use in general,

[11:49]

say it should become increasingly apparent that as we go through the stories, the Buddha begins with an assembly. So the whole scene is set with this huge assembly. Surely he does not need this particular assembly, this particular set of individuals, but he cannot do what he vows to do without the help of others, especially bodhisattvas and dharma teachers. We might even say that the Buddha could not be the Buddha without the great assembly. The Buddha, after all, is primarily a teacher and a preacher. And a teacher is not really a teacher unless there is at least one learner. So what he's, what the sutra itself is, in all of its ramifications, is the teaching. And What the Buddha is doing is he's teaching teachers.

[12:52]

He's waking people up, particularly as we progress through the sutra. He's creating and empowering bodhisattvas and dharma teachers to teach this approach, to teach the Lotus Sutra, to teach this one Buddha vehicle. So we don't have a Sanskrit text of the Lotus Sutra. The translation that most people work from is the one that was first created by Kumarajiva in 406. And he translated it from Sanskrit. into China. And we do have copies of Kumarajiva's translation, but we don't have the Sanskrit that he was working from.

[13:55]

But what's interesting, one thing that's interesting is that there's a really different perspective. The Lotus Sutra flowered, if you will, in East Asia. So in the Chinese tradition, Japanese tradition, and Tibet, it became one of the central sutras. But it had a very different presence in India than it did in East Asia. And so it had a different kind of significance that in India, the Sanskrit version, in India, Mahayana Buddhism was a minority position. You had Mahayana practitioners in monasteries. You didn't have separate monasteries. Everybody was kind of practicing together. But it was it was still kind of a small constituency within the larger body of Buddhist schools.

[15:04]

By the time you got to China, Mahayana was the majority. And So in India, the Lotus Sutra was a very, it was a very nervy assertion of itself as the supreme doctrine. You know, it was, I would guess it was a polemic of a kind, but we don't have that evidence as such. Whereas in China, In Tibet and Japan, the Lotus Sutra was a kind of extension and confirmation of this doctrine, the doctrine of one vehicle and the sort of timeless Buddha. And really the radical message was that Buddhahood was available to all

[16:13]

And that no one was excluded from that. So the way I've been thinking about this, as Buddhism developed in East Asia, there were two directions that pulled him. One direction was in what's called in Japan, other power. The word in Japanese is tariki, and it's a practice of faith. And this other power is faith and devotion to the Buddhas, and the great bodhisattvas as a primary source of liberation.

[17:22]

In other words, liberation is something that is granted by them. The other part of the dynamic that we see, again in East Asian Buddhism, is something that was called self-power. So the other power school you can see manifest in what became the Jodo and Jodo Shinshu traditions in Japan. And the self-power school is really exemplified by Zen, by our tradition. I think what I really appreciate about the Lotus Sutra is is that right from the beginning, it points to the necessary interpenetration of those two approaches.

[18:24]

So Buddhahood is available to everyone, and as other Mahayana Sutras, particularly the Pirate Nirvana Sutra, say all beings have Buddha nature, or as Dogen famously translates this, all beings are Buddha nature. So there's the, the faith side is there. And yet, as Dogen argued, we also, if we don't practice it, if we don't bring it forward, that Buddha nature is not actualized. So that's the practice side. The faith side and the practice side interpenetrate each other. So that's something that we'll see in this first parable.

[19:37]

But again, let me stop here and just see if you have any thoughts or questions. I encourage, I encourage discussion, I encourage questions, and I'm happy to stop. So if you, is there something on your mind, please raise your hand and say it or ask it. Raise your digital hand, actually. I can't see your actual hands. I see Hannah. Could you say a sentence of how a person would express that faith rather than other power, faith, devotion to Buddha?

[20:39]

How would that... How would that be expressed? I think in a sense it's expressed by the idea of taking refuge. We take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. In order to take refuge, we have to have faith. But also there's the action. One has to take refuge. Refuge is not just a canopy that's thrown over everyone. But everyone can find their space in it. Does that make sense? Well, that's how we do it. But let's say the people who chant Namu Kiobutsu over and over. Namu Omidabutsu? Yeah, I'm not sure what they're chanting, but that goes awfully fast. But they're chanting it and they believe that it can heal. What are they? How would you express that in a sentence if you were one of them?

[21:40]

I think the way I would express it is close to the way, in my own way, close to the way Shinran expressed it, which is I'm hopeless and foolish and only the Buddha can lead me to peace and harmony. I'm powerless to do that. Which is... This is, you know, one of the, I don't want to get into the history of it at this point, but this was a big conflict in Kamakura period, Japan. And Nichiren, who was the founder of this Lotus Sutra school, was, he was really scathing about Jodo Shin.

[22:42]

because, you know, he was taking their doctrine as extremely passive, and he felt it was an active component that needed to be brought forth. So, someone else? Anyone else? Well, if not, I'm going to go on. So, moving towards the parable, which we will get to. So the expedient means, the second chapter, if everyone could mute themselves, please. I think that, Hannah, you're, oh yeah, there you go. The second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which lays out expedient means, talks about the single the single vehicle.

[23:45]

And in that, at the end of that chapter, Shariputra appears, and he is assured by the Buddha that he will become a Buddha. And this is a, Shariputra, who you remember from the Heart Sutra, right? Shariputra was one of the two chief disciples of Shakyamuni, along with his childhood friend, Muldga Yayana. And he was actually the first person to be empowered to ordain other monks in the order. And by reputation, He was known as the foremost in wisdom. And the Mahayana, the Theravada Sutras really extol him.

[24:55]

And the Mahayana Sutras portray him as a great disciple, but some of them also picture him as a kind of foil. That there's a sort of shortcoming in his understanding. And that he's representative of the so-called Hinayana tradition. So, the first prediction of Buddhahood in the Lotus Sutra is that Shariputra is going to become a Buddha. And this is really surprising to him. First, he asks whether this is a real prediction or whether, in fact, Mara, the deceiver, is kind of masquerading as the Buddha and giving him a fake message, fake news. And also, he's a little upset because he thought that he was an Arhat.

[26:02]

In other words, he had transcended. He was not going to be born again. He was going to leave the wheel. And he thought, well, this is great. This is the end state. And the Buddha is telling him, no, it's not the end state. You are now going to be a bodhisattva, and you will eventually become a Buddha. And in this chapter, the beginning of Chapter 3, which is where the parable comes, chariputra asks the buddha please teach me this very difficult teaching which is called the lotus sutra as yet we haven't heard even though we're in we're already in three chapters into lotus sutra we haven't heard the lotus sutra yet um so uh he asked the buddha and each time the buddha says you know this is too complicated i can't teach this

[27:08]

And, of course, as is typically the situation on the third, at the third request, the Buddha says, okay, it's difficult, but I'm going to teach you the whole assembly, not just Shariputra, all of these hundreds of thousands who were assembled on Vulture Peak. He says, I'm going to teach you the true Dharma, the Sadharma. And An interesting thing happens at this point. At the point at which the Buddha says this, 5,000 arrogant monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, get up and leave. This is, you know, you think about it. You can think about the movie, you know, what this would be like. You know, picture the movie and... And all these orange-robed and white-robed figures getting up.

[28:14]

Because, you know, it's like, hey, we already did this. We got there. We're our hearts. You know, it's like, we don't want to hear about this other stuff. So... what the sutra says is they had not attained what they supposed they had attained and they had not understood what they supposed they had understood so it's not that this is unavailable to them but they're going to have to come back to it when when they are ready to hear it and so at this point uh shariputra he stands up ecstatic and joyful now i'm reading from I'm reading from the, if you want to, I'm working from the second translation, which is, there's an A and a B in the two translations in the material I gave you.

[29:20]

This is the, this is one from the Numada Center translation. Thereupon, Sariputra stood up, ecstatic and joyful, and pressed his palms together, gazing at the Buddha, the Bhagavad said, now, Hearing this Dharma from the Buddha, my heart is full of joy, for I have experienced something unprecedented. What is the reason for this? In the past, when I heard this Dharma from the Buddha and saw the Buddha's bodhisattvas receive their predictions, I was not included. I grieved because I had thought I had been deprived of the immeasurable wisdom and insight of the Tathagata. So it's a wonderful moment. Like, you know, you have the chief disciples, foremost in wisdom, and he's feeling left out.

[30:21]

And it's not until this moment that he recognizes that he's been included. And he is worrying, he says, while I was dwelling alone under the forest trees, I was constantly thinking this. Since we have also realized the true nature of the Dharma, why has the Tathagata tried to save us with the teachings of the inferior vehicle? So he has some glimmering that there's a lower and a higher transmission. The fault is ours, not the Bhagavats. If we had waited for your explanation about the way to achieve highest complete enlightenment, we certainly would have been able to save ourselves by means of the Mahayana.

[31:29]

However, we didn't understand that you were teaching the skillful means, according to what is appropriate When we first heard the Buddhist teachings, we immediately accepted, contemplated, and understood it. In other words, they took, according to their capacities, they took this teaching that led to the, that was the Arhat path to be the final teaching. And didn't realize that there was another, there was a deeper level. But now, from the Buddha, we have heard the unprecedented Dharma that we have never heard before, and it has removed all our doubts. I have obtained peace and tranquility in body and mind. Today, I have finally realized that I am truly the heir of the Buddha, born from the mouth of the Buddha, incarnated from the Dharma, and that I have inherited a part of the Buddha Dharma."

[32:41]

And then the Buddha speaks to Shariputra. Did I not previously tell you that all the Buddha explains, all the Buddha Bhagavats explain the Dharma with various explanations and illustrations using skillful means, all for the sake of highest complete enlightenment? All of these teachings are for leading and inspiring the bodhisattvas. Meanwhile, I will now clarify what I mean with illustrations. Those with wisdom will be able to understand through these illustrations. So now, at last, we're about to enter the parable. O Shariputra, suppose there were an aging and extremely affluent man, either in town, city, or country, who has immeasurable wealth, abundant estates, mansions, and servants.

[33:48]

He has a spacious house, yet it only has a single entrance. Suppose many people live there, as many as one, two, or even 500 people. The buildings are in poor repair. The fences and walls are crumbling. The pillar bases are rotten. And the beams and framework are dangerously tilted. So it's really interesting. So you have this supremely rich person, immeasurable wealth, mansions and servants, and he lives in this broken-down house. So, of course, this is us, right? We have so many resources at our disposal, and yet the house that we are living in is fragile.

[34:55]

And it's fraught with danger. And in fact, as we find out, it's a fire hazard. Suddenly and unexpectedly, fire breaks out everywhere, setting the house swiftly aflame. The children of this man, 10, 20, or 30 in number, are in the house. The affluent man, seeing the fire breaking out everywhere, becomes alarmed and terrified. So we have our human condition. Our house, which is built on a shaky foundation. As some of us who are getting older, we're very aware of that shaky foundation. And the fire breaks out.

[36:00]

So the fire, we can think back to one of the earliest sutras, Buddha's second or third teaching, the fire sermon, which he says, everything is burning. What is everything that is burning? The eye is burning. Form is burning. Eye consciousness is burning. Eye contact is burning. The feeling that arises dependent upon eye contact, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, that's also burning. With what is it burning? It is burning with the fire of passion, the fire of hatred, the fire of delusion. I declare that it is burning with the fire of birth, decay, death, grief, lamentation,

[37:08]

pain, sorrow, and despair. Hmm, that's pretty grim. So this burning house is really directly referencing the way the fire of passion and desire and clinging is spoken of in the earliest texts. So the affluent man thinks, I am capable of escaping through the burning entrance in safety, but my children are absorbed in play within the burning house and are not aware of the fire. They do not know, are not alarmed or terrified, and the fire is approaching them. They are not troubled about their suffering. nor do they intend to leave the house.

[38:11]

So this, I don't know, this to me is also a description of how we live often. That the enormity of the fire, the enormity of the difficulty that is revealed in our world, we often can't put our minds to it. And so we engage ourselves in play or in illusion. We may lose ourselves in watching television, which I'm guilty of, or, you know, doing anything that we consider pleasurable to take our minds off of the real situation that's unfolding.

[39:22]

Now, O Shariputra, this affluent man thought, since I am physically strong, I could take the children out of the house in the folds of my garment or on top of the desk. So he said, I could do this. But he further thinks, there is only one entrance to this house and it is very narrow. The children who are immature and still unaware are attached to their place of play. They may fall into danger and be burned by the fire. I should now tell them of the danger the house is already burning they must escape as quickly as they can to avoid being burned by the fire uh so you know he uh he says well maybe i could carry them all out by any rate i should tell them right now that the house is on fire so he urged according after considering this he urged the children

[40:34]

according to his thought. He says, children run out immediately. Although their father in his concern had given them the proper advice, the children are immersed in their play and do not accept it. They are neither alarmed nor afraid nor have any intention of leaving the house. Moreover, they do not even know what a fire is. They don't know the condition of the house, or what they may lose. They merely run about back and forth looking at their father. So this to me, when he says he could carry them out, is a kind of expression of other power. he could carry the children out himself.

[41:40]

But as we see in the story as it unfolds, is that the children take themselves out of the house, but they need some enticement. They need something to encourage them to leave. Thereupon the affluent man thought, this house is already engaged, engulfed in flames. If my children and I do not get out, we shall perish in the fire. I will now use this skillful means to help my children escape from this disaster. Since the father already knew that his children were attached to various rare toys and unusual things, that each and the like, he said to them, the toys you are fond of are rare and hard to obtain.

[42:46]

If you do not take them, you will certainly regret it later. Right now, outside the house, there are three kinds of carts. One is yoked to a sheep, one to a deer, and one to an ox. Go play with them, children. Run out of this burning house immediately, and I will give you whatever you want. Let's see here. Could the host make me co-host? I'm not sure. Laurie, are you the host? Who is the host? Both Laurie and I am. Okay, can you make me co-host? You bet. Because I want to share image here. No, still not.

[43:50]

It's still disabled. Okay. It's not letting me do it for some reason. I think Lori has to do it. It's not letting me do it. Huh. Genpo, you guys are the host. Oh, I'm co-host now. All right. There we have the burning house and one of the carts outside and the children running, screaming from the house.

[44:59]

And I wanted to show you, this is I wanted to show you something else here, which is fun. Why is it doing this? It's picking up the wrong picture here. Let's see. There we go. There's a car for you. Now, wouldn't you run out of the house to get one of those things? This is actually a wedding card in India. It's pretty cool. So, the children, hearing what their father had said about the rare toys, became excited and in their eagerness to get out to them,

[46:05]

They pushed each other out of the way in a mad rush to get out of the burning house. Then the affluent man saw that his children had got out safely and were sitting unharmed in an open area at a crossroad. He's relieved, happy, and joyful. This is just so wonderfully visual. And then the children said to their father, Father, please give us the toys you promised. Those three carts, one yoke to sheep, one to a deer, and one to an ox. So, here's a point of doctrine we're gonna come back to, but, O Shariputra, the affluent man then gave each child the same kind of a large cart. These carts were tall and spacious, adorned with various jewels and encircled with railings full of hanging bells.

[47:08]

On top of the carts were canopies also decorated with various jewels. These carts were draped with jewel cords and hung with flower garlands. These carts were, they were thickly piled with fabrics and red pillows had been placed about. These carts were yoked to an ox with a spotlessly white hide. These oxen had beautiful bodies with powerful muscles, even gates, and were as swift as the wind, and there were many attendants guarding them. Why did the affluent man give these carts? Because the man had great and immeasurable wealth, and his abundant storehouses were full. He thought further, since my treasure has no limit, I should not give my children inferior carts. These are my children and I love them equally. I should equally distribute them to each child without discrimination. Why is this?

[48:10]

Even if I gave cards like this to everyone in the country, their number would not be exhausted. Why should I not give them to my own children? One might ask, I suppose, maybe he could have remodeled his house and fixed up the electricity before. So it wouldn't have been a fire hazard. But I'm sorry, that's just my way of thinking. But what does this mean? So as we know, there are these different In this sutra, you're constantly hearing about the different vehicles. The first is the shravaka vehicle, which is the monastic vehicle.

[49:17]

It means really the hearer, someone who hears the doctrine and is awakened when they hear the doctrine. and that enables them themselves to be free and to leave the wheel of samsara. The second vehicle is the Prachika Buddha, which is the solitary self-enlightened figure who comes to enlightenment according to their own awareness. And again, chooses to leave the wheel and actually lives in isolation, so doesn't teach. The third model of practice is the bodhisattva, which is this new ideal that emerged with the Mahayana. And at least at some point in commentaries, the bodhisattva vehicle is...

[50:23]

the practice of the bodhisattva vehicle is the six paramitas designed to, that's the primary practice of bodhisattvas, which is for the sake of awakening all beings. And then you have what is being proposed as the buddhiyana, which includes all three. So there's a, you know, There's a doctrinal controversy, which I don't think is of, well, it's interesting to me, but I don't think it's of, I don't think it's of pressing interest to us, but it's one of these wonderful contradictions. And, you know, the scholars can argue over this for hundreds of years. Are there three carts or four? Are there three vehicles or four? And, you know, if somebody feels this is a critical issue, actually, I'd like to know about that.

[51:35]

I'm going to stop in a moment to take a break. But this doesn't seem to have reached any resolution. Although there's a different description. We have a... We have the vehicle that's yoked to a sheep, vehicle that's yoked to a deer, vehicle that's yoked to an ox, and then the vehicle that he gives them, which is yoked to a white ox. So maybe there's some distinction. And as we go, this is part of the ambiguity. As we move through the sutra, we will see that... Bodhisattva is the necessary stage that is a prelude to Buddhahood. So there is some ambiguity about whether there are three cards or four. But remember this distinction about Shravaka, Pacheca Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas because that's going to come up again and again.

[52:45]

So then, The children each climbed into a great cart and had an unprecedented experience. In other words, they had a great time. And the Buddha says, what do you think about this, Shariputra? This absolute man gave to his children equally a large cart decorated with precious treasures. Has he deceived them or not? Which is an interesting question. Shariputra replied, No, Bhagavat, the affluent man only tried to help his children escape from the disastrous fire. He saved their lives and did not deceive them. This is by no means a deception. Because by saving their lives, they obtained marvelous toys. Moreover, they were saved from the burning house by skillful means. So,

[53:53]

for the Buddha to offer these various approaches to awakening is not short-changing his students. It's saving them so that they can be saved for further development. Buddha said to Shariputra, splendid, splendid. It is exactly as you have said. The Tathagata is also like this. That is to say, as father of the entire world, he permanently dispels distress, anxiety, ignorance, and blindness. He has attained immeasurable wealth, wisdom, insight, power, and fearlessness. as well as great transcendent powers and the power of wisdom, he has skillful means and wisdom.

[55:00]

And with his great mercy and compassion, he incessantly and indefatigably seeks the welfare of all beings and benefits them all. And then he unpacks this, which I think is kind of obvious to us. The Tathagata appears in the triple world which is like a decaying old house on fire, to rescue sentient beings from the fire of birth, old age, illness and death, anxiety, sorrow, suffering, distress, delusion, blindness, and the three poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance. Thus he leads and inspires sentient beings and causes them to attain highest complete enlightenment. Although sentient beings are immersed in such sorrows, they rejoice in play. They are not aware, shocked, startled, or disgusted, nor do they seek release.

[56:04]

Running around in the burning house of the triple world, they experience great suffering, and yet they do not realize it. And the Buddha says, a further thought, if I proclaim the Tathakata's wisdom, insight, power, and fearlessness to sentient beings, and by the power of my wisdom alone, without using skillful means, it will be impossible to save them. Why is this? Because such sentient beings have not escaped from birth, old age, illness, and death, and are being burned in the blazing house of the triple world, how would they be able to understand the Buddha's wisdom? Although that affluent man had physical strength, he did not use it.

[57:12]

He only earnestly employed skillful means to save the children from the disaster of the burning house. So to me, this means he got them to do it on his own, on their own. He got the children to leave. He offered them what he needed to in order for them to act on their own behalf, which I think is, I think it's a large, it's a very strong message of the sutra. So there's some more commentary, but let me stop here. I've been talking a long time and I've been telling this detailed story. And please, you may have some questions or thoughts and game for anything. Is this useful? Is it not useful? Does it relate to our practice? Do we...

[58:16]

Why do we come to the Zendo on our own? Jim. Jim Earp. Not a question, but a thought. It's interesting to me that the children were attracted to what was good for them because they thought it was a toy. And really what they were getting wasn't on the outside, it's a toy, but it wasn't. And then the other thought I had was maybe that's the same with the three vehicles. We approach one because we find that one attractive in some way, but what we get is all of them together. I think that's exactly right.

[59:19]

That's why I think it's really important not to get caught in this Hinayana, Mahayana discourse or criticism that one is lesser, one is greater. It's not true that these are all the path to liberation, to Buddhahood, at least according to the Lotus Sutra. That had to be articulated. This is, you know, this is really the first articulation of that position. But, you know, the kids needed to be, they needed to be drawn out of the house because they didn't have enough sense on their own to do that. Yeah, thank you. Lori? Oops, I pushed the wrong button. um i just want to voice i just do fight this story especially as it gets more detailed where i just like he's tricking them he's sort of lying in a way and he's also like i would like to think i was someone who would get out of the house if they told me it was burning you know what i mean i mean so i just i mean i i sort of have an okay feeling about it when it's

[60:43]

in very vague general terms, but the more we get into the details, the more I'm fighting it. And I just wanted to voice that. So in a way, I feel both. I feel, I think I kind of have a sense of the point it's making, but I also just, it's so paternalistic. It's so certain things that just really rub me the wrong way. I just wanted to put that out. That's, yeah. Well, I don't want to give that short shrift there and i will say as you read the sutra there are many things that are there particularly around gender that are hard to swallow uh and uh these are you know these are simplifications of course but it's literally paternalistic i mean it literally says uh i am the father of the world you know uh No mother of the world appears in this story.

[61:44]

And, you know, so this is... We have to... All the teachings, as you know, all these teachings are medicine. And sometimes the pills are bitter to swallow. And sometimes... The medicine has also other negative effects. We have to be the ones that refine and distill these teachings for our own use. That's why I asked what is the use of it. But I think that the parable is... To me, the main thing is actually that the Buddha offered a way for the children to empower themselves.

[62:53]

And that stays with me more than the Buddha's personal or, you know, structural power, whatever. But I hear what you're saying, yeah. Sue? Thank you. I was struck by a couple things, and I think Laurie expressed a lot of my thinking better than I could express it. I also keep thinking I don't believe that once the kids get the new toys, they'll be satisfied. Ever. But they're really cool. And I thought about I just love that cart. And I could, you know, if we're out, we're not outside the burning building. We never get out. That's the other part of it. But I kept thinking about Disneyland and Disney World.

[63:57]

You know, what would be like a version of that, the Lotus Sutra version of that for Americans? Well, that's it. Yeah, that's an interesting question. I think the thing about parables and stories in general is it's not so useful to take them to their logical extension. They're basically kind of making a broad point, not a point that could be argued. not kind of a legalistic point. Yeah, we know in, if it's really children, then they're, you know, their attention span is going to be short, you know, and they're going to want something else. But the point here is just, you know, how do you save, how do you save lives?

[65:00]

And you do it, in this case, you could do it by, we could say, giving them something they think they want. You know, and at least get them out of the house. Well, I just want to add that as a parent, I constantly figured out I was always thinking about that. You know, what do they want? And how can I make them happy? And how can I satisfy some sense of family togetherness? You know, this story just reminds me of of these Endless failures I kept experiencing as a parent. Right. You know, it's interesting because it just came to mind. It hadn't occurred to me until just this moment. Katagiri Roshi always used to talk about emergency case. That our practice is like, it's like training for what we will do in an emergency.

[66:05]

You know, it's like Think spiritual CPR. You know, you're going to only do in an emergency what you are trained to do. And in this case, the rich man was trained to save his kids and had the skill set and the mental tools to figure out what was going to rescue them from that. from that house. And I think that's as far as we need to take it. But then we have to figure out what does that mean? You know, what does it mean for us? What does it mean? What possible skillful means? Do we have to rescue ourselves from the literal burning

[67:08]

world of the climate crisis you know not so obvious it's not exactly going to be found directly in these pages so we'll we'll go on this question abides yeah jonathan thank you um i did i don't know if off-putting is the right way to say it but um Your vocal signal is kind of inconsistent here. Let me see if I can get closer to the light. Yeah, yeah. I find it interesting that while simultaneously preaching or putting forth the idea of the Ekayana or the Buddhayana, that there's one vehicle that we don't need to get into these

[68:11]

you know, these sectarian differences are ultimately meaningless. There's one vehicle and the three vehicles are skillful means, you know, reaching people where they are. There's that. And it's also a triumphalist Mahayana text. Exactly. That is some of the... That's some of the major controversy that at least the scholars have. And I don't know if, I mean, is there a way to reconcile that tension or is it just, yeah. I don't think there is. So what interests me, I am not a Mahayana triumphalist. What interests me is precisely how we live with the ambiguity and the multiple messages of something like this.

[69:20]

You know, what do we draw from of real preciousness from the Lotus Sutra that has to coexist with aspects of it that are really troubling? You know, and then we also have to deal with the history of the Lotus Sutra, you know, as it was particularly as it evolved in Japan, you know, I have a great love for the Shin Buddhist tradition, for the so called other power school, there's something so really sweet and precious about it and You know, we look, if we look, read, if we read Nichiren, if we read Dogen, we read others, these teachers were scathing about other schools.

[70:32]

You know, it's like, I'm not interested in that. So, you know, does it mean we throw out what's of value because from our perspective, there's an inconsistency? Or do we have to really dig in and figure out what's useful here? Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Other thoughts? Randy. You're muted. There we go. By the way, it's good to meet you and see you.

[71:34]

It's very good to be here. Yeah, there was a couple things. First thing, one thought that came up is my mother was a violin teacher. She's very good. And she had a little cartoon on her door of her studio, and it said, the best teacher you'll ever have is the one you'll never need again. And, you know, we can understand that in some ways, because every teacher, I think, wants their students to stand on their own two feet. But to give them the skills to be able to do that, the skills to solve problems, all the technical skills that they're going to need. So in terms of other power and self-power, to carry that analogy to those two concepts, I'm wondering if there's a single vehicle with those two. It's not either or. That other power and self-power really is both.

[72:36]

It's other self-power. And so earlier on when you were talking about that, I was thinking kind of all a... Maybe what Thich Nhat Hanh might do would be something like put on your in-breath, I don't know, for example, other power, put on the out-breath, self-power, but then kind of mix them together. So let's say we don't want to use like a particularly a Buddhist term, but maybe we want to say cosmic love or something like that. On an in-breath, feeling another cosmic love coming from outside within and a warmth and then also on the out-breath. putting it out. Do you think that's a practice like that is something we can adopt? Yeah. I mean, I'm reluctant to kind of crystallize a practice, but I think that that's fine. You know, the in-breath is coming alive.

[73:43]

Mm-hmm. And the out-breath is breathing out into the universe, is giving forth. And I will say, in the context of this self-power, other power, as I've thought about it, it took all of us some degree of self-power to bring ourselves into the gate of the temple, whether that's a gate, whether it's a physical gate or even, you know, a cyber gate. We had to do that. Nobody did that for us. But, you know, this is not a Buddhist culture as such. And so how this suburban, kid from a, you know, a prominently Jewish suburb ended up spending 30 or 40 years in this practice is something beyond my self-understanding.

[75:02]

You know, there's something mysterious. What that resonance was, and I think that all of us have, whether it's in terms of practice or in terms of other things that happen in our life, there's this great mystery of how things come about, and then we have to negotiate it ourselves, which I think, to me, that's what the message is. That's what I get from the Lotus Sutra. Yeah. Great. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Boss? Thanks, Hozan. She said, Hinayana practice with Mahayana mind, and I'm Tonight I'm thinking of that as a way of kind of incorporating the various vehicles into one. How do you understand Hinayana practice with Mahayana mind as far as honoring the Hinayana side and the so-called Mahayana side? Well, yeah, I've always been a bit uncomfortable with that expression.

[76:13]

Because I think that there's something reductionist about Hinayana to me. Hinayana is a term that was invented by the Mahayana. You know, it's like it wasn't like self, you know, self-applied. And I'm just reading at the end of this. So, as Jonathan was saying, there's a degree of triumphalism here that's also uncomfortable. So let me read you just this. the next to last paragraph. In the beginning, the Tathagata teaches the three vehicles in order to lead sentient beings. And later, he saves them through only the Mahayana. Why is this? Because the Tathagata possesses the treasure house of Dharma, which contains immeasurable wisdom, power, and fearlessness. And although he is able to give the teaching of the Mahayana to all sentient beings, not all of them can accept it. So there's a kind of On the one hand, there's a real ambiguity to the message that partly the message is that any of these vehicles, that the Hinayana is also the vehicle towards complete awakening.

[77:28]

But there's also kind of a tone to it that the Mahayana is the real thing. I don't think necessarily Suzuki Roshi, I think what Suzuki Roshi meant was we have all the approaches and techniques of Theravada, for example. But we do it with Mahayana mind. The problem for me is having spent a lot of time in Theravada countries, there's nothing small-minded about it. It's just as generous and open and available to everyone in kind as I've seen in Maya in a country. Yeah. Yeah. It does have a feeling of one-upmanship.

[78:29]

Yeah. For me, when I came to practice, the literal understanding of the precepts were really helpful to count as a guide for me, given that I didn't have any framework for like what's right and wrong, so to speak. But as the years went by, the sense of this sort of vast, open, not always so view of the precepts have helped me not be so much of a hard ass about not killing, not stealing, not lying, not misusing sexuality and the rest of the precepts. It's a not two, not one thing. And whenever you talk about something, it brings up the other side and which is better, which is not, which isn't the crux of the matter. The crux is how do we practice all the one vehicle? And I think some people tend to err more on one side than the other.

[79:36]

And that's a tendency of perhaps dualistic thinking. Some people need a stricter container or a more literal container. Yeah. Here it's not one, not three. Yeah, that's good. Thank you. Lynn? Hi. Well, two questions. One, I feel a bit lost. How does this connect to the Lotus Sutra? that I heard you play on your guitar and Blanche speak about after the suicide of the monk and the Tazahar Zenda. This is worlds apart. This is so... No, it's just part of the story. We haven't gotten to that part of the story yet. That's chapter 20. And there's a very...

[80:39]

There's a real arc of narrative in this sutra. It's beginning here. It's beginning with laying out the principles. By the time you get about halfway through it, then it's actually talking about bodhisattva practice. So that chapter is chapter 20, the bodhisattva never disparage, is about this wonderful bodhisattva practice. But we have to follow, and we will actually, we'll follow the chorus of the narrative. We're just at the beginning. Which comes in my second part. Maybe I scrolled a little bit forward, but I'm at the top of page 15, where it says, although the Tathagaga has power and fearlessness, because it just falls, where it says, this is just like the Tathagaga. He does not use them, but rescues sentient beings from the burning house of the triple world only through wisdom and skillful means, teaching the three vehicles to the, and I'm sure I'm not pronouncing this right, Shavakas.

[81:46]

Shavakas and Prajika Buddhas, yeah. And Buddhas. Do not take pleasure in living in this burning house of the triple world. And do not thirst after inferior objects, sounds, smells, flavors, and tangibles. If you're attached to these objects and you have desires, then you will be burned. Leave the triple world in haste and we'll tame the three vehicles, the vehicles for the... I definitely guarantee this to you. In the end, it will come true. You should be diligent and persistent. And... This really jumps out at me also because the only person I've heard in my life who say anything like this, I definitely guarantee this to you, is Brother David Sender Ross. Are you talking about diving into the dark and you will definitely come out in the light? So I really am taken with this. Whatever you have to say, I'm permeable. Well, all I can say is... We're going to be diving in for four weeks.

[82:47]

Just keep diving in. Plunging in. This is what Blanche talked about when she talked about Namukiei Butsu. I plunge into Buddha. So it's not that Buddha reaches down and grabs me and rescues me. I plunge into Buddha. So that's actually a really good place I think that's where we have to end tonight. And let's end with the four vows, okay? Beings are numberless. I vow to awaken with them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it.

[83:51]

So thank you all. And next week, next week's class is going to focus on the parable in chapter four, I believe, which is often called the prodigal son, which sort of Conflates the story from the Bible on the story in the Lotus Sutra, but it's a son who wanders and returns and finds himself. So we'll talk about that next week. Have a good night. See you later.

[84:28]

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